Four Times the Luck
An Irish Reverse Harem Enemies to Lovers Romance
Copyright © 2019 by Roxanne Riley
All Rights Reserved.
This book is a work of fiction and any portrayal of any person living or dead is completely coincidental and not intentional. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission from the author, other than brief excerpts for the purpose of reviews or promotion.
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Table of Contents
Chapter One
Gina
Chapter Two
Flynn
Chapter Three
Gina
Chapter Four
Conor
Chapter Five
Gina
Chapter Six
Neil
Chapter Seven
Gina
Chapter Eight
Noah
Chapter Nine
Gina
Chapter Ten
Gina
Chapter Eleven
Flynn
Chapter Twelve
Conor
Chapter Thirteen
Gina
Chapter Fourteen
Neil
Chapter Fifteen
Gina
Chapter Sixteen
Noah
Chapter Seventeen
Gina
Epilogue
Gina
Four Months Later
Chapter One
Gina
I hold my breath to still the slight tremble of my fingers. Carefully, carefully… Yes!
I exhale and grin. The tiny emerald glitters in its setting, and with it secured, I set down my tools for a second and tug off my headband magnifier, stretching and cracking my neck.
I’ve been working on this intricate little pendant most of the day, and while I try to be conscious of my posture and invest in the most ergonomic equipment I can, I still end up in weird positions that leave me stiff.
I glance at the clock, and while I’m pleased to see that it’s only two hours till I close up, I’m disappointed at how slow business has been for the day. Although I know better than to expect much on a weekday, and I haven’t checked my website orders yet. But I also kind of just wish the day were already over.
Kal stretches beneath my chair, his tail brushing against the back of my leg. One of my favorite things about owning my own jewelry boutique is that I can bring my beloved cat with me to work when I want to. And so far, not a single person has complained. I can count on one hand the number of people I’ve seen come in and out of my shop without stopping to pet and cuddle the fuzzy little mooch.
I reach down to scratch his back and he hops into my lap. I rub behind both of his ears, the way he likes, and his big blue eyes drift closed, disappearing into the dark mask of his face. A rumbly purr vibrates through him and he settles into my lap.
I carefully wheel my desk chair a bit to the left so I can access my computer without disturbing the comfortable feline. I’m pleased to see that my website is doing a little better today than the brick-and-mortar store, so the day won’t be a total wash.
I print out copies of all of the packing slips and receipts that I need, still trying to keep still for Kal’s sake, but the printer catches his interest and he vacates my lap to hop onto my desk and bat at the paper as it comes out.
I take advantage of the freedom with a giggle and stand up. I remove the papers from his reach, to his annoyance, and begin to look them over to see what pieces will need packing up. I’m delighted to see that one order is a full topaz set I’ve had for over six months.
I pack up each order with care, grabbing my camera and taking careful pictures of everything before, and then after, I’ve packed up the box. I may add shipping insurance to every order I send out, but I still prefer to be thorough, having had a few instances of pieces “disappearing” out of boxes I’ve sent. The more prepared I am, the better.
Not that that’s me all the time. In general, I tend to be more laid-back than all that. While I like to keep my business running like clockwork, organized and efficient, I have to take the stick out of my ass sometimes, and so my personal life is much less structured.
Not that I have much of a personal life. While I’m friendly with everyone in town, there are only a handful of people I would truly call “friends,” and I haven’t been on a date since… well, longer than I’d like to admit.
I have no real desire for a man in my life again. I’d gotten married right after high school, to Lionel Rockford. We’d dated all throughout school, and our parents considered each of us the “appropriate match” for their precious trust fund babies, so we’d gone along with their expectations.
I’d done the housewife thing. Been there, done that, moved on.
And so I end up spending a lot of time at home, alone except for Kal, but I prefer it that way. I had spent my life in households constantly bustling with people, so I’ve come to enjoy the quiet of my own company.
Yanking me out of my sudden worries about my hermit-ish thoughts, my phone buzzes and chimes with a call. A quick glance reveals that it’s my friend Delia Lambert - er, Donoghue. I still think of her by her maiden name before remembering that she’s married now. To more than one husband, at that.
“Hey, Gina, I hate to ask, but is there any way you can make it over here by eight thirty tomorrow?” she asks, wasting no time.
She sounds flustered and upset, and I’m immediately concerned, especially considering that she’s currently about five months pregnant.
“Sure, Del, everything ok? Need a ride to a doctor’s appointment or something?” I ask, hoping it’s something that harmless.
“It’s not about me,” she says, and I can just picture her waving off my concerns, “It’s about the ranch.”
Part of the reason Delia and I have become close fairly recently is that I’m working with her and her family on this massive dude ranch that they’re building. I joined in as an investor, liking the idea of drawing wealthy businessmen to our little hamlet to get a taste of farm life.
After all, wealthy tourists meant a rise in sales in my shop, so I thought it a wise investment overall.
They’ve kept me in the loop and let me be deeply involved in the process, so when Delia continues and explains that they’re having an urgent planning meeting, I agree to make it over there. I print out a sign for the door to put up before I leave, advising anyone that shows up bright and early to the store that I will be opening late and apologizing for the inconvenience.
“So, is this an “all hands on deck” kind of meeting?” I hedge.
“Yeah, everyone will be there, why?” Delia asks, and I can hear the hint of a smile in her voice.
I roll my eyes.
“Just asking, don’t read too much into it,” I grumble.
I know why she’s teasing me, just like she knows why I’m asking. The latest investors on this project are four wealthy brothers, from the same town in Ireland as Delia’s husbands and their cousins.
The Byrnes are all overwhelmingly sexy, each of them with ridiculously chiseled bodies and the kind of dazzling smiles that make lesser women drop their panties.
But I can’t stand them.
They’re obnoxious, arrogant assholes who make a big show about getting physically involved with the dude ranch building, working alongside the contracting crew
. They seem to resent my presence as much as I do theirs, and every single time we’ve interacted, we’ve argued about something.
And it seems like they’ll argue anything with me! The worst was probably a heated discussion that took place the third or fourth time I’d been stuck interacting with them.
The topic we fought over? An age-old argument indeed: Who would win in a fight: Batman or Superman?
For the record, I don’t care what any of them has to say, Superman would wipe the floor with the angsty billionaire.
So the idea of having to head over to Delia’s bright and early tomorrow to deal with the four of them is definitely enough to sour my mood. But I keep my tone cheery for her sake.
“I’ll be there. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed!”
“You’re so full of shit,” Delia laughs, “The Byrnes really aren’t as bad as you make them out to be.”
I make a fake gagging sound and Delia laughs again at my complaining.
“You’ll be fine, you big baby,” she reassures me. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See you,” I say and hang up, sighing.
And as I’m finishing up in the store, getting ready to close, I’m brooding and stewing over it all. I remember the last time I had complained about them to Delia. She had rolled her eyes at me and said, “Just fuck them and be done with it already, geez!”
I’d been knocked speechless, sputtering.
I finally managed to blurt out “What the hell?”
“The sexual tension between you and them is so thick you’d need a chainsaw to cut it,” she replies.
I’d appreciated Delia’s blunt, shameless, sassy nature since I first met her, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about it being turned around on me.
“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” I say, shaking my head, “I don’t have chemistry with a single one of them, let alone enough to pull off the craziness that you and Lucy do.”
Both Delia and our mutual friend, Lucy Garrett, are involved in polyamorous relationships. Delia was married to Rowan and Keenan Donoghue, a pair of Irishmen who had wound up here after inheriting a ranch from an aunt who had passed away.
And in some of the rigamarole that had followed, the Donoghues’ cousins, Seamus, Cillian, and Barry O’Leary had come to town and swept Lucy off her feet. While I didn’t really want a man in my life, they kind of made it look nice to have a couple on hand, all of whom treat you like a goddess.
But no matter how sunshine-y they make it look, I’m not jumping on their crazy train. I have no desire to risk my heart, only to get it stomped on again.
Chapter Two
Flynn
Twelve people packed into the living room of the Donoghues’ ranch house is quite a feat. We’ve all managed to smush in, and despite Delia’s protests, we’ve forced her and Lucy to take seats on the couch, with Gina beside them. The rest of us guys are strewn about in chairs, standing, or, like myself, leaning.
Once we’ve all settled in, Rowan starts to fill us in.
“So, there’s a new business going up here in town. It’s down Jefferson road, and it appears to be a set-up like ours, where people can come and pay to live the ranch life.”
“Wait, are you fucking serious?” I push off of the door frame I’m leaning on, “They can’t just steal our idea like that.”
“I mean, technically, they can,” Rowan says with a sigh, “We don’t really have a claim over the concept itself. We certainly aren’t the first ones ever to do something similar. But I feel like having two businesses like this competing in one town means that one of them won’t survive. It’s just going to oversaturate the market for the area.”
“There’s no way they can just get away with this,” Gina pipes up, “There has to be some sort of law in place to prevent this, right?”
I resist the urge to roll my eyes.
Sure, princess, we’ll just call a lawyer and they’ll wave a magic wand and make it all better.
“Unfortunately, nothing that we’ve been able to find,” Delia says with a sigh.
“Sounds like we can’t just sue our way out of this,” Conor says, “So what are we going to do?”
Gina shoots him a glare at the snide remark and she’s about to speak when Neil beats her to it.
“Well, so it sounds like we’re stuck with these arseholes one way or another,” he says, “So the key then, is to make sure we’re the competitor that comes out on top and crushes these pricks.”
To our surprise, everyone, even Gina, nods in agreement.
“Shouldn’t be too hard,” Lucy says brightly, “The plans we already have are amazing, we’re going to blow them out of the water.”
“I think we’ve got some good potential,” Neil agrees, “But I think our best bet is to push the opening. If we’re already open and established while they’re still building, that gives us the upper hand.”
“Or we lose out because then we’re not the new novelty anymore,” Gina counters.
“That’s ridiculous, people aren’t going to choose a new business just because it’s new,” Noah argues.
“I don’t know,” Keenan says, “Gina might have a point. A lot of people seem to be of the opinion that new is better here in the States.”
I can see what they mean. Americans do seem to have a perpetual need for the next up and coming thing.
“Maybe they’ll want to try the shiny new toy, but they’ll stick with tried and true quality in the long run,” I say firmly.
“I have to agree with Flynn,” Delia pipes up, “I think pushing the release and wowing them is our best option.”
“I agree,” Rowan says.
Barry, Cillian, and Seamus all nod, and Lucy murmurs her agreement, leaving Keenan and Gina the only ones not on board. But Keenan shrugs after a moment.
“I think it’s a decent idea. I just thought we should keep in mind that it might not necessarily work out the way we want it to.”
“That’s valid,” Delia says, “So are we agreed, then? We try and push the opening and just keep coming up with ideas to make it better and more unique?”
“I think that’s the best thing we can do,” Conor says.
I catch Gina rolling her eyes slightly at his words, but she shrugs.
“Majority rules. If y’all think it’s for the best, we’ll do it.”
I tuck away a smirk. Gina has set my teeth on edge since we met. While she may be investing her money into this project, she hasn’t lifted a perfectly manicured finger to help out with it.
Delia keeps saying that it’s because she has to run her own business, but I don’t buy it. I think Gina’s just chipping in the money so she can have her fingers in the business and rake in cash without lifting a finger.
Of course, that’s what investors usually do, so I guess I really can’t say anything, but the prissy jeweler gets under my skin.
We go over a few other things, and I notice that Gina keeps glancing at the clock. When we start wrapping things up, she springs to her feet.
“All right, guys, I’d better get out of here,” she says, “But call me if you need anything else from me, ok?”
Noah and Neil exchange a look, and I see Conor roll his eyes now. Unfortunately, Gina sees it, too.
“What’s your problem?” she asks in annoyance.
“It’s just funny that you disappear any time actual work needs to be done, that’s all,” Conor says coolly.
“Excuse me?” she asks incredulously.
“You’ll chip in your two cents, whether that means from your mouth or your wallet, and then you disappear.”
“What do you expect?!” she snaps, “I have my own business to run, by myself. I’m not just going to drop my established, successful business to jump onto this project just because you apparently think my financial contributions and opinions aren’t worth enough.”
“Your opinions are worthless enough to negate any actual contributions you’ve made,” he grumbles under his breath.
But Conor has never been much good at whispering, and I can see rage building in Gina’s face.
“Conor, that’s enough,” snaps Cillian, to my surprise, “Gina is an investor and has just as much right to contribute as you do. And we didn’t hire her on as part of the construction crew, so she’s not obligated to jump in with a hammer.”
Gina grits her teeth and forces herself to take a deep breath, probably to avoid swinging at Conor’s face. “Thank you, Cillian.”
She says her goodbyes to everyone else, pointedly ignoring the four of us, before finally leaving.
Irritating as she is, I do notice how fantastic her ass is as she’s walking out.
“Seriously, Conor?” Delia asks, “She didn’t do anything, why are you guys always such assholes to her?”
“Hey, I didn’t do anything,” I protest, “Why am I being included in this?”
“Because you usually do, today was the exception, not the rule,” Delia huffs in annoyance.
“Look, I just don’t think her ideas are in line with the rest of us, and I don’t think she has the same work ethics as the rest of us,” Conor says with a shrug, “I think she would be better as a silent partner.”
“Well, that’s not really your decision to make,” Seamus says, “As far as we’re concerned, she’s got just as much say in things as anyone. We’re all a team, and you guys need to work out your shit with her.”
“Hey, she picks fights with us just as often as we do,” Noah argues, “Why isn’t she hearing this?”
“She will,” Delia says, “We’re going to talk to her about it, too, not that it makes a difference to you guys,” with her arms folded over her chest, she looks every bit the mom she’s about to be, scolding us, “You can act like grownups regardless.”
A silence falls over the four of us and Conor looks a little abashed.
“We’ll try and be better, Delia,” Neil says finally, “We don’t want to cause you guys unnecessary stress.”
“Thank you,” she sighs.
“We’re going to head over to the construction site,” Seamus says, “You guys joining us?”
Four Times the Luck: Irish Reverse Harem Enemies to Lovers Romance Page 1