Heated Beat 02 - Lucky Man Read Online Free PDF Page B

get signed?”
    “Don’t want to get signed.” Finn stirred some DayGlo-pink coconut into an amber pool of mango chutney. “We’re happy as we are. None of us do it for the money.”
    “Really?” Danny winced at his own skepticism, but it was too late to take it back, and by the flash in Finn’s gaze, he knew he’d struck a nerve. “So you work for yourselves?”
    “Yeah, pretty much. We have a manager, but he works for us, not the other way around.”
    Danny thought over the day he’d just spent with his DCI riding his arse for statistics that didn’t exist. “I like the sound of that.”
    “It suits us.” Finn paused like he was weighing his words. “It suits us artistically because we can play whatever we want, whenever we want—surfer festivals, hippie communes, whatever—but it’s more than that. I’ve toured with big bands, and it sucks the life from you, you know? It’s all about the money, and I hate that.”
    “Corporate machine, eh?”
    “Exactly. I don’t need a soulless record contract to validate me. Jack got dicked on by a record company a few years ago. They took advantage of him because he didn’t know any better. I don’t want any fucker to have that power over me.”
    Danny smiled. He couldn’t help it. Angry Finn was a sight to fucking behold. “Jack’s your drummer, right? And your housemate?”
    “Yeah, when he’s not in the studio or smashing the clubs.” Finn relaxed, mollified by the change of subject. “He’s not around much, though. He works away a lot, and his boyfriend lives in Leeds.”
    “Why don’t they live together?”
    Finn shrugged. “I’ve been asking that for years. I think Jack would like it, but his fella’s got this thing in his head about Jack sowing his oats.”
    The waiter interrupted them with the pakoras Finn had ordered to keep them going. Danny waited for him to leave. “Sowing his oats? What the fuck does that mean?”
    “Jack’s only ever been with Will. I mean, he’s been with birds and stuff, but Will’s the only bloke.”
    “So?”
    Finn stuffed half a pakora in his mouth. “I know, right? But I think Will’s worried Jack hasn’t… I don’t know, explored his sexuality properly? They’re best mates, you see. They grew up together, and I reckon Will doesn’t want to be Jack’s easy option.”
    “Sounds complicated.” And alien. Danny didn’t have any gay friends up north.
    “It’s them.” Finn said. “I stay out of it.”
    “You and Jack are close, though?” Danny had seen the photos scattered around the house Finn and Jack shared. Both tall and shaggy haired, they looked like brothers.
    “You ask a lot of questions.”
    Danny shrugged. “Sorry. Comes with the job.”
    “Makes sense.” Finn leaned forward. “Like when you told me your job. I’d been trying to figure you out, then it all clicked into place.”
    “I’m a copper, not MI5, mate.”
    Finn sniggered. “I know, but you’re still pretty mysterious. Until I found your number on the fridge, I thought I’d never see you again.”
    There wasn’t much Danny could say to that. He’d woken alone in Finn’s bed on Monday morning with the intention of calling a cab home and confining Finn to the back of his mind. A moment of madness had seen him slapping his contact card on Finn’s fridge. A moment of madness he couldn’t bring himself to regret. “I wasn’t sure you’d want to. It’s been a while since I—”
    “Shagged someone more than once?”
    Danny chuckled. “That obvious?”
    “I know your type. You’re either a manwhore, married, or in the closet.” Finn sat back while the waiter cleared the table and set a heated plate stand down. When the waiter was gone, he leaned forward and put his elbows on the table. “You’re too nice to be a slag and too good in bed to be married, so I’m figuring it’s the closet. Am I right?”
    Danny felt his stomach turn over, perturbed he’d been read so easily. “You’re a little right. I’m