Page 28 of Knight

That’s kind of sweet that Payton only wants to go out with his wife. I can see the sweetness gene runs deep in this family.

We head straight for the bar and he orders our drinks. I see Cassandra immediately headed our way. Oh boy. This should be interesting.

She arrives and unashamedly looks me up and down. “Damn, Dare. You look hot. You could turn me.” I shake my head. Here we go.

I squeeze her arm. She looks gorgeous as always. “You look hot too, babe, but not hot enough to turn me from that.” I tilt my head towards Jackson.

“I saw what you walked in with. I don’t blame you. Wow.” She said that as if he couldn’t hear her. She then gives him the full once over. She’s shameless.

I roll my eyes. “I know you sort of met at Cover Me, but I don’t think you two have formally been introduced. Cassandra Blackstone, please meet Jackson Knight. Jackson, this is Crazy Cassandra.” I grin at her well-deserved nickname.

“Nice to meet you, Cassandra. I’ve heardlotsabout you.”

“Oh really? Like what?”

“Nothing too crazy.” He winks at me.

“Well, Jackson, I’ve heard that you’ve got a porn star dick.” I choke on my drink. Oh my god. Fucking Cassandra. She promised to behave tonight. It’s been less than thirty seconds and she couldn’t see it through. I’m mortified.

Jackson squeezes my hand in reassurance. He has a cocky smirk and replies, “And I’ve heard that you’ve got quite the porn collection.”

Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. This just got even worse. I can’t believe he said that to her. She might actually hit me. We’ve been here for less than two minutes and it’s already a disaster.

She looks at me with an expression that I can’t read. “I think I like him. He can stay.” I guess she didn’t care as much as I thought she would. That, or I’m going to get an earful later.

Just then, an attractive man comes over to our group and begins talking to Jackson. Cassandra mouths to me, “He’s hot.”

Jackson pulls me close and introduces me. “Darian Lawrence, please meet Ethan Davenport. He’s the CEO of Children’s Hospital. Darian is a corporate attorney. She runs her own private practice.” Ethan is tall, with sandy-colored hair styled to perfection. He has big, warm brown eyes.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ethan. Congratulations on this event. It looks like a great success.”

“Thank you. Yes, all the money we raise goes straight to the kids in need. Your friend Jackson here is a long-time benefactor. We’re very appreciative of all he does.” I didn’t realize that. I’m proud of him.

I’m in my Jackson haze when I feel an elbow from Cassandra. Ouch. That was unnecessarily hard.

“Ethan, please meet my friend Cassandra Blackstone. She’s an M&A attorney with Cooper & Kronfeld.”

“Ah, Cooper & Kronfeld also have a history of being extremely generous. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Cassandra.” He takes her hand and kisses it.

“The pleasure is all mine. How about you and I head over to the raw bar? I’m a big oyster fan.” She doesn’t really wait for a reply. She loops her arm through his and pulls him towards the raw bar on the other side of the room that has more of a seating area.

“She’s going to eat him alive,” I tell Jackson.

“Actually, he’s a bit of a playboy. He just plays it cool. I think he can handle her. Let’s go find our table, sugar.”

We make our way over to the table and everyone introduces themselves.

We eat our first and second course while making chit chat with the people at our table. We’re having a nice time.

Jackson’s constantly touching me. He either has an arm around me or places his hand on my thigh under the table. A few times he’s leaned over to kiss my cheek or neck. I think he wants to make it known that I’m here with him tonight.

Jackson excuses himself to go get us more drinks, and a rather slovenly-looking man sits down in his seat. “Hey, beautiful. I’m Bryan. What’s your name?”

This guy is kind of forward and annoying, but I don’t want to be rude. “I’m Darian. It’s nice to meet you. My date should be back shortly.”

As if I didn’t speak, and subtly let him know that I’m spoken for this evening, he asks me to dance. “No, I’m sorry. I’m here with someone else.”

“Come on, just one dance.” He goes to grab my elbow, but as soon as he does, he’s lifted off of me by the back of his jacket and tossed a few feet.”

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