Page 6 of Knight

I tilt her chin up so that her eyes can meet mine. As soon as they do her eyes pop wide open. They are so beautiful. A different shade of green than mine. I smile down at her and ask her to dance, but before she can answer, one of her friends answers yes for her.

I’m not looking a gift horse in the mouth. I signal my head toward the dance floor and hold my hands near but not on her, silently asking for permission. She nods, so I put my hands on her hips and pull her close.

She is still staring up at my eyes, but eventually gains her composure and rests her hands on my shoulders. She’s definitely keeping me as far away from her as possible while still touching.

She smells amazing and I try to pull her in a bit closer, but she stiffens up. I bend my neck down to whisper in her ear. “Relax beautiful, we’re just dancing here. My name is Jackson, what’s yours?”

She lets out a breath I think she was holding and smiles. “Sorry, I’m new at this.” She must have just gotten divorced. “Nice to meet you, Jackson. My name is Darian.” She relaxes a little and moves her hand up a little toward my neck. She feels good in my arms.

* * *

DARIAN

Jeez, this is the first time I’ve had a man’s hands on my body in three years, and it actually feels really nice. And it’s not just any guy. Jackson looks like he left a GQ model shoot to come here. He’s one of the most attractive men I’ve ever seen in my life.

I’m a little happy that Cassandra interfered on my behalf and made me dance with him. He smells nice too. I haven’t smelled a man’s aftershave in so long. It’s strangely comforting.

He’s tall, probably 6’2”, and extremely muscular. He has thick jet-black hair, shorter on the sides, and longer on the top. It makes those green eyes pop all the more.

He pulls me closer and I stiffen up, but I eventually relax and move my hands up from his shoulders to his neck. I close my eyes and let myself enjoy this, much-needed, fleeting moment of intimacy. I’ll never see him again after this.

As the song ends, he doesn’t pull away. He holds me close and bends his neck to whisper in my ear. “Can we sit and talk? I’d love to buy you a drink.”

I pull away a bit to answer. “Thank you, but you don’t need to do that. I’m actually here with some friends tonight, but I do appreciate the dance. It was really nice.”

As if she was also dancing with us, Cassandra pipes up. “We don’t mind. She’d love to have a drink with you.” I don’t know where she came from. Was she standing next to us for the entire song?

He and I both smile at one another. “Well, apparently I’d love to have a drink with you, Jackson.”

He grabs my hand to lead me towards the bar, and again, the simple warm feeling of having a man’s big hand holding mine does not escape me.

He motions for me to give the bartender my order. I smile at the bartender. “Hey. I’d love a Tito’s and club soda with several limes please.”

Jackson smiles at me. “You needseverallimes?”

“A few simply aren’t enough. Unless you sayseveral, they only give you one or two, and that just doesn’t get the job done.”

Jackson’s smile gets even bigger. It spreads throughout his entire face, right through to his sparkling eyes. What an attractive man.

He moves his hand and motions for the bartender to get him another drink. His exposed forearms are pretty damn attractive too. He asks the bartender to please send another round of drinks to my friends on him.

“That’s extremely nice of you. Thank you. Bribing the girlfriends is a time-tested tactic.”

He laughs and motions for me to sit, and I do. He does the same. “So, Darian, tell me about yourself.”

I probably shouldn’t lead with the fact that I’m a widow. It’s kind of depressing. People assume when you’re single at my age, that you’re divorced. I’ll stick with that for now.

“Well, I’m an attorney and I own a small law firm doing corporate work. I’m only there part-time for the foreseeable future. I have a few associates who do most of the heavy lifting. I have three amazing daughters who are my everything.” He smiles at that.

“Harley is twenty-six and she’s a first-year surgical resident. Reagan is twenty-three and owns a store down on Walnut Street. And Skylar is twenty-one and in her final year of college, right here in Philly, likely applying to business school for next year.”

“Wow. That’s incredible. All very accomplished. Congratulations to you. You must be very proud.” I smile and nod. “What store does Reagan own? Perhaps I know it.” He seems genuinely interested.

“TikTok Trendy. She sells whatever the latest and greatest TikTok craze is. I don’t get TikTok, but apparently, a lot of people pay attention to whatever they’re peddling. It’s actually been very lucrative for her.” I’m rambling.

“That’s wonderful. She’s jumping in on a hot trend right now and taking it one step further. She sounds like a smart businesswoman.” He must be in business too. “Are you from this area originally?”

“No, I’m actually from the DC area. I came up here for college, and have been here ever since. Before you ask, I’m a huge Washington Capitals hockey fan. If you’re a Flyers fan, we should probably part ways now. I can handle you being a Phillies and a 76ers fan, possibly tolerate an Eagles fan, but never a Flyers fan.”

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