Ryan's Return

Now a ROMANTIC BOOK OF THE YEAR (RUBY) finalist *


A secret billionaire. A sister rescuing her brother's Outback bar. History they can't forget and chemistry they can't deny.


Stranded in the Outback tending her brother's bar after he disappears, Aurora Conroy is battling to keep the business afloat, and her hands off the man who knows her secrets. Her teenage crush has secrets of his own, including why he's back in town.


Billionaire Ryan Harrington knows a lot about success and more about covering his tracks. When the only family he's ever loved needs him, he's prepared to risk discovery. But working as an undercover boss gets complicated when he falls hard for the one woman he swore he'd never touch: his best friend's sister.


*Ryan's Return is a finalist in Romance Writers of Australia's 2021 RUBY awards, novella category.


Excerpt:
Chapter One

"Damn you, Davey. Why aren't you answering your phone?"
Aurora's head pounded. When her brother showed up, she was going to strangle him. This was no way to run a business. Thirsty's Bar & Grill was his business, but still. Her money was in it too.
She called out the office door to the bar, "Any sign of the 1:30 appointment yet, Gwen?"
"Sorry, boss. Do you want me to send them in if they turn up?"
Aurora sighed, then yelled again, wincing. "I guess so. Thanks, Gwen." She reached for the ibuprofen packet, popped two tablets, and swallowed them with a swig from her near-empty water bottle. Dehydration was a constant battle.
The deep-throated roar of a motorbike in the street grated on her last nerve. Why the hell did some people think making a racket like that was necessary? Fuming, she rolled her tight shoulders and stood to stretch her back, then walked to the office window, peeking through the blind's dusty timber slats. The source of the rumble was angling back into the curb-a big matte-black motorbike, its rider also in black, both covered in a fine layer of red Outback dust. Aurora's breath caught in her throat.
Broad shoulders, long limbs, and thick chest. Her personal catnip.
Damn, that's fine.
If she was still in Sydney she might have gone outside and tried a little chatting up. The thought made her smile, momentarily. But in Granite Ridge, the gossip that she'd been flirting it up with a bad boy biker would have done two laps of town and been phoned in to her mother before sunset. Her mum didn't need more stress after the horror year she'd had; she needed a holiday.
The engine noise cut to blessed silence. The man kicked down the stand, stepped off the bike, and turned his back to her window as he removed his gloves and full-face helmet, running a hand through his hair.
A shiver ran up Aurora's spine. She'd known only one person with that shade of hair, so dark it was nearly black, and the way it curled at the base of his neck ... but no. Ryan Harrington left town without a backward glance ten years ago, two weeks after he'd found her sixteen-year-old self naked in his bed. He'd taken that secret with him, thank God. As far as she knew, he hadn't been back.
As if he felt her gaze burning his neck, the man turned and looked straight at her window.
Aurora released the slats and jumped back before she could see his eyes and be certain.
"I brought you a coffee."
Aurora jumped at Gwen's voice behind her.
"Are you okay, love? You look like you've seen a ghost." ...