Love Restored (Gallagher Brothers #1)
Carrie Ann Ryan
Dedication
For him.
Acknowledgements
I loved writing Love Restored! It was great to see the other side of Denver and the Montgomerys without actually writing their series. The Gallagher Brothers are bearded, broody, and filled with gruff angst. Graham is one of my favorite heroes ever…and Blake might be one of my favorite characters. Ever.
I couldn’t write this book without a so many people. Thank you Chelle, Charity, KP, and Tara for all of your help with this book. You guys make sure each book is perfect.
Thank you Sasha Devlin for daring me to write a certain scene on Twitter. Yes, apparently if you dare me on Twitter, it can end up in a book.
Thank you Rebecca Royce for reading each chapter as I wrote it, giving me what I needed to finish the book.
And thank you to my husband for understanding that long nights and weekends come with the job. But also thank you for teaching me what down time is. I love you.
As always, I couldn’t be here without my readers, so thank you for reading each of my books and thank you once more for taking a chance with the Gallagher Brothers.
Happy reading!
~Carrie Ann
Love Restored
In the first of a Montgomery Ink spin-off series from NYT Bestselling Author Carrie Ann Ryan, a broken man uncovers the truth of what it means to take a second chance with the most unexpected woman…
Graham Gallagher has seen it all. And when tragedy struck, lost it all. He’s been the backbone of his brothers, the one they all rely on in their lives and business. And when it comes to falling in love and creating a life, he knows what it’s like to have it all and watch it crumble. He’s done with looking for another person to warm his bed, but apparently he didn’t learn his lesson because the new piercer at Montgomery Ink tempts him like no other.
Blake Brennen may have been born a trust fund baby, but she’s created a whole new life for herself in the world of ink, piercings, and freedom. Only the ties she’d thought she’d cut long ago aren’t as severed as she’d believed. When she finds Graham constantly in her path, she knows from first glance that he’s the wrong kind of guy for her. Except that Blake excels at making the wrong choice and Graham might be the ultimate temptation for the bad girl she’d thought long buried.
1
Graham Gallagher had never craved a cigarette as much as he did right then. It didn’t matter that he’d quit smoking over fifteen years ago cold turkey and hadn’t picked one up since then. He just wanted a damn smoke.
Scratch that.
He wanted a fucking cigarette, a beer, and a willing woman underneath him as he fucked her until they were both spent.
And not necessarily in that order.
Not that he’d get any of that anytime soon. Between this new job, the old one they hadn’t fully completed yet, and the rest of the crap in his life, he wasn’t sure he’d even have time for a beer.
And considering it had been a long six months since he’d had a woman, he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be getting laid anytime soon. He and his right hand had a perfectly nice relationship for now, and when things got downright dangerous, he got to know his left.
Jesus, he needed coffee or something if he was thinking about how his left hand would be something different in his life.
He pulled his dark hair out of the rubber band and grimaced as he caught some tangles when he ran a hand through it. He wasn’t sure he’d brushed it that morning; instead, he’d just thrown it up in a tie at the back of his head as soon as he’d gotten out of the shower. At least I showered, he thought. Considering he’d slept for shit the night before, a shower after sweat-slick dreams had been the only recourse. He quickly ran his hand through his hair a few more times, getting out most of the rat’s nest, and then pulled it back again before the owner of their new project showed up and called him a heathen.