Chapter 10
Jace
What was she doing here? When Elias had suggested that we should get the band together and do a surprise street gig today, I hadn’t anticipated Shannon turning up.
If I’d known, I never would’ve chosen to sing this song.
I’d written it when I was at my lowest and missing her.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want her to hear it or know how much it hurt to lose her.
I just worried it might overwhelm her, and I had a feeling she was already at her limit, especially with me goading her neighbours this morning.
Still, I couldn’t seem to look anywhere else. My eyes were locked in on hers, and she wasn’t walking away either. I thought she didn’t want to hear my music? So why had she come? And how did she even know we were here? We’d only announced the gig less than an hour ago.
When the song came to an end, she turned and quickly fled. Acting on instinct, I thanked the crowd again for coming, then shoved my guitar at Angus before I dashed after Shannon. Several people called my name, but I moved too fast, focused on the back of Shannon’s head as she swiftly hurried away.
“Shannon! Wait up!” I called, but she either couldn’t hear or was ignoring me. “Kryten!” I shouted, and she finally stopped and turned around.
“I’ve been chasing after you for the last five minutes,” I said, slightly winded as I finally caught up with her.
“Sorry, I didn’t hear you. I’m on my lunch break. My office is nearby, so that’s how I happened upon your show,” she explained, visibly flustered, a faint tinge of discomfort in her words that made me wonder if she was lying.
“Have you eaten yet?”
“What?”
“Lunch. Have you had any?”
“Oh, no, not yet. I got distracted by, um … no, that’s where I’m going now. To grab food.” She was more nervous than usual. I wondered if it was the effect of the song or if she was merely embarrassed to have been caught watching me perform.
“Can I come? I’m kind of starving.”
“Sure, but I don’t have much time. I have a team meeting at two that I need to be back for.”
“That’s fine,” I said, offering her my arm. “I know a great noodle place nearby. Fast service. We’ll be done in no time.”
There was a brief moment where she stared at my proffered arm, and I silently begged her not to reject me. After how vulnerable I felt singing that song, I wasn’t strong enough for her rejection. But then, to my relief, she easily slid her arm through mine, and I ushered her away.
We were only walking for a minute or two when I heard someone shriek, “Oh my God, it’s him!”
“Fuck,” I muttered quietly as I turned my head and spotted a group of girls, probably in their late teens, headed our way.
Shannon arched an eyebrow. “Fans of yours?”
“Come with me,” I said, taking her hand and hustling her inside a pub.
There was an exit at the other end, and we quickly made our way out into the next street.
Peering over my shoulder, I saw the group had followed us into the pub and were currently searching about looking for us.
I tugged Shannon with me down the narrow street and into the next pub, which was tiny and quiet, only one older man sitting by the bar sipping on a pint.
A woman was cleaning glasses behind the bar.
“I think we lost them,” Shannon said, slightly out of breath.
I looked down, distracted by the rise and fall of her chest, her flushed cheeks and pink lips. If she were mine, I might’ve kissed her, but she wasn’t, so I battled the urge. I was about to agree with her that we’d successfully lost the fans when I heard giggling from outside.
“Maybe he went in there,” someone suggested, and I had to act fast. Approaching the bartender, I plastered on my most charming expression and eyed the nametag affixed to her black polo shirt.
The busty woman cast me an assessing look so I pulled a fifty from my pocket and slid it across the bar to her.
“Dymphna, can you do me a huge favour?”
The dishcloth squeaked against the glass. “Depends.”
“Some people are about to come in here looking for me. If you tell them you didn’t see me, that’s yours.”
She swiped the fifty and tucked it in her pocket while nodding.
“No problem. Go hide in the snug.” She pointed to the small, wood-panelled enclosure at the very back of the bar.
Shannon came with me, her hand still in mine, and I closed us in.
Suddenly, I was aware of how tiny the space was.
Our eyes locked just as the door opened, and several people stomped inside the pub.
“Did Jace Fields come in here?” one of them demanded while several others squealed and giggled to one another.
“He’s so hot. Total boyfriend material,” another said.
Shannon rolled her eyes, smirking as she continued to hold my gaze.
What? I mouthed.
He’s so hot, she mouthed back, still with that tempting little smirk on her face.
Acting purely on instinct, I leaned forward, bringing my mouth to the spot just above her ear as I whispered, “You disagree?”
A small, barely perceptible tremble went through her. She didn’t respond, only looked up at me with rosy cheeks and a hooded expression that heated my blood.
“No one’s been in here other than Barry over there,” the bartender responded. Clearly, Barry was the old geezer sipping his pint. There were various noises of disappointment before one said, “Let’s check the restaurant next door.”
I looked back at Shannon. My fingers itched to touch her more. What would happen if I moved another inch into her personal space? Would she welcome me or—
Suddenly, the door to the snug opened, and Dymphna appeared while Shannon dropped my hand. “The coast is clear. Do you two want to order something, or are you just here to hide?” She cast a wry glance between us, and I looked to Shannon, who shrugged.
“You serve food?”
“Sure do. Want some menus?”
“Why the hell not?”
She turned, and I motioned for Shannon to take a seat at the tiny booth inside the snug.
“I can’t remember the last time I was in one of these,” she commented as she removed her coat and placed it neatly over the back of the seat.
“They’re a dying breed, all right. Useful for times like this, though.”
She eyed me curiously. “You used to love meeting your fans. What changed?”
I exhaled. “It’s not that I don’t love it; there’s just a time and a place, you know?
We do meet and greets before and after shows where it’s all organised.
Getting mobbed on the street is the kind of chaos I’d prefer to avoid, especially with young fans.
They can be overzealous and things can get out of hand. ”
“Understandable,” Shannon said just as Dymphna returned with the menus. I quickly scanned the options while Shannon told her, “I’ll take the soup and a tea. Thank you.”
“Same here. And some chips, please.”
We handed back the menus, and Dymphna left while Shannon busied herself checking the time on her slim, silver wristwatch.
Meanwhile, my phone was vibrating like crazy in my jeans pocket.
I pulled it out to check, and there were a bunch of missed calls from Elias and Kami, plus a few from Dixon wanting to know if I’d been mobbed by fans.
It took me a minute to text everyone back, letting them know I was fine and the location of the pub where Shannon and I were currently hiding out.
When I put my phone away, I found Shannon studying the frosted glass within the wood panelling of the snug.
She was so beautiful when she didn’t realise she was being observed, and unbidden, my gaze traced the delicate lines of her cheeks, her pert nose, and sumptuous lips.
Just staring at her had my cock stirring.
I had to ask a benign question to distract myself from how much I wanted her.
“How far are we from your office?”
She lifted her gaze to mine, unaware that I’d been defiling her with my eyes. “Oh. Not far. A few minutes’ walk.”
I cleared my throat, chasing away my desire. “I’ll have Isla drop you back. She and Dixon should be here soon. Don’t want you to be late for your meeting.”
“You shouldn’t ditch them like that,” Shannon said. “They’re only there to look out for you.”
I grinned. “Do you worry about me, Kryten?”
She narrowed her gaze. “Don’t get any crazy ideas. I mainly worry for Zara. She’d be distraught if anything happened to you.”
“Of course.” I steepled my fingers together. “So, tell me again how you ended up at my gig today?”
“I work nearby and was out for lunch.”
“You haven’t been following me online?”
“No.”
I smirked. “Okay.”
“I haven’t, Jace. That would be way too …” She trailed off, a fresh tinge of red staining her pretty cheeks.
I leaned forward, my gaze tracing her features. “Way too …?”
Before she could reply, Dymphna returned with our food.
I was a little suspicious of how quickly it had arrived, but then I tasted the soup, and it was decent.
We ate in companionable silence for a minute or two, and I decided to let her off the hook.
If she was spying on my socials, then that was a good sign, right? It meant she cared enough to snoop.
“I saw your dad in the crowd earlier. Did he come with you?”
Her comment took me off guard. “No, he didn’t. Are you sure it was him?”
“Yes. He was standing back, scanning the crowd like he was searching for someone.”
I shook my head. “Who knows what he’s up to. Remember the time when you, Elias, Angus and I lied and said we were hanging out at your friend, Annie’s, house?”
“Right, but we went into the city to go see that band you all loved,” Shannon recalled with a faint grin.
“And we turned up at the venue only to find my dad standing by the entrance with the biggest shit-eating grin on his face.”
“I don’t know why we ever thought we could get one over on him like that. Plus, we were only fifteen. We had no business trying to get into an over eighteen’s show. At least he was a good sport about it and let us stay for a couple songs.”