Can’t Hold Back (Returning Home, Book Two)
A love triangle gone wrong. The power to heal his pain. And a second chance for both of them.
Nate Riordan came home from war hurting—everywhere.
Alia Drake can touch him and make it all better.
Nate craves her touch, and not just the professional, physical
therapist version. But he needs to keep his eyes on the prize and his
feet firmly on the path he’s chosen: His buddy, J.J., died, and Nate
lived, which means he has promises to keep. Plus, Alia hurt him once,
and he’s afraid she’ll do it again.
Alia knows she has to ignore her feelings for Nate. Her job is to
take care of him professionally, so she has to keep her hands on the
parts of him she has a right to touch. Besides, when she lied to him two
years ago, she forfeited any claim she could ever have to his heart.
Now she just has to find some way to stick to her guns, leave him
alone, and do her job. Even—or especially—when he’s shirtless on the
table in her office…
Copyright © 2019 Serena Bell
All rights reserved.
“Is this seat taken?”
From her perspective in the grass, he was a giant, with broad
shoulders and a luminous smile. She’d always thought it was exaggeration
when women said they lost their breath in a man’s presence, but she
just had.
She got a grip and shook her head. “Pull up some turf.” She patted the lawn beside her, and he sat.
He was vivid, like a soldier in a movie: ripped, swaggering,
grinning, golden-haired. He’d smiled in her direction earlier, and for a
split second she’d thought, Who me? before she remembered that she was
standing next to Becca. Her sister was a man magnet. All the two of them
had to do was idle in a patch of sunlight admiring the garden, and sexy
six-foot-plus men in butt-hugging jeans and black T-shirts materialized
from nowhere—
Abracadabra! Hot guy for Becca.
In the car on the way over here, she’d told Becca that Jake’s picnics
boasted not just amazing food, but other earthly delights. “We’ll get
you back on your feet,” Alia had promised, sneaking a glance at her
sister, slumped in the passenger seat. Ever since Becca’s boyfriend had
dumped her recently, just as they were getting serious, she rarely
smiled.
Becca had been super excited about the guy, and Alia was almost as
disappointed as Becca was. She wanted her sister to be happy. Settled.
Cared for.
Hot Guy for Becca set his plate on the grass. He sat cross-legged,
and his thighs and calves, which looked like they’d been hewn from wood,
were generously decked with curly golden hair.
“My sister just went to get some food,” she told him, pointing.
He cast a glance at Becca, standing by the salad table, loading her
plate with potato chips. Tall, beautiful, blond, and glowing with
vitality.
“You guys don’t look anything alike.”
“We don’t.” She forced a smile. It wasn’t only blindingly obvious
differences, like Becca’s blond and Alia’s dark hair, but everything
else, too—Becca was slim, with hourglass curves, while Alia was
“athletic”; Becca had porcelain skin and Alia was generously freckled;
Becca’s features were classic and even, and Alia was—well, she’d be kind
to herself and say “cute.”
She sighed.
“Nate Riordan.” The man beside her reached out his hand for a shake.
“Alia Drake.”
Big hands. Warm. A moment ago, the world had smelled like summer.
Like grass gone somewhere to seed, roses in bloom, and the mingled
marvels of mesquite smoke and grilling meat.
Now her head was filled with a different scent entirely—soap,
shampoo, the faintest whiff of some spicy male deodorant or cologne.
He was going to have no difficulty making Becca forget her romantic
troubles. He could probably make any woman blank on her own name.
She retrieved her hand before she could reflect any more on that. He was Becca’s hot guy.
- Title: Can’t Hold Back
- Author: Serena Bell
- Category: Contemporary romance
- ISBN: 978-1-7328948-1-5
- Format: e-book
- Publication Date: March 26, 2019
- Pages: 229
- Price: $3.99
- Available from: Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Google Play
Photo credit Susan Young
USA Today bestselling author Serena Bell writes contemporary
romance with heat, heart, and humor. A former journalist, Serena has
always believed that everyone has an amazing story to tell if you listen
carefully, and you can often find her scribbling in her tiny garret
office, mainlining chocolate and bringing to life the tales in her
head.
Serena’s books have earned many honors, including an RT Reviewers’
Choice Award, Apple Books Best Book of the Month, and Amazon Best Book
of the Year for Romance.
When not writing, Serena loves to spend time with her
college-sweetheart husband and two hilarious kiddos—all of whom are
incredibly tolerant not just of Serena’s imaginary friends but also of
how often she changes her hobbies and how passionately she embraces the
new ones. These days, it’s stand-up paddle boarding, board-gaming,
meditation, and long walks with good friends.
