Faking Forever (First Wives #4)(82)

Shannon lifted her chin, felt a familiar and unwelcome lump in her throat at the sight of him. Tall and charismatic. The man parted the sea of people by just walking past.

“I can head him off,” Lori offered.

“Don’t be ridiculous. He’s in the past. We’re both adults.”

Lori didn’t seem convinced. “He’s staring at you.”

Shannon looked away. “I can see that.”

Lori moved in front of Shannon, blocking his path. “He’s a rabbit hole not worth following.”

“I know that.”

And that was all the time they had to talk before Paul stepped up beside Lori, his warm eyes settling on Shannon.

“What a wonderful surprise to find you here,” Paul said directly to her.

Lori turned toward him and smiled. “Thanks, Paul. But I’m married now.”

He winked at Lori and kissed her cheek. “Hello, Lori. How have you been?”

There was never any real bad blood between the two of them. Although Shannon knew Lori’s loyalty lay directly in Shannon’s court.

“I’m fine. I see you’re still working the room just by being in it.”

His eyes found Shannon again. “A blessing and a curse, I’m afraid.”

“I don’t see the curse,” Lori told him.

“It’s hard to find who your true friends are when people put you on a pedestal.”

Okay, he was definitely speaking directly to Shannon.

He leaned forward, kissed Shannon’s cheek. “Hello, Shannon.”

“Hello, Paul. You look well.” A little too well, if she was being honest with herself.

“And you’re glowing.”

“I would give credit to the new man in her life,” Lori said quickly.

Paul stood back, tilted his head. “So I’ve heard.”

“I didn’t realize you read the gossip columns,” Shannon said.

“My staff does.”

Right . . . his staff. The people who orchestrated many of the images she’d found of herself on the front pages of the tabloids when they were married. The disappearance of her anonymity came with the paycheck. She’d been willing to sign up for it until her heart became involved. That’s when she realized the price for being married to Paul was much too steep. “Right,” Shannon said with a sigh.

Paul took a step forward, spoke to Lori out of the side of his mouth. “Would you give us a few minutes alone?”

Lori seemed surprised by the question and looked to Shannon for her approval.

“I’m fine,” she assured her friend.

Lori’s mouth moved into a tight line. “Behave,” she scolded Paul before walking away.

Paul took Shannon’s elbow and led her away from the crowd. “Should I know what I did to deserve her disapproval?”

She waited until they’d found a quiet corner before calmly removing her arm from his fingertips. “I doubt you’re that naive.”

His smile used to devastate her. Especially when he looked at her as he did now, soft and smoldering. “How is it you become more beautiful every time I see you?”

She felt her guard go up. “We’re not doing this, Paul.”

“Doing what?”

“The thing where you make me believe I mean something to you when I don’t. We don’t have to fake it anymore.”

He shook his head. “You’ve always meant something to me.”

She kept her tone even, a smile on her face for anyone who may be watching. “Yes, a means to an end.”

“That was mutual.”

She swallowed. “In the beginning.”

She could see his breathing picking up, did her best to keep hers even and unaffected.

“I should never have let you go,” he said quietly. “Biggest mistake of my life.”

Three years ago, she would have told him that she never left and he could get her back. But not now.

“It isn’t your fault that you didn’t love me.” She choked on the word love.

“Of course I loved you.”

She looked into his eyes. Was he that well practiced at telling lies that he could tell her what she always wanted to hear and make her believe him?

“If that were true, you wouldn’t have let me go. Our divorce would never have happened.”

He lowered his voice. “That was our contract. What you wanted.”

Shannon turned her body to try and hide her reaction from anyone watching. “You know better than anyone that is not what I wanted. You made love to me the night before you handed me the divorce papers.” Just thinking about it made her angry. At the time, all she had been was hurt.

“That was wrong of me.”

“It was criminal.”

“I’m sorry, Shannon.” He reached a hand out, placed it on her arm. “I want another chance.”

Why was he saying these things to her now? “I have someone in my life.”

“You’re not married.”

“He’s important to me.” And he was, much more than the memories she’d held on to of her life with Paul.

“What if I fight for you now?”

She smiled and took a step back. “Your opportunity to win that fight is long gone.”