The Callens 7
Love of Steel
Jade Callen, a beautiful, sexy blacksmith from Intrigue, Wyoming, is more comfortable bending steel than capturing a man’s heart. That’s because she fears she’ll end up like her mom—barefoot and pregnant. When her two heartthrobs, real estate developer Logan Smithfield and hunky theater director Parker Brandt, decide she’s the one, they ask her to create a wrought-iron sculpture for Logan’s model home and one for Parker’s new set.
Their contrived interactions are designed to break down Jade’s defenses. When Logan brings her to New Orleans for an architectural weekend, his plan works and she melts into his arms. Parker’s love of art then brings them together in a fiery way. But when talk turns to how many children she’d like, she mistakenly believes the two men only want her as a baby factory, and she withdraws. What will it take for them to permanently forge an unbreakable triangle?
Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Western/Cowboys
Length: 43,612 words
LOVE OF STEEL
The Callens 7
Melody Snow Monroe
MENAGE EVERLASTING
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting
LOVE OF STEEL
Copyright © 2012 by Melody Snow Monroe
E-book ISBN: 978-1-61926-883-8
First E-book Publication: August 2012
Cover design by Les Byerley
All art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
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Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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DEDICATION
I’d like to dedicate this book to all the women who work with their hands and can sweat like a man. God bless you.
LOVE OF STEEL
The Callens 7
MELODY SNOW MONROE
Copyright © 2012
Chapter One
“A little to the right.” Jade Callen instructed her cousin Dustin to adjust the handcrafted iron sign attached to the signpost at the ranch entrance. It needed to be perfect. After all, it was the thirtieth-anniversary present she’d made for her parents.
“That good?” He looked down from the ladder.
“Perfect.” The letter S sat inside the letter C, which stood for the Spencer Callen Ranch. She was pleased with the way the scrolls on the ends of the letters added a bit of dimension. “What do you think, Dad?”
He rubbed his chin. “It looks great. About time that old wooden sign got replaced.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Your nice little hobby came in handy.”
Her hands clenched at his comment. He probably hadn’t meant to trivialize her accomplishments, but she wished he’d recognized all the hard word and skill it took to become a blacksmith. “Dad, this isn’t a hobby. I make money creating iron designs.”
“For the time being. As soon as you meet the right man, you’ll settle down and do what comes naturally.”
Don’t argue with him today. She had no intention of becoming barefoot and pregnant like her mom. Getting knocked up at sixteen and popping out nine kids translated to a nightmare to her. The only good she could see was that her mom seemed happy.
Dustin got down from the ladder and tossed it in the back of his truck. “You want to ride back with me, Jaden?”
It’s Jade. “Sure.” She didn’t know why her whole family called her by her full name. It sounded too much like a man’s name.
She hopped into Dustin’s front seat and inhaled that new-car smell. “How’s Tracey doing?” Dustin’s wife was due to deliver their first baby any day now.
“Uncomfortable, but she’ll be fine. I swear Colby never leaves her side, which is why he couldn’t make the celebration today.”
“I totally understand.” He sounded so excited. She wanted children but on her own terms.
They followed her father down the half-mile dirt drive. Dad parked in the garage while Dustin pulled in front. “Looks like almost every relative is here.”
She chuckled. “Free food and good company always draw a Callen crowd.” Smoke from the barbecue billowed from behind the ranch. As soon as she opened the door, the smell of charcoal and sizzling steak hit her. She inhaled. “I love a good cookout.”
“Amen. Heath volunteered to do the grilling.” Dustin’s sister got a great deal marrying the Watson brothers. Boy, could the man cook or what?
A group of musicians were setting up under a large tent. Apparently, another cousin’s husband, Jackson, did lighting for the band Righteous Warriors, and they agreed to come play for free. Given they did concerts to packed concert halls, it was a real coup to have them here.
She rubbed her arms as she rushed inside. Even though her parents’ home was eight-thousand square feet, the oversized living room was packed, and the noise was a bit loud. She ditched her coat on one of the chairs and immediately spotted her best friend and assistant, Dakota Smith. Her bleached-blonde, spiked hair that had streaks of magenta, green, and blue was hard to miss.
She slipped next to her friend. “Hey.”
Dakota turned around, slightly bent her knees,
wrapped her arms around her shoulders, and looked to the ceiling. “Your brothers are so hot.”
“To you maybe.”
Morgan was a year younger than she was, and Clint was two years younger, but she’d have to be blind not to see they were hunky men. “Go talk to them.”
Dakota rolled her eyes. “They hate me.”
Jade had suggested that if she got rid of the nose ring, the eyebrow studs, and the tongue ring that maybe her brothers would realize what a great girl she was. “They do not.” She didn’t want to get into this tired discussion.
Dakota’s eyes widened, and she grabbed Jade’s wrist and shook it. “Oh, my God. Logan Smithfield is here. He’s talking to Dustin, and they’re standing by the front door.”
Jade froze. He was the man of her dreams. Okay, he was one of two dream men. Logan had to be one of the most eligible bachelors in Intrigue. The man not only owned his own jet plane, but he was developing a thirteen-hundred-acre plot of land with green homes. Callen Construction, owned by Dustin, was doing the building.
She retrieved her wrist. “Do you see Parker Brandt?” He lived in Logan’s guesthouse. Not being related to anyone here, there was no reason for him to be here except that Logan might have wanted someone to hang out with.
“No, but he could be anywhere.” Thank God she had Dakota to scour the room for her. Jade wouldn’t know how to act if Logan or Parker spotted her staring.
A group had congregated outside to chat while the food cooked, and she bet there’d be a group in the game room, shooting pool. Parker could be anywhere.
“Jaden.” Her fourteen-year-old baby sister tugged on her arm. “Did you see him?”
She groaned out loud. Why did the youngest girl have to be the one who’d found about her little crush? “Yes, now scat. Go help Mom. This is her anniversary, and she shouldn’t have to do all the work.”
“She likes to cook and prepare for parties.”
“Go.” It would be hard to socialize if the rug rat was underfoot.
“Fine.” Her sister pranced off toward the kitchen.
A bowl of chips sat unattended on the coffee table. “I’m famished.” She wasn’t, but she needed something to do with her hands.
“I’m going to go bug Clint and Morgan.” Dakota winked, as if her best friend realized Logan would never approach with her hanging around.
Jade chuckled. “You do that.”
She’d just picked up a handful of chips and had popped some in her mouth when she felt rather than saw a presence behind her. The shadow on the table in front of her had changed. She turned around, inches from the most gloriously perfect man she’d ever met.
She quickly swallowed. Her laugh came out too quickly. “Logan. Nice to see you here.”
Oh, God, I have potato flecks around my mouth. She quickly swiped a hand down her face and prayed she’d gotten them all.
His gaze ran down her entire length. Thank God she’d worn a V-neck peach blouse with ruffles around the neck to draw attention to her chest. Too bad she was too thin to have any cleavage, though. At least her overly muscled arms were covered. She straightened. There weren’t many men she had to look up to. At five feet nine inches, plus the two-inch heel on her new cowboy boots, she often towered over most.
“You’re looking good.” She loved the sparkle in his dreamy blue eyes, which shone with sincerity.
“So are you.” That wasn’t a come-on but the truth. Some might say he was a bit too well groomed, but men who sold million-dollar homes had to appeal to the wealthy.
“Do you have a moment?”
“Sure.” For him, she had a lot of moments.
He led her closer to the dining room, where there were fewer people. “I wanted to talk to you about commissioning a piece for the model home I’m designing.”
Her pulse raced. Getting that kind of exposure would be huge. She’d done a few small pieces for him, like wall sconces and a mailbox stand, but nothing this grand. “Sure.”
“I stopped by your store the other day to ask about a staircase I heard you’d created. You weren’t there, but Dakota was nice enough to show me the one you’d built for your home.”
Why hadn’t her friend told her? Maybe Dakota thought she’d stepped over the line by allowing a client into her home, which sat above the store in a three-story converted factory. Usually Jade’s place was neat, but she couldn’t vouch that it had been pristine the day he’d stopped in. When she’d done the renovations, she had to repair the staircase that went from the second to the third floor, and she’d installed an intricately designed metal railing. “That is my pride and joy. It took me close to three months, working around the clock to make that.”
“I can believe it. I wouldn’t need anything that feminine, but I loved how you wove the metal through each other.”
He thought it feminine? That thrilled her.
Dustin came over and slapped Logan on the back. “Got a minute? There’s someone who’d like to meet you.”
Damn. He’d already had his time with Logan. Couldn’t Dustin see this was her big chance to impress her dream man? Her makeup was perfect, complete with false eyelashes, sculpted eyebrows, and glitter eye shadow. The last time Logan had come into the shop, she was in blacksmith mode. Her long hair was pulled into a ponytail, sweat coated her body, and her steel-toed black boots were anything but feminine.
She kept her gaze on them as Dustin pulled his boss away. Her cousin had no idea how he’d messed up her dream moment.
Dakota rushed up to her. “How did it go?”
She jerked at the intrusion. It was way too brief. “I guess okay. He wants me to make a staircase for a model home.”
“Oh, my God, that’s freaking fantastic. I thought he might ask. That was why I didn’t tell you about his visit. I wanted it to be a surprise.” She inhaled and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. “That means lots of late-night meetings to discuss exactly what he wants. You’ll have to do some samples and bring them over to his mansion. Wow, girl, you hit the jackpot.”
She hadn’t thought of all the possibilities. “Maybe.”
Dakota glanced behind her, winked, and made some dumb excuse why she had to leave. Jade couldn’t understand why her friend had to rush off until she got another tap on her shoulder. She spun around praying it wasn’t Clint or Morgan complaining about Dakota. It was Logan again!
He shifted his weight. “Sorry about that. Dustin wanted me to meet the solar-panel installer.”
A worker had come to a party? What was up with that? “I totally get it. When you work for yourself, it’s a twenty-four-seven job.”
He grinned, and she had to work hard to keep from swooning.
“I wanted to ask you something else.”
No way he’d be asking her out on a date. They’d known each other for about three years, and except for the few jobs she’d done for him and Parker, he’d not acted interested. “Sure.”
“Parker has a new play coming out.”
Parker always had a new play coming out. It’s what he did. “That’s great.” Parker owned the town’s community theater and directed the plays there. The best part was that Logan often starred as the leading man and she could sit for two hours and admire him.
“It’s set in New Orleans, and Parker wanted me to ask you if you might be willing to do another set design for him?”
She loved giving back to the community, but the last time she helped design and build the set, it took her three weeks. During that time, she wasn’t able to make or sell any of her work. The words tumbled out. “I’d be happy to.” Damn.
She’d saved enough money to live three months without an income. If it meant she could be closer to her two hunky men, she’d do it.
“That’s wonderful.”
Reality sunk in. “I do have a few commissioned pieces that I have to get out, but I should be able to make it work. The play won’t be for a while, will it?”
“I’m afraid casting starts tomorrow.”
Oh, shit. She’d have to give up sleep, but the sacrifice would hopefully be worth it.
An outside bell rang, signifying the food was ready. She wove her fingers together, thankful for the interruption. “I guess that means we need to head outside.”
Logan probably dated women who’d traveled, could speak several languages, rode a horse like a pro, or could dance with the stars. Me? Not so much.
Used to standing in front of a furnace all day heating and bending iron, she didn’t do well with the cold. She grabbed the coat she’d tossed on one of the dining room chairs and followed the group out to the eating area. Already there was quite a long line to get the food. Cheaters. Between the three Callen brothers, and their entire family and friends, there had to be more than sixty people who’d accepted the invitation.
Logan leaned in close behind her. “The spread looks amazing.”
The hairs on her neck stood up from the closeness. She forced herself to concentrate on the meal. There were bowls of mashed potatoes, several large vegetable dishes, three different kinds of meats, and an array of desserts that boggled the mind. Her mom, with the help of her younger sisters, had really gone all out. Had Jade not had a client deadline, she would have helped. Her mom said the fact that she made the new sign was a big enough contribution.
As she filled up her plate, she glanced at what kinds of foods interested Logan. Like her, he avoided all the fried stuff and the cream sauces. Given his well-defined body, she wasn’t surprised he watched what he ate.
Once she finished piling the food onto her plate, she purposefully didn’t sit with Dustin, because then she’d be uncertain if Logan wanted to be with her or with her cousin. Dakota waved to her, but Jade infinitesimally shook her head. There was no way Logan would want to be involved with the two of them. Dakota was a bit on the outgoing side, and as such, turned off a few people with her chatter.
Love of Steel [The Callens 7] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 1
