Irresistible Bachelors: Books 1-5 by Landish, Lauren (bts books to read TXT) 📕

my lower lip. “While I felt creeped the fuck out about the whole thing, at least I hadn’t invested a lot of my time into the relationship. What’s that saying, better now than later? I’m more upset about another failed venture. Another waste of my time.”

“Oh, honey, I understand,” Roxy says emphatically. “But you’ll get through it. As you like to remind me, you’re that bitch who turns bad boys into choir boys.”

“Girl, I feel more like ‘that dumb trick who gets nothing but shit’ right about now.”

“Oh, stop it,” Roxy says before burping loudly. “Sorry, I’m blaming that on the baby.”

I laugh, having heard Roxy let loose some wall rattlers before. “Seriously. I’ve decided I’m cursed when it comes to men. So maybe I’m going to hang up my coat for a while. Hell, I’ll even break out the granny panties and let the garden grow since no one will be breaking and entering any time soon.”

“I don’t believe you. You’ll be back to riding dick in a week.” Roxy snorts a laugh. “You need it like the rest of us need water.”

“Just watch me. I’m serious.”

Roxy giggles, unconvinced. “Well, other than dicks with dicks, how are you doing? Liking the job?”

I shrug, though she can’t see me. “It’s good. I like my boss, I directed some good sales last quarter, and most importantly, I still get to travel and take pics. Especially awesome that I get to do that on someone else’s dime.”

Sharp voices interrupt my words, and I hear footsteps approaching from outside.

“Shit. Okay, boss coming. I got to get off quick.”

Roxy tries to get out a quick, “Bye, Mommy—” in a baby voice.

I hang up before she can finish, vowing I’ll get her back the next time I see her, and pretend to start working. Bringing up my desktop screen, I pull up a recent property on my computer along with a few websites about the area. As I do, the two voices become clearer.

“Just give me the chance, Mrs. Sinclair,” I hear Cassie White, my twenty-one-year-old, relatively new coworker say as the two women walk into view. My boss, Myra Sinclair, is dressed sharp as a tack, as usual, in a slim-fitting white pantsuit, her grey-white hair cut into a trendy side bob. She has money, and I gotta give it to her—she built it the old-fashioned way. She’s used her own sweat and genius to become the head of the property division of Aurora Holdings. Now, she’s always wanting the world to know it. Cassie, in perfect minion fashion, has on a grey pantsuit, her dark blonde hair pulled back into a sophisticated ponytail. It’s not that Cassie doesn’t have skills. She’s smart when she wants to be. She just seems to still be in the ‘make a good impression’ stage and hasn’t quite figured out that she needs to move on.

Sinclair spins sharply on Cassie, causing her to nearly stumble back and fall to the floor. “Absolutely not! I told you already that you’re too inexperienced. There’s too much riding on this, and I wouldn’t be comfortable with only you there.”

“But I can do it,” says Cassie enthusiastically, flashing her dimple-filled smile that I’m sure melts the hearts of men but does nothing for Myra.

“Funny you say that when you nearly botched your last assignment. I seem to recall your spilling coffee into Mr. Balding’s lap. He had second-degree burns on his balls and we narrowly avoided getting sued.”

Cassie bites her lip, looking guilty. I remember that day. It had been my quick thinking—and a nearby pitcher of iced tea—that had stopped the burns from being worse. “That was an accident.”

“That’s one of the main reasons I don’t want to send you alone. You lack grace and experience.” Cassie scowls at Myra’s insult, but she pretends not to notice. Myra shakes her head sadly. “Besides, my bosses have someone else in mind . . .” Myra goes silent and looks my way, and I pretend to be preoccupied with the paper I’m scribbling on.

“Hannah,” says Myra in an almost singsong voice.

I look up from my computer. “Yes, Mrs. Sinclair?”

“Our quarterly report just came in,” she says, brandishing the stack of folders in her hands. “And do you know what it says?”

I beam with pride. Damn right, I do. That, at least, I can take pride in. “That we’re doing great, better than we expected.”

Myra lets out a laugh. “Oh, dear, that’s a good one!” Her smile fades fast, leaving me confused. “Apparently, Aurora Holdings has lost its holdings, pun intended. The shedding of our properties in Puerto Rico and Europe has hurt our shares, and several divisions are under threat of becoming extinct.”

She doesn’t have to say which divisions she means. I was responsible for the selling of the European properties, but the market was crashing, the properties were old, and there was no way we were going to get a better price. It was the right thing to do. Still, my mouth goes dry. I thought we were doing great. “We had that company conference call,” I protest, thinking of last week’s call. “The CFO was talking a good game.”

Myra snorts, flipping a dismissive hand. “Jason Randal is a braggart used car salesman and nothing more. The damn fool wouldn’t know his asshole from a hole in the ground. It was all talk, Hannah. That’s what it was, designed to keep our shareholders appeased and the company from panicking. We’ve already taken a pounding in the market. We start a shareholder revolt, and we’re in deep shit.”

I gulp. I’ve never heard Myra be this brutal before. “Mrs. Sinclair . . .”

“The truth is, our company is close to bankruptcy,” Myra says, a note of doom entering her voice.

Her words hit me like a semi-truck in the chest and the office goes totally silent. I clutch the edge of my desk as Cassie turns white in the face, dread gripping my insides. I thought for sure we were doing amazing things. I just