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Electronic Release: April 2014

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and occurrences are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places or occurrences, is purely coincidental.

Melda longs for permanence, which she’s found with her two foster sisters, Deja and Skye, who love her as if they were blood sisters. She’s had the same job for Hines Property Management since she was sixteen, and though Mr. Hines is hard to deal with at times, she won’t leave. The only adventurous thing she’s done lately is to take an unknown Marine as a pen pal.

Her Marine turns out to be three Marines who happen to share the same last name. When they leave the desert behind, they have one plan. Find Melda and persuade her to give them a chance. Houston, Darius, and Cruz have no problem sharing and are willing to follow whatever rules she sets, in order to win her over.

Three men. Three dates. And three unforgettable nights of pleasure. Let the seduction begin.

As always, this one goes out to the fans! Without you, I’m just a woman with a dream. With you, I’m a woman living her dream! Big difference, and it’s all because of you guys!
Also, a big shout out to my editor who deals with my craziness almost daily and still continues to work with me! Love you, Andrea!
And to all the staff at Resplendence Publishing, you are the best! I’ve found more than a publishing house. I’ve found a family!

Chapter One

“I can’t believe you’re doing it!” Melda exclaimed.

Deja didn’t do permanent. It was one of the reasons Melda’s sister worked as a temp, floating between the jobs her employer sent her on. Deja was the one always looking for a new adventure, Skye was the assertive, take-charge one, and Melda was the dependable one.

“Officially turned my keys in yesterday,” Deja said and held out her glass of wine. “I’m a kept woman.”

Skye snickered at that. “You’ve only just moved in. We’ll have to wait a bit to see if they decide to keep you.”

Deja threw her napkin at Skye, sending Melda off into another fit of giggles.

“The last thing I’m worried about is them not wanting to keep me,” Deja stated. “I’m more concerned we’ll all be too tired to remember we have jobs and want to spend the day in bed.”

“Rub it in,” Skye muttered.

“I’m so happy for you,” Melda said as tears filled her eyes. “I can see how much they mean to you.” She took Deja’s hands in hers and squeezed them. “I hope everything works out perfectly for you.”

“It’s real life, Melda,” Deja reminded her. “Perfect doesn’t exist. We’re going to fight. I’m going to get pissed and tick them off on a regular basis.”

“Good, I was afraid you might change,” Skye offered with a grin.

“Funny.” Deja laughed before turning back to Melda. “But I am happy. They’re happy. And I feel confident we’ll be able to work through whatever comes our way.” She nodded her head as if acknowledging her feelings. “I am happy, happier than I’ve ever been, or at least the happiest I’ve been since I found you two and gained sisters.”

A tear spilled down Melda’s cheek.

“Oh, God, don’t start the waterworks,” Skye groaned.

“I was just thinking of how happy Mrs. Potts would have been for us,” Melda said with a sniffle.

Deja reached for her hand, and Skye took the other one, so they were all linked together.

“To Mrs. Potts, the best foster mom three girls could have,” Deja said, holding her wine up with her free hand.

Melda knew they were all missing the only mom they’d ever really had. Mrs. Potts had passed away a few years ago from a brain aneurism. No warning. She’d been there one day and gone the next. And they all felt a little empty without her.

“I bet she’d be all kinds of excited about you shacking up with three hunky doctors,” Skye said.

“Shut up, Skye!” Melda and Deja both yelled out, lightening the mood and sending them all into laughter again.

“Sorry,” Skye said once she’d caught her breath. “I couldn’t resist. I can just hear her now. ‘Deja, what in the world are you thinking, girl? You need to take all the men for yourself? And here you have two single sisters, just waiting for Mr. Right to step in.’”

They all started laughing again at just how accurate Skye’s mimicking probably was.

Skye’s phone beeped, and Melda watched as her sister picked it up and glanced at the screen before setting it back down.

“You okay, Skye?” Deja asked, and it didn’t surprise Melda that Deja had noticed Skye’s distraction too. They were all pretty adept at knowing when something was wrong.

“It’s mostly work. This new bouncer has me on edge,” she admitted with a weary sounding sigh. Then she dropped a bombshell on them. “And I just found out Rance was shot.”

“Holy shit!” Deja exclaimed.

“Is he okay?” Melda interjected.

Rance was a friend to all of them, though he made no secret of the fact he had his eyes set on Skye. He and his brothers had grown up in the house next door, and they’d often played together. He was an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigations and was gone a lot. But every time he came home, he hunted Skye up and made a point of saying hello. Melda was pretty sure Skye had slept with him, more than once, but Rance was the one subject Skye refused to discuss normally.

“He’s in the hospital. His mom said he’s coming home to recover for a bit once he’s released. He’s got a couple of buddies taking leave to help watch over him. I get the impression there’s a concern that whoever shot him might come back to finish the job.”

“Oh, my God,” Deja said again. “Is he in hiding then?”

Skye shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t heard from him in a while.”

“What?” Melda demanded.

Rance always wrote to Skye. It was something they always teased her about. In a day and age when most people chose text messages or emails, Rance wrote letters and mailed them. It was romantic.

“The last letter I got was about him being gone for a bit on a case they were digging into. He said he’d get in touch when he could. Then…nothing.”

“When will he be home?” Deja asked. “Let him know I have three of the best doctors in the city at my beck and call if he needs anything.”

Skye nodded. “I’ll make sure his mom knows.”

“So what’s up with this bouncer? He’s still giving you trouble?” Melda changed the subject, knowing Skye would be hesitant to say any more about Rance.

“He’s a fucking pain in my ass,” Skye huffed. “I can’t prove it yet, but I swear he’s intimidating some of the girls on staff.”

“Shit, you don’t think he’s a rapist do you?” Deja asked.

Skye shrugged. “I’m not sure what he is. He puts on this pleasant face and smarmy act whenever I’m around. But I can see a mean streak in him. I’ve had to intervene a few times when he was escorting people out because he was rougher than needed with them. Plus, we’ve had a couple of fights at the new club that I swear he instigated.”

She shook her head. “I caught him in the back hallway the other night with one of the waitresses pinned between him and the wall. I couldn’t see much, but it appeared as if he had his hands on her, and not in a desired fashion. I had to say something twice before he moved away from her. She looked relieved and took off quickly. He looked pissed, and for a minute I seriously wondered if he was going to hit me.”

“No way,” Melda breathed out.

Skye was brassy, brazen, and thanks to a bouncer at the bar who was a MMA fighter and a good friend, well trained.

“He knows I’m watching him,” Skye told them. “He reined in his temper real quick, put that smile on his face, and gave me the ‘yes, ma’am’.”

“Did you try to talk to the waitress?” Deja demanded.

“She wouldn’t say anything, but I could tell she was scared. I did my best to let her know she could tell me anything. Then I gave her my card with my cell phone number on it and told her to call me if she felt like talking.”

“Shit, have you said anything to your boss?” Melda wanted to know.

“Yes, he told me to keep watch and let him know if I find proof of anything. He isn’t much on convicting without any evidence.” Skye shrugged her shoulders. “And that is enough of that. I believe Melda said she had something to talk to us about.”

“That’s right,” Deja agreed. “And she’s been quiet about it. Time to spill, girl! Who is he?”

Melda knew her face was getting red. She could feel the heat of it in her cheeks.

“I do believe she’s blushing!” Skye chortled then sobered abruptly. “Please tell me that letch you work for hasn’t done something. I swear to God I’ll kill him if he’s hurt you.”

“No, he’s harmless,” Melda said as she always did. Her sisters hated Mr. Hines, the man she’d worked for since she was a junior in high school. His hands did wander, and Melda had to remind him often to keep them to himself. But things had looked up when he finally showed up with a girlfriend and hired an office assistant. But the girlfriend hadn’t lasted, and the new office girl had already said if Mr. Hines patted her ass one more time she was gone.

“Well, then, spill it!” Deja ordered.

Where did she begin? “I’ve been writing letters to someone for the last eighteen months. I…I took a lesson from Rance and stuck with writing letters instead of email or any other form of communication. It helped that the man I was writing to was overseas.”

“Was?” Skye prompted.

“Oh, I don’t know what to say and what isn’t important.”

“So tell us everything,” Deja said with a grin, while Skye nodded in agreement.

“Okay…okay…” Melda took a deep breath. “I found this post online about writing letters to soldiers deployed in the Middle East. The more I read, the more I wanted to write a letter. So I did.” She shrugged. “I just wrote a general one page letter saying who I was, a little about my family and job, and offered to write to anyone who was interested. About six weeks later, I got a letter from a Marine.”

“That’s so cool!” Skye enthused. “I can’t believe you didn’t say anything about it.”

“I…It just seemed private.”

“You fell in love with him in those letters, didn’t you?” Deja asked.

Melda’s eyes got a little teary again as she nodded. “He writes the most beautiful poetry. He shared with me that he lost his mother when he was younger. He made me laugh talking about his father and how loving and affectionate his family is. He’s perfect, just perfect.”

“So what happened?” Skye asked. “You said he was overseas.”

Melda nodded. “He returned to the States last week.”

“And?” Deja asked.

“He wants to come here and meet in person. He’s sent me pictures, but it’s always of him and his two buddies. I’m not sure which one is him.”

“Pictures!” Deja snorted. “I want to see!”

“Me, too,” Skye agreed.

“I’ll go grab them real quick.” Melda almost raced down the hall of her house and grabbed the rubber-banded pack of letters from the top of her dresser along with the pictures he’d sent. Deja and Skye were reaching for them as soon as she stepped back into the living room. She plopped down on the couch between then and curled her feet underneath her. Then she split the pictures between her friends and waited to see what they thought.

“Good Lord!” Deja groaned. “Does it really matter which one he is? They’re all gorgeous!”

“And look at those arms! Holy shit! They’re fucking built, especially the tallest one. He looks like a freaking tank.” Skye marveled, making Melda grin.

“Okay, this is easy,” Deja said. “In the letters, did he say he was white, black, or Latino?”

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