Build a Love (Siren Publishing Ménage and More)
Page 1
Build a Love
Harriet Kempton has spent the last twelve years of her life being an Ice Queen to protect her heart. Stabbed, raped, and left for dead, she can no longer trust any man. She is shocked when she meets two handsome builders, Bryan Garrett and Marco Campione. Harry feels an instant attraction to them both and wonders if it’s time to take a chance on love again. But can she get over her past and move on? Even more important—can she accept a relationship with not one but two men? Two men who have a loving sexual relationship with each other but want Harry to complete them. Harry has a demon to fight if she has any chance of future happiness. Will these men stand alongside her and help her or will her past be too much for them to handle?
Note: This book is written in first-person point of view.
Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre
Length: 54,859 words
BUILD A LOVE
Suzy Shearer
MENAGE AND MORE
MANLOVE
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage and More
BUILD A LOVE
Copyright © 2014 by Suzy Shearer
E-book ISBN: 978-1-63258-600-1
First E-book Publication: November 2014
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2014 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
Dear Readers,
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This is Suzy Shearer’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Suzy Shearer’s right to earn a living from her work.
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DEDICATION
“Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.”—Joseph Addison
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Epilogue
About the Author
BUILD A LOVE
Suzy Shearer
SUZY SHEARER
Copyright © 2014
Chapter One
“Yes, I’m certainly able to get it finished by the end of the week, Mr. Black. I’ll give you a call when it is ready to be collected.
“Of course. Yes, she was a beautiful subject to paint. I’ll have a good day, you have a nice day also. Thank you. Goodbye.”
Much as I enjoy my work, some of my clients drive me crazy!
I had taken on the task of painting the very rich and eccentric Mr. Black’s Chihuahua, Muffy, and after the first sitting I was regretting it. Mr. Black hovered over the dog and me, driving us both crazy. In the end, I took a few dozen photographs and after reassuring him that I would get all the dog’s facial nuances correct, they left.
Since then I have had a phone call from him every other day, asking how progress was, telling me how much the dog was looking forward to seeing it and wondering if he and Muffy should come over to check on things. I actually only had a few more hours’ work on the piece and it would be finished.
Each time the phone rang, I would grit my teeth and hope it wasn’t him. I kept telling myself “remember the commission”—it would be the final amount I needed to pay for my renovation of the studio without getting into debt.
I work as an artist and take commissions as well as doing book covers and illustrations. I have a steady good income from the book work, so any commissions I take on give me extra money. My studio needed enlarging, I needed more storage space and wanted a separate area where I could setup my commission work without interfering with any other work. I had two easels but it was crowded when they were both in use. If I had commission work, I was known for my portraits and nudes. I wanted the separate area arranged for that.
I had finally settled on a design with B.A.C. Constructions. I spent time getting a number of quotes from different builders, theirs wasn’t the cheapest but it was the most professional. They had branches interstate and had a good reputation when I did some online sleuthing.
My design had been approved by the local Council and now I just needed to iron out the little details before I gave the company permission to proceed. The best thing was Mr. Black’s portrait of Muffy would give me a little extra just in case I wanted anything added along the way.
This afternoon I had an appointment scheduled with the person who would be overseeing the project, so hopefully they would be able to start immediately. I was a little disappointed. The company secretary had rung to say the overseer I had been working with was suddenly sent to a different project and now I had to deal with someone new. I just hope he, or she, was not the pushy type who figured they knew more than the client did and refuse to compromise.
A little more work on Muffy, then I cleaned up my brushes before the person arrived. B.A.C. had just told me that the new person would be here ar
ound one this afternoon for a “walk-through” and to finalise any small details before they set a date to start work.
I brushed my hair. It was down to my waist and in a messy pony tail, so I quickly braided it into a single plait down my back. I made sure I had no paint on my face and checked I looked reasonably tidy. Although, if whoever it was didn’t like paint stained jeans and T-shirt, that was their bad luck. I was ready just before the doorbell rang a few minutes after one.
I was a little surprised when I opened the door. The man in front of me was rather cute and I could vaguely remember seeing him a few times in the offices when I had dropped off some information with the company.
Mr. Cutie held out his hand.
“Hi. Harriet Kempton? I’m Bryan Garrett, call me Bryan.”
His handshake was firm and I felt a tingle of electricity, or at least chemical attraction. He was all muscle, very tall, broad and maybe 6’8” to my 5’9”. He had gray hair, well more salt and pepper, I guess. He looked to be around forty-five and he had gorgeous blue eyes: you know, the ones that seem ice blue and oh-so sexy.
“Hello Bryan, come in please.”
I stood aside and then shut the door behind him. He stood against the wall and let me lead the way down to the studio. I had a door that linked it to my house through the large kitchen-family room now, but would have a doorway in the studio itself in the renovations so I would no longer have to have clients walk through the house.
He looked around the room and out through the windows.
“You have plenty of room for the extension. I understand you want a separate entrance, another large room, a storage area, bathroom, and a small kitchen area?”
“Yes, that’s correct. I don’t want to drag people through the house any longer. I also want the windows here on the northern side increased in size to match the ones in the extension.”
He looked at the windows, then me. “Do you need them that large? I mean that’ll take up almost the entire wall.”
I got the impression he thought it was a silly idea.
“I’m aware of that but it lets in natural light and I prefer to work that way.”
He nodded. “That makes sense.” Then he continued to prowl.
“The brief said you wanted to be able to open the window wall in the extension all the way.”
“Yes”
“And you want a kitchen? Isn’t it just as easy to use the one you have? I mean it is just behind the main wall.”
For some reason I got the idea he was trying to egg me on. I tried to remain professional.
“I know how close it is, however I hate dragging palettes in there to wash them. I also would prefer to be able to offer my clients a coffee or a cool drink from here and not leave them in here alone.”
“Okay, I didn’t think of that.”
I felt like saying “thank you” in a sarcastic voice but I refrained. This guy, cute as he was, was starting to rub me the wrong way.
“You mention that you’d like a covered deck on the side and a covered verandah at the front.”
“Yes.”
He looked at me as if expecting me to explain why but I refused to.
“And you want double French doors that open onto the side deck?”
“Yes.”
“So the verandah at the front will match what is already on your house.”
“Yes”
“Plus you want something erected to screen that side deck from the front verandah?”
“Yes.” I was getting exasperated.
He looked at me, there was a tiny smirk on his face. At that point I knew he was annoying me on purpose and was doing it just to see what I would do.
“You’d like to start this as soon as possible, I imagine.”
“Yes, please.”
The smirk got a little bigger.
“I read you wanted a powder room put in as well, big enough to be a change room and have a toilet and hand basin.”
“Yes.” He was really irking me now.
“Okay. I think I have the idea.”
“Good. When can you start?”
“It is Wednesday today, so how about next Monday? We have approval so we can start the foundations. I just needed to get a feel for the build now that I am taking over the site management.”
It sounded like his needling me was over. He moved back to where I had been standing. I could smell his cologne, very musky and masculine.
“How long will it take?”
“Providing the weather is kind, about six to eight weeks.”
That would work out well. I had cleared my commission work for the next ten weeks. Only had a first sitting for a portrait then and a week later a sitting for a nude, which I was hoping could happen in my new extension. My other work as an illustrator would continue, actually, it would give me a chance to get up-to-date with that.
He spread out the plans, pulled on a pair of reading glasses and asked me to check they were correct. I pulled on my glasses, leant over the desk and could feel him close beside me as I read them.
Pointing to the back deck I asked, “Can you go down on here?”
I looked at him and I think that smirk was back.
“You want me to go down on there?”
I think I blushed when I realised how he had taken my words. I tried to set him right.
“I just wondered if you could take the decking down along the side of the house. It could link up with the old deck I have in the back of my house.”
“Oh, I see.” He was definitely smirking. “Yes, we can do that.”
He moved to where I wanted the storage area.
“There’s a cabinet to be placed in here. To replace this old one. Very deep with drawers. You want the bottom two drawers to be deeper. Wouldn’t it be easier for you if they were all similar in size or if you had the deeper ones at the top? Easy to reach for you.”
There was an old set of map drawers I used, so I got down on my haunches in front of them. He followed me over. I looked up at him, my hand on the bottom drawer.
“When I go down, sometimes it gets hard and I have to pull a lot.”
His face contorted as if he was holding back a laugh. I was puzzled until I realised what I had said and how he had taken it. I blushed, especially when I realised my face was at crotch height and, unless I was very mistaken, there was an interesting bulge that was growing somewhat.
“The drawers, they get hard to pull. I thought if they were deeper, I would be able to pull them easy, plus I could fit more in. I prefer to store things in the bottom ones that I don’t use as often.”
Still grinning he replied, “Oh yes, I see.”
Great! This was not going well. I went to stand and he held his hand out for me. I did not want to appear rude so I took it. He pulled me up close to him and held onto my hand a little longer than necessary.
“Okay. I’ll just write all this up so it’s clear.”
He looked around for somewhere to sit. The two office chairs were covered in piles of papers, I was trying to move things before the work started. There was a chaise longue that I used, often with my nudes, that was clear except for a cushion so he sat there. Bryan pushed the cushion closer to the end and I gave a start when I saw something purple sticking out.
I groaned softly.
I remembered I had come in here with my friendly rabbit last night. I love lying on the chaise, I was intending to relax and play when the phone had rung and I had tossed it on the chaise. I sent a silent prayer up “please don’t move the cushion again” and tried to look relaxed.
Bryan was writing and had not heard, or took no notice of, my groan. He finished writing and looked up at me.
“Can you check this, please?”
I watched in dismay as he reached for and picked up the cushion, throwing it on the floor. There in all its glory was my purple rabbit.
Please floor, please open and swallow me up!
He looked at the rabbit, then me. Picking it up, he handed i
t to me.
“You may need this.”
I grabbed it off him and tried to shove it in the drawer of my work desk. Instead, it caught on something and as I tried to jiggle it in the damn thing switched on. The more I tried the worse things got. In the end, I ripped it out of the drawer, turned it off, dashed into the main house and threw it on the counter.
Taking a deep breath to compose myself, I walked back into the studio. He was almost bent double with laughter. I have never been so embarrassed in my life. Bryan looked up at me and tried hard to look professional. I gritted my teeth and asked him if there was anything else he needed from me.
“No, but I’m available if you need anything from me.”
My blush got deeper as I realised what he was offering. He stood and my eyes were drawn to the bulge in his pants. I pulled my eyes upward and saw he was watching me.
I was so flustered, I wanted him out—now! Turning, I led the way through the door. I could feel him behind me. We reached the kitchen, the rabbit sitting there in all its glory. I rushed passed and went to the front door.
“It’s been very interesting meeting you, Ms. Kempton. I’m really looking forward to working with you. I’ll um…I’ll see you on Monday morning about seven-thirty or eight o’clock.”
I cleared my throat and shook his hand. “Thank you, Mr. Garrett.”
The smile on his face was so wicked, I just knew exactly what he was thinking and what his words had meant.
He nodded his head and walked away. I slammed the door and leant against it. Oh hell, that was so embarrassing and, if I was honest, a turn-on.
I walked back to the kitchen. The rabbit looked so innocent lying there. Well I would show it!