“Then, why meet with me at all? If you were going to say no.”
Talon nodded. “Good question. And the reason why we didn’t have all of the partners here today. They are all busy with both this and their other business interests and didn’t see a reason to come. But I wanted to hear what you had to say.”
“Even if you were definitely going to decline?”
“Had you approached us about investing, we might have had a different answer.”
“But I would not have done that because I prefer to make all the decisions myself for the businesses I own.”
“I knew that. But I also wanted to meet with you. Even before the research I did, I’ve been aware of your business acumen. I’m sorry for wasting your time.”
“Not a problem.” Totally a problem. “If that’s all?”
“No, it’s not. If you ever do change your thoughts on being part of a team, let me know. But beyond that, if you have any other projects in mind with a potential collab, we would be interested.”
“I see.” Courtesy demanded I say this instead ofand waste more of my time, great.
“Your lack of enthusiasm is understandable. But I am sincere.” He stood and held out a hand. “I hope we can work together in future.”
Rising, I accepted his shake. “I will consider it. It’s been interesting, Talon.”
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to gift you a year’s membership. To make up for wasting your time.”
“Thank you. I am not in the area of either club often, but when I am, I’ll try to stop in.”
“Sounds good.” He walked with me from the conference room down the hallway and to the rear door off the kitchen. I’d parked in the employee lot at their suggestion. “Hope to hear from you soon. If you let me know you’re paying us a visit, my omega, Rowan, and I will try to be here to visit with you.”
I drove to the heliport, musing over the meeting and the conversation afterward. They’d been so quick to say no, I’d wondered why I’d even been there, but after speaking to Talon, it made more sense.
No, they did not want to sell me the business because they were vested in more ways than financial, but they’d wanted to keep the door open. Why it had to be a private discussion, I wasn’t sure but suspected there might be a holdout in the room who could have expressed something that put me off.
Didn’t matter. They’d said no, offered me a nice gift to try to make up for the lost time, and unless I was local with free time, I’d likely never be able to take advantage of it. But I liked Talon. He seemed sincere and perhaps one day far in the future, I’d open my own club and we could “collab.” I’d learn it was always best to leave any situation on good terms, and thanks to Talon it was even better than that.
A few hours of travel later, my helicopter landed on the pad at my next stop. It had not been where I’d planned to go, but my failure at Cuffed made me want to take a few days off and relax. I’d heard good things about the resort and why not try it now?
Chapter Three
Ches
On the weekends, I was in charge of three villas in addition to my regular duties. All the omegas were. But the tips were incredible, so I did what I had to without fussing.
Okay, I did a lot of fussing but still managed my job well.
We’d just set up one of the larger conference rooms for some kind of entertainment that promised to be risqué and vulnerable. A new act we’d never seen before.
My cell phone rang, the one I carried with me when on villa duty.
“Ches here. How may I be of service?” Ugg, I hated my voice when I spoke to guests. It transmuted into something computer and very customer-service like. Not me at all.
The man on the other end of the line’s chuckle sent a shiver down my spine. My wolf was perceptive and always knew when people had ill intentions, but unfortunately, sometimes, we had to deal with them anyway. They were paying guests and our rapport with them meant everything in hospitality. “We need you to bring us some ice.”
This instantly struck me as strange. The villas had their own ice machine not only outside, but each one had a countertop ice machine, and I’d inspected the room myself earlier in the day to make sure everything was perfect and in working order.
It had been.
I rolled my eyes. “Of course. I’ll be there shortly. Is there anything else?”
He grunted. “No. Just the ice. Make it quick. I need a drink.”
