Page 56 of Dancing with My Elf
“Oh, come on, Lucas. I know what you’re like. You’re not the type to get serious with anyone.”
His mouth tightened, turning close to a scowl. “You’re making assumptions without knowing what I want.”
I fixed a steady gaze on him. “Are you saying you’re interested in something deeper?” My tone dripped with more skepticism than I intended.
Lucas adjusted in his seat and glanced at his glass of sangria. He took a gulp. “We don’t have to put a label on things. We can enjoy each other’s company.”
“That’s what I thought.” I hated the smugness in my tone, but it was rooted in self-defense. I’d been down the road with a serious relationship before, and it left me burned. To even think of doing so with a dragon shifter who loved the company of various women would be asking to be torched to ashes.
Lucas stared out the window with a conflicted expression, one I’d never seen on him before. His gaze traveled back to me. “What did you think, exactly?”
The torment in his eyes surprised me.
“That you’d be relieved not to have to deal with the topic of anything more serious between us.” I cocked my head. “But you don’t look happy.”
He picked up his glass and gulped some sangria. Then he kept his hand on the glass, running his finger through the condensation. “It’s true that I’ve never been in a serious relationship before. That doesn’t mean I’d never want one.” He raised his conflicted gaze to my face. “Have you?”
I drew a deep breath and sighed. “Yes.”
Lucas leaned back in his chair. “I don’t need to be a detective to guess it didn’t end well.”
“It didn’t.”
“What happened?”
I frowned and stared down at the plates of food. While I considered what to reveal, if anything, I ate one of the meatballs. Once I swallowed it, I sucked up the nerve to reveal what I’d kept buried for a reason—it hurt like hell.
“We were in our early twenties. I found out that he was cheating on me, not just with one woman but several. When I confronted him about it, he attempted to shift the blame on me.”
“What?” Lucas’s eyes widened. “How could you possibly be at fault?”
“He said all I cared about was work. That I didn’t have enough time for him. He had no choice but to find attention and affection elsewhere.”
Lucas groaned. “What an ass. You know what he said isn’t true, right?”
“Yes.” I wrung my hands together in my lap. “For the most part.”
“Zoe, you can’t actually think you’re to blame for him cheating on you, can you?”
“No.” My gaze cruised the restaurant as my muscles tensed. “What he said about me working so much is true. I can’t have my career as a detective at the Network and be in a relationship. They both require a big commitment and are time consuming.”
He tipped his head as he studied me. “Relationships work in all sorts of ways. It’s up to those who are in it to decide what’s best for them.”
“Maybe so,” I agreed. “I don’t think I’m cut out for that. A long time ago, I decided I had to put my focus on my work.”
Lucas’s mouth slanted downward, so different from his usual amused expression as if nothing in the world could affect him. “Why do you think you can’t have both?”
My muscles coiled tight. I really didn’t want to go there. Being cheated on and betrayed was a horrid memory but the reason I became a detective for the Network was much worse.
“Zoe?”
I blinked at Lucas. “What?”
“Did I lose you? You seem to be off somewhere else.”
I repositioned my chair and straightened my posture. “It’s not a pleasant memory.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Lucas said. “I didn’t mean to pry.”
