Heated Beat 02 - Lucky Man Read Online Free Page A

Sad but true: Finn knew the theme song from every cheesy ad Danny could think of. “I want a rematch.”
    “Yeah?”
    “Yeah.” Danny rinsed the last dish and handed it over.
    Finn shoved it in the cupboard with little care, noting Danny’s gaze sliding to the clock on the microwave. “Got somewhere to be?
    “What? Oh no… not really. Just figured it was getting late.” Danny turned and pulled Finn against him. The embrace felt casual and easy… too easy. Finn sighed and kissed Danny’s neck, and for the third time since they’d met, he convinced Danny to slope back upstairs and fall into his bed….
    “Hello?”
    Finn jumped. His mind had wandered too far, and he’d forgotten what he’d been waiting for, but there was no denying the flat, bored tone was a poor incarnation of the voice he’d been daydreaming about all day. “Danny? That you?”
    “Yeah. Who’s that… shit, hang on.” Rustling. A car door slamming, then Danny came back on the line. “Finn?”
    “It’s me.”
    “Sorry, mate. I was driving. How’re you doing? Long time no speak.”
    Finn laughed and relaxed. See? Wasn’t so hard, was it? “I think we last spoke at 2:00 a.m.”
    “Yeah? What did we talk about?”
    Finn felt warm all over. Danny hadn’t seemed the type to talk dirty over the phone, but perhaps he’d misjudged him, which wasn’t hard to believe. Even naked and moving over Finn, Danny had proved a bit of an enigma. He’d seemed unsure of himself at first, especially when he’d taken his clothes off, but there was something about him… a strength, an edge that told Finn there was far more to the quiet man than met the eye. “You sound miles away. Did you emigrate Down Under since I last saw you?”
    “Even if I had, I wouldn’t have got there yet. I’d be in… I don’t know, Singapore, maybe?”
    Finn laughed again. “So… where are you?”
    “I just got home.”
    “Where’s that?” Finn pushed his luck. “You didn’t tell me much yesterday. You could be a reggae dancer from Timbuktu for all I know.”
    “Would that be bad?”
    “No, just unexpected. You don’t look like much of a dancer.”
    Danny snorted. “You’ve got me there. I can’t dance for shit. I’m a… policeman, actually. And I live at the bottom of Marsden Heights.”
    Finn heard Danny’s hesitation like a fucking siren. Policeman. Wow. That explained a lot. “Marsden Heights? In the flats?”
    “Yep. Top floor.”
    Finn hummed and turned it all over in his mind. “You don’t look like a copper. You’re not old enough.”
    “Don’t you start. I get that from cons all the time.”
    “Maybe they fancy you.”
    Danny laughed. “Hope not. I work Vice.”
    A pause stretched out between them, an awkward silence that hadn’t been there the day before. Finn wondered if this was what happened when one-night stands went on too long, so he broke it first. He’d called Danny for a reason, right? “So… I’m not gigging this weekend. Do you want to grab a curry or something?”
    “I’m working all weekend, but I get off shift at ten on Saturday. That too late for you?”
    “No, it’s perfect, actually. I’ve got a jam session in the city that will probably go on late. Have you been to Moja before?”
    “That all-night dive behind the coach park?”
    Finn rolled his eyes. “It’s not a dive. It’s a canteen and it’s awesome. What do you say?”
    Danny was silent a moment, deliberating. Finn wondered what he was doing, what his flat looked like. You could tell a lot about a man by the way he kept his home. In the darkness Finn’s gaze fell on the fire he’d built out of Jack’s discarded drumsticks. Yeah? So he probably already knows you’re a nutjob….
    “Finn? You there?”
    Finn felt a flutter in his stomach, and the endearing hint of uncertainty in Danny’s voice made it worse. “Sorry. What were you saying?”
    “I said you’ve got yourself a deal. See you Saturday.”

Chapter Four
     
    T HE NEXT six days