Irresistible Bachelors: Books 1-5 Landish, Lauren (top 10 most read books in the world txt) 📖

of my hair. My hand aches, the barrel of the pen biting into the inside of my finger, but I seem taken over by a demon that’s animating my hand.

. . . so when I came to your estate, I thought you were more or less mental. More than mental, I thought you were batshit insane. But over these days, I’ve learned something during all your madness. So I guess you’re not totally crazy, or if you are, you’re crazy like a fox.

The simple fact is that I love it here. There is a tranquility, even amongst the chaos of events. I poured myself into each and every one, and yet I found myself also letting go of the anger and angst in between. I found that a man whom I once threw a glass of punch on at my best friend’s wedding and thought he was just an arrogant, immature player . . . he’s much more than that.

I will walk away from here tomorrow with two wishes in my heart. The first is that I could come back here again some day. This place is magical, and I have never felt happier than I did last night with Tony.

My other wish is that I never, ever see this property again. Because I need to win, my job, and more importantly, Cassie’s job, depends on it. But if you declare me the winner, that could break Tony’s heart. My winning means that I have to take from him. And that means that no matter what . . . this place would be a place of pain and hurt to me. I don’t know how I could come back to that.

Maybe that’s the wisdom of all this competition that you’ve been trying to have us learn. That with every win comes a price, and with every loss a price as well. I don’t know. What I do know is that tomorrow, I’m going to cry, regardless of what happens. So I take back what I said above. I would come back here. Maybe there is magic in these islands, or at least magic in this specific place. If there is, then there’s hope that the feelings I have for Tony will lead us to happiness and that I can live here for the rest of my life, protecting and caring for this land, for the wonderful people who live here, and loving them as much as they’ve opened their hearts and loved me.

I’m sure you’re interested in what my company would do if we get this contract. I can tell you that my bosses have promised me that they will respect and care for the land as best they can, to do their best to give as much back to the people as they will give to us . . .

I write my heart out. I even tell him that I both like and hate his fucking parrot. When it’s all done, I have to use my left hand to unclench my right from the pen, and the moon is high in the sky.

I turn, looking around, and see Tony sitting in the doorway, just looking at me. He has his envelope in his hand, and when he sees that I’m done, he stands up, walking across the room and squatting down. “All done?”

“I think so,” I answer, taking the sheets and folding them before sliding them into the envelope. “I’d better be. I’m not sure I can fit another piece of paper in here.”

Tony chuckles, watching as I fold over the flap and sign the front with a flourish. “So what do you think?” he asks.

I’m shaking as I look at him, trying to form my answer. I don’t know why. I’m sure he said the reasons he deserved the place too. He said so himself. I can’t kill myself over it. Finally, I swallow the lump in my throat and answer. “It's all been such a crazy whirlwind. I wish we could both win.”

We stand up, handing the envelopes to Wesley, who gives us a small nod, saying nothing as we leave. We walk back down to the beach, where the moon is reflected on the water, and Tony reaches out, taking my hand.

“It's not over yet,” he says, brushing my hair off my shoulder, causing sparks to shoot from my skin. “Not the important parts.”

We kiss, knowing this is likely going to be our last night in Hawaii. There’s an urgency in each caress, each touch of his hand on my skin. It’s an urgency that takes my breath away. His hands find my shirt and peel it up as I do the same to his, tears stinging my eyes as I see the hard, chiseled muscles of his chest and stomach. “Wait . . .”

“What?” I ask him, and Tony picks me up, carrying me down the beach. There’s a blanket laid out, probably leftovers from one of the challenges, and he lays me down on it. I smile, unbuttoning my shorts and sliding them down as he strips his shorts off, leaving him standing nude in front of me. I get to my knees, running my hands over his stomach as I kiss his thighs, rubbing my cheek against the velvet hardness of his cock, kissing the tip before he steps back, his eyes full of meaning.

There are no words, at least not those said with our lips as we stretch out on the blanket. Tony kisses me with a tenderness that rips through my soul. Cold and heat run through my body as I feel his hands stroke my ass, running up my back to cup my breasts and massage them even as his eyes burn with loss. I cry out in pleasure as he kisses my nipples, sucking and tugging them the way that he knows I like before kissing up to my neck and lifting my leg. I roll with him, feeling the hardness of his cock press against my pussy.

“Please, Tony,”