Love Restored (Gallagher Brothers #1)(32)

To make things clear, Blake sauntered around the counter and moved toward Derek. “Honey, you couldn’t handle me if I said hello to you like that.” She flicked her hair over her shoulder and turned back to Graham, but not before she saw Derek put both hands over his heart and do that cartoon motion where it looked like it was beating.

Graham grinned at her before sliding her hair behind her ear. “Nice.”

“I try,” she drawled. “Anyway, what are you doing here?”

“He’s here for me,” Maya said from behind them. Blake turned to the other woman, who had a hand on her hip, and a curious expression on her face. “And while you might want to go let off some steam with your boyfriend here in the back, we have health codes for a reason.”

“There’s an office,” Derek pointed out. “That should work.”

Graham gripped Blake’s hip, and she forced herself to roll her eyes and not climb him like a freaking tree.

“I’m surprised you said ‘let off some steam,’” Blake said instead. “No cursing?”

Maya flushed and put her hand on her still flat stomach. “The guys and I are going to try not cursing like crazy with the baby coming and all.”

Every single person in the room started laughing—including the clients, who Blake was pretty sure hadn’t known Maya for too long.

“I hate all of you,” Maya growled. “Now, Gallagher, get in the da—chair so I can touch up that shoulder of yours.”

“Nice with the whole not cursing thing,” Derek teased.

“You’re fired,” Maya spat.

“No, I’m not,” Derek sing-songed before going back to work.

Blake sighed before standing straight. She hadn’t noticed that she’d leaned back on Graham’s very hard chest and even harder cock when she’d been listening to Maya. Damn traitorous body of hers.

“You’re getting ink touched up?” Blake asked as she turned to face Graham again.

“Yeah,” Graham said softly, his eyes on hers. “I worked this morning on the site, but since Murphy needs to gripe about a few things, I asked Maya to fit me in if she could. You want to get something to eat once you’re off?”

Though just the mention of the site he worked on threw cold water over her, she felt her head nod in answer. “Okay,” she said since she’d already nodded. “I could eat.”

“Good.” He kissed her again, and Blake did her best to not throw her arms around him.

This was why she was always so confused. Her body wanted to do one thing while her mind needed to do another. Add in her heart, and she had no idea what she was doing.

“Enough, you two,” Maya said with a laugh. “Get in the damn chair, Gallagher. Let’s see what you’ve done with my precious work since you won’t wear enough sunscreen when you’re acting all manly working without your shirt.”

Blake snorted and pulled away as her next client walked in. “Have fun, you two. I have a piercing to do.”

Graham nodded at her, and for a moment, she saw the pain she’d seen the night before when he’d spoken of Cynthia. Then he blinked it away. He was good at hiding that, but now that she knew a little more about him, she had a feeling she’d be seeing that look in his eyes more often.

And what she would do with that…she didn’t know.




“So, you really don’t care that I pierced Murphy’s dick?” she asked as she picked up another slice of pizza.

After he’d gotten his tattoo touched up, and Blake finished the two cartilage piercings she had on her schedule, Maya told her to head out. Not wanting to anger the pregnant woman, Blake had left the shop with Graham. Instead of going out to eat, they’d ended up at his place with a pizza and salad, along with a couple of beers. She would need to drive home later no matter what happened, in case Rowan needed to come home early from the party, but she could stay for a little while yet. The fact that she could just as easily drive from Graham’s to pick up Rowan wasn’t lost on her, but she didn’t want to be away from home when her baby was out of the house. And since she didn’t want to be away from home when her baby was in the house, that made for tricky situations when it came to relationships.

Graham had just taken a drink of his beer as she asked him about his brother’s dick in her hand so she wasn’t surprised when he choked on it. She handed him a napkin, and he wiped his beard, his eyes narrowed.

“You did that on purpose,” he growled.

Blake held up both hands. “No, that was just a happy accident.”

“Wench.”

“Bruiser.”

He winked. “As for you piercing Murphy? Yeah, it made me a little jealous that you’d seen his dick before you saw mine, but as you’re here with me now, and I’m planning to f*ck you over that chair in a bit, I call it a wash.”

This time, she choked on her beer. She glared at him as he handed over a napkin, an innocent expression on his face. “You did that on purpose,” she said, mimicking his words.

“Did I?” He blinked. “But for real, it’s your job, Blake. If I had a problem with it, then it would be my problem. The fact that you pierced him with a very large needle right after he dropped trou helps matters. Hell, I remember how much pain I was in when I got mine. Hurt like a bitch, but worth it in the end.”