his middle son and patting him on the shoulder. “You’re doomed.”
“So you admit you have a thing for Dawn?” Kane asked. “And not just a ‘want to get in her pants’ kind of a thing either.”
Knox sighed, stalling by looking around his near-empty bar. It was still early, barely five in the afternoon, so he knew the real crowd wouldn’t come for another couple of hours at least. It was a Friday night, and more and more people from their society were venturing in for drinks, food, and more importantly, companionship. Knox loved getting a front row seat to seeing wardens, paladins, and chadens coming together as friends. He was beyond grateful the IDC had seen fit to bestow the bar and motel onto him and he only wished he could have known Dave, the previous owner, better.
“Dad?” Kane prompted, shaking Knox from his thoughts.
“Yes. I definitely like her more than that. Although, I wouldn’t be adverse to the pants thing either,” he added, smiling along with his sons. Knox then turned to Kai, “So, Willow, huh? She’s a wonderful paladin. I approve.”
Kellan shoved Kai in a teasing way, laughing. “Your approval doesn’t matter much, dad. She turned him down.”
“What?” Knox asked. It wasn’t every day one of his sons got turned down. But seeing the disgruntled look on Kai’s face was enough for Knox to grin. It was about time they got knocked down a peg or two. Knox was liking Willow more and more.
“Yep,” Kellan crowed. “Told him she wasn’t interested in being another notch on his belt. And followed up by making sure we all knew she wasn’t into orgies or gangbangs.”
“She did not!” Knox sputtered, imagining the look on Kai’s face when he heard that.
“Oh, she did,” Kai replied darkly. “The woman is as prickly as a cactus.”
“I prefer to think of myself as discerning in my tastes.”
Willow’s sugary sweet voice had all four of them going still before they turned as one only to find Willow standing there with her arms crossed over her chest, a mutinous look on her face. Dawn, Piper, Reid, and Micah were also there, although their faces looked more amused than anything else.
“Willow!” Kai practically yelled. “I didn’t know you were there.”
Willow sniffed, “Clearly.”
Knox watched as his son blushed for the second time in as many minutes, before stepping forward and smiled in welcome to the Adalla Order. “Hi, all. Good to see you. Can I get you all a drink?”
Knox managed to shuffle everyone to a couple of tables he hastily shoved together to give them all some more room. He then took drink orders, unsurprised when all four of Dawn’s paladins chose something non-alcoholic. They might be in a bar with friends during their downtime, but they were always on duty. Knox couldn’t fault them for that, so he made sure to keep jugs of soft drinks, as well as water on the table at all times, and supplied them with a bunch of snacks as well. After a while, he eventually ran out of things to do and he joined Dawn at her table. His sons went to work behind the bar and Knox enjoyed his time getting to know Dawn and her Order more. He couldn’t keep his eyes from flicking to Dawn every minute or so. She would smile and he would look; she would talk and he would look; she would take a drink of her wine – and he would look. Micah caught his eye once, giving Knox a look that was nothing like the one Knox had been giving Dawn. Still, it wasn’t as guard dog-like as Knox had been expecting either. It was more of a ‘if you do the right thing, I won’t have to kill you’ kind of a look.
Chadens, wardens, and paladins came and went as the night progressed, and Knox was startled to realise he was now alone with Dawn at their table. Her Order was over at the pool tables, taking bets with his sons about who was better at pool. Knox couldn’t help but notice the way Kai stared at Willow. Nor the way the female knight purposely ignored him. “Looks like Kai has his work cut out for him,” he said, breaking the comfortable silence that had developed between himself and Dawn.
Dawn followed his gaze, “You sound amused.”
“Oh, I am,” Knox assured her. “It will do him good to have to prove himself. Nothing worthwhile ever comes easy, after all.”