Dawn’s smile was shy as she nodded. “Yes. Cosy. Nice. It is so refreshing to meet a nice guy.”
“Not into the bad boys, huh?” Knox teased, pleased with her estimation of him. Although, he felt a little bad boy wouldn’t go astray either.
“Bad boys have their merits,” Dawn replied, ever serious and thoughtful with her answers. Then some frown lines appeared, and she cocked her head to the side. “Wait, are you flirting with me?”
Knox felt Dawn recognising flirty behaviours was a step in the right direction. Although, looking at her smirking paladins, he had to wonder just who had thought of it. “Do you want me to be?” he retorted – totally flirting.
“I … don’t know,” Dawn answered slowly.
Knox climbed to his feet, commanding the wind to pick up and carry several loaded boxes. He looked back down at Dawn, “Why don’t you think about it and let me know, huh?” He then sauntered out of the room with as much confidence as he could muster. He pointedly ignored the jeers from his sons inside his head telling him to add some sway to his junk-trunk, or flex his arse cheeks for Dawn’s benefit.
Chapter Five
One week later, Knox was elbow-deep in dirt and loving it. He hadn’t really thought of himself as having a green thumb in the past, but there was something to be said for digging around in the dirt and planting. Or perhaps it was simply the company he was keeping these days, he mused. A quick glance to his left showed Dawn chatting happily with Celeste as the pair arranged some coloured flowers into a small flower bed. Knox had been spending every other day with Dawn as she continued to oversee the interior construction for the orphanage and the new clinic in HQ. They had successfully set everything up with the end result being a medical infirmary complete with a laboratory and five beds for ill or hurt paladins, chadens or wardens. Knox had heard grumblings from particular wardens believing such a thing was not necessary but Dawn, as well as the rest of the IDC, shrugged it off and continued to educate the naysayers patiently. Well, some of them anyway, Knox allowed. He chuckled when he recalled Max’s words to a group of visiting wardens.
“Get your heads out of your arses. Wardens may heal quickly with the help of vitality from their paladins, but paladins don’t have that luxury. Besides, don’t you think it will be nice to be able to have somewhere to go and talk about all your repressed emotions and daddy issues? I know a bunch of you bastards have those,” Max scoffed.
“Something funny?” Dawn asked, smiling at him.
Knox was struck by her beauty once more, the smudge of dirt on her chin making her even more endearing to him. He wanted to reach out and wipe it away, but he wasn’t sure where he stood with taking such liberties. Instead he smiled, admitting, “Max.”
Dawn looked over to where Max was kneeling on the ground, somehow covered from head to toe in dirt and arguing with Ryker about lifting a tiny pot. “She is funny, I’ll give you that.”
The way Dawn said funny had Knox laughing out loud. It was clear she was using the word more in the insane context than the humorous one. “She is. But thank the Goddess for her.”
“Indeed,” Dawn agreed. “And that is something we can now do as well.”
Knox followed Dawn’s line of sight, watching as Dana stood with Mordecai, both arms wrapped around the warden’s waist and a serene smile on her face as she watched the proceedings. When Dana’s eyes came to rest on him, she nodded her head at him. Or, to be more accurate, gestured with her head. In Dawn’s direction. Knox scowled at her, shaking his head. Dana widened her eyes and nodded her head back, pointing at Dawn this time. Knox knew of the trickery Dana had used to get Celeste and Axel back together. Apparently, she had the same agenda when it came to him and Dawn. Whilst it was nice to know he had a goddess rooting for him, he thought Dana might just be wrong this time. In the week following his attempt to overtly flirt with Dawn, he had received no definitive signs back. Dawn was her usual happy, chatty, oblivious self and Knox had resigned himself to the friend