Sean shook his head and then groaned. “If only I could explain it to my wife in such simple terms. She’s going to flip out.”
Eric softened a bit. “He needs it. He’s got no idea what he wants to do with his life. It certainly isn’t working in a kitchen.”
Sean’s eyes closed briefly. “I know. I also know he showed up drunk two weeks ago and you covered for him.”
Not a lot got past the boss. “I didn’t think that was something his mother should see. She was coming in for dinner that night.”
“Were there episodes I didn’t know about?”
He wasn’t going to lie to the man. He might be willing to cover for the kid, but not directly lie to Sean. “Yes. He’s struggling with something though he didn’t want to talk about it.”
“His best friend from childhood died last year. He’s been out of control ever since,” Sean explained. “He dropped out of grad school and we’ve been trying to help him find his way. He’s been drinking. I’m worried he’ll slide into something worse. I believe the military could help him in this case. He’s undisciplined, unfocused. Thank god you said it because Grace really had a problem when I brought it up.”
“Not that we should tell her I said it.” Grace could be formidable all on her own.
Sean chuckled. “Oh, this was all your idea, buddy.” He sobered. “Seriously, thank you for being kind to him. I’m very glad he signed those papers before telling his mother.”
“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 asshole 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.”
So he’d hit a wall here. When he couldn’t go through a wall, he went around it. “Thank you, sir. I’ll contact Ian on my own.”
Sean rolled his eyes. “God save me from freaking upstanding SEALs. You’ve already got Deena. I would have made sure of it, but Kai put you two together, which means he thinks you’re a good match. Actually, so do I. I think she needs someone like you in her life. She needs someone who can be patient with her. I was worried when I found out she’d taken the Sanctum offer.”
“She’s curious. I think she believes she’s going to go out there and sow some wild oats, but she’ll end up getting hurt.”
“She’s not the kind of woman who can have a string of one-night stands and come out of it whole,” Sean agreed. “She’s a one-man woman who happened to get the wrong man and now she’s determined to change. It could go seriously wrong.”
“I don’t intend to allow that to happen.” He had plans and being Deena’s Dom was the perfect way to set them in motion. Patience. In his SEAL team, he’d been the best sniper because he could sit motionless for hours at a time. One assignment he’d stayed in his perch for a week before taking out his target. He’d smelled like hell at the end and sometimes he was sure his spine had been permanently messed up, but he’d gotten the job done.
He would get this one done too. After all, this was the most important mission of his life. This was the rest of his life. He’d served his country and now he wanted his prize. Her.
Sean stood and held out his hand. “I’m glad to hear it. But whatever you do don’t tell my brother you intend to steal that girl. This whole program is about bringing in singles because everyone is pairing off and he’s got Doms who need subs to play with. So don’t mention the whole ‘you’re in love with her’ thing.”
Eric felt a grin slide across his face as he shook his boss’s hand. He wouldn’t admit it, but getting Sean’s approval was important to him. He would still have gone after Deena, but he was damn happy to know he had Sean’s blessing. “Not only will I not tell Big Tag, I think I’ll keep it from Deena for a while.”
“You know, I would have thought you would fight the whole love thing.”