Page 26 of Dancing with My Elf
I hastened to catch up to her. “Where are you going?”
“To my car.” She opened the door to a black Fiat and climbed into the driver’s seat. She turned to me. “You coming, Lucas?”
My dragon urged me to step to it. I ran over to the passenger’s seat and climbed in. It wasn’t as easy a task as her with my longer legs, and I had to push the seat back so as not to have my knees kiss my chin. “How do you want to handle this?” I asked Zoe.
She chewed her bottom lip. “I’m thinking.”
I watched her, fascinated. Her skin was pale with faint freckles across the bridge of her nose and a slight upturn at the end.
Even if my dragon hadn’t declared her as our mate, I’d have been attracted to Zoe. That was the problem, though. Mates meant far more than one night. This scaly fire breathing creature was fixated on this insane idea of forever. What a crock.
If he hadn’t knocked me off kilter with that declaration, maybe I would have pursued her that first night. Would she have gone for it? Not likely considering the little I knew about her so far. With her serious attitude, she’d need more work to loosen up. That wasn’t to say it wasn’t impossible. Many uptight women would come to the club as part of a bachelorette party or whatnot and appear to be disgusted by the hedonistic display. After a few drinks and some dances, most shed any nervousness and danced and hollered with their friends. It’s as if they just needed a push to let go and enjoy themselves. Maybe that’s what Zoe needed—a little nudge. I was more than happy to volunteer for that mission, one that made far more sense than the one I’d offered to do earlier today.
Zoe faced me. “I’m trying to decide our next step.”
“What are the options?”
“Continue to investigate undercover or question the staff and others at the club.”
I arched my brows. “Those sound like two very different approaches.”
“In the undercover one, we’ll continue as we were. You do your act and try to detect anything unusual, any scents that aren’t familiar. I pretend to be an enthusiastic patron while watching for signs of trouble or dark magic.”
“We’ve done that and haven’t gotten too far,” I noted.
“Right. That’s what I’m thinking.” Zoe turned ahead and glanced straight out the car window. “We may need to move it up and interview those at the club. That’s where things get uncertain.”
“How?”
She pursed her lips. “The owner may be reluctant to talk to me.”
“That’s a possibility. Frank doesn’t let anything interfere with business.”
“Right. And that’s why I agree with what you said earlier.” She slanted a gaze at me. “You could be an asset on this case.”
Pride fluttered in my chest. I’d been trying to understand my actions, all which came down to the drive to get closer to her. “How so?”
“Maybe you can break the tension before I ask questions.”
“I can do that. Let’s do it.”
Zoe put the car in gear and drove away. Fast.
I held onto the door handle. “Are we in a car chase that I don’t know about?”
“Why do you ask?”
“You’re driving like we’re in one.”
“OK.” She lessened her lead foot on the gas pedal. “Sorry. I’m a little anxious, you know?”
“About this case?”
She frowned. “Yes.”
“What specifically?”
She glanced over at me. “I don’t know if I should talk to you about it.”
