Forbidden Attraction [The Callens 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (8 page)

She turned around. “This game is easy!”

Both men laughed. Seeing them together stirred something deep inside her. Of her siblings, all but the twins had married. Those that had tied the knot were in a ménage relationship. She never thought that would be for her, but these two very different men brought out the distinctive sides of her personality.

Jackson nudged her. “Your turn, Jenny.”

Damn
. She’d been daydreaming. For her plan to work, she needed to miss this shot. She inhaled and hit the ball a bit too hard. The four ball nicked the corner but failed to go in.

Taylor grinned. “Let me show you how to do it right.” He winked. With a slight tap he sunk the fourteen. “Eight ball in the middle pocket.”

That was a sure thing for someone of his skill. Sure enough, he sunk it and waved his arms in the air. Now was her chance.

“I want a rematch.”

Jackson picked up the rack. “Sure, darlin’.”

She didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but she really wanted to put Taylor in his place. “Can I just play Taylor?”

Jackson cocked a brow. “I think the game will go pretty fast.”

“That’s okay. Taylor?”

He placed a hip in the edge of the table. “When we play pool, we usually wager something.”

She had the perfect plan. “Fine. If I win, you have to go on a date with me anywhere I say.” She grinned.

He skewed up his face. “Like if you wanted to see a fashion show or watch some romantic comedy at the movies, I’d have to go?”

She tried not to laugh at his horror. “Yes.”

A slow grin captured his face. “If I win, it’s the same bet.”

“I am so not going to The Siren Lounge.” That was where one paid to see couples get in on. She’d heard there was a dungeon where people got whipped and spanked.

“I never said where. You on?”

It didn’t matter. She was going to win. “Sure.” They shook on it.

A very large man came out of the back carrying a pool-cue case. “Taylor! I didn’t see you come in.” He handed him the box. “You should have let me know you were here.” His gaze traveled down her length. “Who do we have here?”

“Our woman. Now shoo.”

“You don’t say.” He stepped forward as if to get fresh then stopped and held up his hands. “I know better than to mess with you two. Have a nice day, little lady.” He disappeared back where he came from.

If had his own cue stick, she needed to bring her A-game to the table. “You want to rack them?”

“Sure.”

Taylor expertly placed the balls in the rack, removed it, and then went to the end of the table to break. He grinned, aimed, and shot. The balls flew all over the table, and he sunk a striped ball. Whistling, Taylor walked about the table and sank two in a row. Both Jackson and he seemed to enjoy the show. After he missed, he motioned she was up.

Concentrating, she leaned over the table and dropped a solid in the corner pocket. Both Jackson and Taylor hooted as if she’d gotten first place in a marathon. They were about to be more impressed. Sizing up the rest of the balls, she moved to the other side, and using a variation of the English Jackson had shown her, sunk another one.

The grin on Taylor’s face disappeared. “Jackson, I think we’ve been had.”

“Darlin’, I thought you said you didn’t know how to play.”

She batted her eyelashes in an exaggerated fashion. “Did I?”

Her next shot missed, and she stepped away for Taylor to do his magic. Gone was the happy-go-lucky guy. In its place was a serious player. He, too, got the next two balls in but missed the third one. Now, she had to not only get her balls into the pocket, but she had to make sure to leave Taylor with a crappy shot.

She’d dropped all of her solids, and Taylor had gotten in his stripes. It came down to the wire. When he took the shot to sink the eight ball, his cue seemed to slip, and he missed.

“Today’s my lucky day.” She couldn’t keep the edge out of her tone.

She leaned over and made the next shot. “Aha! You are so mine, Taylor Moore.”

He handed his cue to Jackson and stepped with an inch of her face. Her breath caught. His power could not be denied. “Two out of three.”

She did love playing with him, and she had taken him by surprise. She didn’t want to come off as uncooperative. Taylor was an excellent player. She easily could have lost. Getting to go on a date of his choice might be exciting.

“Before I agree, I’d like to know what’s at stake.”

Taylor pulled her close and placed a mind-blowing kiss on her enough for her nipples to harden and her pussy to sing. So surprised, she’d forgotten to breathe. She’d thought Jackson would be on his roommate in a flash, but instead he seemed content to lean against the table and smile.
Smile?
What was up with that? She thought she was
his
date.

Shit
. This was a set-up for her to fall for both men. She pulled away. “Don’t tell me you really are into sharing.”

Jackson was next to her in a second. “Would that be so bad?”

Decision time.

Jenny inhaled. “I’m not against the principle of ménage, but it may not be for me.” She thought she handled the question quite well. “Was that the bet?” She opened her mouth. “That if I lost I’d have to sleep with both of you?” She kept her question at a whisper.

Taylor’s face fell. “Fuck no. We’d never do that. Do you think I would bet you something like that?”

Maybe.
“Then what?”

“I had a couple of choices, one of which was to go up in a plane with me.”

Boy had she misjudged him. “You fly?”

“Yes. Is that so hard to believe?”

One the men in her MCAT class had wanted to be a pilot, but the tests and training were very rigorous. Taylor was Mr. Adventure, so it made sense he’d be interested in learning to fly. “I guess not.”

“Are you going to give me another chance?”

Why not?
“Sure.”

He grinned. “Rack ’em up.”

This game was a bit more grueling. She swore Jackson hovered over her just to make her nervous. Many of his suggestions were good, but being next to him distracted her. Once again, it came down to sinking the eight ball. Something made her jump, and she scratched. “Damn.”

Taylor rushed over to her side, picked her up and swung her around. The way his laugh came out made her smile. He set her down and turned her around. “You want to call it even and say I won?”

He seriously didn’t believe she’d give up. “No way. It’s two out of three. That was the deal.”

“For the tiebreaker.” He leaned closer. “Where will you take me if I lose? I do want to know the stakes.”

“My parents have season tickets to the opera, and the people next to them gave my folks their tickets. My mother is insisting I go and bring a date. That date would be you.” She tapped his chest.

He sucked in his bottom lip. “We have a problem.”

“You’re not getting out of this next game.”

“I happen to love the opera.”

He had to be pulling her leg. “You do not.”

“I do.”

“I guess we’ll find out the truth after I win.”

He winked. “You’re on.”

This time Jackson didn’t try to help or hinder. If she won, it would be all her talent. Taylor upped his game this time. He seemed to focus harder. Each time he left her with a more difficult shot. After what seemed to be eternity, for the third time the table was cleared except for the eight and the cue ball. Taylor was up.

“You aren’t afraid of heights are you?”

She was a bit, but she certainly wouldn’t tell him. “No, but it’s a moot point. My parents’ tickets are in the orchestra section.”

He grinned, inhaled, and with an incredibly smooth stroke sunk the eight ball in the called pocket.

“Yahoo!” he shouted. “We, honey, are going flying!”

For the first time in a long time, she was happy she wasn’t the winner.

* * * *

When she saw the size of the plane in the plane parking lot, she had second thoughts. Ah, make that third and fourth thoughts. “Can that even fly?” It held only two people. “There are no aisles and no flight attendants to bring you drinks.”

Both Jackson and Taylor cracked up. Taylor moved closer like he wanted to prove she wasn’t as brave as she’d claimed. “Honey, it’s just you and me up in that big, blue sky.”

“What about Jackson?”

“Darlin’, I’ll be safe on the ground watching.”

He was no help. She turned back to Taylor. “Is the plane yours?”

“No. It belongs to a friend, but he lets me borrow it when I want. Give me a sec, will ya? I need do a walk around.”

She sidled next to Jackson. “Have you ever been up with him?” She tried to keep her voice steady, but she wasn’t sure she succeeded.

“Often. Taylor’s a top-notch pilot.”

That made her feel a bit better. “I don’t see a tower.”

“This municipal airport doesn’t have one. The pilots can talk to each other though.”

She glanced over at Taylor, who did seem to appear to know what he was doing. He checked the fluids in the plane and then moved parts of the wings. About ten minutes later he came back.

“We’re all set. Kiss Jackson good-bye.”

Her pulse shot up. “Good-bye?”

Taylor winked. “Figure of speech. If you don’t come down, neither do I. Don’t worry, I’m big into self-preservation.”

“Thanks for thinking of me first.” She huffed a laugh. From his smile, he could tell she was kidding.

The plane looked freshly painted and expensive, but things could go wrong. She could say she didn’t want to go up, but a part of her was thrilled to find out how Taylor controlled the powerful beast.

Jackson came up behind her and lifted her onto the wing.

“Whoa.” She hadn’t expected the help up.

“Now crawl in and sit on the far side.”

The plane’s clear canopy was open. She hadn’t expected her heart to beat so fast.
You can do this.

She got onto her knees, and then rocked back onto her heels. She held onto the metal structure, stepped on the pilot’s seat, and maneuvered her way into her seat. When she sat down, she couldn’t see the runway. A second later Taylor climbed in next to her.

He smiled, reached behind him, and pulled out what looked like a brown paper lunch bag. “Just in case.”

It took her a second to understand what that meant. “I’m not going to throw up.”

“I hope not.”

“You aren’t some crazy pilot who likes to take risks are you?”

He turned the key and the engine roared to life. He’d untied to plane before she got in. “No, but I like to push the plane to see what she can do.” He looked over at her. “Don’t worry. I’ll ask before I do my barrel rolls.”

“You’re funny.”

He handed her a headset. “Put this on. That way we can communicate.”

Cool
. Once she slipped it on, he reached over and flicked a switch.

“Can you hear me?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Good.” He taxied out toward the runway.

She looked out the window at Jackson who was waving. The fact he didn’t look worried bolstered her confidence.

Taylor placed a hand on her arm. “I’m going to radio our intentions.” He looked straight ahead as if he were checking for incoming airplanes. “This is N145P taking off on runway 33R.” He tossed her a reassuring smile.

She didn’t know if anyone answered, but a moment later, the engine revved, and they headed down the runway. She didn’t see any other planes coming or going. Taylor looked over and raised his brows as if to ask her permission.

She gave him a thumbs-up. The engine speed increased. He pushed a lever forward, and her back pressed against the seat. A few butterflies settled inside her stomach, but she was determined to enjoy whatever maneuvers he wanted to do. Taylor was the type to challenge her. He needed to understand he’d met his match.

The plane ate up the ground in no time, and soon they were in the air. Exhilaration filled her. Normally, she wasn’t one to take chances, but this was too good a chance to pass up. Even though her dad had the means, he’d never taken up flying.

“You want to fly over the Callen estate?” he asked.

“That would be really neat.” She’d never seen their property from the air. Not that there were property lines, but she’d be able to spot the house. “How do you know where it is?”

“I programmed it into the GPS system.”

The man liked to be prepared. It took ten minutes to reach the family ranch. “I see our house!” She leaned to the right.

“I can do a little better.”

He tilted the plane to the right and she slapped her hands on the canopy to stop from falling. “Oh, my God.”

He chuckled and righted the plane. “You okay?”