Just One Taste (Topped #2)(54)

She was wrong about him. He did want a partner, but he certainly didn’t want one who questioned the motivations of everyone in his life.

“Wow, that went like shit, man,” a deep voice said. Sean stepped out. “Sorry, I park back here. I wasn’t trying to listen in, but damn, you two got loud at the end.”

Fuck and double f*ck. “I wish you hadn’t heard that. She doesn’t mean what she says. She’s trying to prove herself. You know how it is. College students think they know everything even when they’re heading into their thirties.”

“I think she meant it.” Sean had his white jacket thrown over his shoulder. He put a hand in his pocket and pulled his cell phone out. “And don’t discount the Ivory Tower faction. Sometimes they pay more attention to details than the rest of us do.” He pushed a button and put the phone to his ear. “Mitch, you motherf*cker. Are f*cking kidding me? You put him in a noncompete clause for five years? Have you lost your damn brain?” There was a pause. “I told you what I wanted. Two years and we reevaluate.” There was another pause and then Sean cursed. “I don’t care about starting places. We’re not negotiating this. Keep your wiggle room to yourself. Redo the clause before you get here. I don’t care if you’re on your way. Have Laurel fax a new one.” He hung up the phone. “Damn lawyers. Mitch Bradford is a personal friend, but I swear to god I wouldn’t want to be the one on the opposite side of the table from him. I’m fairly certain he learned bargaining from Satan himself.”

“The contract is fine.” He’d read it. He wasn’t absolutely certain what was normal in this case, but he wasn’t about to argue with…

He’d been about to think of Sean as his CO.

Sean frowned at him. “It’s not fine and Deena was absolutely right. This should be a negotiation. I’ve been lazy about letting Mitch handle it up to this point because I’ve had a lot going on, and quite frankly after what happened with…well, it’s been easier to focus on cooking and being with my family. I’m sorry. I’ll take a look at the contract again. Mitch always goes after the best deal for his client even if it means screwing someone else. Tell me you took his advice and you’ve got your own lawyer coming in this afternoon.”

At least he could be honest about that. He glanced over to the door that Deena had disappeared through and wondered what she was doing. Likely cursing his name. “Yeah, though I haven’t actually met with her. I was supposed to the other day, but we had the problem with the menu and I ended up changing our scallop dish to halibut. It’s going to be fine. I’m sitting down to talk with her in a few minutes and I’ll sign the contract after that.”

Was he doing exactly what Deena accused him of? Was he treating this like he was still in the military and his CO was giving him a promotion? In the Navy, one didn’t negotiate promotions. One earned it and hoped his CO noticed.

This wasn’t the military.

“Or you’ll sit down and tell me what you need to make the contract work,” Sean said, his voice soft. “Do you think I haven’t been where you are? That I don’t know how hard this is on you? You went into the Navy as a kid, right?”

Now he was seeing how easy it was to stay in that mentality. Sean wasn’t his CO. Sean was about to be his business partner, and that meant Eric had to be a good one. “Yeah. Straight out of high school. Before that I worked at my dad’s sporting goods store during summers. All I’ve known is the Navy and kitchens since then. I guess the business stuff freaks me out a little.”

“Then it’s very good that your girl has a business head on her shoulders. She’s spot on. I don’t like to think about the Food Network show. It seems a little douchey to me.”

“Then why do it?”

“Grace,” Sean admitted. “She told me if I didn’t take this opportunity I would regret it for the rest of my life. It’s a chance to grow this business, to build something for our daughter, for our friends. I don’t want to be a TV chef, but if I can talk about what happens when vets leave the military, about how hard it is to find yourself after years of service, maybe I should. And I owe everything to my girls. They deserve the best life I can give them. So I’ll go on TV. You need to figure out what you want and do it quickly, brother.”

“I want to open Top Fort Worth.”

“I wasn’t talking about that. I was talking about with Deena. Do you want a sub or a queen? Don’t think I’m saying one is better than the other. They’re simply different, and every man has to decide what he needs in his life. Every Dom I know has been forced to ask himself the question and there’s no right answer. If you’ll be happy with a woman who is submissive to you in every way and you have her best interests at heart, then you should go for it. I don’t think Deena’s that girl. Do you know why I want Grace to submit to me in the club and the bedroom?”

Eric knew the answer to that question. He’d been around Grace Taggart long enough that the answer came easily. “She won’t do it anywhere else.”

“Exactly. Grace is my queen and we run this business, our family, and our lives together. I don’t get anywhere close to this place without that woman by my side. Deena could be a queen, but you have to stuff your pride down long enough to listen to her, really listen to her, and let her lead when you can’t. It’s hard to admit that we don’t know it all.”