Forbidden Attraction [The Callens 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  The Callens 5

  Forbidden Attraction

  Sexy overachiever Jenny Callen believes in marrying a man who’s her equal. When she meets hunky bar owner Jackson Slade and his super hot monster truck–designer roommate, Taylor Moore, her attraction challenges her belief of what an ambitious, professional man should be.

  When she learns Jackson designs lighting and sound for a nationally known band, and she finds out that Taylor is extremely knowledgeable about the stars and speaks three languages, her opinion of them changes. Slowly her belief crumbles that unless a man has a college degree, he isn’t worth her time. She knows they are the right men for her after they sexually fulfill her beyond her wildest dreams.

  She then learns that they aren’t who they claim to be, and her world turns upside down. What can the men do to convince her that all three belong in a loving ménage relationship?

  Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Western/Cowboys

  Length: 44,282 words

  FORBIDDEN ATTRACTION

  The Callens 5

  Melody Snow Monroe

  MENAGE EVERLASTING

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting

  FORBIDDEN ATTRACTION

  Copyright © 2012 by Melody Snow Monroe

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-61926-793-0

  First E-book Publication: July 2012

  Cover design by Les Byerley

  All art and logo copyright © 2012 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,

  If you have purchased this copy of Forbidden Attraction by Melody Snow Monroe from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

  The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

  This is Melody Snow Monroe’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Monroe’s right to earn a living from her work.

  Amanda Hilton, Publisher

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  www.BookStrand.com

  DEDICATION

  To all my wonderful readers who’ve made writing these stories so worthwhile.

  FORBIDDEN ATTRACTION

  The Callens 5

  MELODY SNOW MONROE

  Copyright © 2012

  Chapter One

  “Can I help with anything?” Jenny Callen would rather make little hors d’oeuvres for the next twenty minutes than think about the upcoming affair. A coming out party at the age of twenty-four was plain ridiculous.

  Her mom had trays filled with bacon-wrapped sausages, stuffed mushrooms, and a host of other finger food on the kitchen island ready to go, along with several plates of cookies, a ton of chips, and some chicken strips.

  Her mom removed her apron and tossed it in the washing machine at the back of the kitchen. “I’m good, dear.” She shooed her out. “Get ready.”

  Jenny looked down at her fairly new jeans, polished boots and moderately tight plaid shirt. “I am ready.” Her makeup looked pretty good, and for once, she’d curled her straight, blonde hair. Maybe she hadn’t tried her hardest because she didn’t want to appear a desperate specimen in the marriage pool.

  “Oh, Jenny. No. Put on one of those sexy tops you own. Men like to see a little skin.”

  She groaned. “For the record, I do not condone this party. Did you even invite any men who weren’t single?”

  “Of course. I have about five couples coming. That way it won’t look obvious that you’re now back in town and eligible.”

  She’d finished her master’s degree in biochemistry and planned on applying to med school just as soon as she took the Medical College Admission Test, or MCAT for short. “I’m not looking for a husband. Med school will take up all my time.”

  “Once you become a doctor it will be even harder to land a man. So you see, there’s no time like the present.”

  She’d only been in town a month but had already set her eye on her boss, Jackson Slade, who owned the Raging Bull Saloon. Not that she had time for a husband. She just wanted someone to keep her company on Saturday nights.

  Her mom followed her into the living room. “How many of your girlfriends agreed to come?”

  “Practically all of them.” Even if they didn’t want a man, no one passed up a Callen party. It would be the talk of the town for weeks.

  “Wonderful. Now change.”

  While she could have refused, she wanted to please her mom. Wearing a cute top and some heels might be fun. She hadn’t taken the time to dress up in a long time, except for when her sister, April, had gotten married three weeks ago.

  Jenny had just finished changing when two of her girlfriends arrived. They were actually early for once. Some of the invited girls were from her MCAT study group, a few were regulars at the Raging Bull Saloon, and others were childhood friends. Only one was married. Mom thought it would look better if all of the women weren’t single.

  Go, Mom.

  The first piranha to arrive was an accountant who she vaguely remembered was named Steve or Phil. She’d met him years ago. Her mom should have insisted on name tags as it would have been easier to recognize someone or remember their name. This guy wore a blazer with a red tie. No one in Wyoming wore anything but jeans and a button-down shirt to a Callen party. A bolo tie might be called for at a wedding, but that was it. This man’s hair was shaved close to the side, but the top flopped over. The fact he had a slight paunch immediately turned her off. The man she planned to spend the rest of her life with needed to be fit.

/>   He made a beeline to her. “Hi, Jenny. You look great. My, but you’ve grown up.”

  Since she hadn’t been home for any length of time in the last six years, she expected a lot of comments about how she’d changed. The only real constant was that she still was only five foot two inches, the same height she’d been throughout high school. Her parents had raised her well enough to not throw back a sarcastic retort.

  “Thanks. How’s your work going?” All men liked to talk about their careers, and she figured Mr. Red Tie wouldn’t be an exception.

  He leaned in close. “Not to brag, but I saved Frank Drazek over seven thousand dollars on his taxes this year.” He grinned and leaned back as if he were mentally listening to the roar of the crowd applaud him.

  That was impressive, but his tone implied he’d done some magical accounting. “That’s great.”

  “That’s not all.” He looked around, probably to see if anyone else was listening. “I saved Trent Dynstein close to nine thousand. Because of me, his daughter can now go to college.”

  How was this not considered bragging? “Awesome.” As casually as she could, she looked for someone to come save her. No one else had arrived in the last thirty seconds, so she politely stayed with Mr. Red Tie. After he regaled her with more stories for another ten minutes, one of her girlfriends came over and seemed interested in him.

  Jenny took the opportunity to split and duck into the kitchen.

  “Need something, dear?”

  Darn. She’d hoped to find the kitchen unoccupied. “Just catching my breath.” Boredom hurt her head.

  “Did you see Roger Danvers?”

  “Who?”

  Her mom smiled. “Why, he’s only the best plastic surgeon west of Cheyenne.”

  She didn’t want to point out the obvious that Dr. Danvers might be the only plastic surgeon west of Cheyenne. “Which one is he?”

  “The most handsome man in the room.”

  He shouldn’t be hard to find. “I’ll go mingle.” Thirty minutes down, only five more grueling hours to go.

  Two of her MCAT friends were with a tall man who could be Dr. Danvers. He had a tan and looked quite fit. Too bad he appeared to be in his early forties, a bit too old for her tastes.

  So as not to look obvious, she eased over to one of her girlfriends and pretended she needed to talk to her. Her friend pasted on a plastic smile and waved her off. To avoid an embarrassing situation, Jenny stayed and introduced herself.

  “Oh, you’re the Callen girl.”

  Girl?

  “Yes.” She was the only single Callen woman.

  He lifted her chin with a finger and lowered his gaze. “You have beautiful cheekbones.”

  She supposed that was how plastic surgeons talked. “Thanks.”

  He moved closer, and his heavy perusal made her hands sweat. If he hadn’t lowered his arm at the moment, she’d have pulled away.

  “I could do wonders with your nose. A little thinning at the tip would brighten up your whole face.”

  It took a few seconds for her to realize he actually wanted to perform surgery on her to improve her looks. If she hadn’t been at her own home, she might have kneed him. She was tempted to tell him that no amount of surgery would help his bedside manner, but for her parents’ sake, she refrained.

  “I like the way I look.”

  He smiled, showing off his perfectly white veneers. “As you should.”

  “If you’ll excuse me.” Since her girlfriends seemed to want him, she’d leave him to them.

  Back again in the kitchen, she plastered her rear against the island. What a jerk. For the next few minutes, she enjoyed the solitude but knew she couldn’t hibernate all night. Determined to live through the affair, she returned to the controlled chaos. Not all the men in town could be jerks.

  She refrained from drinking anything other than water for she feared their boorish behavior might seem reasonable after too many drinks. At midnight, the crowd began to thin. She needed to get to bed as she had a lot of studying to do tomorrow. Plus, tomorrow was one of her three nights serving drinks at the saloon.

  When the last of her girlfriends hugged her goodbye, Jenny felt like she’d been tossed in a commercial washing machine for ten hours. Her head spun, and she’d had enough water to fill an ocean.

  Her mom and she picked up all the plates. “Did anyone interest you, dear?”

  She leaned over and placed a kiss on her mom’s cheek. “This was so sweet of you to throw a party for me. No one jumped out as a potential mate, but don’t worry, I’ll find someone.” It would be on her own terms, and not on anyone else’s.

  * * * *

  Jenny finished placing the stacks of glasses on the saloon counter then sat on a barstool to rest. Jackson was about to open the doors, but she needed a break before the rush began. He moved behind the bar and pretended to polish the already shiny counter. Two of the other waiters and waitresses were in the back getting ready.

  “How did the find a man party go?”

  She always confided in Jackson despite wanting him for herself. “It sucked. I’ve never met a more self-centered group of men before.” She told him about the accountant, Mr. Red Tie, and then about the lawyer who was a total nerd. “The best was the plastic surgeon who wanted to give me a nose job.”

  At least he had the courtesy to appear affronted. “Seriously?”

  “Yes. To make it worse, he did it in front of my girlfriends.”

  Jackson laughed and put up his fists. “Where is he? I’ll beat him up for you.”

  She rolled her eyes. “He’d sue you if you ever messed up his surgically perfect face.”

  He tossed the rag over his shoulder and leaned his elbows on the counter. “Seriously, you couldn’t find one rich, college-educated man in the bunch?”

  “No.”

  Too bad Jackson never looked at her as a potential lover. It was probably because she was a Callen. History proved that the Callens married only the rich and well educated. If she could trust all the University of Wyoming gear he sported, Jackson had gone there, and from the way the bar was thriving, she bet he was doing quite well for himself, too. Why he only acted like only a good friend, she didn’t know. Maybe he had a rule about dating his employees. If that were the case, she’d happily quit and get a part-time job someplace else.

  “So now that your mom’s attempts failed, what are you going to do?”

  “Jeesh. You sound like her. I’m not desperate to get married. I have years of med school to go through first. It would be hard to raise a family while I’m busy studying.”

  “You don’t think it will get harder to find a man the longer you wait? The moment you get your MD, the potential dating pool will shrink.”

  She leaned back in her seat. “Has my mom been talking to you?”

  He smiled. “No, but my sister claimed that was the reason why she never married. She’s a lawyer in Salt Lake City and said men were intimidated by her lofty position and obscenely high salary.”

  “That does stink, but I have no intention of giving up my dream of becoming a doctor in order to get a man.”

  “And you shouldn’t. If a man isn’t self-confident in who he is, you won’t be able to relate to him.”

  “You got that right.” She placed a hand on her chest. “Besides, I’m not intimidating.”

  He cocked a brow. “Are you kidding? Half the men who come in here ask for your number. Once I tell them your last name, they back off.”

  That didn’t make her intimidating, it made her family name intimidating. “Damn.” She had worried that being the daughter of one of the richest men in the state would be a turn off. On the other hand, her dad’s wealth might attract some guys. “My parents are rich, but I’m not. Do these men think I’m spoiled?” She didn’t wait for a response. “If I’m such a rich girl, would I be working my ass off here?”

  “Your ass, as you so politely put it, is still in great shape.” She could tell he tried to swallow his smile
.

  Was he implying she didn’t work hard? What did it matter? She placed her head on her folded arms. “It’s hopeless.”

  “What’s hopeless, darlin’?”

  At the change in his tone, she looked up. “Why can’t I find someone exciting?” Like you. “I’d date him.”

  “Maybe you need to broaden your scope or change your criteria.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He tossed the towel back on the counter. “Speaking as a guy, I want a woman with passion and a sense of adventure. It wouldn’t matter to me how well educated she was or how much she was worth. I just want someone who’s not close-minded and who loves me for me.”

  He got it! “Me, too!”

  “That so? If some tall, dark, and handsome man walked through those doors right now, who loves what he was doing and has a great sense of adventure, would you go out with him?”

  “Assuming he has the drive to succeed and treats me well, then yes.”

  “Then I have the perfect man for you.”

  Jackson had the perfect man for her? “Who is it?”

  “My roommate.”

  Something seemed fishy. “Why haven’t I met Mr. Perfect before?”

  “He’s a busy man doing what he loves. He’s good looking, can be fun loving if you can get him away from tinkering with trucks, and he’s respectful most of the time.”

  She was getting the run around. This man sounded like someone Jackson wanted for himself. “I need more details.”

  “His name is Taylor Moore. He designs custom parts for high-performance cars. He’s so talented that GM keeps asking him to come work for them.”