Safari Island Shifters: The Complete Collection(34)
If he went out with the waitress, that date would end like all the rest. A night of bliss and then nothing. He had somehow managed to avoid getting a reputation even though he’d gone out with someone new at least once a month for the last nine years. Island living was great. There was always a new tourist to keep him company or a new crop of summer employees.
He changed out of his work clothes into a pair of workout shorts before going to his kitchen. He looked in all the cabinets and the fridge but nothing looked good. He debated going to Chet and Addison’s but decided against it. It was probably a fake invite just to be nice.
He put on a pot of water and made himself ramen noodle soup. It wasn’t his favorite meal but it was a frequent staple in his diet now. Cooking for one wasn’t much fun, and he couldn’t eat at a restaurant alone every night.
Branch got dressed in his favorite jeans and gray t-shirt before heading out to Shane’s. He might not have a mate, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t still have fun. Marriage was for chumps when you could have a new girl all the time. The best cure for loneliness was a beautiful woman. He was going to find Mrs. Right Now tonight.
Two
“What’s it like to live here?” Maura asked Lily. They were on the bus from Blue Sky Resort to Safari Town. It wasn’t very crowded since they were leaving at an odd time.
“It’s pretty nice,” Lily said. “There’s always something going on and the scenery is to die for. It’s much nicer than my old life.”
She told Maura the story of how she had met her husbands, was almost murdered, and moved to Safari Island all in less than a year. It made Maura’s heart race. Max and Finn sounded very nice, unlike some of the stories she’d heard before. The workers on Safari Island had a bit of a reputation among PFA members.
“Two men? That sounds like a handful.”
“It’s much more than a handful, trust me.”
Maura blushed at Lily’s off-color joke. “I’ve never heard a more fantastic story. It could be a Lifetime movie.”
“It could. I never thought anything like that would ever happen to me. My life was pretty ordinary until I won that trip. Maybe you’ll have good luck here too. You already have a great backstory.”
“Man leaves fiancé for hot young thing. I don’t think that’s a very original story.”
“It doesn’t matter how original your past is,” Lily said. “It only matters what happens now. You’ve seen all the romantic comedies. You could meet a hot young rock star or something. Wouldn’t that be the best?”
“Not with my luck.” Maura shook her head. “I’ll probably meet someone who says he’s a rock star and it turns out he works as a mechanic.”
“As long as he knows how to use his hands, it’s still a win, right?”
Maura laughed at the joke. Clearly, innuendos were Lily’s thing. “I guess so. Do you do this often?”
“I take this bus every day. It’s always slow,” Lily assured her.
“No, I mean pick up other women at hotels.”
Lily giggled. “Oh. No, I don’t very often. You’re not my first or anything. Finn always says he’d glad we don’t have any stray animals on the island or we’d have a menagerie by now.”
“It’s a very nice thing to do for someone.”
“Not really. I need someone to go out with. My best friend is pregnant and can’t drink or dance right now. You’re doing me a favor, really.”
Lily was the nicest person Maura had met in a long time. Maura knew it was awful that she was tricking her, but it was for a good cause. Lily didn’t know how bad Safari Island was for the animals. Once she heard what Jimmy Tony had to say, Lily would be glad she’d inadvertently helped the PFA. The corporation kept a lot of secrets even from their own workers. Maura couldn’t wait to help Jimmy Tony spread the truth.
When they got to Safari Town, Maura was impressed. It was much bigger than the pictures she’d seen at PFA meetings. This wasn’t even a town anymore. It looked like a little city and there was construction everywhere.
“Is the construction annoying?” she asked Lily as they got off the bus.
Lily nodded and made a face. “Unfortunately. I can’t wait until it’s all done. They isn’t much more room. The hospital needed an upgrade and we needed a bigger school. I think that’s going to be the last of it for a while.”
“What do your husbands do?” Maura asked.
“Finn works with the animals and Max works at the airport. You won’t get to the meet them tonight, but if you come back for dinner tomorrow you can.”
“I couldn’t possibly put you out like that. You’re being too kind already.”
“Nonsense. It isn’t like you’ll be eating us out of house and home. You’re only here for a few days. May as well get the full experience. Where are you going tomorrow?”
“I’m doing the amusement park and the dinner theater.”
“That’s it? No safari?”
“I don’t like safaris,” Maura said carefully. She didn’t want to start a conversation about her feelings on the subject. It would only blow her cover or make Lily hate her. She would sound like a crazy conspiracy theorist. She felt too strongly on the matter and always got emotional while she was talking about it. Unlike Jimmy Tony, she could never make her case rationally.