Just One Taste (Topped #2)(3)

“It’s a sign that he’s ready. He didn’t want her to talk him out of it.” Having spent time with the kid he knew Kyle wasn’t bad, he was struggling and now he had a plan to get his life back on track. “If it helps Grace any, I don’t believe he’ll make a career of it. I think he’ll eventually want to go back to school. It’s something he needs right now. He needs to feel like his life has purpose.”

“I agree with you, and you’re going to need a stiff drink after my wife finds out you’re the one who convinced her baby boy to join the Navy. Grace has certain fears when it comes to losing her loved ones. Not that we don’t all have them, but she went through the death of her first husband so she’s more sensitive than a lot of people. She doesn’t always understand that the risk is worth the reward. See, I’ve been coming up with all this stuff to tell her because I was dreading the moment I had to take a stand. Now I don’t have to.” Sean seemed to be warming to the idea. “I can honestly say I had nothing to do with it, but of course I support the decision since we can’t get him out of it now. It’s the best of both worlds for me.”

Thank god. He saw his in. “You know, boss, I was hoping you could do me a favor.”

“Absolutely. What do you need?”

This was one of the things he admired about his boss. Sean simply said yes without being told what he needed. Of course Sean was also very careful about the people he hired and let into his small circle. He wouldn’t bring anyone in he didn’t trust. Though they were roughly the same age, he looked up to Sean as a mentor in not only business but life. “I need you to talk to your brother.”

Sean’s face went tight for a moment. “Which one?”

Eric wished he hadn’t phrased it like that. Saying “brother” likely reminded Sean that he’d recently lost one. Theo Taggart had died on a mission for the firm the oldest Taggart brother ran, and no one had recovered from it. They might never recover. “I’m sorry. I meant Ian. I need you to ask Ian for a favor tonight. I’m in the training class at Sanctum.”

“Yes, I recommended you for the program. I promise I’ll get you out of here early so you can be on time.” Sean gave him a pointed look. “You should be on time. Ian does mean shit to Doms who show up late. His sister-in-law calls him Satan and she’s not that far off. Unless you’re Macon, and I swear Macon could punch my brother in the face and as long as he gave him a pie afterward, all would be forgiven. Huh. I wonder if I could get away with throwing one of Macon’s pies in his face. He’d be so distracted by the taste, I would have a serious head start.”

“I’ll be on time,” Eric promised. “But I understand that partners are assigned on the first night of training.”

Sean’s eyes narrowed. “You want me to make sure you get assigned to Deena.”

He was fairly certain his skin was a nice shade of red. What that woman could make him do. “Yes. I was hoping you could convince him to do that for me.”

“Is that such a great idea? You two work together.”

“We work in the same space. She’s not in the kitchen and not under my direction. Besides, Ally and Macon are married.”

“Yes, but he’s the pie maker,” Sean pointed out. “Even if I wanted to fire one of them, I would have to go through Ian. He still owns half this place until I make enough to buy him out.”

Was he serious? For the first time Eric got a bit unsettled. He hadn’t thought that Sean would have a problem with him dating Deena.

“Eric, have you thought this through?” Sean asked quietly. “From what I understand she’s not exactly chasing after you or anyone for that matter. Don’t get me wrong. She’s a lovely woman, but she shuts down when it comes to intimacy.”

“That’s not true. She’s quite comfortable with intimacy.” It was one of the reasons he thought she was ready. “Not physically, but emotionally. She’s the one everyone goes to with their problems. She’s the one who listens.”

Sean shook his head. “That’s not true intimacy. She listens but she never talks. I wouldn’t know she was divorced if I hadn’t run a check on her.” His eyes narrowed. “How did you find out? Or did she tell you?”

Eric shrugged. “I might have run my own check. And she does get chatty when she has a couple of glasses of wine. I stay fairly close to the women when we all go out.”

He was sure he looked ridiculous, like a large predatory bulldog watching over the pretty butterflies, but some of the clubs they went to could be dangerous. He’d caught an * slipping something into Deena’s drink once.

The man likely wouldn’t do it again. Luckily, she hadn’t been watching and his friend Javier had changed the drink and kept her occupied while Eric dealt with the situation.

“For which I’m eternally grateful. Are you doing the same thing here? Are you trying to watch over her?”

Again, he couldn’t lie to Sean. “I’m trying to keep every other man in the world off her so I can have her for myself.”

Sean sighed. “I wish I could help you, but the training partners have already been selected. Ian is very strict about the pairing process. He and Kai Ferguson spent hours selecting the proper partner for each trainee and I don’t think he’s going to be swayed.”