HE DOESN'T RECOGNIZE HIMSELFDavid Moorehouse has spent his life hiding behind masks. Nice guy. Best friend. Reverend's kid. After finding his father dead on the floor, he’s been stripped of his job at the family church and his identity as the quiet, nice guy. The life he knew is over, and he doesn’t know what to do next.HE KNOWS ANGER BETTER THAN ANYONERicky Slade is itching for a fight. By the time he meets David, he’s struggling to save his business, his best friend, his drug-addict brother, and his own sanity. He’s got no patience for his business partner’s judgmental sibling showing up and getting in his face.Their furious heat turns into a fiery inferno, but Ricky's fresh off a bad breakup, and David is getting guilt-tripped by his family and his ex. Every time they fight, they fall into bed, but will that be enough when things around them come apart?
Release Day: August 1, 2014
“You know—” Dave
made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat. “Never mind. I don’t know
what you’re talking about and I don’t want to know.” He threw his stuff in the
rear of Ricky’s cab, then turned to jab a stiff four fingers into the center of
Ricky’s chest. “Least we can agree on the dickhead thing. I mean, who shows up
to a funeral with a firearm?”
Ricky didn’t
show up to funerals at all when he could help it. Easier to avoid acknowledging
death that way. “Need I remind, you tried to turn away your own brother? That
sort of potential was exactly why I brought the thing.”
Ooh. Jumping jaw
muscles and gritting teeth and everything now. “He’s only my brother by blood.
I hardly know him.”
Ungrateful punk.
“He’s the closest thing you got. He deserved to be at that funeral much as you
did. ‘Sides, he was born first.”
Dave advanced on
Ricky again, hot breath puffing and panting. “My mama’s heart can’t take that
kind of shock. I was trying to keep the peace.”
Ricky matched
the threat in Dave’s posture. “The person whose behavior was shocking, Church
Boy, was yours.” He licked his lips slowly, grinning at the way Dave’s pupils
got smaller and larger and smaller again, like he couldn’t decide whether lust
or pissed-as-hell was winning in this fight of theirs.
Ricky himself
had adrenaline swirling through his veins and a tornado in his belly. Man, this
shit was better than a third ride on the Tilt-A-Whirl “I mean damn, any more
heated and you and I coulda wound up going to the dirt right there in front of
everybody. Bet that woulda really given your poor mama something to— fuck.”
David growled
and gripped Ricky’s shoulders, hauling him front-first against the side of the
truck. “Shut up. Shut the fuck up!” His breath beat harsh and ragged against
Ricky’s ear.
With what air
hadn’t been squeezed outta Ricky’s lungs, he laughed at Dave again. Was that
the intelligent option? Hell no. This dude had the markers for being at least
three colors of crazy. Ricky didn’t back down though, so he’d push until the
other guy did.
Or until someone
got hurt.
He’d have said
no way could this guy kick his ass, not with his glasses and wiry frame, but
Dave handled Ricky’s body with a reasonable amount of strength and know-how.
Not enough for a total ass-kicking, maybe, but enough to impress. Speaking of
impressive…. “If you think I’m gonna be intimidated by the anaconda you’re
rubbin’ against my backside, Church Boy, you got another thing coming.” He
sucked in a breath. “Gotta tell you though. If fucking in the parking lot is
your thing, you really gotta give a guy some advance warning. I would’ve parked
in an unlit area.”
Ricky’s
most-likely unexpected response must’ve startled Dave into loosening his hands.
Ricky twisted Dave’s arm and turned them both, pushing Dave’s back into the truck
and Ricky’s fists into Dave’s chest. “See, that’s what I figured,” Ricky
murmured with his lips a hair from one mother of a betrayed sneer. “Damn shame,
too.”
Dave narrowed
his eyes. “What’s a shame?”
Ricky smiled
slightly, shaking his head. “You’re all bark, Church Boy.”
Ooooh! Sounds good right? Drama, intensity, and a bit of sexy heat, to boot! I'm definitely looking forward to this read. And lucky for you, you can win the prequel, Stripped Clean!
Carlos O'Shea is stuck. He knocked up a girl in college after a night of too much drinking and then married her to be honorable. With little money, fewer options, and no degree, he winds up cleaning the floors in a small town gentlemen's club and thinking desperate thoughts about the handsome owner that'll lead to nothing but trouble.
Greg Moorehouse only invested in a nudie bar to help his best buddy out of a financial crisis. Now his drug-dealing ex-boyfriend, his reverend father, and a parade of surgically-enhanced DDs are driving him insane. But what's really stripped him of all good sense is his growing obsession with his married employee, Carlos.
They circle each other in a push-pull of misunderstandings and growing attraction. Carlos needs to get his boss out of his head, and Greg can’t abide cheaters and married men. So what are a strip club owner and the guy who cleans going to do with their undeniable desires?
Be advised: Contains explicit love-making between two hot-blooded men, angsty dark moments, and cupcake-baking exotic dancers.
Find Ellis Carrington Online
Ellis Carrington on AMAZON
Previous Posts on Fictional Candy
Guest Post - Stripped Clean
a Rafflecopter giveaway