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?”
We join them every day at the site of the ranch, helping with the build. Lucy and Delia have each been running things at home, between Delia’s ranch and Lucy’s dog business, but as they’ve both grown closer to their due dates, their husbands have taken turns staying home to help out, despite their very independent wives complaining loudly about being treated like invalids.
“Yep, we’re headed out there,” Noah says.
“Cool, we’ll see you out there,” he says, and he and Cillian start to leave after kissing Lucy goodbye.
“Hang on, we may as well ride together,” Keenan says, “Rowan, you’re hanging here?”
Rowan nods, looping an arm around Delia’s shoulders. Keenan brushes a kiss over his wife’s lips and pats her swollen belly before following his cousins out. The four of us follow them and the seven of us split up between two cars to go over to the construction site.
“Oh, look, they’ve almost got the porch done,” Neil says as we approach, and a glance out the window shows me that he’s right.
The porch had been one of Gina’s ideas, a screened-in area in front of the whole dude ranch to be filled with comfortable chairs where our guests can enjoy a little bug-free fresh air and either socialize, read a good book, or just enjoy the sunshine.
At first, my brothers and I had scoffed at the idea, disliking the prissy idea, but now that I was actually seeing it, it seemed fitting. It wasn’t the hoity-toity parlor we’d pictured, but more like a relaxed place to hang out.
I would never dare to admit it to her after the way we’d made fun of it, but I kind of liked it.
Although, maybe clinging to that one good idea would be enough to help me keep the peace and keep my word to Delia.
Chapter Three
Gina
I’ve been seething all day, to the point where I can’t work on any of my custom orders. Dealing with the Byrne brothers had been even more infuriating than I had expected. I wasn’t sure if they were insinuating that I was lazy, or taking advantage of their friends, or exactly what they were implying, but it made my blood boil.
When I drop a tanzanite for the third time, my shaking hands knocking it out of the piece I was trying to set it in, I give up, setting my tools down, collecting the gem and returning it to the little case I had been storing it in.
With a sigh, I look over my online orders and I’m even more agitated to see how slow orders are. I only have one small order to ship out for now, and once I’ve packed that up, it hits me that I have nothing to do.
This is a pretty dead time of year in the store, with no major romantic holidays coming up, so I end up doing a lot of my one-of-a-kind jewelry designs around now. And while the website traffic varies from day to day, it’s not like it takes me that long to collect and package orders.
So maybe it’s time to show up the Byrne brothers. I type up a sign for the door and print it, taping it to the glass. I pack things up and lock up behind me.
With a final glance at the door, I see that the sign is positioned neatly and easy to read: “Landry’s Lovelies will be closed Monday through Friday through June 30th. We will still be open regular hours Saturday and Sunday, and orders placed through our website will still be shipped daily. Sorry for the inconvenience!”
And with that, I head home to Kal, who seems deeply offended that I had elected to leave him home for the day.
Sorry, buddy, I think, you’ll have to get used to that for a bit.
I’ve decided that for the next few weeks, I’m going to take the plunge and jump in to help with the build. Maybe I don’t think that pushing for a faster opening is going to be the fix we need against our new competitor, but if that’s the plan, I’m on board to help.
And maybe this will finally shut up those smarmy Irish assholes.
Maybe I grew up a spoiled, pampered rich girl, but the moment I left Lionel, everything changed. I’d literally thrown a dart at a map, vowing to move to wherever it landed, and I’d moved from New England to Texas with five thousand dollars to my name.
I’d gotten a job in the local diner and worked my ass off, squirrelling away money for a house and to make some new kind of life for myself. In that time, my parents had gotten in touch with me and begged me to come back and take my husband back. My husband, however, was smart enough not to get in touch.
In that time, I’d started doing a lot of hiking on some of the mountain trails outside of town. It had relaxed me, and one day, I’d noticed something sparkly on the trail. Drawn to it like a magpie, I’d scooped it up and discovered it was a broken geode, full of amethyst. And those glittering stones had reignited a spark from a long time ago.
I’d always loved jewelry and sparkly things, and when I was a teenager, I had developed a fascination with gemstones. In fact, I’d begun to accumulate a small collection of gems from flea markets and online auctions, and the box containing my gem collection was actually one of the few things that had come with me both after I’d gotten married and again when I fled to Texas.
And so from there, every penny I saved went into becoming a jeweler, from buying supplies and books to developing my website. I’d found my calling, my passion, and from there, I worked my website into something massive and opened a brick-and-mortar store. And while the store wasn’t packed all the time, I made more than enough to keep it running.
I take pride in the fact that I had done it all myself, from teaching myself to cut and set gems to running a business all on my own.
And so Conor’s jabs, whatever they insinuated, had set me bristling, and now I feel determined to show them that they were wrong about me. Even though something in the back of my mind keeps asking me why - why it matters what they think of me.
I wake the next morning and struggle over what to wear to the construction site. I tend to wear a lot of subdued, businessy pencil skirts and blouses when I’m working at the jewelry store, and in my free time, I tend toward loose tunics and leggings or comfy t-shirts and jeans.
&nb
sp; Jeans seem like a good idea, rugged and protective, so I wriggle into a well-fitting pair, and I settle on a plain, slightly oversized t-shirt with long sleeves. Despite living in Texas for over five years, I haven’t yet fallen under the spell of cowboy boots, but I do have a sturdy pair of plain old boots that’ll protect my feet.
Overall, with my hair swept up out of my face, I can almost convince myself that I’m ready for anything today. The nagging little voice of dread in the back of my brain reminds me that I’ll still have to be dealing with the Byrne brothers, but I force myself to ignore it, trying to forget that I’m doing this to show them up.
Kal twines around my ankles as I’m trying to leave, complaining loudly about being left at home again. I feel a stab of guilt, but I’m not about to try and take him to the construction site again.
I convince myself as I drive down to the site that I’m doing this to help the project along, for my friends, and it has nothing at all to do with those gorgeous bastards.
I pull off and I’m amazed to see the progress they’ve made since the last time I was here. It’s actually starting to look like a real building, rather than a skeletal outline.
I step out of my car and I’m greeted by a surprised-looking Seamus and Barry.
“Gina, we didn’t know you were coming today,” Barry says, offering me a genuine smile.
“I decided that I can close up shop for a bit and jump in to help,” I say with a shrug, “If we’re really going to push this opening, you guys will need all hands on deck, right?”
Seamus frowns a little.
“This isn’t because of Conor giving you a hard time yesterday, right?” he asks, “Because he’s wrong, you’ve contributed plenty, and you’re in no way obligated to do any of this,” he waves a hand at the building.
I force a smile and lie through my teeth.
All Our Luck: Complete Irish Reverse Harem Series Page 19