Beating Hearts [Knight's Rest #1]

29

"Is this really necessary?" Darcy asked, her eyes flitting between the two men in front of her. While her dad stood with his arms crossed and his attempt at a menacing glare, Thelonious awkwardly kept his hands in his pocket, his more than half-way full coffee mug abandoned on the coffee table. While her dad thought that he was doing a good job in scaring her boyfriend, she knew better.

Thelonious had a few inches on him, at least forty pounds and a whole lot of muscle from his daily gym sessions. Her father didn't even stand a chance if fists were thrown, but it was somewhat cute.

"Darcy, why don't you give us some time to talk?"

She huffed and stepped forward to kiss Thelonious on the cheek. "Don't let him scare you away." She whispered to him before turning to her father. "Be nice." She warned before turning around and heading upstairs to her room.

Thelonious watched her leave with yearning evident in his eyes. What he would do to follow her upstairs and leave this awkward situation, which was about to get a whole lot more awkward.

"Take a seat." Elijah sat down on the single armchair and gestured for his daughter's boyfriend to do the same. "What are your intentions with my daughter?" He asked, cutting straight to the chase.

He scratched the back of his neck, nervously. "We've been dating for just over a month."

"That's not what I asked."

"I just want to make her happy."

Thelonious wasn't sure if his answer was sufficient enough or if Elijah was happy with it as he merely hummed and rubbed his chin, stuck in deep thought. "Tell me more about yourself."

If Thelonious was wearing a shirt, he would have tugged at the collar. It was suddenly getting quite hot. "My name is Thelonious Knight. I'm 28 and I own a hotel in London."

"You own a hotel?"

He nodded.

"And you're 28?"

He nodded again.

Elijah's jaw tensed. "Don't you think you're too old for Darcy?"

Thelonious didn't like the sound of that. Not once had Darcy shown any concerns with him being too old for her. In fact, he was sure that she preferred the age gap, not that he wished to express his daughter's taste in men to her father. "Darcy doesn't seem to have an issue with my age."

"I'm not asking what Darcy thinks. I'm asking what you think."

"No," he replied, clenching his jaw in anger and frustration, but he forced himself to remain calm – outwardly calm, at least. This man was Darcy's father, he couldn't afford to have a heated argument with him. He and Darcy had just resolved their issues and he didn't plan on coming between them and stirring up more trouble. "I don't think I'm too old for her. In fact, I think we're pretty compatible for each other."

"You're 7 years older than her."

His jaw clenched, but he exercised restraint, forcing himself to remain calm. "She'll be 22 in August."

"Then you're 6 years older than her."

"We're both legal, consenting adults. Darcy is aware how old I am and as long as she doesn't have an issue with it, it's not anyone's business."

Elijah just stared at him in response, though he didn't seem too thrilled. "You said you owned a hotel? How did that come about?"

"I worked hard and saved up some money, and used the money my parents left me to buy the building. And I turned it into a hotel." He shrugged. "I've been managing it ever since then." He was playing it cool. He was incredibly proud of his hotel. It had been a dream of his for a long time and once he had the funds as well as a small loan from the bank, he was able to make it come true. His hotel was his baby, his life and he was damn proud of it.