To see Zoe in a casual setting, relaxing and being herself sounded perfect to him, but he looked at her for approval.
Zoe bit her bottom lip and seemed to consider a moment. “Can you join us?”
* * * * *
Sitting beside Zoe in Serendipity, Declan found himself enjoying the casual conversation. He liked both Logan and Lucy. Both were businesspeople like himself. Why Zoe didn’t see them in the way she did him he didn’t know. They were of the corporate world and all the “dog eat dog” that went with it.
“So, Declan,” Logan said, “you’ve handled some pretty high-profile cases. Must be tough to defend some of the people you do. But I’m sure people ask you about that all the time. Maybe I shouldn’t.”
Declan shrugged. “I try to defend people who deserve defending. There are times when I choose wrong or when I somehow land in the middle of a case I never wanted. In those situations, you do what you are required to do but no more.”
“Does it bother you?” Lucy said. “Knowing a murderer went free because you defended him?”
Declan felt Zoe stiffen beside him. He held her hand a bit tighter. Letting her withdraw wasn’t an option. She needed to hear his point of view. “Hell yeah, it bothers me. I remember my first rude awakening. I almost quit law because it tore me up so badly. I had this case, a guy accused of brutally raping and killing a woman. There wasn’t any DNA evidence but the prosecutor wanted him bad. I thought he was innocent. I really did. I fought hard for this guy and I felt like the king of the world when I won. But then he told me he did it. He’d killed that girl. I took a week off of work. I reevaluated the seven years of school I’d put into my future. It was a rough time.”
“But you decided to stay and you defend criminals all the time.”
It was Zoe who’d spoken and Declan turned his full attention to her. “I believe in the system and the law, Zoe. It saves lives and protects people. I fight for that. I’m at a place in my career where I can choose my cases with care. I’m not without a conscience.”
“But you tend to take ones that make lots of money,” she said, clearly trying to tear down his sincerity.
“I take many that are not high dollar. It’s the press that turns certain cases into major news.”
Lucy cleared her throat. “Speaking of news. Tell me tonight’s show is going to get a bad review.”
Zoe hesitated a moment and then squeezed Declan’s hand. The look in her eyes said she was sorry for being so hard on him. Inwardly, he let out a sigh of relief. Progress. Slowly, but surely.
For the next hour, the conversation was filled with laughter. When Lucy began to tell the story of how she met her husband Logan, Declan found yet another glimpse into Zoe’s world.
“So Zoe said, have a fling with the boss but keep it quiet,” Lucy explained, waving her hands in animation. “It happens all the time.” Her final words were exaggerated as she gave Zoe a look that said, “yeah right”.
“Not Zoe,” Declan said, laughing, and nudging her with his arm.
Zoe smiled at him and their eyes met, a little charge of electricity zipping through the air between them. “Lucy’s career desires ruled her world. Someone had to help her get a life.”
Logan nuzzled Lucy’s neck. “She was hard to get to, that’s for sure.” Then, he looked pointedly at Zoe. “Actually, Zoe’s love ‘em and leave ‘em attitude is what almost did me in. Lucy tried to imitate her.” Lucy turned to him with a flash of anger on her face seconds before Logan yelped and reached for his leg. “What did you do that for?”
Declan laughed. “I think it was the love ‘em and leave ‘em comment.” He eyed Lucy. “It’s okay. Zoe made her plans for me quite clear.”
“Oh, like you had different ones for me?” Zoe said, a mischievous tease in her voice.
He slid his fingers along her cheek. Never before had a woman made him feel the need to touch her all the time. But Zoe did. She evoked all kinds of things he didn’t understand. “I guess all that matters is the here and now.” He paused. “And what comes next.”
Zoe blinked at him and then inhaled deeply. So much so that he saw her chest rise. A flash of panic crossed her face. Okay, he thought. Wrong thing to say. Shit. He just wanted to see where this was going. He wasn’t proposing. Leaning toward her, he intended to whisper as much in her ear, but before he could, she pushed her seat back and stood.
“Ladies’ room,” she said to the group, and then she was gone.
Declan sat there a minute contemplating and then stood up. “Excuse me a minute,” he said to Logan and Lucy.
He and Zoe needed to have a talk.
* * * * *
What was it about Declan that sent her to public bathrooms? She seemed to always run and hide. This time she had to pull herself together quickly. The restaurant was packed and several women were outside waiting on her. Smoothing her dress with her palms, she straightened. She’d bolted like a fool. There was nothing wrong with what Declan had said. He simply inferred they were a little more than a sexual fling. Which was true or he wouldn’t be here with her tonight. He wasn’t her type. Or maybe he was. With that thought, she hugged herself. Maybe she secretly wanted a man more…like Declan than the artsy types she dated. Maybe that was why she always felt so unsatisfied. But Declan and men like him were all about money and getting ahead. Weren’t they? Declan didn’t seem like the others but she knew he had to be. She’d seen him get murderers off. That thought make her shiver. How could she fall for a man who helped criminals get off of charges for money?
Yet, he said he believed in his clients. He acted as if he didn’t morally break the rules. Could that be true? God, why did she want it to be so damned bad? Someone knocked on the door and she jumped. She had to go back out there. She had to move. Only her feet seemed planted in the spot she stood. The plain and simple truth came down to fear. Declan scared the hell out of her. She barely knew him, yet he made her feel more than any other man ever had. Her life felt out of control and he, somehow, felt like a white knight. Without even sharing what was on her mind, his touch, his nearness, made her forget. Made her feel safe. It was nuts. Crazy. But…true. She let out a shuddered breath. She needed him right now. Her family trouble had her tied up in knots. Maybe she should just go have another glass of wine and stop thinking so much.
With that thought, she reached for the door and decided to go face Declan and her own fears. She made it all of two steps out the door and just past a couple of snooty remarks about how long she was in the bathroom when a strong hand lightly shackled her wrist. Zoe looked up to find Declan leaning against the wall in the hallway leading to the bathrooms, waiting for her. He urged her forward and she let him, feeling her heart pound a rhythm against her chest.
“You’re always running from me,” he said softly, his blues eyes seemed dark, no color visible. And warm, like a smoldering fire.
“Not from you,” she half whispered.
His brow inched upward in question.
“From me,” she answered.