Page 73 of Sacrifice the Knight (Checkmate 6)

“That so? What’s happening at work?”

“Bishops nearly died today.”

He shoots up to his knees with a gasp and leans over the seats. “No shit?”

“Shit. But it was because of Jess and Soph. The guys forgot to use their brains, so the girls wanted to kill them.”

“Oh!” he laughs. “Just the girls. I swear, some guys are so stupid. How do they not know how to work a woman at their age? It ain’t hard.”

Coming from the boy who knows every single one of his mom’s buttons. “Yeah, well, their manhood was threatened. So ya know how well that went over.”

The dimples beneath his lips twinkle with his smile. “What did they do?”

“They demanded the girls take their name when they marry.”

He frowns. “So?”

“The keyword here is ‘demanded,’” I laugh. “Like, straight up, suicide mission, demanded shit.”

“I’d demand it too.” Ben scowls from his chair. “A man’s name is his legacy. No way are we hyphenating or using some bullshit made-up name.”

Mac and I turn to him and smile. “You gonna demand?” Mac asks. “You’re gonna look me in the eyes and tell me you’re gonnademandyour girl changes her name to Conner? Even if she doesn’t wanna?”

“Fuck yes,” he snaps. “A girl can make us pick up our towels; they can make us clean the counters and not swear around polite company. They hold a lot of power over men because they’re so pretty and all that, but my name is my name. I’m passing that shit on whether she likes it or not.”

Mac giggles. Little girl bubbly giggles work up his throat as he turns straight on and drops into his seat. “Okay. If you say so.”

“I do say so!”

“Uh-huh.” Mac nods. “I said I believe ya.”

“So stop laughing at me then!”

I turn back to sit front on in my booth and smile. Benny’s going to find himself in hot water eventually, because no matter who he chooses to terrorize – I mean, marry – she isn’t going to tolerate a dictator for a husband. These dumbasses just need to realize it’s all in how they approach it; there’s no doubt in my mind Jess will take Bishop’s surname, but she won’t budge as long as Kane is demanding shit. Now he needs to take his stupid ass to the florist, buy peonies, and then talk to Jess using his inside voice.

She’ll respond to kindness, but demands will only have her pulling her gun.

It wouldn’t be the first time she’s shot at her man because he pissed her off.

“Hi, my name is Katrina, and I’ll be your server this evening.”

I drag in a lungful of roses and sex until my chest doubles in size. Turning to her with a smile, I look her up and down from her sneakers to her tits. I pause there for a long minute and remember suckling on them just last night, and when I feel her blush in the air, I continue up till I reach her eyes.

Our gazes meet, and my cock grows beneath the table. “Hi Katrina. My name’s Eric, and I’ll be your customer today.”

She rolls her eyes and brings her pen and paper up. “Burger and fries?”

“Yeah, and three cookies, please.”

“Okay.” Her cheeks are a violent red, but she hides it well with a tilt and finger brush of her hair to cover her face.

“Don’t bring the cookies out yet though, please.” I wait for her darkened eyes. “I’ll collect those later.”

Her lips quiver and her hands shake. “Okay.” She nervously clears her throat, then snaps her gaze up at the loud thump behind me, then at the silverware on the boys’ table as it moves. “Macallistar Blair?”

“Sorry, Mom. I thought there was a bee or something.”

“No, we did–”

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