Yes, Mr Knight
I Like a Challenge
JAMIE
I spent the rest of the day buried in more work from the Big Bad Boss. It was after six before I even took my eyes off the screen and realized people had already started to leave.
Shit, I’m going to be late for my date!
I rushed through my final tasks and was photocopying a few last documents when I faintly overheard a conversation from Mr. Knight’s office.
Between him and Jen.
“Come on, Mason, you know I can give you anything you want back at mine.”
“One time and one time only. Remember what I told you?” His words came out harsh. “And you told me you were okay with that.”
“I just thought—”
“I know what you thought. You thought you could change me. Everybody thinks that. Well, I am who I am, and I can’t be changed!”
“Fine, then. But you know where I’ll be if you change your mind.”
The door opened, and Jen walked out with a scowl on her face, a scowl I was sure she hadn’t shown him. I felt sorry for her, a bit. But she must have known what she was getting into.
I shook my head. I had my own issues to deal with right now.
MASON
I was standing by the door to my office, watching her.
Bent over her desk, clearing away her files. She seemed like she was in a hurry. Meanwhile, I was getting a great view of her ass in that skirt.
She hadn’t been wearing that in the elevator. I might not have been so gracious if she had been. She must have changed for her “date.”
I don’t go for brunettes—never. But I was tempted by her now—ever since that gaping shirt, ever since she called me Mr. Knight.
It was clear that she was not going to make it easy for me. Which made me want her even more. One time, on my desk, fucking her roughly. Just the way I like to have them.
I liked a challenge, and she was certainly that.
Brent arrived beside me at my office door. “You look like you’re enjoying the view.”
“Well, it’s quite the view,” I replied.
My father and I do business with the company that Brent works for, so he’s around the office a bit. We get on quite well. We’re into the same things. Women. Money. Power. Women.
Brent folded his arms over his chest. “I can tell you’re already thinking about tapping that.”
“She hates me, you know. But I like a challenge. The quiet ones are always the best in bed.”
I had a feeling that Jamie Harris was full of surprises.
“Well, it looks like you have some competition.” Brent pointed in Jamie’s direction, and I looked over. The date was here. And he’d brought flowers.
“You said you like a challenge?” Brent said. “There’s one for you.”
JAMIE
Ryan looked even more handsome in person.
A fair amount of facial hair, his eyes gentle and blue. The eyes of a kind man—it was obvious that’s what he was.
I’d been nervous before, but I was even more nervous now he was standing in front of me. I didn’t want to screw up and say something totally ridiculous.
“I hope it’s okay that I came up? When you didn’t come down, I thought maybe you had to work late or something.”
My nude-colored lips curved into a smile of reassurance. “Yes, it’s fine. I was just running a bit behind, but I’m ready to go.”
I grabbed the last of my things, and we walked toward the elevator.
“So, Ryan—where are we going for dinner?”
He pressed the button. “I thought we’d go to the Bradford.”
I hesitated as he stepped into the elevator first.
The bloody Bradford.
Exactly where Mr. Knight’s dinner meeting was happening.
No, it’ll be fine. Chin up, Jamie. You can’t let him control you—outside of work, anyway.
So, I stepped into the metal box next to Ryan—the same metal box I’d been trapped in with Mason Knight this morning—and turned to face the office as the doors slid closed.
Mr. Knight winked at me from his office doorway.
***
I was smiling as I looked across the dinner table at Ryan. Things were going well between us—at least in my opinion. I found myself opening up to him naturally. I didn’t even have to think about what to say next. The conversation just flowed.
He seemed to be enjoying himself too. A nice guy, and actually making an effort to get to know me. That wasn’t the case with every man.
“I had no idea you were a vegetarian. I’ve always wanted to be one, but I’ve never had the willpower to turn down a good steak.” He chuckled.
“Well, for me it wasn’t hard. I’ve been a vegetarian since I was sixteen. It all started with a bet, actually…”
He raised an eyebrow at me. “A bet? This I have to hear.” He sat forward, arms folded on the table.
“Well, it started with my dad thinking he was smart, betting I couldn’t last a week without eating meat.” I picked up my wineglass. “Obviously, he didn’t think I would last, but I’ve kept it going ten years.”
“I’m impressed. You showed him.” Ryan extended his beer bottle forward and tapped it on my glass. “Cheers to you for holding strong on that one!”
“I wanted to prove him wrong. I think he knows not to mess with me now.” I sipped from my glass and set it back down.
We eyed up the desserts as our waitress placed them down. He was staring at the brownie in front of me. I laughed.
“Do you want to try some?” I teased.
“If you don’t mind—that looks too fantastic to pass up. I’ve always been a sucker for this cheesecake, though. It’s the only thing I order.”
Ryan leaned forward, took some brownie off my fork, and moaned in delight.
“It’s good, right?” I asked.
The look of satisfaction on his face…
He’s so cute!
Some women might find a predictable guy to be boring, but I liked that he was predictable—especially since he was nice.
“That chocolate sauce and whipped cream just topped it off!” Ryan moved his plate across the table. “Try mine.”
I dug my fork into the strawberry cheesecake. It tasted good but just wasn’t my cup of tea.
It was no chocolate brownie, that’s for sure.
“Jamie!”
The sound of my name sent a cold panic through me. Mr. Knight was walking toward us, looking very surprised to see me at the same restaurant.
I stood from my chair. I didn’t know why. “Mr. Knight!”
My cheeks were flushed with embarrassment. I’d really been hoping to have dinner and leave without him seeing me.
“Funny I should see you here. My dinner meeting will be just over there.” He gestured over to an empty table, then glanced down at our half-eaten desserts.
“I didn’t know we were coming here,” I said.
He knows we’re on a date, and he decided to approach us anyway.
“Ryan, uh, this is my boss, Mr. Knight.”
Ryan, being the mannerly guy he was, stood from his chair and shook Mr. Knight’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Knight.”
“Oh, no need for formalities. Call me Mason. Jamie is just so professional—I think she likes the name.”
What the hell is wrong with this man? Unbelievably arrogant!
Ryan cleared his throat, making me look over at him. I’d thought he was maybe trying to get my attention, but he hid his mouth in his elbow as he coughed.
“Sorry. Excuse me…,” he muttered—but his voice was off. Gravelly.
He coughed again—like really coughed. And his face was turning red and blotchy.
Uh-oh.
I pushed my chair away to round the table. “Ryan? Are you okay?”
“Nuts,” he wheezed. “Were there nuts in that brownie?” He opened the top two buttons of his plaid shirt.
Oh my god, he has a nut allergy!
I panicked, thinking about the worst possible outcomes. I’d never had allergies myself, but I knew enough to know anaphylaxis could kill.
Ryan seemed to sway. I reached out to support him, but an arm barreled me out of the way. Mr. Knight stepped in, guiding Ryan back into his chair.
“Ryan, do you have an EpiPen on you?” he asked.
Ryan nodded his head. “Inside. Pocket,” he choked.
He could barely speak now. His eyes bulged. His fingers scratched at his throat.
Oh god, Mum, I killed my blind date with a brownie!
Mr. Knight’s hand was in Ryan’s suit jacket; he felt around one side, then the other, and withdrew a yellow cylinder. Kneeling by Ryan’s chair, he popped off the blue cap, and jabbed the orange end down on Ryan’s thigh.
In seconds, Ryan gasped a fresh breath of air.
I barely had a chance to process what had just happened when Mr. Knight stood, towering over me. His face was completely placid, despite having just saved someone’s life.
“We need to get him to the hospital,” he said. “Get him up. I’ll get my driver to pull the car around.”
I blinked, turning as he walked away. “What?” I’d heard him, but the chaos of the moment had me slow to catch up.
His back tensed as he spun back to me. “You’ve been drinking, Jamie. You can’t drive. I can give you a lift. Now, hurry up—those injectors are only meant to buy time.”
My eyes widened. I looked back at Ryan, who was leaning forward in his chair with his elbows on his knees.
Stop being so useless, Jamie!
When I looked back, Mr. Knight was already out the restaurant door, so I gathered our things and pulled Ryan out of his chair to follow.
***
An hour later, I was pacing the waiting room floor, worried sick.
By the time we’d arrived, Ryan had begun to swell up again like he’d been stung by several bees. I’d never witnessed anything like it.
I was scared.
“Stop pacing. It’s not going to help the situation,” Mason said from his plastic chair by the wall.
I didn’t understand why he was still here, why he hadn’t just left after his driver had dropped us off.
“I can’t help it. It’s my fault he’s here in the first place. I gave him that brownie.”
I paced some more in my five-inch ankle-strap heels. That was one way of getting my steps in.
Mr. Knight released an audible sigh. “How could it be your fault when you didn’t even know he was allergic? If anything, it’s his fault for not knowing the ingredients of the food he was eating. He should be more careful.”
Even if he was right, I was beating myself up over it. Maybe Ryan should have said something before he ate it, but it was still my brownie.
I gave in and decided to rest in the chair right beside Mr. Knight. It was a bit weird being around him outside the office.
“There’s nothing like an allergy to ruin a first date,” I sighed. “I’m so accident-prone. Even if they don’t happen to me, they happen to who I’m with.”
“Yeah, I’m starting to see that…,” he muttered.
I was reminded of our time in the elevator.
Why do these things happen around me?
“Mr. Knight, you don’t have to wait with me. Thank you for helping us, but you can leave if you want to. I’m sure you have important things to do.” Like pick up a stray before midnight.
“You work for me, Jamie. I want to make sure you have a way home.”
“What about Mr. Morrison?”
“I’ve let him know something came up, and our dinner will be rescheduled.” He glanced down at me.
“I’ll contact his PA first thing,” I said.
We looked up as a nurse walked into the room.
“The patient is doing well. He’s asking for you, Miss Harris.” She smiled and indicated for me to follow her.
I stood from my chair, thinking about my next words carefully as I walked to Ryan’s room. I was anxious about seeing him. What if he blamed me for the brownie?
At the blue curtain, I peered in to where he was propped up on a bunch of pillows. “Hey, you.”
Ryan lifted his head. He was looking a lot less blotchy now. “Hey, Jamie. Come on in. It’s good to see my hero.”
I walked over and sat down beside him. “Hero? Hah. I don’t know about that. I was the one that let you eat that brownie. Mr. Knight did most of the hero work.”
If not all of it.
“Well, I should have checked it didn’t have nuts. That’s my responsibility. I guess I got caught up in the moment. Things got a bit nutty back there, didn’t they?”
I raised my eyebrows. “Oh, you can joke about this? My heart rate has just returned to a normal pace, and you’re joking?” But I was grinning.
“Sorry—I’m sorry I scared you, Jamie.” He reached out and took my hand in his. “I was really hoping our first date would end with a kiss.”
“Who says it can’t?” I answered.
I really liked this guy. Enough to kiss him and enough to go on a second date.
“Well, all right, then.” Ryan sat up in bed and leaned toward me, placing a hand on the back of my neck and pressing his lips to my cheek.
A very lovely, sweet kiss.
I smiled, letting the warmth of the moment settle over me. But just as I started to pull away, something in my peripheral vision shifted. A shadow by the curtain.
I turned sharply, but whoever it was had already disappeared.
Ryan squeezed my hand, drawing my attention back to him. “You should go home, Jamie. They’re keeping me overnight for observation.”
My eyes widened. “What? Why?”
He chuckled, shaking his head. “It’s just procedure for anaphylaxis. Nothing to worry about.”
“But—”
“Jamie.” His thumb brushed over my knuckles. “I’m fine. Go home. Get some rest.”
I sighed. He wasn’t wrong. This had been an exhausting night, and hovering over him like a worried mother hen wasn’t going to help either of us. Just like Mr. Knight had said.
“All right,” I conceded. “But text me if you need anything, okay?”
“I will.” His smile was soft. “Good night, Jamie.”
“Good night, Ryan.”
With one last look at him, I pulled my hand from his and stood up. I stepped through the curtain and back into the quiet hospital hallway.
As I returned to the waiting room, I scanned the space. Relief flooded me when I saw that Mason was gone.
Finally.
Grateful to be alone, I pushed through the hospital’s sliding doors into the cool night air. The car park was mostly empty, dimly lit by flickering streetlights. I checked my phone—my Uber was three minutes away.
I wrapped my arms around myself, exhaling a plume of steam.
Then a familiar black BMW pulled up right in front of me.
The back window rolled down, revealing Mr. Knight’s sharp, impassive expression. His driver remained silent in the front seat.
“I’ll take you home,” he said. His voice was even, unreadable.
I straightened. “That’s all right, Mr. Knight. My ride’s almost here.”
A pause. His fingers tapped idly on the window frame. “Why wait for a stranger when I’m already here?”
I tilted my head. “Because I trust the stranger not to judge my life choices for the entire drive.”
His jaw ticked. “Suit yourself.”
Then, without another word, he rolled the window back up and drove off, his taillights disappearing into the night.
I exhaled, shaking my head. I’d pay for that tomorrow.
Continue to the next chapter of Yes, Mr Knight