Today I’m so pleased to welcome Garrett Leigh to the blog. She is here to talk to us about one of her two new releases, Lucky Man. Garrett has a great exclusive excerpt to share, so please join me in giving her a big welcome!
Excerpt
A LITTLE while later, Danny found himself alone at the bar. Most of the crowd had dissipated and disappeared into the surrounding local pubs, Kev and his bird included, but Danny didn’t feel like going with the flow. He felt too mellow to brave the chaos of a Saturday night high street. Finn McGovern’s solo rendition of Danny’s favorite song had blown his mind, and he wanted to sit awhile and bask in its resonance. Who cared if he was the only soul at the deserted bar?
Not Danny. In some ways the lonely afterglow of an awesome gig was the best part. Danny usually enjoyed it at home, lying alone in his bed, staring at the ceiling with whatever band he’d seen still ringing in his ears. Not tonight, though. Tonight he couldn’t be arsed to find a taxi. Not yet. And he wasn’t drunk enough to sidle on home by himself either, so he ditched the pints and got himself a whiskey and Coke. No ice. Just lemon. It slid down in a flash, so he bought another and another. He was quite happily lashed off his face by the time a familiar voice broke through his drunken haze.
“Can I buy you a drink?”
Danny glanced up and then looked behind him.
Finn McGovern laughed. “Daft twat. Yeah, I mean you.”
“Um, sure.” Smooth. Idiot. Danny gave himself an internal shake. “I mean, yeah, thanks. Grouse and Coke.”
Like magic Danny’s drink appeared in front of him. Minus ice, with added lemon.
Finn McGovern put his own shot of something dangerous and clear on the bar and pulled up a stool. “You were at the gig tonight, right? At the back, by the wall?”
“How do you know that?”
“I had the best view. I’m Finn. Nice to meet you.”
Finn held out his hand. Danny took it, feeling a little like he’d dropped into the twilight zone. “Danny.”
“Danny.” Finn repeated the name like it pleased him, and his lazy smile widened. “I’ve never seen you in the crowd before. Is this the first gig you’ve been to?”
Danny wondered how Finn had read him so easily. “I’ve got your EP, but I’ve never seen you live before. My mate Kev dragged me along tonight.”
“Dragged, eh? Now there’s an endorsement.”
Danny met Finn’s smirk with a grin of his own. “I didn’t mean it like that. I wasn’t going to come out tonight. Didn’t feel like it.”
“So….” Finn shifted on his stool. He put his elbows on the bar and leaned forward. In the dim light of the deserted venue, Danny could see his eyes were a rich caramel brown flecked with gold. Laughter lines swept upward, and combined with the stubbly growth on his jaw, he looked a few years younger than Danny. “Who are you here with?”
Danny glanced around at the near-empty venue, then shot Finn a wry look. “No one, now. I came with Kev and his girl, but they left.”
“Shame. Did they enjoy the gig?”
“I think everyone enjoyed the gig.” Danny’s words were honest and heartfelt, and the grin that lit up Finn’s face did funny things to Danny’s bones. Made them warm and feel like jelly, which was an odd combination. “I didn’t know you played the Verve covers. If I’d known that, I’d have come to a show a lot sooner.”
Finn stretched his arms over his head. Danny could see that though he was buzzed from the gig, he was tired too. He had to be. Finn hadn’t strayed far from his microphone stand, but he’d put everything he had into every chord and note. “Urban Hymns is my desert island album. The guys think their stuff is a bit morbid for big venues like this, though.”
“Didn’t stop you at the end,” Danny mused, remembering the spine- tingling rendition of “Lucky Man.”
“Yeah, well. I love that song. And it always strikes a chord with me when I look out over a crowd and see them connecting with what we do. It sounds corny but it’s true. It’s about more than folks getting shitfaced and having a mosh.”
Danny smiled. Finn’s expression was so earnest that he would’ve been convinced no matter the depth of sincerity to his words. Then he took a moment to pinch himself. Finn’s voice was as entrancing now as it had been when he was singing to the masses. Was this really happening?
Maybe not. Maybe someone had slipped something into his drink and he was imagining the whole thing. But who cared? The scent of beer and sweat mixed with something that must’ve been uniquely Finn McGovern clouded his brain, and for the next hour or so, the rest of the world faded away.
It was two in the morning by the time Finn put his hand on Danny’s arm. “So you said you didn’t want to come out. How do you feel now? Glad you came?”
Danny stared at the inked hand on his arm. It was November and pissing with icy rain outside, but Finn’s palm felt scorching, like it was the first hand to ever touch Danny’s skin. He’s not flirting. He’s not flirting. Rock stars are straight… like coppers, right? Shit, I’m so fucked up. “I… uh, had a great night. Where’s the rest of your band?”
Finn let his hand drop, and the tension in the air faded a little. “Most of them are across the road. They like to go and get pissed with the fans after a gig.”
“You don’t?”
Finn shrugged. “I love talking about the gig, but I don’t like crowds. A busy pub on a Saturday night is my idea of hell.”
Danny raised an eyebrow, curious in spite of the party his nerves were having in his gut. “How does that work for you on stage?”
“That’s different.” Finn downed the last of his drink. “On stage I forget about everyone else, but after, when everyone wants a piece of me, it gets a bit much. I don’t know who to look at first, you know?”
Danny didn’t. Finn’s logic made sense, but in Danny’s line of work, shit like that didn’t matter. He just had to get on with it. “Won’t they wonder where you are?”
“Maybe.” Finn slid his stool a little closer. Close enough so his denim-clad thigh touched Danny’s. “But I’ll just tell them I went home with the hottest guy at the gig tonight.”
Blurb
As a diehard music fan, a dirty, smoky gig is Vice Squad Detective Danny Jones’s idea of heaven. While watching one of the most popular bands in Northern England, the sight of gorgeous rock star Finn McGovern changes his life forever.
Beneath the tattoos and leather jacket, Finn is kind and sweet, but when he confesses a dark secret to Danny, it tests their fledgling bond. Danny digs deep to accept Finn, but before long, a terrifying trail of death threatens to tear them apart before they’ve even got started.
A monster is killing prostitutes on Danny’s patch, and when a dead girl turns up too close to home, Danny discovers a heartbreaking link between the girl and his bright new life with Finn, a life he’ll do anything to protect.
