Soul
Page 25
Aunt Millie pinched her lips together and flicked her first nail against her thumb over and over again. The incessant ticking almost made me lose my shit. How could she be so calm, so callous? A man’s life, my life, and the life of my baby sister hung in the balance. She didn’t care for Dad, but she’d always had a soft spot for me and my sister.
Millie’s eyes shot to mine, fierce and sparkling with an unknown excitement. “It can be done, in a year. Do you think they’d give you a year if you made payments?” Her eyebrow came into a point as she focused her full attention on me.
The hairs on my arms started to rise, and I jutted my shoulders back in defense. I shook my head. “I don’t know. I’m sure Blaine wants his money, and since we had a thing a while ago, I could probably plead. That sick, sadistic fucker always liked me down on my knees begging.”
“Keep your sexual escapades to yourself, doll-face,” she grinned wickedly. “Looks like we’ll just have to put you to work right away. Top dollar accounts only. We need to move up everything. I’m going to need you here first thing tomorrow morning for the photo shoot. It will be an all-day event. We’ll shoot stills, some video, etc. I’ll have my guys get them up on the secure site by the following day.”
It was all happening so fast. The words “It can be done” rang through my ears like a life line, a raft out in open water surrounded by sharks, but still afloat.
“But do I have to sleep with them? I mean I know there’s different kinds of escorts.” I closed my eyes waiting until I felt something warm clasp my hand. She had covered both of mine with hers.
“Doll-face, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. But in order to make that kind of money, you ought to consider it. My clients and I have an unwritten agreement, if you will. My girls sleep with them, and they add twenty percent to their fee. That twenty percent is left in cash, in an envelope in my girl’s room. None of that is exchanged with me or my service, as prostitution is illegal in California.” Millie touched her chin with her index finger. “But my girls should get more for the convenience, don’t you think?” She winked. I nodded lamely, not knowing what to think but going along with it anyway.
“I’m going to book you by the month. It’s the only way to make a six figure paycheck each month.” Her pale green eyes looked bright. So much so that I almost believed this could be easy if I just had an open mind. “You’ll be flown wherever the man is, and be whatever he needs for that month. However, I do not sell sex. If you sleep with them, it’s because you want to, although when you see some of the men I have on a waiting list, you’ll think twice about not hopping into the sack, not to mention the extra payout.” She grinned and then stood. She walked around her glass desk, sat down, then turned to her computer silently dismissing me. I felt stuck to the leather seat incapable of moving. Thoughts of how the hell I’d make this work swirled like vicious vultures through my mind, hunting and pecking at my morals one by one as if they were living prey available for the taking.
“I’ll do it,” I heard myself whisper.
“Of course you will.” She looked at me over her computer. Her lips turned into a crooked grin. “You haven’t any other option if you want to save your father.”
* * *
The next day was a whirlwind of activity. I felt like Sandra Bullock’s character in Miss Congeniality. I’d been prodded at, scrubbed, plucked, and waxed to within an inch of my life. I felt like a human pin cushion and almost ended up punching out the beauty consultant Millie hired to “fix” me. Her words, not mine. I couldn’t deny the proof was in the pudding. When I looked in the mirror, I barely recognized the woman staring back. My long black hair was shinier than ever, falling into perfect waves down my back and over my shoulders. Everywhere the light touched my skin, a shimmer effect twinkled back. The normal sun-kissed tanned look that I’d worked on for weeks in the California sun now shone like a fine honey, really highlighting all of my best features. The dress she had me in was lavender, comfortable and slinky. Fitting perfectly along each rounded curve and toned edge giving it the desired effect. Sexy and sleek. I looked like a dark angel as the photographer set me on a cold white marble bench. He moved me this way and that, and before long, I actually got the hang of pouting prettily and staring blankly off into the distance devoid of emotion. That’s what I had to be now. Emotionless.
Once we were finished, and I’d redressed into my street clothes, which always consisted of jeans and a tight tee, I made my way back to Millie, or Ms. Milan’s, office.
“Doll-face, these shots are magnificent! I always knew you’d be perfect for modeling.” She clicked at her computer as I walked around and glanced at what she was seeing. All the air left my lungs as I took in the image of myself the photographer had taken.
“Amazing.” I lost my words for a moment. “I can’t believe that’s me.” I shook my head as one image after another loaded up to the Exquisite Escorts website. If I didn’t know for a fact that was me, I’d never believe it.
A slow smile slipped across my aunt’s lips. “You’re very beautiful.” Her light-eyed gaze caught mine. “You look so much like…“
“Whatever.” I shook my head and leaned a hip on her glass desk not wanting to hear how much she thought I looked like mother. “What next?” I asked while crossing my arms over my chest feeling a strange desire to protect myself against whatever was going to happen next.
She leaned back into her black leather chair, her eyes twinkling. “Want to see your first assignment?”
A slow sense of dread crept up my spine, but I stiffened my shoulders and looked at her with a bland expression. “Game on.”
Millie chuckled then clicked a few times into her internet browser bringing up an image of one of the most excruciatingly gorgeous men I’d ever seen. There was nothing that could take away from this man’s stunning good looks. Even in the overtly corporate headshot his dirty blond hair, green eyes, and chiseled jaw were something to write home about. His hair was long, layered, and had that messy, yet perfectly styled, appearance that was all the rage right now. Something didn’t add up. The man couldn’t be more than thirty. Plus, he was not the type of guy who would need to hire a date. He looked like the type of man women fell all over themselves and became brainless husks of lust for.
“I don’t get it. Why would he”—I pointed at the smiling good looking man in the picture—“need a date?”
My aunt leaned back, clasped her hands over her lap and smiled. “He chose you.”
I know I must have looked confused because she hurriedly continued. “I personally sent the first few test shots over to him and his mother. I work a lot with his mother. Anyway, he agreed to the match. He’ll send a car for you tomorrow morning. He’s in the area, but you still have to stay at his residence for the next twenty-four days.”
It’s possible my head had been hit by an imaginary baseball bat it shot back so fast. “Twenty-four days! Are you insane? How the hell am I going to take jobs or show up for auditions?” My acting career wasn’t much, but I did have a low-rent agent that sent me out on a few jobs here and there. And there was the restaurant I worked at in the evening.
Millie looked at me as if I had dared to grow a second head. Her lips compressed into a thin line, and her nose crunched up unattractively. “Mia, you will quit all your jobs for at least a year. You are now a paid employee of Exquisite Escorts. Your assignments will run from one to twenty-four days depending on the client’s needs. Since you need to make a lot of cash in a short amount of time, you need to take the bigger jobs. After the twenty-four days, you will have the remaining days in the month at home to relax, recoup, and repair any beauty needs. At the turn of each month on the calendar, you will be reassigned a new date.”
“I can’t believe this!” I started pacing her office, suddenly feeling like a caged animal needing to break free. It just dawned on me that my life as I knew it was over. There was no more going out on normal dates—not that I’d had any recently. No m
ore auditions, making my fledgling acting career a distant memory, and there would be little to no time to see Dad, Maddy, or Ginelle.
“Believe it little girl. This is not a joke. What your father, what your ex-boyfriend is doing has made this decision. You’re lucky I’m even making room for you. Don’t be an ingrate. Now sit down and shut up!” Her voice was completely devoid of its usual warmth having morphed into the cold, formal tone of a determined businesswoman.
“I’m sorry.” She was trying to help me, but this was all so…sudden. Unbelievable. I slumped into the chair in front of her desk and let my head fall into my hands. Shaking it repeatedly did not change the outcome. I was now a girl for hire. Each month I’d be assigned a new man, and if I slept with them, I’d make twenty percent more in cash.
I shook my head and laughed. The kind that proved I was bat-shit crazy. I leaned my head back onto the cool leather and looked up at the white ceiling. After a moment, a creeping resolve calmed me. This is what I had to do. So I let a sexy guy take me to boring business dinners and whatever else he had in mind. I didn’t have to sleep with them and, most importantly, there was no way I would fall in love. A new man each month wasn’t enough time to fall head over heels like I had in the past. Who says I have to give up my acting career? What better way to perfect my acting skill than by being whatever these men wanted me to be? Then, after the month was up, I’d be someone else and my dad would be safe. As long as I could get Blaine to agree to monthly payments, this could work.
With a deep breath I stood and put out my hand to my aunt. Her smile was wicked, yet still sexy. She was very good at her job. “Alright, Ms. Milan,” I emphasized her fake name so she’d understand my commitment. “Looks like I’m your new Calendar Girl.”
Continued in January Calendar Girl (Book 1)
Available for purchase now!
ALSO BY KURT VACHON
The Falling Series
Angel Falling
London Falling
Justice Falling
* * *
Trinity Trilogy
Body (Book 1)
Mind (Book 2)
Soul (Book 3)
* * *
Calendar Girl Serial
(New installments will be released every month throughout 2015)
January (Book 1)
February (Book 2)
March (Book 3)
April (Book 4)
May (Book 5)
June (Book 6)
July (Book 7)
August (Book 8)
September (Book 9)
October (Book 10)
November (Book 11)
December (Book 12)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
For this one, I don’t have to dig deep. It’s important that I give credit to my real life soul sisters without whom I wouldn’t have Maria, Kathleen, or Bree. Dyani Gingerich, Nikki Chiverrell, and Carolyn Beasley I love you. That deep, really intense kind of love, the kind that if I ever lost you my heart would break and my soul would shatter. This trilogy has been so much fun because the three of you allowed me to loosely base characters off of you and I think the readers connected with the story more because of them. Thank you for being you so I could be me. BESOS.
To my critique partner, Sarah Saunders, for all the endless conversations about where the characters were going, letting me work the plot out with you, loving it maybe even more than me…I can only say I appreciate you more than I can ever give you credit for within these pages. If every author had a critique partner like you, we’d all be best sellers!
To my editor Ekatarina Sayanova with Red Quill Editing, LLC, I like to joke that you’re smarter than a dictionary but I honestly believe it. You’re FREAKY smart. I like freaky.
Any author knows they aren’t worth their weight unless their story is backed by badass betas. I have the best!
Ginelle Blanch - I always say it, but I mean it with my whole heart…you prevent me from looking like an idiot. That alone makes you a rock star! Your beta’s are incredible, thoughtful, and right on point. Always. You’re someone I have come to count on and have become instrumental to my review process. I hope it always stays that way because I love you lady!
Jeananna Goodall - My number one fan, my pre-reader, my beta reader, my friend. So many titles for one lovely lady. It must be tiring being superwoman. You always cry over my characters because you live them the way I do and that is something very hard to define. Thank you for your unwavering commitment to my work. I love you more than you know.
Anita Shofner - I shall bow down to the queen of tenses and pass over the crown. You blow me away Anita. I don’t know how I got so damned lucky to score a chick with an uncanny ability to find such unique errors but I did, and you do, and I’m thankful. So humbled to have your talent on my team. Love you.
Lindsay Bzoza - My wicked fast beta girl. I bet if there was a race between you and speedy Gonzales, you’d win. My money is on you girl. Thank you for taking this on last minute.
To my street team, Audrey’s Angels I can hardly type these words I’m so filled with love and emotion for you. Each and every one of you gives me hope that one day my books will be read and enjoyed by the masses. You make me believe that one day my dream of being a New York Times bestselling author could come true. Thank YOU Angels for committing your time, energy, and effort into helping this indie succeed. BESOS Angels!
If you are interested in hanging out with the craziest, most loving, wild chicks in all the romance world, contact me via Facebook to get your wings and become and Angel.
Special Thanks:
Heather White - For making the most incredible teasers for this entire series…I give you one helluva Namaste my friend. Your art has brought attention to the series and there is no amount of thanks I can give for beauty like that. I think you’re extremely talented and I’m so thankful to have you in my corner, on my team, supporting my work but most importantly believing in me and being my friend. I love you to the moon and back.
Drue Hoffman with DRC Promotions - For setting up an incredible blog tour, sharing your amazing advice about the industry, and for becoming an amazing resource and most importantly, a friend. Schedule your blog tour today! www.drcpromotions.com
To Give Me Books and Kylie McDermott for spreading this book far and wide into the virtual stratosphere through your release day blitz…I owe you! Thank you to you and all your girls but especially my dream team Beth Cranford, Missy Borucki, and Devlynn Ihlenfeld. You ladies read my books and share your honest opinions and always find beauty in them. BESOS ladies!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Audrey Carlan lives in the sunny California Valley two hours away from the city, the beach, the mountains and the precious … the vineyards. She has been married to the love of her life for over a decade and has two young children that live up to their title of “Monster Madness” on daily basis. When she’s not writing wickedly hot romances, doing yoga, or sipping wine with her “soul sisters”, three incredibly different and unique voices in her life, she can be found with her nose stuck in book or her Kindle. A hot, smutty, romantic book to be exact!
Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated and feeds the soul.
You can contact Audrey below:
Email: carlan.audrey@gmail.com
Website: www.audreycarlan.com
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Table of Contents
Soul
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Epilogue
To the Reader
Excerpt from Calendar Girl: January
Also by Kurt Vachon
Acknowledgments
About the Author