Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 108362 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108362 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
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.”
“It was a fun night,” I said, remembering how young and in love I’d been with her, even back then. I hadn’t told her yet, but she’d been everything I’d ever wanted in a girl. I’d been so terrified to ruin our friendship, so I’d kept my burgeoning feelings to myself.
“Your dad actually emailed me a couple days ago,” she said. “He wants me to send him a list of all the people in my life who could possibly be the catfish, so he’s obviously deep into his investigation.”
“He did?” I asked, a little annoyed. “I’m sorry. I’ll tell him to back off. It’s clearly no one you know. Far more likely it’s some lunatic from my life.”
“You don’t suspect my friends?” She seemed surprised.
“Not at all. You’re far too selective with your friends, not to mention too good a judge of character. Like I said, if this really is someone we know, it’s a person I’ve crossed paths with. I’d bet good money on it.”