Just go in! Shannon took another sip of her iced coffee as she made another pass in front of the dress shop that she had never been inside before. She normally bought her clothes at Wal-Mart, occasionally finding something on clearance at the mall. But these high end stores in the harbor were out of her comfort zone, not to mention her price range. Being the height of tourist season, she stood about as much chance of finding a clearance rack as she would finding enough snow in her yard to build a snowman.
Taking a deep breath, she tossed her drink into the garbage bin outside and pulled open the door to the boutique. The change in temperature was shocking, the air conditioning raising goose bumps on her bare arms. Shannon adjusted the strap of her purse and forced a small smile for the saleswoman behind the counter.
“Can I help you find anything?”
“I’m not exactly sure what I’m looking for yet. I’ll let you know if I need any help.”
She wandered to the back, knowing that was where most stores kept their cheaper items. As she’d expected, the racks were devoid of sale signs. Given that the vast majority of sales for the year, around here, were made during the three months of summer, she couldn’t blame them. Folks who actually lived in Scallop Shores just didn’t have the income to spend on fancy clothes. Businesses like this boutique counted on the fat wallets of vacationing tourists from Boston and New York.
Talia had told her about this place. She’d all but pushed Shannon out the door when she had dropped the triplets off. They were making homemade pizzas with Talia’s twins and were eager to see their mom off with quick kisses and perfunctory hugs.
“He said he has something important to talk to you about. And it couldn’t be discussed at a nice sit down restaurant? That means he expects sex after.”
“Talia! You don’t know that. He’s shy, intensely shy, out in public. I’m not quite sure what’s going on with that. I never did figure it out. I’m sure he just wants to talk in a place where he’s comfortable.”
“And if he asks you to take off all your clothes and get horizontal? Are you going to tell him no thank you?”
“Well, that wouldn’t be a very polite way to treat my host, now, would it?” Shannon grinned.
“That’s my girl!”
Clearly, she should have kept their one evening together to herself. Talia was such a hound. Shannon shook her head. She gave her friend a hug and headed for her car.
“If you decide to spend the night, text me. We’ll bring the kids by in the morning.”
Shannon waved her off, honking as she backed out of the driveway.
Now here she was, last minute shopping for a knockout dress that might, or might not, be for a booty call. To say she was nervous was putting it very mildly. Dean had promised steak and salad, so he did intend to have them eat. It wasn’t just about the sex.
Shannon pulled a deep purple cocktail dress off the rack and held it against her. On anyone else it would look gorgeous. But with her shade of red hair, it just clashed. Her color palettes had always been so limited. It made shopping for clothes a lot less fun. Then again, given her budget, that was probably a good thing. She put it back and checked to see if they had a similar one in teal or emerald.
No, but she found a cute little spaghetti-strapped number in the most beautiful sapphire blue. The attraction was so immediate that she almost couldn’t bear to check the tag. Anything she wanted this badly had to come at a price—a big price. Resigned to give up this newly coveted treasure, Shannon frowned, snatching at the tag and turning it to face her.
Okay, it wasn’t cheap, but it wasn’t totally unreasonable either. If she ended up getting the job as teacher’s assistant, she’d have a second income starting in the fall. She could put it on a credit card and have it paid off by Christmas. Oh, who was she kidding? She’d justify it no matter what.
Holding her prize to her chest, she strode confidently to the register. The saleswoman complimented her choice, remarking on how closely the color in the dress matched her eyes.
“Special occasion?”
“Just a date, really.”
“You’re getting awfully dressed up for just a date. He must be someone very special.”
“Yes, he’s very special.” Shannon handed over her credit card and shifted impatiently for her turn to sign the receipt.
“Have a wonderful evening. Maybe you’ll be in soon to shop for a honeymoon trousseau?” Shannon blinked as the saleswoman waved goodbye.
Good Lord! That wasn’t what this was about, was it? They barely knew each other. Yes, they had a good thing going. He was wonderful with the children. He was loving and caring and helpful and generous, everything that she had no business expecting in her life anymore. But marriage?
Her nerves completely jangled, Shannon spun her thinking around in the opposite direction. Laying the dress over the back of the passenger seat, she made her way around to her side of the minivan. What if he thought things were moving too fast? Or he didn’t feel the same way about her that she felt about him. He was going to tell her that they needed to go back to just being neighbors.
Shannon had herself in a tizzy when she finally pulled into her own driveway and carried her purchase up to the cottage. She was tempted to chicken out, tell Dean she was still feeling a little ill and ask for a rain check. Doing breathing exercises to get a grip on her panic, she started to get ready for their date.
At 7 o’clock sharp, Shannon stood on his doorstep, waiting for Dean to answer the doorbell. She smoothed down the skirt of her new dress for the hundredth time. Had she remembered to cut the tags out? Was her lipstick too dark? Cool it, girl. This is just a date.
The door opened and her senses were immediately assaulted. Dean wore slacks, the fit tight through his muscular thighs. She knew the view would be even better from behind. His silky shirt, too, was tight. All the better to accentuate those killer pecs. Oh, she was a lucky girl! Shannon sniffed the air and her smile was full of surprised delight.
“That smells incredible. You cooked for me?”
“Aw, come on, don’t sound so surprised. You taught me how to use that broiler. And it’s pretty hard to mess up a tossed salad.” He held out a hand and pulled her into the foyer, not releasing her hand until he’d caressed every part of her body using only his eyes.
“Promise me you will wear that dress every single day, for the rest of your life.”
The rough kiss that followed indicated that Dean had promises of his own of how he intended the evening to go. Shannon trailed behind him, her legs more than a little shaky.
They wandered through to the kitchen, the scent of perfectly seasoned meat making it very hard to keep from drooling. Dean still held her hand and squeezed it when he got to the dining room. Shannon gasped. She’d never noticed the formal dining room, and with the way Dean had set everything up she was amazed.
A centerpiece of deep red roses set off the pristine white in the lace tablecloth. Irish lace? It was incredible. The man could set a table, too. The china was fancier than anything she’d ever eaten off of. She bet the flatware was real silver. And there were cloth napkins with fancy napkin rings. Shannon stared hard at the table. There really was a lot she didn’t know about her neighbor.
“Oh, I forgot the lighter for the candles.”
The timer went off in the kitchen and Dean turned a conflicted glance to the doorway.
“I’ll get it. You get those beautiful steaks out. Where do you keep the lighter?”
“It’s in the top left hand drawer of my desk, in my office.”
“Be back in a jiffy.”
Shannon made her way back down the hall, past the library that she longed to lose herself in at some point, past the den with the fireplace where she and Dean had spent a glorious evening. His office was nearer the front of the house.
A huge cherry wood desk faced the doorway. The window behind it looked out on the arborvitae hedges that separated their yards. Shannon pushed the plush leather chair out of the way and pulled out the drawer on the left. The lighter wasn’t immediately visible, so she pulled a sheaf of papers out and set them on the blotter.
Doing a double-take at the official stamp, she gave the top page a once over. If she could take back any moment in her life, this would be the one. If she could go back and unread the truth she’d just learned, she would. Anything was better than finding out that Dean had fathered a child and was denying child support, denying his flesh and blood.
“Did you find it?”
“You could say that.”
Shannon knew the exact moment that Dean caught up with the situation. The color drained from his face and he looked like he was struggling for just the right words, only his tongue was too tangled to speak.
Her lungs burning from unshed tears she forced herself not to lose it in front of him. She held up the stack of papers with a shaky hand and asked, with an equally shaky tremor in her voice, “I only have one question. Is this the important thing you wanted to talk to me about tonight?”
He lowered his focus to the carpet, his eyes full of shame and regret. “I was actually saving that one. It’s not what you think, Shannon.”
“It’s not a paternity suit?” She shot him a chilly stare.
“Well, yeah, it is. But this woman, she’s just out for money.”
“You know what? I totally get that. I’ve spent the last five years raising my three children alone, and if my pride had let me, and I’d known where Vince was, I probably would have been ‘out for money,’ too.”
He sputtered something but her pulse was pounding so loudly in her ears that Shannon could no longer hear a word he was saying. She slapped the papers down on the desk, slammed the drawer shut, and ran from the room. When Dean reached out a hand to stop her she sidestepped to avoid the contact. She was halfway down the driveway when she finally succumbed to tears.