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

a day?” I give her a look, and she asks sweetly, “What? At least with rechargeable batteries, he’ll never let you down. Always hard and ready to jam.”

Damn, sweet little Cassie might be a freak. I feel a long-missed sarcastic grin creep to my lips. “Sounds like you’re speaking from experience.”

Cassie bites her lip naughtily and grins. “I might be.”

Roxy glances at Cassie as she turns a corner. “So what . . . never mind. I’m not even going to ask.”

We exchange amused glances as we pull up to Cassie’s apartment building.

“Wow, thanks for letting me come along, girls,” Cassie says. “So I guess I’ll see you at the airport Sunday! It was so awesome meeting you, Roxy!”

“Nice meeting you too!” Roxy says, smiling at her. “Hey, when you get back, stop by Club Jasmine. I’ll get you VIP tickets to a show, if I can still sing!”

“You were right,” Roxy says when Cassie’s gone. “She’s a talker, but she’s sweet as can be.”

I nod, grinning for a second before I go more serious. “So . . .”

Roxy glances over as we turn out onto the main road again, her brow furrowing. “Talk to me, babe. What’s going on?”

I sigh. “Just . . . there’s a lot of pressure. I mean, the whole damn division is resting on my shoulders, and numbers don’t mean anything to this man. I’ve got a lot on my plate.”

“If anyone can handle it, you can,” Roxy says quietly. “Hannah, you’re strong as hell. Forget Good Girl. I should call you Wonder Woman.”

“Thanks,” I reply, touched. “You think so?”

“No doubt,” Roxy says before grinning. “Still, now that I think about it, maybe Cassie was right. Maybe you need to get you a purple friend so you can relieve some stress.”

“Roxy!”

She laughs, turning right. “Come on, they even have USB rechargeable shit!”

We get back to my place, and I grab my bags from Roxy’s trunk while she looks around at the building. It’s a step down from where we lived, and I know she wants me to move to a better place. “Hey, Hannah?”

“What?” I ask as I close the trunk. “Trust me, Rox, I’m getting out of here soon. I’ve already signed the papers. So let’s hope I pull through.”

“I wasn’t thinking that,” she says. “Just . . . try and enjoy yourself. Have some fun, too.”

I shake my head, chuckling. “With the pressure, it’ll be hard, but I’ll try.”

“You’ll handle it,” Roxy says, stepping close and giving me a hug. “Hey, remember, I found my perfect man right about the time I was feeling the same way you are right now. Have a little faith. The right guy’s gonna drop right into your lap, you just watch. Enjoy yourself, pretty please? And take some good pictures for me while you’re at it. I’ve always wanted to go there.”

I toss her a smile and try to feel confident, even if it’s just for her. “I will. I’ll call you from Hawaii.”Anthony

“Hand me that hammer,” I say to Caleb, steadying myself on my ladder. “The claw one . . . yeah, and the box of nails?”

“Sure,” he says. The two of us are up on my mom’s roof repairing some old shingles. We’re supposed to be getting ready for our trip in two days, but Mom said she had a leak. The weather reports say that there’s a good chance of heavy rain in the next two weeks, and I’ll be damned if I come home to find she’s been flooded out of her own kitchen. Mom’s stubborn. Oli and I could easily upgrade her living situation, but she refuses. She loves this place and is intent on staying.

A droplet of sweat runs down my forehead, stinging my eyes. The sun is high in the sky and bearing down on us with unbearable heat. Caleb tosses the hammer as I’m wiping at my eye. Thankfully, I catch it, barely keeping it from cracking my front teeth. “What the fuck, dude? You trying to make me look like the Joker?”

Caleb shakes his head, sweat trickling down the side of his face as he grips his ladder. “Sorry, man. I almost lost my balance and sorta had to wing it.”

“It’s all good,” I reply. I shake my head, aligning a shingle and picking a nail out of my pocket. “You know, I still can’t believe my brother hired you. What do you know about property research or contracts or any of that shit?”

I still don’t know how I feel about going to Hawaii. Oli put a lot of weight on my shoulders with this Hawaii deal. But after our talk, I want to prove him wrong. I’m not fucking up. The past few deals were a fluke.

“Not a damn thing,” Caleb admits. “I think he’s trying to help me out. That, and he thinks I can help keep you on task.”

I drive the nail into the shingle, grumbling. “So you get to be a personal watchdog. Great.”

Caleb shakes his head and slides the fresh box of nails over to me. “Tony, you’re a grown ass man. I’m not going to step in your way of having fun. Hell, I hope I have some fun too. I do have some negotiating experience, so I can help with that at least.”

“Oh, yeah?” I ask. “You just said you don’t know a thing about negotiations or persuasion.”

Caleb nods, getting all the way on the roof and opening a fresh pack of shingles. “I once told a girl she was a demon succubus bitch from hell and she believed it. Got her to put on horns and a little tail and try to suck my soul from me through my cock.”

I laugh. “You are so full of shit.”

Caleb laughs. “Okay, maybe the horns and tail part is a lie. The truth is, I was in a rut and Oli offered me a spot with Steele Solutions. I don’t want to step on any toes.”

“You’re fine,” I reply, chuckling. “I guess I’ll just