The Drummer Teaser 4
Lincoln and Michaela were introduced in A Rockstar Christmas Wedding.
TBR: Goodreads
Teaser 1 | Teaser 2 | Teaser 3 |
Lincoln Adams is only supposed to be a drunken mistake, the consequence of a little too much Christmas wedding eggnog. Once he’s asleep, I sneak out of his apartment expecting to never see the drummer again.
Except I left my guitar at his friend’s house. And my earring on his floor.
An earring he uses to leverage me into a lunch date where he starts chipping away at the armor erected around my heart while heating up my body with a need I’ve never felt before. I indulge in his body one last time.
Until a surprise mutual connection brings us together for a week of sharing and sensual delights.
What happens in Virginia can stay in Virginia—right?
This story is intended for readers 18 and over due to adult language, sexual content, and adult situations.
~This teaser is NSFW for language.
Most people called
me Linc, like the lead guitarist buzzing my phone now.
“Linc. It’s Bob. Busy?”
Eating a sandwich. “Uh, not at the moment…”
“Good. You’re coming out with me.”
“Uh, why?” I asked warily.
“Scouting talent. Pick you up in fifteen.” Bob ended the call.
Yet he knocked on my door twenty-five minutes after hanging up.
I swung it open. “You’re late.”
He grinned. “Am I really?”
“Fucker.” I shook my head and locked the door.
“Nice jacket.” A leather motorcycle jacket so beat up most of it wasn’t black anymore.
“Thanks. My grandfather’s, actually.” I tucked my keys in a pocket and zipped it. “So where are we going?”
“Dylan asked me to find a wedding singer.” The bassist got engaged in November and they decided on Christmas nuptials recently.
Every wedding I’d ever heard of needed six months to a year of planning, but what did I know? “And…you…need me for that?”
Bob shrugged. “Need, no. But you’re still new.”
And they’d been trying hard to integrate me socially. “Ah. Pity date.”
He laughed. “You’re pretty, but not my type.”
We made it downstairs to the parking lot and he unlocked his Ram with his fob.
“Neither are you, blondie. But thanks. I get it. You guys have been alright. Joining an established group is awkward at the start.”
We opened doors. “I don’t let just anyone around this band, Linc. Lots of talent out there. I hired you because I think I can trust you.”
Our gazes met inside the truck. “You can.” I didn’t shit where I ate, so to speak.
“Good. Now let’s find someone willing to play on Christmas.”
He drove to a
coffee house in WeHo first. Today’s
artist wasn’t scheduled until seven. The
next had a duo trying to Reggae-ize a Christmas song. Then a Country singer that definitely wouldn’t
make it in
Assaulting my ears in the process.
“Seventh’s time the charm?” I said with annoyance as I opened the café door.
“Here’s hoping,” Bob muttered.
We entered as discreetly as possible to minimize him being recognized.
As discreetly as two tall dudes can. A little table in the back was empty.
A young guy with long dishwater hair and a guitar plucked the strings one last time. “That’s my set. Thank you very much,” he said quietly into the mic, then left the stage.
Polite clapping followed.
A woman wearing a Manager tag on her shirt came up. “Thank you, Blaze. If anyone’s interested in more of Blaze’s music, he has a few CDs at the register. And now…welcome the talents of Michaela Simon.” More polite applause, except for one blonde chick across the room who gave a little whoop.
One fan already.
Nothing happened for a moment, then a gorgeous young woman carrying a blue acoustic guitar walked to the mic. She settled on a stool, adjusted the mic, checked her tune, then started strumming her first song.
“Have yourself…a…merry…little Christmas…”
“Whoa,” I breathed next to Bob.
Aside from being beautiful with a mass of black curls, this girl—Miss Simon—had a mesmerizing voice. The longer the song went, the less people talked. By the time she reached the climax, all of them were in her hand.
“That’s the one,” I said.
He sat back with his arms crossed. “Let’s hear the rest of the set.”
I was enthralled. Her voice was rich, sweet, and even a little smoky. No, there was just this effectual break that gave color to some of her words. A storyteller.
And sad. What made her sad at Christmastime?
She was only given a twenty minutes to sing, so we made our way to where she left the stage. She crouched to put her guitar in an old black case.
“Miss Simon, we’d like to hire you,” Bob said.
“Beg pardon?” She stood, dark brows meeting in the middle.
Bright blue eyes like a glacial lake. She made me think of Snow White.
I shot the idiot a look. “Hi, he means you were amazing and we’d like you to sing at our friends’ wedding.”
The brows rose. “Oh. When?”
“Christmas Day,” he said.
“Are you free?” I asked. “The ceremony is at seven at night, so you’d have time with family still.”
“Uh, no family,” she muttered. “Yes. Wow. Okay. Um, what do they want?”
Bob shrugged. “The usual. Hell if I know,” he replied. I face-palmed. “If you’re willing to do it, the coordinator will contact you.”
Which would be Mrs. Lindsey—Beth. She’d taken on making the wedding work at their estate.
“Oh, I’ll take it.” Miss Simon offered her hand. “You guys are…?”
I rushed my hand there first and felt a jolt of static upon contact with her soft skin. “Linc. You’re really good.” And I didn’t want to let go.
“Thanks.” She blushed the prettiest pink. “Michaela.”
“Bob. Here’s our card.” A plain business card with a phone number. “Your contact info?”
“Yes.” She dug into a multi-colored tote bag to produce paper and a pen and scribbled her details. “I appreciate the opportunity.”
Bob took the note, much as I obviously wanted to snatch it. “We’ll be in touch.”
“Thank you.”
He started for the door. “Linc.”
I desperately wanted to linger in her intriguing presence. “Yeah.” An apologetic smile thrown her way, then I followed. “Dude.”
“Ask her out after the wedding.”
I glared at him. “She’s right there now.”
We stepped out onto the sidewalk. “Yeah, and I’m not taking the chance of losing our only decent prospect. Keep your dick in your pants until after she’s paid.”
“Bob, it’s not like that. Well, it is, I wouldn’t mind, but did you listen to her? I’ve never heard someone’s soul in a Christmas song before. She’s gorgeous and I want to know where that voice comes from.”
He shook his head. “All you romantic fuckers will be the death of me.”
“Dick, you’re engaged.”
“’Cause Celeste doesn’t need that flowery shit.” He unlocked the Ram.
“All women like flowers.”
He rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.”
We climbed into the truck. “How did you know she was the one?”
“I wasn’t done after I fucked her.”
Geeze, man. “Crass, much?”
He sighed. “I was a one and done guy, and then I wasn’t. She was the same way, she’ll tell ya. Once became a fling, then a thing, and it never ended.”
“You match.”
One decisive nod. “Yep.”
“Like Beth is Jake’s and Hannah is Mike’s.”
“And Jen and Dylan. Wanna join us for dinner?”
I shook my head. “Nah, man, I don’t want to cramp your style. But thanks. Maybe another time.”
“’Kay.”
Bob dropped me off at home.
I was fine with
gaining more friends in
Focus on things like learning more about Michaela Simon.
Like when her next gig was.
Googling gave me no professional website, but she did have a Facebook page.
Not admitting how many hours I spent reading reviews and watching uploaded cellphone clips on her social media. A lot of them shared by a chick named Moira. Probably the girl that cheered for Michaela at the café.
The calendar showed the next appearance would be at a bar.
When will this be published? You’ve been teasing far too long. 😉
ReplyDeleteSorry. My life got completely turned upside-down this year. Pre-order the book and it'll land in your e-reader as soon as it's time.
DeleteThough it really hasn't been that long. I started writing it at the end of December after A Rockstar Christmas Wedding went live. Have you read that one, yet?
DeleteNo, I haven’t read Christmas Wedding. I have a fondness for drummers which is how I found this one. Goodreads says it won’t be released until 2022.
DeleteThe West Coast Soulmates series starts with The Bassist, which is free.
DeleteThere's no specific release date for The Drummer though I have a lot of it done. Due to life matters, I pushed all my release dates out to next year to not trip over pre-order deadlines.