Chapter 7
Jace
Unbidden, my gaze trailed after Shannon as she left the room.
A smile pulled at my lips. Despite how fucked up the situation was, she’d just revealed that she wasn’t as indifferent towards me as she’d like me to believe.
It added a tiny percentage to the already pathetically slim chance of me ever winning her back.
This past year, my bandmates had all tried encouraging me to see new people, but it just didn’t feel right. I only wanted Shannon, and it wouldn’t be fair to start something I had no real intention of investing in.
Remembering that noise her phone made caused a sharp stab of jealousy in my chest. It was a sound I’d often heard coming from Angus and Elias’ phones when they were looking for hook ups.
Shannon was clearly dipping her toes in the dating pool.
If what I’d overheard her telling her friend, Margie, was true, then it was early days.
Still, even the idea of her talking to other men made me feel like my world was spinning out of control.
I moved into the hallway and heard Shannon chatting casually with my parents in the dining room.
I stepped inside and gave Zara a hug and a kiss, telling her I’d see her in the morning.
As I left, my gaze collided with Shannon’s.
I couldn’t tell what she was thinking, but I was just glad I got to be around her.
That she was letting me back into her life a little despite the drama I was already bringing with this whole catfish thing.
But my dad said he was handling it, and I trusted him, so I tried putting it all to the back of my mind.
The following morning, I parked outside Shannon’s house in the usual spot, with Dixon pulling in just behind me.
I noticed movement near her front door and spotted a short, dark-haired woman was standing there, gesticulating wildly with her hands.
Shannon stood before her, arms folded and her expression flat.
It was the look she got when she had to deal with aggravating people.
She gave nothing away, no hurt, no vulnerability, just a blank slate of indifference as the woman began raising her voice.
Oh, hell fucking no.
I was out of the car and stalking towards Shannon, reaching her within seconds as I stepped past the angry woman and blocked Shannon from her view immediately.
“Lady, you’d better back the hell up right now, or we’ll have a problem.”
The woman’s gaze travelled up, up, up before finally reaching my face.
Her expression— which had been distorted with annoyance—suddenly paled as she took me in.
I knew what she was seeing—a tall, tattooed hooligan with a lip piercing in a black hoodie and black jeans.
Whatever her issue was with Shannon, she was clearly much braver spouting her shit at my five-foot-six ex-wife than she was facing me.
To my left, Dixon emerged from his car, also dressed in black.
The Texan was the same height as me but much broader.
He also had a grizzled, hard-as-nails demeanour that very few people wanted to mess with.
“Everything okay, Jace?” he asked, looking briefly at the woman and then to me.
I brought my attention to Shannon, who seemed speechless before she finally answered, “Yes, everything’s—”
Before she could finish, the angry, short woman exploded, “This is outrageous. It’s intimidation is what it is.
Gary and I will be making an official complaint to the residents’ board.
” With that, she turned and stomped into the house next door, and things began to make a little more sense.
This was Shannon’s next door neighbour. The same one who’d been twitching her curtains every morning since I’d started taking Zara to school.
She slammed her door shut, and I cast Shannon a wide eyed look. “Who the hell is that ray of sunshine, and when exactly did you piss in her cornflakes?”
“My neighbour, unfortunately. It’s a shame you didn’t get to meet her husband, Gary. He’s a real delight, too,” she replied with no small amount of sarcasm. My lips twitched in amusement.
I glanced at Dixon, giving him the nod that he could go back to his car as I followed Shannon into her house. “What’s their deal? They been bothering you?”
She let out a sigh as we entered her kitchen, and Shannon walked to the coffee machine.
She pulled out the reusable mug she’d given me before and started making me coffee on autopilot.
I loved that she made it for me every day now.
I always held off on having any at home because I preferred when Shannon made it for me. Yes, I had it bad.
While we waited, she brought her own mug to her lips, blowing gently over the steaming beverage.
My gaze fixed on her lightly pursed mouth, almost mesmerised, and I shoved my hands deep into the pockets of my jeans to stop myself from reaching for her.
Being around her was intoxicating … and torturous all at once.
“They’re annoying, but it’s nothing I can’t handle,” she said, her tone evasive just as the machine started humming loudly.
“Want me to have a word? Better yet, I’ll have Isla and Dixon do their good cop, bad cop routine. That’ll sort out Gary and Little Miss Sunshine.”
I kept my eyes trained on her lips as she took a sip from the mug, fighting the urge to lean closer, to touch her hand, to close the small distance between us. Every tiny movement of hers made my chest tighten; every glance reminded me of how little control I had when she was around.
Shannon chuckled at my nickname for her neighbour, but I could tell by the faint indent between her eyebrows that the encounter had left her off balance. I had the irrational need to eliminate all her troubles, no matter how small.
“You don’t need to do that,” she said, handing me my coffee just as Zara bounced into the room, full of exuberant eight-year-old energy. “Morning, Dad! Let’s go. I can’t be late today. Our teacher is holding auditions for the nativity, and I’m trying out for the part of Melchior.”
I smiled. “Who’s that?”
“He’s one of the wise men, the one who brought gold, dummy,” she replied, full of sass, and I chuckled.
Shannon frowned. “Zara.”
Zara dipped her head, glancing at me with a look of chagrin. “Sorry, Dad.”
“It’s fine,” I said, then bent to whisper, “To be honest, I am kind of a dummy sometimes.”
“No, you’re not. You’re the smartest man in the world. Well, the second smartest. Granddad is the smartest because he knows magic.”
“I’ll tell him you said that. He’ll be delighted to hear it.”
Zara giggled while heading out the door, and I wanted to hold back and question Shannon a little more about the conflict with her neighbours, but there was no time.
I was also keeping Zara after school today and taking her to visit her uncles at Elias’ apartment, so I wouldn’t see Shannon again until late evening.
Well, I could wait until then. Her neighbour had seemed rattled enough by Dixon’s and my appearance not to bother Shannon again for a while.
When I dropped Zara off at her school, I wished her good luck with her audition.
She skipped away happily, joining her pals just inside the gates.
I was about to pull away when a tall, slim woman appeared at my driver’s side window.
She wore an expensive-looking puffer jacket with leggings, and her hair was up in a tidy ponytail.
I vaguely recalled Shannon warning me about a nosy mother with a ponytail, but I couldn’t remember the name. Was it Leona? Lisa?
Rolling down my window, I cast her a mildly impatient look that asked, “What do you need, lady?” before she thrust her hand at me, a big smile plastered across her face.
“We haven’t had the chance to formally meet yet. I’m Laura Delamare, head of the parents’ association. I just wanted to introduce myself. You’re Zara’s father, right?”
“That’s right,” I replied, warily shaking with her through the open window. “Jace. Nice to meet you.”
“And you! My daughter, Kelly, is in the same class as Zara and she has nothing but wonderful things to say. If you ever want to set up a play date, I’d be happy to have you both over to my house.”
She smiled once again, this time in a weirdly sultry way that made me realise she was flirting.
She wore a giant glittering engagement ring and wedding band on her ring finger, so she was obviously married.
Then again, some people just liked to flirt.
It gave them a little ego boost, but they didn’t really have any intention of doing anything about it.
“Well, that’d be up to Zara,” I told her firmly, but she already had her phone out.
“Can I get your number? That way we can arrange it when we have time in our schedules.”
Right, well, this woman was not getting my phone number. She obviously knew who I was because she had the recognisable eager gleam in her eye that people got when they met someone famous. If I gave her my number, half of Dublin would probably have it before the day was through.
“Do you have Shannon’s number?” I asked, and she nodded.
“Well, you can just message her. She normally arranges Zara’s play dates, but like I said, it’s up to Zara if she wants to go.
Have a great day!” Her face fell as I quickly rolled up the window and pulled away from the parking spot.
As I drove, my phone lit up with a message where it sat in its holder by the dashboard.
The preview filtered across the screen alongside Dixon’s name.
Dixon: I was wondering when the hot moms would start making their moves on you.
Snickering and shaking my head, I flipped up my middle finger and held it for him to see from where he followed behind me. Dixon was a great bloke, but he was a bloody smartarse sometimes.