Jennifer and Rocket (The Princesses of Silicon Valley Book 6) by Anita Claire Page A

relate to, I have three thousand miles to maintain my boundaries. We grew up down the street from my grandparents and around the block from my auntie. Everyone feels they need to share their opinion, everyone is in everyone else’s business. My family is close, but still, I like my privacy.” Looking around the studio I ask, “Do you have any other sculptures?”
    “I’ve got a couple over there.” He points to the rectangular mounds covered with tarps. “My mom and dad each have some down at their places. A friend o my dad has one on consignment decorating the garden of his restaurant. There’s a gallery in LA that has one. I’ve actually sold some. Slowly, I’m starting to move commercial.”
    Looking at the other side of the barn where he has that funky fireplace, I ask, “Do you cook in here?”
    Rocket finds this amusing as he pulls me by my hand over to the fireplace. “This is my forge. Some projects I weld, some projects I need to heat, bend and hammer the metal.” Pointing at the fireplace that is about four feet off the ground with a simple industrial flue, he explains, “This is where I heat the metal.” He has a couple anvils mounted waist high. He walks me over to them and runs his hand over their used, shiny surface. “This is what I pound the heated metal on. Depending on what I’m trying to do with the metal, I either let it naturally cool, or if I need the metal to be denser I quench it.” He tells me as he kicks a large metal bucket.

Chapter 11 – The Forge
Rocket
     
    Jennifer reacted well to my latest piece of work. It’s nerve-racking to show my work to someone new. Will they get it?
    Having her in my studio is inspiring; I can see why artists throughout history have had muses. Some women have an energy that’s intoxicating. Jennifer makes me want to create. While showing her around my studio, I get an idea.
    “You said you like crafting. Would you want to create something?” I ask.
    Her pupil gets big while she gets an excited smile and nods her head, clasping her hands together she says, “What?”
    Jennifer cracks me up; she’s my own personal cheerleader. I get off on her energy. Bringing her over to the forge area, I wheel out my cart that has my small farrier forge on it.
    “We’ll use this little forge. It will take too long to heat up the big forge.” She looks at me in confusion. I explain, “We can make a knife. Nothing fancy, something simple.” As I turn on the propane I continue, “This forge needs to heat up to over 2,000 degrees. We’ll need to give it a bit of time”
    Grabbing a leather apron off the hook for each of us, I place one over her head. Staring at her lips, I wonder if I should skip making the knife and make out with her instead. We’ll have time for that later. She’s still hesitant about me. I need to take my time with this girl. I think she’s worth the effort.
    I spin her around and tie the apron in the back. Then I place the safety glasses on her face. “You’ll need to pull your hair back,” I tell her as I look around for some string or a rubber band.
    She smiles and then does this twisting thing to her hair as I fantasize what I would like to do with her and that hair.
    Stay focused.
    I wade through the bins where I store different lengths and types of metal rods and strips of metal. “Here we go.” I say as I pull out some high carbon steel. “This will make a good blade.” With my apron and glasses in place I move to the workbench as I ask, “Have you ever used a table saw before?”
    She gets a timid look on her face, backs up a step, and she slowly shakes her head.
    “Come over here,” I say as I motion her toward me. Standing behind her I take a deep breath to control myself from the feel of her body against me. I show her how to measure out the length of metal as I place my hand over hers. Together we pull down the arm of the table saw as we cut the metal.
    The metal on metal action causes sparks to fly. Jennifer