
Soul Sisters Book 2
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S. L. Adams
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Chapter 1
Book 2: Loving Mandy
MANDY
âNo,â I begged. âPlease, no.â
The stupid needle didnât listen.
My car temperature gauge started tormenting me when I was about halfway between my condo and the shop, bobbing up and down while I wondered how I would afford a major repair.
I pulled into Grave to Road Restorations and killed the hot engine. My purple Mustang was the only car Iâd ever owned.
But it was twenty years old, and the maintenance was becoming too much for my tight budget.
The past couple of months had been rough. My best friend got married and moved out of the condo we sharedâthe condo she owned, and Iâd been living in rent-free.
Vada kept the condo as an investment property, but her new husbands controlled all of her finances.
Her father actually owned the condo. But when he passed away, he left instructions for her assets to be managed by his business partners, the aforementioned husbands.
I understood why. Vada had no idea how to manage money.
They agreed to let me continue living there, but I had to pay the taxes, condo fees, and utilities. I was barely able to cover all that with my minimum wage income.
My savings were dwindling, and Iâd started looking around for an apartment I could afford. But that was no easy feat in Miami.
I climbed out of my car with a heavy sigh, my achy vagina a reminder of my bad decision the night before.
Bad?
Nah.
Ill-advised?
Perhaps.
That orgasm was totally worth it though.
I pulled open the glass door, muttering under my breath when I was greeted with Christmas music.
The towering tree in the corner of the lobby twinkled with a thousand fucking lights, a cruel reminder that the holidays were right around the corner.
My first Christmas without Vada.
The high-pitched squeal of the receptionist pulled me from my pity party. âGood afternoon,â she squawked. âWhat can I help you with today?â
âIâm here to see Vada.â
âOh, of course,â she said, reaching for her phone. âWho shall I tell her is here?â
âMandy.â
âMandy?â
âHale.â
âMandy Hale is here to see you,â she said into the receiver, gesturing for me to proceed down the long corridor of offices.
Vada inherited her dadâs share of a classic car restoration business, and she married the three men who owned the place with her late father. So technically, she now owned the entire company.
I knocked on the partially open door.
âCome in!â Vada yelled.
âHey,â I said, flopping down in the chair facing her desk.
âSomebody is having a bad day,â she observed.
âYou could say that,â I confirmed with a heavy sigh.
âYou can tell me all about it over lunch,â she suggested, grabbing her purse from the desk drawer. âLetâs go.â
âMy car overheated.â
âShit.â
âYeah. I donât suppose you got your license yet.â
âNo,â she said. âI havenât had time to study. But itâs on my to-do list.â
âSure it is, babe.â I chuckled.
âHow are we supposed to go for lunch, then?â she whined.
âBigger problem for me is, how am I going to get my car fixed?â
âYou want Jake to take a look at it?â
âThat would be awesome.â
She pulled out her phone and fired off a text. âHe said sure. Whereâs the keys?â
âRight here,â I said, holding up my keychain.
A guy in coveralls appeared a couple of minutes later. âJake sent me to get a set of keys for the purple Mustang outside.â
âThat would be my piece of shit,â I said, handing over the keys. âIt started overheating on the way over here.â
âWeâll pull her into the shop and take a look,â he said.
âNow, about lunch,â Vada declared, sending another text.
One of her husbands appeared a minute later. Garrett was the nicest of the three. He was always smiling. And he was hot. A sexy silver fox.
All three of Vadaâs husbands were nice-looking guys. They were old. Like, forty-three. But definitely sexy. Even Evan, the grump.
âYou need a ride somewhere?â Garrett asked.
Vada rose up from behind her desk and sashayed across the room.
âWe have lunch reservations, but Mandyâs car broke down,â she explained, sticking out her lower lip while she ran her hands up his chest. âWe have no way to get there.â
âThis is exactly why you need your license, sweetheart.â
âI know.â
âDo you want me to give you a ride?â
âYou have a meeting at twelve-thirty.â
âCan you drive a stick shift, Mandy?â
âYes,â I replied.
âYou can take the Viper, then.â
âIâm not driving that car,â I gasped.
âWhy not?â
âBecause itâs expensive.â
âItâs insured,â he said with a shrug.
âI donât know,â I sighed.
âYes!â Vada shrieked. âLetâs go!â
âWhy do I have a bad feeling about this?â I accepted the keys.
âYouâll be just fine,â he assured me. âGo. Have lunch. Take your time.â
âYouâre the best, Garrett,â Vada said, leaning up to give him a peck on the lips before she grabbed my arm and dragged me down the hallway.
We ran into Evan on the way to the lobby.
Literally.
Vada plowed right into him with a loud oomph.
âSlow down, baby,â he said. âWhereâs the fire?â
âWeâre just going to lunch,â Vada explained.
âHow are you, Mandy?â he asked stiffly.
âFine.â
Evan made no bones about the fact that he didnât like me. Before Vada fell in love with three old dudes, we were an item.
We were bisexual, and weâd been engaging in a friends-with-benefits-type arrangement since we were fourteen. Evan was uncomfortable with it, and he felt threatened by me while they were courting Vada.
âI wish you wouldnât ride around in that deathtrap of hers,â he muttered after they exchanged a steamy kiss. âI doubt it even has airbags.â
âWeâre taking the Viper,â she informed him.
âGarrettâs Viper?â he gasped. âHas he completely lost his mind?â
âProbably,â she chuckled. âSee ya!â
We burst outside, the midday heat blasting us in the face. The red sports car was parked in the employee lot.
I climbed behind the wheel and fired up the engine. My hands trembled on the steering wheel as I slowly exited the lot.
âRelax,â Vada laughed. âItâs just a car.â
I drove under the speed limit the entire way to the restaurant.
âCâmon, Grandma,â Vada grumbled. âI do have to go back to work. At this rate, itâll be dinnertime before we get there.â
I parked at the far end of the lot, away from all the other cars.
âReally?â Vada sighed.
âZip it,â I ordered before climbing out of the ridiculously low car.
âWhy are you walking funny?â she asked.
âNo reason,â I mumbled.
âI know that walk,â she laughed, poking me in the shoulder. âSomebody got some cock.â
âShh!â
âSpill it!â
âCan you at least wait until weâre seated?â
âI guess so.â
The hostess led us to a table on the waterfront patio. I chewed on my lower lip while I tried to decide which salad to get. That was about all I could afford.
âLunch is on me,â Vada said. âStop fretting about the cost and get whatever you want.â
âYou know I donât like handouts,â I said quietly.
âToo bad.â
âHow much do you think itâs gonna cost to fix my car?â
âJake will fix it. You might have to pay for the parts, though.â
âIâm looking for something more affordable,â I said. âThe condo is too expensive.â
âHave you tried to find a roommate?â
âNo.â
âWhy not?â
âI prefer to live by myself.â
âAre you ever gonna tell me about the guy you fucked last night?â
The waitress returned with our drinks and took our orders. I gazed out at the water while I sipped my iced tea.
âI did something kinda stupid,â I said.
âUh-oh.â
âThis guy came into the store to buy his daughter her first bra.â
âNo!â Vada yelled, drawing a dirty look from the table behind us.
âCan I tell the story?â
âSorry.â
âSo, this super sexy dude comes in with his twelve-year-old daughter. Says she needs a bra, and he doesnât know anything about buying bras.â
âSo he brings her to the most expensive lingerie store in Miami?â she chuckled.
âI know, right?â
âHow did you end up fucking a bra-buying dad? And why the hell didnât her mother bring her?â
âSheâs dead.â
âOh, thatâs sad.â
âYes. Fotune took her to the change room to do her fitting and left me alone with the sexy dad.â
âDid he fuck you on the checkout counter?â she gasped.
âNo!â
âBummer,â she mumbled.
âBut he flirted with me.â
âHow old was this guy?â
âForty-five.â
âNice.â
âAnyway, Fotune took forever finding the kid a bra. By the time they came out, heâd invited me for a drink after work.â
âDid you go?â
âObviously! Hence the limp.â
âOh, right,â she laughed. âHe was packing some serious meat?â
âOh yeah.â My raw pussy clenched as I recalled the feel of him stretching me open. Iâd never been with a guy that big before. âWe went to an upscale club and ended up fucking in the bathroom.â
âEw,â she whispered, wrinkling her nose.
âNo. The place was clean. Really fancy. I think this guy is loaded.â
âDo you like him?â
âWhat does it matter?â
âArenât you gonna see him again?â
âI doubt it. It was a quickie in a bar bathroom. We didnât even exchange numbers or last names.â
âWhy not?â
âI donât know.â
âIâm worried about you, Mandy,â she said, reaching across the table for my hand.
âIâm fine.â
âI wish you would reconsider and join us for Christmas.â
âItâs your first Christmas with your husbands,â I said. âI wouldnât feel comfortable. And Evan hates me.â
âHe doesnât hate you, Mandy,â she sighed. âAnd if he gets to have his family there, why canât I have mine?â
âIâm not really your family, Vada.â
âI consider you family,â she said. âThis is my first Christmas without my dad. Youâre the closest thing to family I have left.â
âYou have three husbands.â
âYouâve been part of every Christmas at my house since we were eight years old.â
I grew up in foster care. When I first started at Vadaâs public school, she bullied me. But we ended up becoming best friends.
The Collinses welcomed me into their home and treated me like family. I had no idea where my mother was.
Child Protective Services removed me when I was four, and I hadnât seen or heard from her since.
âI canât come to your house for Christmas, Vada,â I said.
âWhat will you do?â
âProbably order Chinese and binge-watch something on Netflix.â
âI have a proposition for you,â she revealed, rubbing her palms together.
âIâm not going to change my mind about Christmas, babe,â I said quietly.
âThis has nothing to do with Christmas.â
âWhat is it about then, Vada?â
âThere are a few tickets left for the cruise. And I got you one!â
âWhat?â
âThe cruise weâre going on. The guys said I could invite you.â
âI canât go on a cruise, Vada.â
âWhy not?â
âUm, letâs see,â I said, pressing my finger against my chin. âWhere to begin? Iâm not part of your cult, nor do I want to be. I donât have any money. And I canât take a week off work.â
âSixteen days,â she corrected.
âSixteen days?â
âYeah. Theyâve been planning this for years. People come from all over the world. They wanna make it worth their while.â
âI canât afford to take two weeks off work, Vada.â
âYou have holidays. I know you havenât used them.â
âI canât afford to go on a cruise.â
âItâs all paid for. Food, booze, everything.â
âI highly doubt Evan agreed to this.â
âIt was his idea.â
âYeah, right.â
âHe figures if he marries you off to three guys, he wonât have to worry about you trying to steal me away.â
âIâm not marrying three men.â
âI know that. But that doesnât mean you canât participate.â
âParticipate in what?â
âThe cruise isnât just a reunion of all the polyandrous families. There are lots of young men looking for a wife to share.
âEveryone is tasked with bringing a single gal along. Itâs kind of like a dating-game-type scenario.â
âAre you insane?â
âNo.â
âThat sounds like a meat market, Vada.â
âItâs not,â she laughed.
âSo, you donât really want me to come,â I surmised. âYou have an obligation to bring a single woman for the pool.â
âThatâs not the only reason I want you to come, Mandy.â
âEven if I was interested in your strange harem lifestyle, which Iâm not, youâre forgetting one important thing that all these men want.â
âSex?â
âThey want babies, Vada,â I sighed. âAre there any families without kids?â
âI have no idea. Iâm sure there are. Not everyone wants kids.â
âBut most of them do, donât they?â
âI guess.â
âI donât qualify to be one of your dating game contestants.â
âYouâre not coming to find a harem. Youâre coming because you need to have some fun in your life.â
âIâm not going on your cruise.â
The waitress arrived with our lunches. I inhaled my Cuban sandwich and sweet potato fries.
âI guess you were hungry,â Vada observed.
âYeah. I didnât eat breakfast this morning.â
âHave you lost weight?â
âNo.â
âIâm worried about you, Mandy,â she said. âWill you at least let me buy you some groceries?â
âAbsolutely not.â
âMandy!â
âJust drop it, Vada.â
***
I slid my key into the lock, wrestling to keep my umbrella over my head, my body already drenched from head to toe. Nothing beats an hour-long bus ride on a rainy morning.
âWhat happened to you?â my coworker gasped when I stepped inside the back entrance of the store.
âI had to take the bus.â
âThe bus?â
âYep. My car is in the shop.â
âHow horrible.â
âYes, it was.â
âI think your day is about to get worse,â she whispered. âFotune asked me to send you to her office as soon as you arrived.â
I swallowed past the lump forming in my throat, dread gnawing at my gut as I racked my brain to try and figure out what I was getting in shit for.
My feet felt like they had bricks strapped to them as I took the short walk to my bossâs office. I tapped lightly on her door and waited.
âCome in!â
âYou wanted to see me, Fotune?â
âYes,â she clipped. âSit.â
âHave I done something wrong?â
âIâm afraid Iâm going to have to let you go, Mandy.â
âWhy?â I gasped.
âI watched the security tapes from your last shift.â
âOkay,â I said slowly.
âI watch them every night. Your interactions with a male customer were extremely inappropriate.
âI was in the fitting room with his young daughter for eighteen minutes. During that time, you flirted nonstop with that man, and he with you. It was appalling to watch.â
âYou got all that from a grainy surveillance video?â
She turned her laptop around, a very un-grainy video playing on the screen. There was no sound. But the facial expressions and body language were enough to seal my fate.
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