Yet another woman I’ve known my entire life sidles up beside me, smiling coquettishly as if they’re waiting for me to blink and suddenly fall in love with them. This isn’t the first time this has happened to me, it’s not even the first time this week. For the last few years, ever since Beau fell for Bonnie, and news of Barnett men succumbing to love at first sight filled the small town we live in, women have been lining up like cattle wanting to be my one. The girl I’ll instantly fall for and turn into a caveman nutjob for, just like my brothers have.

It’s pathetic how these women have lined up hoping I’ll choose them or what-the-fuck-ever, and as much as I’ve tried to be polite, my patience has worn thin of grown-ass women I’ve known my whole life throwing themselves in my path. You’d think by now they’d have given up, but they haven’t. If anything, as my brothers have been taken off the market one by one and the pool of available Barnett brothers has dwindled, they’ve gotten worse. There isn’t a single woman left in town who hasn’t brought their car into our garage for an unnecessary service, or dropped by with cookies or a casserole they just so happened to have made too much of. I’ve been propositioned more times in the last three years than I have the rest of my forty-two years on earth and honestly, I’m sick of it.

Flashing her a bored, dismissive tip of my lips, I walk away from her and into our tiny office sanctuary, that’s so oily and grimy I’ve yet to find even the most desperate of female prepared to step inside.

Unlike my brothers, I’m not interested in finding my woman. I enjoy being single, I like meaningless one-night stands, and I have zero intention of becoming a mindless caveman just because I fall in love.

That’s not to say I’m not happy for my brothers, because I am. I adore all my sisters and I’m genuinely excited that our home is full of my adorable nieces and nephews. I love kids, I just don’t ever see myself having any of my own.

“Jesus, if I have to change another oil filter, I’m going to lose my damn mind,” Penn scowls, flopping down in the chair in front of my desk. Despite the perpetual smell of gasoline and the dirty, grease-stained walls and furniture, my office is actually cleaner than it appears at first glance. The reception space at the front of the garage is where we greet customers and it’s immaculately clean, but this is our private space, and a bit of grease and oil doesn’t bother us in the least.

“You’d think now that Lulu and I are married and have three fucking kids together, the women would stop thinking I’m available. I get why they stalk you, but why me?” my brother whines.

“Maybe you need to start wearing a sign around your neck,” I suggest sarcastically.

He flashes me the bird, with the hand with his wedding ring on it, and scowls at me. “You and Cody need to hurry up and find your women. Once we’re all taken, the rumors will die down until the kids are old enough to get hit with the family legacy.”

“Do you think it’ll happen the same way for the girls? What about Poppy?” I ask. “She’s a Barnett too.”

“My baby girls aren’t allowed near a boy they’re not related to until they’re in their thirties,” Penn snarls.

“Bro, you’re fucking screwed. Lulu, Alice, Cora and Bonnie are all only in their twenties and married with kids, and if Teddy has anything to do with it, Juni will be pregnant before she turns twenty-one. There’s no way you’re going to stop Poppy, Bluebell or Hyacinth dating, at least Mav, Fox and Wilder will be able to scare off any little assholes that come calling for their cousins,” I laugh.

“I’m going to take my babies to school every day and eyeball any little fuckers who think they’re good enough for my girls,” Penn says, his expression completely serious.

Unable to help myself, I laugh. “Bro, chill out. Poppy is one and Bluebell and Hyacinth are only four months old, you don’t need to worry about getting your shotgun out for a few years yet.”

“I can’t fucking wait for you to find your woman, the moment you lay eyes on her you’ll be as crazy as I am.”

“Never going to happen. I know you all expect me to jump on the love train, but I’m good just the way I am. I’m too old to be thinking about settling down and having kids, I’m happy to stay single and keep my life calm and uncomplicated.”

“You don’t mean that, just look at me. I was fine with a different fuck for every day of the week until I found Lulu. She’s perfect for me and now I can’t imagine anything worse than touching another woman other than her. I had no idea I had a thing for pregnant women until she was swelling with my babies, now I’m counting down until I can breed her again.”

“And how does Lulu feel about you wanting to get her pregnant again?” I ask with a smirk.

“I think she suggested scheduling me a vasectomy or a castration, but she’ll come around. Another fucking amazing thing about finding your woman… no condoms. My swimmers have the GPS coordinates locked down and once the twins are sleeping through the night, I’m going to keep my wife pumped full of my cum until she’s bred again.”

“She’s going to kill you. It’s going to be almost as bad as when Cora found out Huck knocked her up again.”

Penn hisses between his teeth and grimaces as we both remember the way Cora kicked Huck in the balls two weeks ago when she found out she was expecting again. “Huck’s lucky she didn’t cut his dick off in his sleep. The funny thing is that he says he really didn’t mess with her birth control this time, although after last time I don’t blame her for not believing him.”

“We need to get back out there,” I sigh, nodding my head in the direction of the door. “We have another four oil changes booked in this afternoon. But from now on, I’m going to start scheduling Callum to deal with all the fuck-bait jobs, then we can focus on the actual repairs and avoid all the legacy bunnies that won’t take no for an answer.”

“Sounds like a plan to me. The upturn in business the last couple of years has been great, but I’m servicing Lindsey Hollis’s Honda again for the sixth time this year today, and if she tries to grab my dick like she did last time she was here, I’m banning her.”

“Agreed,” I nod. “I’ll let Callum know about the change in scheduling going forward.”

Pushing up from my chair, I grab a bottle of water from the small refrigerator I keep stocked in the corner of the room and head back out into the garage, forcing a smile to my lips as Laura Becksworth pushes her tits out and struts toward me.

“Nice to see you again, Miss Becksworth, what can I help you with today?”