Damaged Package by S.A. McAuley
Cover
Artist: Garrett Leigh
Publisher: Self-Published
Available HERE
AllRomance - https://www.
My website - http://samcauley.com/my-
Amazon- http://amzn.com/B00LSNIBL8
AllRomance - https://www.
My website - http://samcauley.com/my-
Amazon- http://amzn.com/B00LSNIBL8
Blurb(s):
Forced into early retirement from his career as a SWAT
officer for the city of Detroit, James Deacon knew that when he failed it would
be a fall of epic proportions. He’s been living life by the tips of his fingers
for over twenty years, and his new gig organizing a group of misfit military
types into a functioning team—including his reluctant ex-fiancée—won’t return
him to stable ground anytime soon.
Trevor Barrow has been on the move for the last seven
years—hitting the road when relationships became too real or too much work.
He’s home now, working in the hazardous world of bike messengers in the Motor
City, and the only one of his eight siblings who knows he’s returned is his
sister Cat. It’s not as if reconnecting with them matters anyway, because it’s likely
he’ll be gone again soon.
Both men are lugging some heavy baggage, but when they
chance upon each other in a dive bar it’s hard to deny their flaws are more
like symbiotic quirks. Trevor’s backpedaling instincts and Deacon’s dance-dance
party past may just be intersecting at a time when things are about to get
explosive in Detroit.
Excerpt:
Deacon paid for their
last-round of drinks and they stood at the bar as the lights clicked on. He
reached out and swept back a lock of Trav’s fringe, letting his fingers linger
against Trav’s sweat-slick skin.
“You gotta let me take
you home,” Deacon said.
Trav scoffed and took a
drink of his beer. “Worst pick up line ever.”
“I thought the worst was
saying that I’d never seen you at Honest John’s before?”
“Yeah. You’re pretty bad
all around.”
But instead of feeding
Trav another line, Deacon made the conscious decision to give an honest reply.
“Dating’s just not my scene.”
Trav tipped his head and
studied him. “You know what? I don’t know if I’m supposed to believe you and be
reeled in by how unconventional you are, or if this is all a game for you.”
He shrugged. Already he
knew there was little he could do to sway Trav either way—Trav was perceptive.
“I’ll give you time to decide that for yourself. In the mean time, though, I’m
serious. Let me at least ride with you in the cab back to your place. I don’t
live far from you and it will make me feel better to know you’re safe.”
“I ride a bike in
downtown Detroit for a living, James. Pretty sure I can handle myself.”
Deacon’s lips curled
into a smile at both Trav’s use of his first name and his brash confidence.
“I’m positive you can.”
“Well, then… What? That
doesn’t…” Trav pursed his lips together in a thin line and left the remains of
his trailing thoughts unsaid. Trav took another swig from his beer, emptying
the cup and setting it on the bar. “Whatever. Yeah, you can take me home. But
I’m not inviting you up. Got it?”
Deacon would take it. He
held out his hand and waited for Trav to decide it was okay to take this one
small step. When Trav’s fingers curled around his after only a heartbeat of
hesitation, Deacon worked through the lingering crowd to the front door, unable
to wipe the triumphant smile from his face.
The ride back into the
city didn’t take as long as it had to get out to Ferndale. The city became a
ghost town after a certain time of night. And they’d passed that threshold
hours ago. They rode in silence, with hands still touching if not intertwined,
and when they pulled up to the Park Shelton, Deacon paid the cabbie and got out
with Trav.
It took a moment for
Trav to realize what had just happened. He watched the cab drive away, glared
at Deacon, back down the road, then put his hands on his hips. “Whoa. Whatcha
doing getting out of the cab? I distinctly remember not inviting you up.”
“Huh,” was all Deacon
said as he pointed at the cab disappearing around a corner. “But there goes my
ride.”
“I’m not a first
date slut.”
Deacon groaned
playfully, but his heart skipped a happy beat to hear Trav considered this a
date, too. “You're not going to make me count out dates or something like that,
are you?”
Trav’s fingers drummed
against hips as he seemed to be considering his options. Yet barely restraining
a smile at the same time. “Just for that response? Maybe.”
Deacon dropped to his
knees on the sidewalk, and raised his clasped hands to the heavens, pleading to
Trav in an overly loud voice, "Please, Trevor Barrow! What do I have to do
for you to let me up to your apartment, Trevor Barrow? I just want to watch the
History Channel or maybe So You Think You Can Dance, Trevor Barrow. I promise I
have nothing lewd or lascivious—”
A group of female
college students walking by giggled at his display, providing a running
commentary as they eyed the scene unfolding on the sidewalk. “Dude, Trevor
Barrow, you should let him up.” Then, “He's cute. He can come back to my
place.”
Deacon couldn't have
planned his public begging session better.
Trav blushed and laughed
out loud. “Alright. Off your knees.”
“At least for now!” one
of the girls yelled as they turned the corner.
Trav sighed, offered his
hand and pulled Deacon up toward the front entrance of his apartment building.
“You're going to give me a reputation, Deacon.”
“I earn every reputation
I give.” Deacon smirked and held the door open for Trav once he’d swiped his
key card.
“Where did the tears
suddenly disappear to? The histrionics?”
He shrugged. “I got my
way.”
Trav stopped in the
doorway and looked up at Deacon wide-eyed. “Holy shit. You really are
certifiable.”
Deacon ran his finger
along Trav’s jawline, wanting nothing more than to kiss Trav. But whether Trav
wanted to believe it or not, what happened between them next was up to Trav.
“Cat’s completely right. She just should have waited for you to find that out
on your own.”
Trav shook his head, his voice
laden with sarcasm, but his stunning eyes crinkled at the corners in silent
laughter, “Yeah, like that would've taken me long.”
Tour
Stops: MM Good
Book Reviews, Parker
Williams, Rainbow Gold Reviews, Havan Fellows, Prism Book Alliance, Nephylim, Velvet Panic, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue
Words, Wake Up
Your Wild Side, Fallen Angel Reviews, My Fiction Nook, The Hat Party, Sinfully Sexy, LeAnn’s Book Reviews, Amanda C. Stone, Love Bytes, Smoocher’s Voice, Dawn’s Reading Nook, Full Moon Dreaming, Pants Off Review, Because Two Men Are Better Than
One, It’s
Raining Men, Michael Mandrake, Iyana Jenna, Emotion in Motion ,
Kimi-Chan
Kimi-Chan
About the Author
I sleep little, read a lot. Happiest in a foreign country.
Twitchy when not mentally in motion. My name is Sam, not Sammy, definitely not
Samantha. I’m a pretty dark/cynical/jaded person, but I hide that darkness well
behind my obsession(s) for shiny objects. I’m the macabre wrapped in
irresistible bubble wrap and a glittery pink bow, I suppose.
Author
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2 comments:
This looks a little bit heartbreaking.................and wonderful ;)
I already like Deacon and Trav! :)
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