seat. It wasn’t often that one forgot they were hanging out with billionaires and simply took over.
“I think I could eat an entire cow right now. I didn’t realize I was so hungry until we walked in here,” Chloe said with a laugh, feeling slightly uncomfortable at realizing what she’d done.
“I haven’t been here for a few weeks. What a fool I’ve been,” Brandon said. “And you ordered my favorite appetizers.”
“At least you have good taste in food,” Chloe said, letting her ordering dilemma go while also letting down her guard as she smiled. He beamed at her, taking her breath away. She was happy when Maria came back, setting down their drinks and a large container of chips and salsa.
“What thoughts have you put into the veterans project?” Joseph asked bluntly. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t been prepared for the interrogation, but instead of it irritating her as she’d thought it would, it made her smile.
“I’ve been thinking on it,” Chloe admitted.
That earned her a huge smile from both Joseph and Brandon. She shouldn’t give either man the victory, but the words were out.
“That’s what I love to hear,” Joseph told her. “We’re behind schedule now, and I don’t like making good men and women wait on us.”
“Nothing like a little shaming to get what you want, huh?” she asked as she gazed into Joseph’s steely-blue gaze. Maybe it was just these two billionaires who didn’t intimidate her. Then again, maybe it was the way she’d been raised. Her mother and father had been the most intimidating people she’d ever known, and she’d survived growing up with them.
“I don’t mind using different methods to get exactly what I want,” Joseph said unapologetically. “It’s how I’ve done so well in the business world. Just because I’m officially retired doesn’t mean I’m going to stop now.”
“Isn’t that exactly what retirement means?” she asked.
Joseph laughed. “Maybe to the weak. But I’m not the type of man who is going to sit around and wait to die. Did you realize that most successful people who retire don’t live long when they do nothing after? They need to be stimulated. I might’ve turned over the reins of the Anderson empire to my son Lucas, but that just frees up my time to work on other projects that have been on hold for too long.”
Chloe had a feeling that would be her later in life. She didn’t think there’d ever come a day when she’d be ready to hang up her apron. Maybe she wouldn’t always run a restaurant, but she was sure she’d always be doing one project or another.
She sighed while pulling pieces of paper from her purse and setting them on the table as their waitress dropped off nachos and poppers. Everyone glanced at the papers as they grabbed food.
“This is a plan I sketched. I haven’t been in the building in a long time, so it’s very basic, but you’ll have to assume the facility is going to be full more often than not, so you need a lot of counter and cupboard space. There’s nothing I like less than a small kitchen,” she said.
“That’s why I wanted you for the job. My nephew gave us a great area to begin with, but we need a true chef to lay it all out,” Joseph said.
“Okay, Joseph, you’ve effectively broken me down. I’ll do this job on one condition, and one condition only,” she said, her shoulders back, her expression firm.
He smiled at her, as if he loved nothing more than a good challenge. She waited for him to say anything that would tell her he was truly listening to her. It could’ve been a minute or an hour that the two of them sat there in a standoff. Neither Brandon nor Lucian interrupted the face-off. Finally, Joseph smiled.
“What is your condition?” he asked.
She felt victorious she hadn’t squirmed beneath his stare. Brandon and Lucian remained suspiciously quiet, as if they were at a show, wondering if this was the plot twist they’d all been waiting for. Maybe they were enjoying this power match. It wasn’t often a person had one with Joseph and came out the victor.
She took a sip of her iced tea and leaned back. “The matchmaking stops. I’ll do this project and do it better than anyone else could even think of doing it, but I’m not interested in a relationship . . . with anyone.” Her gaze briefly darted toward Brandon, who didn’t appear offended. He