Dave laughed. "Well played, Ms. McDermott, well played."
It was then I made the connection. Kate.
Katherine…
A shock went through me. The pretty young woman I had imagined ravishing only moments earlier was none other than Ethan's beloved daughter.
"You're Katherine…" I blurted out like a smitten schoolboy.
"Oh, this is Kate McDermott," Dave said, gesturing to Kate. "Kate, this is Dr. Drake Morgan, brain surgeon, bass player, philanthropist. I assumed you already knew each other."
"I met, but didn’t really formally meet, Ms. McDermott," I said, a surge of something indescribable flowing through me. "I've known you by reputation for years. My apologies for not introducing myself."
"By reputation?"
"Your father told me about you, and I read your articles on Mangaize."
She smiled briefly, and then turned away as if still embarrassed by our encounter.
Dave turned to her. "Dr. Morgan's father Liam fought with your father in Vietnam. Drake volunteers with Doctors Without Borders," he said, sounding officious. "I run his foundation, which donates surgical equipment. Drake goes to war zones where civilians have experienced brain trauma and fixes them up."
She turned to me and her pretty green eyes widened. "My father's spoken of you before. It was Dr. Morgan this, Dr. Morgan that. He thinks you're practically a saint."
I smiled, enjoying how easily she blushed. She couldn't hide her emotions and that was something I highly valued in a sexual partner. So Ethan thought I was a saint? Little did he know… And if he knew how I was lusting after his baby girl, how I wanted to blindfold and gag her, tie her up and fuck her over and over again, he'd probably hire a hit man to take me out.
"Sorry, I didn't introduce myself earlier," she said, her cheeks and neck covered in a flush. "I was in kind of injured mode."
"Nice to finally meet Ethan's beloved daughter." I extended my hand. "Your father told me so much about you. I should have known it was you by your eyes, but I was in slightly caddish doctor with bad bedside manner mode and not my charming and gracious guest mode."
I kissed her knuckles and glanced in her eyes as I did, noting how once more she blushed, her cheeks red.
I had to have her. It was that simple.
"I'll leave her with you then," Peter said. Then, Dave stepped forward as if trying to get in between us.
"So, Ms. Bennet, how have you been since our last meeting?"
They made some small talk about Jane Austen, and I watched as Dave tried to push himself on her, standing very close to her, shaking her hand and smiling at her in an attempt to monopolize her. She smiled, but I could tell by how she stiffened that she didn’t enjoy his overly obvious attention. She pulled her hand out of his and stepped back.
"My father warned me about men like you, Mr. Mills," she said, sneaking a glance at me. "Suave. Charming. Devastatingly handsome…"
"Oh, that's riiight. Your father The Hangin' Judge… Does he keep a shotgun under his bed to keep away your suitors? I take it you only go for the nerds? The dorks? The ones who don’t have a clue what to say or how to treat a woman? Some of us do know."
"I don't know why I'd be of much interest to you," she said, as if trying to change the subject. "I'm looking for donations. Care to donate to Nigel's foundation?"
Dave smiled at her and they locked eyes for a moment as if in battle.
She was shy, but she wasn't a pushover. She was just as witty as Dave and wasn't intimidated by him.
"Kate was with Nigel in West Africa during the famine," Dave said to me.
"I'm well aware of her work in Africa," I said, not taking my eyes off her. "The Judge talks about you a lot."
"He does?" Katherine frowned as if she was surprised.
"It was always, Katherine this and Katherine that. He's very proud but he's kept you pretty well hidden."
"I've been really busy with school and work…"
I nodded, aware of how she'd had a breakdown after returning from Africa. How concerned Ethan was about his beloved daughter. How fragile she had been for a while, but how she was coming back slowly.
"Your father told me you got a job with Geist. What are you writing about now?" I said, wanting to focus on her as a person rather than as a woman, the way Dave was.
"Philanthropy in the age of social media."
Dave turned to her when he heard that. "Drake's foundation funds a number of hospital projects in West Africa if you're interested in philanthropy. I'm his manager of fundraising."
"Yes, that's what my father told me." Kate smiled at Dave. "I'm doing an article for Geist," she said. "Maybe I could do an interview?"