“You can’t help but wonder what?”
“Ifhe’sthe one who’s been conning your fans.”
All the self-recrimination and jealousy was instantly replaced with rage. If this motherfucker was the one behindthe catfishing, I was going to do some serious damage. He’d been making Shannon uncomfortable at work, acting like he’d rejected her to their colleagues. I hadn’t even met the prick, but I already knew he wasn’t fit to lick her boots. Nobody was. Not even me.
“If it’s him, I’ll bloody kill him,” I fumed.
“Jace, we need to be smart about this. It’s only a suspicion. I could be completely off.”
“Send his information to my dad. He’ll find out if it’s him,” I said, managing to hold it together.
Shannon nodded, and a moment of disquiet fell between us. Her pretty eyes flickered back and forth between mine. “Are you okay?”
I gave a joyless laugh. “No.”
“I’m sorry.”
Her face was glum, and I found myself reaching across the table and taking her hands into mine. “You have absolutely nothing to be sorry about.”
“I just … I feel bad. I know you’ve probably been with other women since the divorce, but I really wouldn’t want to hear about them. And yes, it was only a kiss, but—”
“I haven’t,” I blurted, cutting her off, and she blinked, those gorgeous eyes widening.
“What?”
“I haven’t been with anyone,” I told her.
“That’s not … you can’t possibly …”
“It’s true, Shannon. Not a single soul.”
“But … but you—”
Before she could finish whatever she’d been about to say, there was a knock on the door to the snug. It opened, and Isla appeared. “There you two are. We’ve had a nightmare trying to find parking on this street. Are you almost finished?”
“We’re finished,” Shannon replied, and what I wouldn’t give to be able to read her mind.
“Come on, then. Jace mentioned you needed a lift back to your office?” Isla said as she ushered her out.
“Yes, thank you. If it’s not too much trouble.”
“Not at all.”
I followed them out, paying for the food before I left. When I slid into the back of Dixon’s car, Shannon seemed quiet and withdrawn. What was she thinking? Was it a shock to her that I hadn’t been with anyone else since the divorce? Had she been with someone?
I mean, other than kissing that douchebag who may or may not be the catfish.
11.
Shannon
I was spiralling.
I sat in the team meeting, my colleague, Sheera, discussing how the upcoming workload should be divided, while I was all in my head trying to make sense of the fact that Jace had not been with a single other person since our split. He’d never cheated on me while were together. I knew that. His betrayal during our marriage had come in the form of keeping his drug habit a secret and then being incapable of kicking that habit after I’d found out.
So, this meant I was the only woman he’d ever slept with. We’d lost our virginity to each other. Jace was even the first boy I’d ever kissed. I hadn’t been his first kiss. That honour had gone to some girl we’d gone to school with whose name I couldn’t even remember now. Although I did remember being insanely jealous at the time.
I wasn’t sure why I was so shocked. I mean, aside from the kiss with Dean and the uninspiring date with Rufus, I hadn’t been with anyone either. But Jace was a rockstar. Surely women came on to him all the time, especially when the band was on tour, and up until a couple weeks ago, they’d been touring non-stop for a year and a half. How many beautiful, sexy women had he rejected during that time?
