Intimate Illusions [The Callens 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (7 page)

She headed on over to the changing room tent. The air was a perfect seventy-five degrees. With the canvas blocking the wind, she’d be comfortable standing in her underwear. As soon as she walked in, three workers approached her.
Let the games begin!

She’d only been stuck a few times, but in the end, the outfits hugged her curves well. There were a few dresses that hung loosely around her body, and the only alterations involved hemming.

Close to eleven, the seamstresses shooed her off to get ready for the next victim. She found an empty table and called Ian to come pick her up.

He answered on the first ring. “Are you up for an adventure?”

From the excitement in his voice, he was. “Sure.”

“I’m on my way.”

While she waited for Ian to arrive, she chatted with some of the girls. Red sauntered up to her. “How’s it going in the hottie house?”

“Wonderfully.”

Damn
. Tell Red anything, and the whole world would know in seconds. Who needed Facebook?

“You sleep with them yet?”

She should tell the truth, but playing with Red was more fun. “And if I have?”

Red slid next to her. “I want details. What’s it like to have two men?”

“I’m not kissing and telling.” She tossed Red her sexiest grin.

“Damn you, girlfriend. Before we leave, I want a full report.”

That would be the day.

Since Ian would be there soon, she made her way to the parking lot to meet up with him. She sat on the fence post and looked out over the thousands of acres of land. The scent of peppermint and rose attar wafted from the multicolored flowers and helped calm any remaining nerves.

A dust plume trailed behind the shiny, red truck that was pulling a trailer. Leave it to Ian to make a grand entrance. He stopped short of where she was sitting. She couldn’t help but smile at his flair.

He rolled down the window. “Howdy, pretty lady. Anyone interested in helping me buy some cattle?”

She pushed off from the fence. “Absolutely.”

Max would have gotten out of the cab and opened her door. Not Ian, though he had in the past helped her in. For all of Ian’s flirtatious ways, he treated her as an equal. She liked that. Since Ian had showed her where the stepping pad was, Devonne hopped in. “So where are we going?”

His cheeks sagged a bit. “I just told you.”

“Oh, my. You were serious.” The trailer behind the truck should have confirmed it.

“Dead.”

Wouldn’t this be an interesting day? “Then let’s go buy some cattle.”

Devonne truly believed she was a world traveler. Now she knew she’d been wrong all these years. Other than both coasts, she’d not seen most of the United States. Getting to watch Ian work the cattle auction was something she’d never experienced. “I thought you said you bought cattle last week.”

“We did, but a new shipment came in. We might not get a chance to bid on this quality for a long time. You buy when you can.”

Once she stepped into the enclosed building, the odor hit her. The smell was a combination of hay and some musky odor that probably entailed something that could be turned into fertilizer. She tried to be a good sport and not pinch her nose but being around all these animals made it a bit hard to breathe.

He had a pass that allowed him into a pen to look over the cattle. “Stay back while I go in there. It’s no place for a lady.”

She held up her hands in surrender. “You’ll get no argument from me.” Her sandals were not the shoe of choice when in this oversized barn.

No sooner had Ian entered the cage holding some black cows than two other men went in. They shook hands and slapped backs with Ian. While it would appear they were best of friends, she detected some tension in Ian’s shoulders. The older men must have been competing with Ian for these fine animals. She intently watched him work. He took out his smart phone and was probably typing notes on which animals he did or didn’t want. She couldn’t tell which. Maybe the ones he spent the most time with were the ones he wanted the least. It was like playing cow poker.

He left that pen and entered another one. She was content to watch and stay out of harm’s way. About thirty minutes later the loudspeaker announced the auction would begin shortly.

Ian appeared shortly. “You ready to see the master at work?”

He seemed to have an overinflated opinion of his talent, which was a tad odd since he appeared unsure of himself most of the time. Oh, sure, he acted tough, but inside was a boy ready to prove to the world he was worthy.

“You bet.”

He led her to some stands that surrounded a small pen. He carried a paddle with a number on it. She’d been to enough art auctions to know how they worked. The auction began, but she couldn’t keep up with the auctioneer or the speed of the bids. There wasn’t a person with a flashlight that pointed at the winning bidder. The auctioneer would move on to the next animal before she understood who the proud owner was. Every minute or two, some cowboy would either walk in one animal or several. Each animal had his ear tagged with a large number.

She knew to keep her mouth shut and not ask questions, as Ian didn’t need the distraction. This was his livelihood. If Max trusted Ian to do the job, he must have been good at it.

Sometimes Ian would bid right at the start and then stop, and at other times, he’d not make his move until the end. Every time he got the animal he wanted, his back got straighter, his breath increased, and his fingers tightened on his phone. This was his adrenaline high. She, too, caught the excitement. After forty-five minutes, the auction ended.

She glanced over at Ian who broke into a smile. “That was incredible. Did you get all the animals you wanted?”

“For the most part. I went against the gentleman in the brown jacket last week. He lost big time. This week, he caught on to my moves. Next time I’ll have to be more careful.” He stood and grabbed her hand. “Come on. I need to pay then gloat.”

Devonne never expected to have such a good time. Seeing Ian shine was wonderful. He truly did understand how to work a room. If he didn’t like riding horses so much, he could have been a great trial lawyer. She could picture him standing in front of a jury pleading his case and winning. A new respect for the man grew.

After he paid, they had to collect the six animals he’d purchased. Getting them into the back of the trailer took some doing. She would have volunteered, but if one of those cows had stepped on her foot, it would have broken. Instead, she sat in the cab as he instructed.

The back doors closed, and Ian slid into the cab. “Ready?” From the way he was grinning, he was pleased with the outcome.

“You really love being a rancher, don’t you?”

“I can’t imagine doing anything else. It’s in my blood. I am, after all, a Callen.”

She liked the amount of pride in his voice. “It’s a whole different world from what I do.”

“Do you like modeling?”

Her laugh didn’t come out as cheerful. “It’s all I know. But yes, it has its benefits. The drawback is that there’s pressure to always look my best. I worry that my hip might be at the wrong angle or the expression on my face might not match the mood of the outfit.”

“Seriously?”

People had no idea what it took to be a runway model. “The buyers are looking at you as much as the outfit. The way you wear the dress depends on how much the designer sells.”

“If you’re not feeling well, your boss might lose money.”

“Precisely.”

“If you quit, what are you going to do?”

The worry in his voice implied he didn’t think she had any other way to support herself. “I could get another job, I suppose.”

“You could teach girls to be models.”

She hadn’t thought of that as an option for herself, but she knew of a lot of models who did that. “I’m not sure I want to encourage woman to starve themselves. A woman’s self-esteem takes a beating all the time.”

He glanced over at her and made a right turn into the Callen estate. “Come on. People are in awe of models.”

“We might look good with all our makeup, but we’re often told our eyes are either too wide or too close together. One cameraman may say our legs are too long and another that our hips are too narrow. We are always being compared against some mythical being of perfection.”

He cleared his throat. “Well, I think you’re pretty perfect.”

“Thanks.” That meant a lot to her.

He stopped, jumped out of the cab and came over to her side to open the door. That was a nice change. He helped her down.

“I need to get some hands to help me. It’ll be dusty out here. I’m betting you’ll want to take a shower after being at the auction.”

She appreciated how considerate he was. “I do.”

Once she stepped into the cool house, her stomach grumbled. They’d left the main ranch after her fittings, and she hadn’t gotten a chance to eat. She bet Ian hadn’t eaten either. As a nice gesture, she decided to make him a sandwich.

She didn’t think they’d mind if she looked in their refrigerator. Since there wasn’t any noise from inside the house, Max must have been out and about. Maybe he was taking one of the other models someplace. After all, it wasn’t fair that she got to have all the fun and the others didn’t.

A shiver of possessiveness snaked up her spine.
Whoa
. She hadn’t expected that reaction. These men were the sponsor’s sons. They had no obligation to her. Ian happened to be focused on making her happy, which pleased her to no end, but she wouldn’t assume it was their job to do so.

She opened the fridge. All she could find was some luncheon meat. That would have to do. It took about fifteen minutes to make a nice presentation of food.

“What are you doing?” The deep voice made her jump.

“Max! I didn’t think you were here.” He had on reading glasses and looked so intelligent.

He immediately took them off, as if he felt self-conscious about wearing them. “You made lunch?”

The three plates would be a clue. “Ian and I missed lunch.”

“That’s nice.”

Ian came waltzing in and smiled. “Hey. Lunch. Nice.”

He picked up a plate and carried it to the kitchen table. While she often ate with the models, it was rare to sit with
regular
people. Being with these two made her realize what she’d been missing—a family. Too bad Ian had no interest in settling down and Max wasn’t willing to open up enough to let anyone in.

* * * *

Max added more numbers into his spreadsheet and studied the bottom line. So far this year, the ranch was on schedule to do well. The sale of their exceptionally good beef had brought in a nice profit thanks to Ian.

He checked his watch and figured he had time to start his next chore as Devonne wouldn’t need a ride for another few hours. Max had volunteered to drive Devonne back to the ranch after she showered because Ian had to make sure the new cattle were taken care of.

The fashion show director had called and said she wanted to go over a few things with the ladies. Max supposed he could have let her drive his truck the mile to the ranch, but where would the fun be in that?

He wasn’t certain when Devonne had begun to get under his skin. It was probably during the chess game. She was good, he’d hand her that, mostly because she was patient and analytical in her approach to the game. He never would have expected her to possess those talents given how she was always laughing when she was around Ian.

In retrospect, if he’d been paying a bit more attention to her interactions with others, he would have seen her dual sides. When she was with her girlfriends, she seemed to hang back as if she was trying to stay away from their drama. He respected someone who wanted her own space. At lunch, she caught onto some of his double entendres, but she pretended as if she didn’t. Devonne was an illusion. She was flighty one minute and very shrewd the next. It was as if she didn’t want anyone to know her secrets.

Hell, she’s just like me
.

His cell rang. “Hello?”

“Max, it’s Devonne. Can you come pick me up?”

He hadn’t expected to hear from her until after dinner. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes. I just feel like coming back.”

“Sure. Be right there.” He saved the document on his computer and headed out.

He didn’t like the way her voice had wobbled. Perhaps one of the girls had said something hurtful, and Devonne needed some distance. His protective side flared up because she’d sounded upset.

Whenever he needed to be free of all the negativity in the world, he took a hike up Cedar Rock in the national forest. Maybe Devonne would like a chance to see the world from a different perspective and clear her mind. He’d have to carry her gear since she seemed too fragile to handle a pack of her own.

He pulled in front of the ranch where Devonne was waiting. There was no bright smile.
Damn
. He jumped out and opened her door a second before she reached for it. He wanted to judge her mood before suggesting the hike.