Forbidden Attraction [The Callens 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (9 page)

She appreciated the concern in his voice. Apparently, he was only trying to give her an unobstructed view, not scare her to death. “I’m good.”

Now that she realized he’d made the plane do that on purpose, her pulse slowed, but the adrenaline still slammed through her veins. Their level flight allowed her to appreciate the size of the twenty-five thousand acres. If she added her dad’s brothers’ ranches, the Callen dynasty was three times as large.

“Are you ready for some fun?” There was a definite edge to his voice.

“Can you define fun?”

“This.” Before she could inhale, the plane turned upside down then righted again.

She couldn’t speak. She probably shouldn’t have grabbed his arm as he was trying to control the plane, but she would have appreciated a bit more warning. “Oh.”

He looked over at her. “I won’t do that again if you’re afraid.”

There went that dare again. “I’m good.” In fact, that partly wasn’t a lie. “I feel more alive than I have in a while.”

“That’s the blood returning to your brain that’s talking. What do you think about going a bit higher?”

If he wanted to dish it out, she’d take it. “Sure.”

Her head pressed against the backrest and the pressure of the climb was close to getting punched in her stomach. Okay, she was exaggerating, but she didn’t want to admit it was the fear talking.

He must have climbed for over a minute before leveling out. She could now see for miles. Mountains sat in the distance and the valley was dotted with browns and greens.

“Hold on. I’m taking this baby a bit closer to mother earth.”

Her fists clenched as he dipped the nose and dove. While the plane wasn’t going straight down, she could see the ground in front of her. She must have whimpered, for he immediately leveled off.

“You sure you’re okay?”

“Yes.”

He smiled. “For a virgin, you’re doing great.”

Her mouth was half open to refute his charge, when she realized he was talking about her being a first-time passenger in a two-seater. The grin on his face implied he’d meant to trick her. All she could do was laugh.

Having him in charge the whole time wasn’t in her nature. “Do another barrel roll.”

His brows pinched. “You sure?”

No.
“Yes.”

He looked at the instrument panel, probably to make sure they had enough room or something then flipped the plane over. The harness bit into her shoulders and her hair hung down. She stuck her hands in her jeans pocket and extracted her phone. “I want to take a picture.”

“Hurry.”

That didn’t help. She held the phone in front of her face and snapped the photo. Later, she’d look at the masterpiece. “Okay.”

He righted the plane and the blood drained back to her racing heart. Now that they were level, all seemed right with the world. He did a few more maneuvers, but they seemed calm compared to being upside down or diving toward the earth.

“How did you end up working on monster trucks?” Maybe this wasn’t the time to talk, but he couldn’t shrug and walk away.

“School bored me. I really didn’t see the purpose. I worked with Chris Carlton, who was an engineer and a neighbor, all through middle school and high school. He was my university.”

“You sound like he was a father figure, too.”

“He was.”

“You don’t regret your choices?” She wondered if he thought about going back to school.

“No. I’m doing what I love and get paid well. When I got my pilot’s license, I had to put in a certain number of hours each month for training. That cost money, but I was successful. I consider myself well educated. I don’t have a piece of paper stating that I theoretically know how to do stuff.”

“I see.”

“I don’t think you do. Let me put into your terms. Suppose you go to med school and learn everything, but are never allowed to touch a scalpel. What you know is only from books. How good of a surgeon would you be?”

“I’d be terrible, which is why they make us do years of residency.”

“My point exactly. I skipped right to residency. I can do the work. In the end, that’s all that matters. Neither Bill Gates nor Richard Branson, head of Virgin Air, finished college. In Branson’s case, he dropped out of high school at age sixteen. Look what both men accomplished.”

His tone bordered on defensive, but she couldn’t provide a counter example.

Moments later, he announced he was landing. When the wheels touched down, she was almost disappointed the flight hadn’t lasted longer.

They taxied back to the tie-down space. Jackson was there. She couldn’t wait for him to hold her. Though she had to admit that being with Taylor gave her a new perspective. To get a pilot’s license took a lot of training. The man did have ambition.

When he landed, he popped open the canopy. Jackson hopped on top of the wing and held out his hand. “How did it go?”

She genuinely had a fantastic time. “Great.”

She unhooked her harness and let Jackson help her out of the plane. Her legs nearly crumpled.

“Easy there.”

How embarrassing was that? Jackson jumped to the ground and held open his arms. She dropped to her butt and let him guide her down. Taylor was right behind her. He tied down the plane and checked that he left the plane in as good a condition as he found it.

Jackson wrapped an arm around her waist and led her back to the car. “I called the man who made the sculpture, and he said he could deliver the piece tonight.”

“Do you know where you’re going to put it?” The style wasn’t even close to anything in the house, except for maybe the modern kitchen.

“No, but we’ll figure it out.”

Taylor climbed into the backseat of the truck again. “I’m thinking of putting it in the foyer. That way, every time we walk into the house, we’ll think of you.”

Where had that sentimental comment come from? “That’s sweet.”

Jackson started the car. “We need to stop at the store and pick up some food that Jenny likes. While we cook, we can wait for the delivery of our artwork.”

These men were so considerate. When they got to the store, they headed to the meat department. She thought they might have gone the pasta route, given the house appeared so European. Then again, it came furnished.

“Chicken, steak, pork, or lamb?” Taylor asked.

When she didn’t answer, Jackson placed a hand on her shoulder. “We can do fish if you don’t eat red meat.”

She laughed. “I’m a Callen. I bet all the meat here came from our ranch. If I didn’t eat red meat, I’d have been disowned a long time ago.”

“Then you choose the cut of meat. You’re the expert.”

She liked to cook, so she picked out what appeared to be a good cut of beef. “I can make a mean vegetable medley, too, to go with the steak.”

Jackson smiled. “I knew there was a reason we liked you.”

“You and Jackson get the veggies, and I’ll pick up some other stuff we need.”

Even though this was a mundane chore, it was fun going with these guys trying to figure out what all three of them liked. Jackson seemed to know Taylor’s likes and dislikes. He picked up a variety of vegetables, but discarded his choices because Taylor didn’t eat it.

Finally, they came up with two vegetables. She waved her choices. “Are we in agreement with broccoli and green beans?”

“Yes, even though veggies aren’t high on Taylor’s
need to eat
list.”

From his fitness level, she would have guessed that was all he ate beside protein. They met at the checkout counter. She couldn’t believe the amount of junk Taylor had bought. At least he included strawberries. Taylor paid even though she tried to donate her share.

“You’re our date tonight.”

She liked the sound of that. They stored the food in back and drove home.

“I’ll get the grill going,” Taylor said.

“I’ll work on the veggies.”

Jackson looked between them. “I’ll be the helper.”

She’d need some guidance to find everything. Within forty-five minutes they had a gourmet-looking meal set out on the terrace. With the backdrop of the shimmering pool, it couldn’t get much more romantic.

Taylor placed a steak on her place. “One medium-rare steak for you, madam.”

He dropped one on his plate and one on Jackson’s. When she cut into her piece, the juices ran out. One bite and she felt like she’d traveled to heaven. Her dad was a superb cook, and this piece of meat was every bit as good as any her dad had ever prepared.

They chatted about the plane ride as well as Jackson’s upcoming show. The band, Righteous Warriors, was going on tour, but he said he would be working on some of his ideas while they were gone.

They finished their meal, and she stood to clear the dishes. Taylor placed a hand on her arm. “I’ll do that.”

She was about to object until Jackson stood. “You want to see our workroom?”

“Sure.”

She appreciated that Taylor was letting her get some alone time with Jackson. It had been hard with Taylor always around.

Before they left the porch, the doorbell rang. Taylor rushed to answer it. “I bet it’s the artist with the sculpture.”

Jackson turned them around. “Let’s go see.”

She loved that he was excited about the new purchase. Taylor had the door open when they got there. The artist and the sculpture greeted them.

“Let’s place it in the foyer.”

Together Taylor and the artist brought it in. Even though it was quite modern, it looked good there.

Taylor smiled. “What do you think?” He glanced to both of them.

Jackson stroked a hand over the fender. “It’s perfect.” He faced her. “What you do think?”

“I like it.”

Since they’d already paid the man, they thanked him and handed him a tip.

Taylor smiled. “Makes me want to buy another cycle.”

She didn’t like that idea, but thought it better to keep her opinion to herself.

Jackson held out his arm. “Now that we have that out of the way, let me show you where I like to spend my time.”

They went out through the pool area. At least a four-car garage sat about a hundred feet behind the house, but they had to cut through a formal garden to get there.

“Who takes care of the place?” Both men seemed so busy.

“We have a gardener.”

She hadn’t expected that answer. “That’s got to be expensive.”

“To be honest, this is Taylor’s family home.”

That explained a lot. She wondered if his parents had died and left him the estate. They reached the garage, and Jackson led her inside. He flipped on the lights.

“Wow.” Two thirds of the space was crammed with equipment.

“I know. It’s a bit messy. This is my half.”

It looked like an electronics store. “You do all the experimentation and design work here?”

“Yup.” He walked over to a panel and flipped on a bunch of switches.

Different colored lights swirled around the room. He must have hit another lever, because a loud boom sounded and a puff of smoke lifted off the ground. She giggled. “This is incredible.” The main light panel came on, bathing the room in white fluorescence. “I liked it dimmer.”

“Your wish is my command.”

The harsh lights got softer, and in its place appeared a combination of pink and blue lights that made swirl patterns on the wall.

Jackson edged behind her and wrapped his arms around his waist. “I’m glad you had a good time today.”

The lights mesmerized her. He turned her around and lifted her onto a table. He stepped between her legs and kissed her. “I’ve wanted to do that ever since we went to the art show.”

“You could have. I don’t think Taylor would have cared.”

“Taylor would have insisted he join in.”

Conflicting emotions slammed into her. “He was serious about the ménage?”

“We like to share some things. And one of them is you.”

Jenny’s heart nearly stopped. She wouldn’t say she was completely taken off guard, but Jackson didn’t seem the type to share. “Why?”

“Why you? Or why do we like to share?”

“I guess both.” Her mind clouded. Desire flooded through her brain thinking about having both men.

“You’re everything we want in a woman. You’re beautiful, spunky, smart, and fun.”

She appreciated the compliment, but that didn’t quite satisfy her. “Okay, then why share?”

“Have you ever had two men worship you at the same time?”

“No.” She wasn’t sure she’d even had one man worship her.

“There are times when one of us isn’t around, and we don’t want you ever to be lacking. The sensual pleasure is more than double with two men. The experience will be unlike anything you’ve ever known. Trust me when I say a satisfied woman makes us happy.”

She’d never heard that explanation before. True, Sam and April had told her how amazing it was to have two men, but she’d never asked her brothers why they liked to share.