Even her driver’s license and credit cards magically had her new name and photo. It was a miracle.
She sat happily at one of the tables in Cuppa Joe sipping at an iced soy latte and admiring her newly painted cotton-candy-pink nails. Ah, bliss. Women just had no idea how lucky they were.
“Heya, sweet cheeks.”
Rayanne glanced up, startled as a young man plopped into the seat opposite her. The man stared pointedly down Rayanne’s blouse at her now-ample cleavage.
“Nice rack.”
“Excuse me?” Rayanne felt her cheeks pinken in fury.
“You and me should hang. Bet I could teach you a thing or two.” The young man leaned back in his chair, flexing his muscles under his too-tight t-shirt and licking his lips like she was dessert and he wanted to dive in. Frankly, it was...icky.
“Thank you, no.”
The boy’s features hardened. “Think you’re too good for me, do ya bitch?”
Rayanne had no idea what to do. The only men who’d ever come on to Ryan had been gay, and most of them had been perfectly fine once he’d explained he was straight. If they did have a problem, well, Ryan was, after all, a straight man who was well over six feet tall with the build to match. When he said no, people listened. Even if he was a cross-dresser.
Rayanne, on the other hand, was all of 5’4” and built like a ... well, a very short Victoria’s Secret model. Rayanne was everything Ryan had often dreamed of being. Unfortunately, Rayanne was also about as intimidating as a kitten. If things got physical, she didn’t stand a chance.
She glanced around for a knight in shining armor, but if anyone else had noticed what was going on, they were studiously avoiding the issue. She was on her own.
“Not at all. It’s simply that my husband wouldn’t be too happy about me spending time with another man.”
The kid’s eyes narrowed. “You ain’t wearing a ring.”
Rayanne shrugged. “It’s being resized. I’m pregnant so I’ve been putting on a lot of weight recently ... ”
“Whoa. Whoa. Pregnant? Um ... ” The young man scrambled out of his chair. “I gotta go.” And just like that he took off.
Rayanne pressed her hand to her chest over her rapidly beating heart. For just a minute she’d actually been scared. No, more than scared. Terrified. For the first time in her life she’d felt completely helpless. At the mercy of someone bigger and nastier than her. She suddenly realized that her safety wasn’t as assured as she thought it was. She was at the mercy of anyone bigger and stronger who wanted to hurt her. It wasn’t a nice feeling.
Was that how women felt all the time?
Rayanne shook off the negative feelings. She was going to enjoy her time as a woman however long it lasted. One asshole was not going to dampen her joy!
She quickly gathered up her shopping bags and headed out to the car. She’d go home, dress up pretty, and hit the town. That’s what she’d do. No sense in having this new body if she couldn’t enjoy it.
As she pulled out of the mall parking lot the engine light came on. “Shit, now what?” The last thing she needed was her car breaking down. She had things to do, places to go, lingerie to wear!
Fortunately there was an auto mechanic just up the road. She’d dealt with him before. He was honest and fair, as far as auto mechanics went.
THE MECHANIC FROWNED at the car before giving Rayanne a look that made her skin crawl. “I know this car. It belongs to Ryan Roberts. What are you doing with it?”
Rayanne flashed a smile. “I’m his cousin, Rayanne. He just let me borrow it while I’m here visiting and I couldn’t very well bring it back broken.”
The mechanic grinned as his gaze levelled on her boobs. “No you couldn’t. Why don’t you go have a seat in the waiting room and I’ll let you know when I’m finished.”
An hour later Rayanne stared at the bill aghast. It was nearly double what the mechanic had charged in the past. Back when Rayanne was Ryan. She’d heard of mechanics charging women more money, but she’d never believed it before.
“This is a lot of money for such a small job ... ”
The mechanic gave her the run-around about how it was a lot more complicated that it seemed, etc., and so on.
Furious Rayanne paid the bill and stormed out. She knew she’d just gotten royally shafted, but what could she do? The mechanic had refused to budge and as Rayanne, she was unable to convince him that she knew enough about cars to know when she was being played. He clearly thought she was an idiot because she had boobs. His condescension was enough to make her see red.
“Remember,” she reminded herself, “all these little inconveniences are worth being able to wear makeup and dresses and look pretty. It’s worth it.” But she couldn’t imagine how women didn’t go absolutely postal over the way men like that treated them. She’d only been a woman for a day and she swore the next man that treated her like a moron or a floozy was going to get a black eye. Or a squished set of balls. Maybe both.
RAYANNE WINCED SELF-consciously at the clack, clack, clack of her heels against the marble floor. She’d never realized just how loud the lobby floor was. She was nervous about coming into work, worried people would wonder who she was. Or, worse, they’d realize that Rayanne and Ryan were one and the same.
Still, she loved her new lime green kitten heels. They were adorable. She’d been lusting after them for weeks, but it wasn’t until Ryan became Rayanne that she could actually fit in them. They’d been one of her
