Joining the Jaguar: BBW Paranormal Jaguar Shifter Romance by Zoe Chant Page A

getting a competent doctor, even if he had to bribe someone to come here with his own personal funds.
    "I'll bring her by later," Vincent said. "You can talk to her, see if she's a good fit. And if you think she's a spy… Well, you're good at being intimidating if you want to." As always, Vince seemed cheerfully oblivious to the fact that at 6'5'', he cut a pretty intimidating figure himself. Jake smiled.
    "Yeah, that's a good idea," he said.
    "See you later, then. Don't work too hard." Vince tilted his head to the side, baring his throat for a moment in the old pack gesture of respect, and closed the door behind himself. Jake sighed and bent his head back over his files.
     
    ***
     
    Oh hell, I look like Cinderella in rags , Sarah Andrews thought, catching sight of herself in the mirror. And not a prince in sight.
    She'd spent the last hour scrubbing the floor, and it showed. Her blouse was soaked with splatters of soapy water, so it stuck damply to the generous curves of her breasts and her soft stomach. Her ash-blonde hair had escaped its ponytail and was tangled wildly around her face. Prince Charming would probably run screaming at the sight of her.
    Today was her first day in Brooksville. She'd come in on the 6 am flight, ready and excited to take over her new practice and start her career as a GP after three exhausting years of residency. Her day had hit the first snag when she'd discovered that her suitcase had gone on to Guatemala without her.
    "Nothing I can do about it now. Check back with us tomorrow, it'll probably be here by then," the disinterested baggage claim attendant had told her.
    So here she was, still wearing the nice blouse and skirt she'd put on for the flight, and nothing to change into while she went on the biggest cleaning spree of her life.
    When she'd bought the office, the real estate agent had told her it was going to need some cosmetic repairs. Now that she was seeing it in person for the first time, Sarah could see what an understatement that had been. Cosmetic repairs, hell. The place was a pigsty. This Dr. Miller, her predecessor, must have been one hell of a lazy slob.
    Sarah took a deep breath. She wasn't going to let this discourage her. She'd never been afraid to get her hands dirty, and this was nothing that couldn't be fixed with a scrub brush and some elbow grease.
    Well, she corrected that thought, eyeing the dubious brown stain on the waiting room wall, a scrub brush and a big bucket of paint.
    She was halfway through cleaning the waiting room when the doorbell rang. Sarah ignored it. Someone must have seen the light through the windows and figured the practice was open for business.
    The doorbell rang again. And again. And then someone started knocking on the window beside the door.
    Sarah straightened up with a sigh. She glanced at herself in the mirror again. Her blouse was still damp, her hair was slowly turning into a rat's nest, and she'd somehow acquired a sooty stain on her cheek. Sarah scrubbed at it with the back of her hand. If those were potential patients, she was going to make a great first impression.
    Through the window beside the door, she could see a man waiting outside. He was dressed all in black, a patch on his shoulder showing some kind of sigil she couldn't make out from here.
    "We're closed!" Sarah called, demonstratively lifting the mop in her hand. With any luck, he'd think she was the cleaning lady. Hell, in the hospital half the time people had taken her for the cleaning lady even when she was wearing her doctor's coat. Sarah knew she didn't look like much; she was small and plump, and her hair was a boring, mousy color.
    The man called out something she couldn't make out through the closed door.  Sarah sighed. She'd never been good at saying no to people who might need her help.
    She opened the door. "Look, if you've got an actual medical emergency I'll do my best to help, but — "
    The man gave her a smile. He was a huge guy, towering over her, his