Momma's Got a Brand New Jag: BBW Shifter Romance (Seaside Shifters Book 1) (7 page)

“So when are you going shopping?” Cely used her perfectly manicured nails to peel open an orange.

Rina frowned. “I‘m not sure, actually,” she said. “My itinerary just said to be ready today by 1 PM, but I didn’t get more details than that.” Her hair was still damp so she went to go blow dry it so she could put it up before a busy day of shopping.

She had just finished fixing her ponytail again when there was a knock at the door. Rina could feel her heart beating rapidly in her chest. She realized she was still spooked after everything that had happened last night. She walked over to the door, standing to one side of it. “Yes? Who is it?” she said loudly.

“It’s your stylist,” the voice on the other side of the door said. He sounded annoyed.

Rina was confused. “Stylist?” she said. She’d thought that she was supposed to meet her stylist tomorrow before the makeover and go over wardrobe choices together then. Maybe she’d misread her itinerary? She grabbed her phone to check her e-mail quickly. Sure enough, there was a new e-mail from her travel coordinator apologizing for the sudden changes in the itinerary. Her stylist was supposed to take her shopping to make sure she’d buy at least one outfit that was appropriate for the photoshoot.

“Yassssss, honey,” the voice said impatiently. Whoever it was was definitely annoyed now. “Benji doesn’t have all day, honey. Please open this door already so I can see what I’m working with!”

Rina turned around to mouth ‘Benji?!’ at Cely before she unlocked the door and pulled it open.

A tall, slender man wearing a fluorescent pink mesh tanktop, shiny gold leggings with a print that looked like overlapping mermaid scales, and mint green suede hi-top sneakers breezed into the room. He had a leather fanny pack strapped around his waist.

He eyed them both with interest. “Now…which one of you is Czarina?”

“I am.” Rina raised her hand, then felt awkward and put it down. “And just Rina is fine, thanks.”

Benji glided over to her to take her hand in his and lift it up to his lips. “Enchantée, just Rina,” he said with complete seriousness. “Are you ready to go shopping with Benji?” He pulled out a tube of clear lip gloss from his fanny pack and squeezed a thin line of gloss onto his upper lip before pressing his lips together to spread the gloss around evenly. “Your lovely friend is welcome to come with, of course.”

Cely picked up her purse and slung it over her shoulder. “I’m ready when you are,” she said. Judging from the expression on her face, she would have come along even if Benji hadn’t invited her.

Rina wondered what she’d gotten herself into.

This was not the glamorous shopping experience she’d expected, but then again, she wasn’t sure what she had expected. After spending time with Benji, she was shocked that he didn’t have his own reality television show. He was way more entertaining and snarky than anyone she’d ever seen on those types of shows. Benji took them to some local boutiques located on the strip. He and Cely were getting along famously, gossiping about luxury brand designers and celebrities. Most of their conversation was over her head. Benji was also asking her questions disjointedly in between outfit changes.

“What were you thinking as far as your hair, honey? That whole ponytail thing is cute in a babysitter’s club kind of way, but you’re so much more than cute,” Benji said. “Don’t you want to look sexy?”

Rina frowned as she exited the dressing room in the latest outfit he’d picked out for her to try on. True, a ponytail probably wasn’t the sexiest hairstyle she could wear. But it was pretty damn convenient. Rina’s hair was thick and coarse, and while she liked having it long, it refused to cooperate without major styling. Hence, throwing it up in a ponytail most of the time.

Benji made a motion for her to turn around and show him the back of the outfit as he eyed her critically.

“You know, maybe a big change wouldn't be so bad. My boyfriend just broke up with me before I won this trip…” Rina trailed off as Benji looked outraged.

“Ooh, honey, just leave your hair in Benji’s talented hands and I’ll make sure he regrets breaking up with you.” He regarded her with pride. “You look fabulous in that outfit. Stick it in the keep pile and try on the next one. Benji doesn’t have all day,” he said with a flourish.

Rina obediently went back into her dressing room to change. Cely was talking with Benji again. “Yeah, they dated for five years and after that loser broke up with her he proposed to someone else like a week later,” Cely said. Rina winced. It still sounded so terrible. Somehow Benji managed to look even more outraged as she came out in the next outfit. He fluttered around her like a moth on meth as he motioned for her to join him over at the threeway mirror.

“Ooh, Benji’s gonna pull out all the stops for you! I’m talking ombré, sombre, balayage…” He began speaking excitedly in a rapid flurry. Rina had no idea what he was saying at the end of that sentence but he was the expert, she reminded herself.

This outfit showed more skin than she was used to, making her slightly uncomfortable, and it must have shown in her posture because Benji said, “You shouldn’t be afraid to show off those beautiful curves of yours, honey.”

Rina snorted. “Sure, tell that to my mom and my ex,” she said as they stood in front of the threeway mirror.

“They’re idiots,” Benji snapped. “No offense. No wait, on second thought I take that back. No offense meant to your mother, after all she’s your mother, but offense definitely meant to that piece of shit loser ex-boyfriend of yours.”

Rina laughed in surprise. At least Benji was honest, if painfully so.

“I’d kill seven people if I could have an hourglass figure like yours for my next drag show,” he said. “At least seven people,” he amended.

“Have any shows coming up?” Cely asked Benji as Rina continued to try on the rest of the clothing he’d selected.

In the end, Rina had ended up with a formal gown, a couple of casual pieces she could mix and match, a new swimsuit, and the dress Benji had decided on her for photoshoot. Benji kept the dress, saying he’d have it professionally steamed and pressed for the shoot tomorrow. The dress hadn’t been Rina’s typical style, but Benji had just winked at her and told her to ‘trust in Benji’. Rina realized she couldn’t make this stuff up. At least she’d have a lot of stories to tell her patients and coworkers once she was home.

The website that had sponsored the contest focused on beauty, fashion, and lifestyle posts. Rina hadn’t read the fine print saying that she’d have to do a photoshoot for the website as the grand prize winner, and had thought her travel coordinator was joking when she’d first mentioned it. She wasn’t happy about having to pose, but figured she could suck it up. After all, it was a small price to pay, all things considered.

Benji hugged and air kissed them both goodbye after they had finished shopping. He got Rina’s number before he left because he had to as her stylist, but got Cely’s number since they made plans to hang out later in the week. The girls took a cab back to their hotel.

Chapter 12

Kris was laying on the bed watching a movie when they got back to the hotel room. She stood up and walked over to them, helping Rina with her bags.

“Hey, welcome back! How was it?” Kris asked.

Cely kicked off her heels and collapsed onto the couch. “Exhausting!” she said with a loud dramatic sigh.

“And you weren’t even the one trying things on for four hours,” Rina said drily as Kris giggled.

Cely had draped one arm over her face, blocking out the light as she lay on her back. “You should really hang those up, Rina. The gown at the very least,” she said as Rina groaned. High-maintenance clothes weren’t really her thing but Benji had insisted she pick up an evening gown. Rina just didn’t know where she would wear it. She hadn’t worn a formal gown since prom her senior year of high school, and she’d sold it right after graduation. In her mind having the money was more useful than hanging onto a gown just in case she could use it in college. The one and only time she’d gone to a formal dance in college she’d borrowed a dress from a girl who lived on her floor in exchange for writing an essay for her.

“You bought a gown? I want to see,” Kris said with interest.

“If you hang it up for me, feel free to try it on,” Rina said. She was only half-kidding, but Kris went to pull the gown out of the bag, admiring it as she held it up to examine it.

Cely said, “You still haven’t explained what you meant earlier this morning when you said last night was a bunch of ‘or what’.”

Kris hung up the dress carefully in the closet. “Yeah, what happened to you last night?” She was too polite to ask if Rina had hooked up with anyone, but she was definitely curious.

Rina shook her head. “Probably not what either of you think.” She told them everything that had happened last night, except for the part about Joven being naked this morning, right up to the point where he had dropped her off at the hotel. Kris and Cely had expressed interest when she’d talked about meeting Dylan and Brendan, then outrage and concern at what had happened on the beach, then interest again when she’d talked about Joven.

Cely was smug. “I knew he was a therian,” she said.

“Yeah, but I learned more last night about therians than I ever have from being your friend for years,” Rina pointed out. “Have you been holding out on us all these years or something?” She hadn’t meant to sound accusatory, but it had come out that way nonetheless.

Cely gave Rina a cold look and Kris thought they might fight, so she cleared her throat to get their attention and distract them. “Did you say that Joven wanted to take us to dinner tonight? What time?” Kris asked.

“Eight,” answered Rina. Factoring in time they needed to travel to the restaurant, that gave them about an hour to get ready. With the three of them sharing the bathroom, it had just barely been enough time. Rina had texted Joven saying that her friends were free for dinner and he had texted her back with the restaurant info, saying he was looking forward to meeting them but reiterated that he couldn’t wait to see her again.

Rina was both excited and nervous for dinner as she made her way downstairs with Cely and Kris. She hoped dinner would go well.

***

The restaurant Joven picked was at the very beginning of the strip, far away enough from the center that it wasn’t swamped by tourists, but close enough that they could walk. Not that they
had
to walk though. Joven had arranged for a pedicab to bring them to the restaurant, saying he would meet them there shortly. The interior was dim, but Rina thought it lent a romantic touch to the atmosphere. The hostess seated them at a table Joven had reserved for them. Kris and Cely had sat next to each other, leaving the seat next to Rina empty so Joven could sit there.

The girls had ordered their usual cocktails to start, and as they waited for their drinks, they looked over the menu, debating over appetizers. Cely hadn’t wanted to share once she’d seen a soup she wanted, but it was fine since Kris and Rina couldn’t agree on an appetizer they both liked. Joven had arrived right before they received their drinks. He ordered a beer to drink, and the server had asked if they had decided on any appetizers. Joven hadn’t even needed to see the menu since he came here so often.

“I’d like to start with the turtle soup,” he said. Cely ordered a cup of lobster bisque, while Kris ordered a house salad with oil and vinegar, and Rina ordered a bowl of she-crab soup.

Rina introduced everyone as they waited for their appetizers. She realized that she didn’t really know that much about Joven beyond that he was a vigilante werejaguar that had his own contracting business for other therians. Also, that he was hung. She hoped he’d fill in the blanks for her and her friends. Well, not that last bit, obviously.

The waiter came back with a basket full of neatly sliced, freshly baked bread wrapped in a tea towel. He reassured them that their appetizers were on their way and that he’d be back shortly to check on them and take their dinner orders. Less than two minutes later they had their appetizers. Rina couldn’t wait to try her soup. She-crab soup was one of her favorites, but she rarely got to eat it back in the city. She added some oyster crackers to the fragrant and creamy soup.

“So Joven,” Cely said, “what do you think of vibrators?” Rina nearly choked on her soup. Kris was already turning beet red. Yep, leave it to Cely to ask the hard questions.

Joven thought for a second. “I’ve never really thought about them much before,” he said. “I don’t have any experience with them personally, if that’s what you’re asking.” He swallowed a spoonful of his soup.

“Oh, I don’t care about that,” Cely said. “But I do want to know if you’d have a problem with Rina using one,” Cely delicately buttered a piece of bread. Rina thought she was going to die from embarrassment. Kris gave her a sympathetic look.

Joven frowned. “If it brings her pleasure, what does it matter?”

“So you’re not threatened at all then?” Cely asked.

“Any man that’s threatened by something like that isn’t a man,” he said disdainfully.

Cely nodded. He’d definitely earned her approval. She sat back and grinned, mouthing ‘I like him’ across the table at Rina. Rina just shook her head. She couldn’t blame her friends for being overprotective though, especially after the breakup with Jeremy and everything that had happened yesterday.

For dinner, Cely had ordered blackened mahi-mahi, while Kris opted for a mango salmon special she’d thought sounded good. Joven had ordered the crab cakes, and based on his recommendation, Rina ordered them as well. The waiter had also approved of her choice, saying that it was the restaurant’s most popular entree.

They conversed politely as they waited for their entrees. Joven had been born here, and loved the area. Rina had asked Cely and Kris not to bring up therians unless Joven did first. Kris had been quiet during dinner and Joven had asked her about herself, trying to engage her in conversation more. Once he’d found out she was a chiropractic assistant the two of them had gotten into a lengthy discussion about it—Joven had told her that he got adjusted regularly and suggested she check out his doctor’s office while she was in town. Rina had loved that Joven was actually interested in getting to know her friends.