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

didn’t. When we were driving away, I saw Hannah come around the side of the house. She was looking at us . . . she was trying to look for you, Tony. Now, some people say I’m not a smart man, but I know love when I see it.”

I reach in my pocket and grab my phone, going to message drafts, finding the text I never sent to Hannah. I can’t wait any longer, and I hit Send.

* * *

“So this property could be the next big deal we need,” says Martha, Oliver’s property acquisitions manager. She’s mainly talking to Oli, because I’m sitting quietly to the side, pretending to look at the big monitor she’s rigged up on the wall. I’m sitting quietly to the side, looking at the big monitor that Martha’s rigged up on the wall. We’re on the second floor of the Flaming Dragon building, above Mindy’s Place in the office that is supposedly Oliver’s headquarters. Really, it’s Martha’s office, but it’s a good place to talk business. I’ve been coming in for the past couple of days. I’ve felt obligated after giving away the Mobber estate to Hannah.

Oliver hasn’t said anything, but he understands, knowing that I want to make it up to him and everyone else. I told Caleb the truth. My sleep’s been shit. I’ve been hitting the gym like a madman because I’ve got a desperate hope that if I tire my body out enough, it’ll get pummeled into sleep. So far, all I’ve done is earn a really sore set of quads. Every time I try to lie down, I’m thinking of Hannah, wondering how she’s doing.

I feel like shit.

“Hey, babe?” It’s Mindy, sticking her head in the door. “Someone’s here to see you, says they need to talk business.”

“Show them up,” Oliver says. I’m too tired to bother to look. Probably another associate, maybe someone with the deal Martha found.

There’s a quiet knock on the door, and it opens. “Hello, I didn’t mean to—”

I twirl around at the sound of the unmistakable voice, standing up so fast that the table jumps as my aching quads jostle it, spilling Martha’s coffee and making her jump back herself. “Hannah! What are you doing here?”

I cross the space to her, stopping up short. “I took a flight here. This is something I had to do face to face. Tony, I got your text message, and I wanted to respond, but . . . listen, I’ve got three hundred and seventeen dollars in my checking account, a landlord who’s gonna be pissed that I don’t have my rent, and Cassie’s freaking out on me, hoping that I’m not wasting my damn time.”

“I’ll excuse myself,” Martha says, exchanging glances between us, an amused expression on her face. “I think you all have a lot to talk about.”

She leaves while Oliver sits back, an interested look on his face as Hannah and I stare at each other, both of us too nervous to reach out and cross that final line separating us. Finally, Hannah clears her throat and looks over at Oliver.

“I’m here about Wesley’s land,” Hannah says. “What Aurora is planning to do . . . here, it’s easier if I just show you. I can’t believe that I’m doing this, I’m so gonna get sued, but dammit, it’s the right thing to do!”

Hannah reaches into her purse and pulls out the file, showing it to us. I’m horrified. It’s the only word I can think of. “A five-floor main building, restaurants, water park . . . what the fuck, they’re tearing out the spa to put in—”

“A golf course,” Oliver says, shaking his head. “There’s going to be literally nothing left.”

“Exactly,” Hannah says. “And unless we can stop them, after that, their sights are going to be on the village. I can’t but help think I bear some responsibility for this. It should’ve gone to you guys! You’d obviously have to make your money, but at least you guys would have respected the land!”

“We would have.” Oli gets up to leave. “Let me start making some calls and see what, if anything, can be done. Legally, my hands are tied, but there might be some options. I might start with calling this Wesley Mobber—”

I cut him off, getting up. “Let me. I have his personal number. It’ll be better coming from us. I’ll give him a call. The book’s back at my place.”

Hannah nods. “He’s right, it’s kind of like Wesley shares a bond with all of us. Besides, I want to say this in front of you first. It’s what brought me here.”

Oli looks curious as he sinks back into his seat, and I turn to Hannah, curious. “What do you mean?”

She takes a deep breath, and I can see . . . fear? “Oliver, I’m sure your brother told you all about the place and how special it is, I can tell from your reaction. What he didn’t tell you is how we fell in love. God, I was so wrong about him.”

“Hannah—” I start to tell her that Oliver already knows, but she keeps going, momentum not letting her stop.

“Tony, you’re cocky, you’re sarcastic, you’re a major pain in the ass, and your decision to send me a dick pic, of all things—”

“You bugged me to get Hannah’s number so you could send her a pic of your dick?” Oliver growls at me, and I blush.

“It’s okay, Oliver. I kinda asked for that,” Hannah says, blushing herself. “That’s a story for another time. But I was wrong about Tony. He’s the kindest man I’ve ever met. Wesley sent me the final letter he wrote, the final challenge . . . and in it, I read how he sacrificed everything to make me happy. So Oliver, please don’t be angry at him. Tony, at the property, I wanted to tell you, but I was too afraid. I thought that there’d be no way I could really feel this way, especially