“Never,” the dragon shifter said, with utter conviction. “One you meet your mate, that's it. You just know, bone-deep, that there's no one else for you.”
“And that's the way that Chase feels about you,” Virginia added, smiling at Connie.
Connie scowled down into her drink. “That's how he says he feels.”
Killian shot her a sidelong glance. “Could I ask you something?” he said to Dai. “Does Chase have a… reputation?”
“Chase has a lot of reputations,” Dai said, his tone dry. “Were you thinking of anything in particular?”
Killian sighed. “A reputation when it comes to women.”
Of course. He knows why I left Chase.
Killian had been the one who'd called Connie on that horrible morning, three years ago, to ask if she knew where his cousin was. He'd always had to look out for Chase, the same way she'd always had to rescue her dad from his drunken mishaps.
Killian had begged her to go make sure that Chase had gotten home safely, so sincerely that Connie had swallowed her hurt pride at being stood up and done so. And so she'd walked in on Chase in the aftermath of one of his infamous one-night-stands… the ones that he'd sworn he'd given up.
And if she really was his mate, he should have given them up, without hesitation or a second thought.
“Sorry, Connie,” Killian added, throwing her an apologetic look. “But Virginia's story has made it clear that it's best if everyone knows the truth.”
“No, that's all right. I want to know too.” She turned back to Dai. “You can be honest.”
From the conflicted expression on the dragon shifter's face, he really, really didn't want to be honest.
“If you know Chase at all, you know that he does everything at top speed and with excessive enthusiasm,” Virginia said. She shrugged. “As far as I'm aware, that includes his love life. But does it matter what he's done in the past? You're his future.”
“That's right,” Dai said, shooting his mate a grateful look for rescuing him. “As a shifter, I can promise you that Chase will be true to you. You're his mate. He'll never look at another woman again, now that he's met you.”
Killian's mouth tightened. “Chase met Connie three years ago.”
Connie avoided Dai and Virginia's shocked stares. Hot humiliation rose in her cheeks. She stared down at the table, unable to speak past the tight pain closing her throat.
“That's not possible,” Dai said blankly.
“My cousin is the most impossible person in the world,” Killian said, sounding resigned. “But I didn't think that even he could break something as sacred as the mate-bond. Connie, I'm so, so sorry. You're a good person, and you deserve better. It's not your fault.”
Maybe it is.
I'm too cautious, I could never bring myself to trust him fully. Maybe we would have had a beautiful, perfect bond, just like Dai and Virginia, if only I hadn't held back.
Maybe it is all my fault.
Connie angrily scrubbed her knuckles across her eyes, dashing away the tears before they could spill. “It's nothing to me,” she said defiantly. “I'm not a shifter, after all. I don't have some amazing instant connection that means he's the only man for me. Chase can sleep around as much as he wants, for all I care.”
“Chase doesn't sleep around,” Hugh said. For the first time, he didn't sound even slightly sarcastic. “He hasn't for as long as I've known him.”
“It's good of you to try to defend your friend,” Killian said to him. “But please, don't lie to Connie. She's been hurt enough already.”
Hugh rubbed at his forehead as if he had a headache. “I can't believe I'm doing this,” he muttered, apparently to himself. “One mated pair around here is bad enough…”
He dropped his hand again with a sigh, looking at Connie. “If you're going to refuse Chase, do it for something he's actually done, not something he hasn't. Take my word on it, he’s not slept with anyone for at least three years. He hasn’t even lusted after anyone.”
Dai was looking at the paramedic in fascination, as though he’d never heard him talk like this before. “But Chase is always flirting with women.”
“No, he’s just being himself. The same way he is with everyone, male or female.” Hugh shrugged. “He’s charming and charismatic, and women mistake that for interest and throw themselves at him. But he never takes them up on it.”
“How can you be so sure?” Connie asked him, suspiciously.