Irresistible Bachelors: Books 1-5 by Landish, Lauren (classic literature books .TXT) 📗

his body being so close to me has me stunned. “I found those screws, and I see you’ve found a friend.”

“Ah, yeah,” I mutter, unable to pull myself away from him. I don’t want to either. “This is . . .”

“John,” Caleb says, staring him down for a beat after glancing at his nametag. “Thanks for the help. I’ve got this handled. Appreciate your expertise.” I can’t help but notice the hint of sarcasm to his tone.

Before John can say anything, Caleb lets go of me and grabs the dolly, pushing it with one hand and interlocking his fingers on the other with mine. Paying quickly, we get outside, load up the truck, and climb in. As soon as he starts the truck, I turn in the seat, bringing a knee up to my chest. “What was that about?”

Caleb looks at me for a second, then shakes his head. “Sorry, Cass. I shouldn’t have jumped in like that, but he was obviously flirting with you.”

I bite back a smartass reply, mainly because my body is still tingling from his putting his arm around me, and my hand feels like a low-grade fever’s running through it where our fingers were entwined. “Uh, yeah. I’m aware. But it’s not like he asked for my number or something.”

His face twists a little, like he just swallowed something nasty. “Would you have given him your number?”

I shrug, forcing my knee down to turn and look out the front window of his truck. “I don’t know. Maybe. It’s not like I’ve got guys lining up to date me. You know how it is. I’m still the new girl in town, and I work for a guy who’s intimidating, to say the least. And I’ve been putting my head down and busting my ass to get started on the right foot. It seems like most of the guys around here want a girl who’s happy with dinner and dancing, maybe a little Netflix and chill.”

Caleb snorts dismissively. “You’re better than that, Cassie. Don’t do that to yourself. That young stud in a fucking apron isn’t your Mr. Right.”

“You’re probably right, but maybe I don’t even want a Mr. Right. Maybe I just need a Mr. Right Now,” I say, raising my voice. He’s got some nerve. He’s not the one who sees almost all the good options snatched up, except for the one who’s put me firmly in the friend zone. “Don’t get high and mighty on me, Caleb. I know you’ve done the whole one-night stand thing before, so don’t give me any shit.”

“I—” Caleb starts before snapping his jaw shut, the muscles clenching. I watch the muscles in his forearms and jaw twitch as he drives me home. We’d decided it would save time tomorrow if I just caught a ride with him. The whole time, he doesn’t say a word, his eyes glittering with suppressed anger instead.

We pull up in front of my apartment building, and I look over at him, waiting for something. Instead, he hits the button on his console and my door unlocks.

“I’ll see you bright and early. We’ve got work to do,” he says quietly, and I realize I’ve been dismissed. I climb out, closing the door and stepping back.

“Caleb—” I start, but before I can say anything, he’s pulling away, my new 2 x 4s sticking out the back of his truck, the safety rag flapping merrily in the wind as he disappears into the darkness. I stare after him, unsure of what just happened. I mean, we’ve argued before, sure, but mainly about things that were forgotten a few minutes later.

But this was just weird . . .Caleb

Fuming, I drive the last screw on the reinforcement into the crossbeam, taking a look at my work. It was a pain in the ass bringing the beams up the ladder to the crawlspace, but it’s done, and I check them one last time. Everything looks good.

“If only she were here to see it,” I mutter, climbing down through the hole I’ve torn in the ceiling. I can get to that next weekend. I already rearranged my schedule to have this Monday to work here, hoping to get a jump on things. Looking around, I feel tired, more tired than I thought I would be. It’s been a few days since I’ve seen Cassie after our fight. She skipped out on helping out at the house for the past two days with some pretty lame excuses. The thing is, I’m not really angry at her, although I’ll admit I’ve muttered a few curses as I’ve struggled with a few things that an extra set of hands would’ve come in handy with.

Friday night, I went home, riled up and not really sure why. I’ve never reacted to Cassie’s flirting with some dude that way. Hell, I’ve even introduced her to a few. But that guy was slimy and didn’t deserve her.

“Bullshit,” I mutter, chastising myself. “Great, now I’m talking to myself too. Cassie is officially driving me crazy.” But I can’t stop. No, if I’m honest with myself, he wasn’t slimy and was just talking to her. I just didn’t like it. And now she hasn’t even stopped by her house to check on the progress. Her car’s still parked in the dooryard, even.

It’s obvious she’s avoiding me. Yeah, she might be busy, but she said she wanted to be involved every step of the way. I need to apologize, but fuck, I don’t even know how to start.

I don’t fully understand why I reacted to that guy the way I did. It can’t just be that Cassie and I were flirting in the parking lot. Hell, we’ve done that for over a year, and the closest we’ve ever gotten to moving past jokes and flirting was our runs together. I mean, I’ve seen guys literally grind on Cassie sometimes when we’ve gone out playing wingman for each other, and I didn’t bat an eye.

I’m gonna have to suck it up