HOPE RESTORED
The Gallagher Brothers series from NYT Bestselling Author Carrie Ann Ryan concludes with the final brother who thought he had everything to look forward to, and the one woman who can handle him.
Life isn’t worth living if you don’t fight to live. That’s what Murphy Gallagher learned at a young age when cancer ravaged his body not once, but twice. Over the course of his survival, he lost his parents and his childhood, but he’s been healthy for years and has become a man he hopes his family is proud of. But when his world tilts on its axis yet again, he’ll have to learn what it means to fight not only the unknown but also his attraction to his best friend.
Tessa Stone works hard and plays harder. She’s spent her life trying to figure out who she is in the present rather than looking back. Yet when she’s forced into close proximity with Murphy, she’ll have to not only be his rock but learn how to relax enough to maybe let him be hers, as well. But seduction doesn’t stop when the world seems to, and close encounters of the naked kind might just be the first step in something much more complicated than either of them bargained for. Life, though, is for living, after all.
Get your hands on HOPE RESTORED now
Excerpt
“What
the hell? Why are you in my bathroom? Why are you naked and wet in my bathroom?
Boundaries, Murphy! Boundaries!” Tessa was rambling, and she didn’t care. She’d
just run five freaking miles to get him and his pretty dick out of her mind,
and now she had a real image of said dick in her brain, and she’d never be able
to think straight again.
Why
did the Gallaghers have to be so sexy? Why did this particular Gallagher have
to press all her buttons just right and happen to be naked and wet in her
bathroom while she was sweaty and naked right in front of him?
The horror, Tessa thought. The horror.
Murphy
winced and waved over at the sink where another towel lay. She recognized this
as one of Murphy’s, so she threw it at him.
“Sorry,
I didn’t want to put it on the floor or on top of your towel so I left it over
there.”
“Still
doesn’t explain anything, Murphy Gallagher.” She would never be able to get the
sight or feel of him out of her head
now.
“The
showerhead in the guest bath broke off. I wasn’t even touching it. When I went
to turn on the water, it fell off and sprayed me in the face. The damn thing
hit me on the hip on its way down.” He pointed to a growing bruise on his side,
and Tessa’s eyes widened, panic leaping into her throat.
Without
thinking, she reached forward and slid her fingers down his hip right above his
towel. “Oh God, Murphy. Are you okay? You’re bruising so quickly.” She held
back tears, annoyed with herself for showing weakness in front of the man who
was actually going through this whole ordeal instead of just witnessing it.
He
put his hand over hers, and she stilled, aware of what she was doing. Blushing
once again, she pulled back and tightened her towel around her chest.
“I’ll
be fine. I’m headed into the clinic later anyway for my scheduled blood
transfusion. That’s why I needed to jump in your shower. I’m going to be late,
and I didn’t have the parts to fix the other one anyway. Since part of the
showerhead is still on the wall, at least it’s not spraying water everywhere
unless I actually turn on the faucet, but I’ll have to shut off the water to
the whole house once I start working on the plumbing. It won’t be a hard job.”
Murphy blew out a breath and rubbed his face with his hand, keeping his other
hand firmly on the towel around his waist. “I’m sorry for using your shower
without asking, but you weren’t here, and I figured I’d clean it before you got
back. I didn’t imagine you’d literally dance in naked and bump into me.” He
winced, but she saw something in his eyes that looked like interest.
God,
this was all just a mess, and she didn’t know what to do about it.
“It’s
okay,” Tessa said slowly, trying to get images of Murphy and his pierced dick
out of her brain. It wasn’t easy since he was still naked and wet in front of
her. “Really. We’ll just forget this ever happened and go about our day. Why
don’t you, uh, go to your room and get dressed or something, and I’ll shower
and put this whole thing out of my mind.” She spoke quickly and hoped he would
agree to forget it all as she’d said. Not that she’d actually forget, but she
could lie with the best of them. “Do you need me to, uh, go to the hardware
store or something and pick up a new showerhead?”
Murphy
shook his head. “I can do it. We have a few on-site that could work, and I can
get them at cost to save money. I can even bring a couple home with me if you
want so you can pick it out. It’s your house, after all.”
Right.
It was her house, and he was her roommate. Her naked roommate. She really needed to stop thinking about
that.
“I
don’t know what I want for that bathroom yet, I haven’t decided on anything.
Liz was the one with the plans for the house.”
His
gaze softened. “No problem. I’ll bring a couple by, and you can choose. If you
don’t like any, then we’ll go to the store together to find one that you like
that will also work in the space you have. Again, sorry for using your shower
without asking, and for…” He waved between them.
“For
slapping your naked body against mine so close I know exactly what your piecing
feels like?” Tessa slapped her free hand against her mouth, her eyes going
wide.
Murphy
let out a rough chuckle that went straight between her legs. “Yes. That. Though
we aren’t thinking about that, right?”
Tessa
nodded, her hand still over her mouth lest she make things worse.
“Right,”
he mumbled. “I’ll just… I’ll go.” He fled the bathroom, careful not to
accidentally brush her on his way by, and Tessa lowered her hand, closing her
eyes so she could hide from the world and what had just happened.
This
was what happened when you roomed with the guy from your sex dreams.
Bad
things.
Bad,
sweaty, naked, pierced things.
About Carrie Ann Ryan
Carrie Ann Ryan is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary and paranormal romance. Her works include the Montgomery Ink, Redwood Pack, Talon Pack, and Gallagher Brothers series, which have sold over 2.0 million books worldwide. She started writing while in graduate school for her advanced degree in chemistry and hasn’t stopped since. Carrie Ann has written over fifty novels and novellas with more in the works. When she’s not writing about bearded tattooed men or alpha wolves that need to find their mates, she’s reading as much as she can and exploring the world of baking and gourmet cooking.
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