Chapter Six #2
“Your grandmother has a few years on me but I am pleased to know that you think I’ve maintained my decrepit body well,” I teased just to see his face grow hot. It did. My dick liked this flirtatious jesting far too much. “I turned forty-five in March so not into my dotage quite yet.”
He picked up his menu then, lifting it to hide his face. That made me snicker. When he lowered it a moment later, the flush still lingered on his cheeks.
“This isn’t how I pictured this meeting going,” he confessed while peeking over the top of the menu. I sat back, to give him some room to compose himself. “We should be talking about the shop and not about old cartoon shows or your still hot body.”
I wanted to press him on the hot comment but I let it slide. Haider was right. This was not a date. It was a working lunch and should be treated as such. And I would just as soon as the lakeside breeze stopped playing havoc with those dark brown curls.
Damn it. I wrenched my attention from his face. “You’re right. We should be discussing the offer that I have worked out for you.” I glanced over his shoulder to see Lydia coming our way. “After we order. If you’ve not had the grilled salmon steak I highly recommend it.”
His sight darted down to the menu then back at me. “I think I’ll just have a salad.”
“Please, order what sounds good. I’m paying.”
He closed his menu with a snap and turned to look at Lydia as she neared. “I’m having the salad with French dressing.”
She hurried to pull out a sleek tabletop tablet from her apron. I sighed internally, ordered the salmon, and braced myself for a professional lunch seated across from a man who made me think highly unprofessional things.
BY THE TIME we wrapped up our meals—if one could call a measly ten-dollar salad a meal—the two of us had reached an impasse on our offer.
Haider was questioning everything, which was his right, and showed he was concerned with the business that had been in his family for so long.
His exit questions were well thought-out, concise, and while a bit more emotional than most of my other dealings generally he did quite well.
We discussed taxes, possible dealbreakers—those recipes were a sticking point for him—we let that sit for the time being.
I was willing to simply lower the offer if the client base and recipes did not come with the store but Opa was being a prick about it.
For some reason, and I had a suspicion or two about my grandfather’s keen interest in taking everything from Haider and Capucine right down to the chalkboards that sat on the sidewalk, he was unwilling to move forward without those recipes.
Which was why I was now in the delicate position of trying to get Capucine and Haider to sell me those well-guarded ingredient and cooking instructions. Something, I felt, was not needed at all.
“Perhaps we should take a break in the negotiations to think on what both sides can bring to the table the next time we meet?” I offered, making a grab for the check as it arrived.
“I’m not sure there is a next time to meet. We are not handing over our candy recipes. End of that story. And the head toad can sit on that little lily pad of information and croak for all I care.”
I did enjoy how his eyes sparked when he talked about his candy. He had pride.
“My grandfather is not a toad,” I calmly reminded him, although of late I too was beginning to think of him as a crusty old amphibian making tons of noise just to hear himself make noise.
“I’ll be happy to reconfigure our offer but you’ll lose a substantial amount of cash.
Money that could be banked for your grandmother’s retirement or for a new opportunity for you in some other town. ”
I handed over my business credit card. Lydia rang us out with a thank you then slipped off as I folded the receipt and placed it into my wallet.
“I can have my team get a new offer without the recipes but keeping your customer lists ready say in a day? That would give you time to present what is now on the table to your M&A advisor for their input.”
“Doesn’t your Opa have to okay it?” He shoved a ten dollar bill across the table. I rolled my eyes but took the bill and added it to the cash in my billfold.
“My grandfather is the owner and emeritus CEO of Brauning Chocolates but his role is mostly in an advisory one. I am the head of mergers and acquisitions as well as the acting CEO of our company,” I explained as I rose.
“So while he wields some power, in the end it is me who will decide what the final offer will be.”
“Do you like it?” He asked, rising as well, his poncho catching in a strong fresh gust.
“Do I like what?”
“Buying up little shops that are struggling in order to wipe out any competition?”
He crossed his arms over his flighty poncho.
“Rest assured there will be plenty of competition in America. And yes, I do enjoy my job. I not only get to help ensure that the business that my family started after the Second World War in a country that had been decimated thrives and grows, but I can also help smaller shops find financial security in a world where the nostalgia of cottage shops and local stores is being replaced by e-commerce and niche market designer shops. If one is not willing or able to ride the wave of new ideas into a more efficient future then one is left behind. You look stricken, and I am sorry to be the one that tells you this but it is a fact that we all must learn to live with.”
“The mighty eat the weak. Got it.” He exhaled deeply. “I’m tired of talking about this. Did you say you had something else for us to do? If it’s more talk about letting robots take over the world then I’m going to pass on hooking up to Skynet, thanks anyways.”
Right. We’d get no further today. “Do you like to kayak?”
He blinked at the sudden change of topic. “Uhm maybe? I only ever went once with the guys and it was okay since they avoided the rapids at the bend of Culpepper Point. Why?”
“I thought we could kayak down around this beautiful lake for a bit.” He stared at me as if I had a flock of chickens doing the allemande on my head. “You look shocked. I rather enjoy kayaking back home. When we finalize this deal—”
“ If . And it’s a big if,” he interjected.
“Of course. If we finalize this deal I’ll fly you to Munich to sign the official documents. You can tour our facilities there, enjoy the first of what will be many vacations you will take, and perhaps join me in a leisurely row down the Isar. I try to get out at least once a week if possible.”
“You and me. Kayaking. Down the Isar. Seriously?
“Why not?”
He stared up at me with something indefinable in those bright blue eyes. “Sounds like some sort of romantic outing.”
That made me smile. “You say that as if it were to be a bad thing.”
“Business and romance don’t mix, Herr Brauning.”
“You’d be amazed at how well I could juggle love and business, Mr. Gray. So, would you like to paddle down the river with me today?”
I could see the wheels churning. “I’m only saying yes so that I can get a better understanding of my enemy.”
“Of course. What other reason would there be?”
MY HOPES OF kayaking Harmony Lake were dashed when we checked in at the small shed beside the clear blue lake to request a kayak rental.
The young man with four whiskers on his chin informed us that all the kayaks had been taken out by a group and were, as we spoke, heading up the river that fed the lake.
“I got a Hilda Hippo paddle boat that you could use,” Mr. Teen Angst informed me with a wave of his gangly arm at what could only be described as an abomination from some twisted child’s nightmare. “She’s old but she’s still seaworthy.”
“Wouldn’t that be lake-worthy,” I commented dryly as I stared at the huge pink fiberglass hippo floating by the rental shack. “I’m not sure—”
“We’ll take it!” Haider shouted then bounced, much like that tiger he was so fond of, down to the end of the dock to pet Hilda on her rather large nose.
I sensed this was his way of stuffing the tastefully dressed and rather self-possessed rival into an embarrassing pedal boat where everyone near the lake could see.
“It looks like we’re going to rent Hilda for an hour,” I sighed, tossed the cash to the smirking teen, and then made my way to the dock. Haider was grinning at me. “You’re enjoying this situation far too much. Get in.”
“Yeah, I really am getting a kick out of this,” he giggled as he clambered into the paddle boat then removed his poncho.
My eyes nearly rolled out of my head into the lake at the sight of long, toned arms bared to the shoulders.
The tank top was yellow as the sun. His neck and shoulders were exposed now, soft supple skin pale as snow.
My sight lingered on the divots by his clavicle then roamed up his throat to his kissable mouth.
“You plan on untying that rope or are we just going to sit here?”
His taunt got me moving. With a flick of the wrist I freed us from the dock then climbed in while using a pink ear as a handhold.
Haider, the little shit, was smirking at me as I wobbled about while the boat began to drift from the dock.
I sat with a thud that made my pedal boat companion smile even wider.
If he wasn’t so damned adorable and sexy I might have…
No, I wouldn’t have said a thing. He was a potential cog in the whole Brauning Boutique plan.
“You almost fell in,” he teased as we began pedaling slowly. The boat was cumbersome and slow. People sitting along the shores of the lake laughed and pointed as we began our first lap.
“Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades as they say,” I countered as the sun warmed the top of my head. “You’re showing a lot of skin that has never seen the sun before. Did you use sunscreen? It would be shameful to see such porcelain skin burn and peel.”
Those shiny bright eyes flicked my way, his smile fading a bit. “Are you flirting with me?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think that getting me into your bed will get my signature on the deed?”
“No, I think that getting you into my bed would be a night that neither of us would ever forget.” His cell began to chirrup. His eyes were big and round. “You should get that. It could be your grandmother calling.”
“I know it could be,” he snarled, unsettled now, his hands fumbling as he dug his phone from a hidden pocket inside his poncho balled up behind him. “Like I need him to tell me to check my damn phone calls. Pushy.”
I let a smile play on my lips. I loved how mercurial he was. Sunny and giggly one moment then sassy little spitfire the next. A man would never be bored with Haider.
“Oh! It’s Cooper and Sons. Maybe they’re coming out earlier to fix the enrober.
” I said nothing just continued pedaling while steering the obnoxious flamingo-pink hippo to avoid a young man in a kayak.
“Hello. Yes, this is he. I’m so…oh, wait, what?
But we can’t wait another two weeks. No, I understand. Everyone is understaffed but—”
I nudged his knee with mine. His gaze flew to me. I held out my hand. His eyebrows knotted. We shook. His brows grew even tighter but, with a huff, he slapped the cell into my palm
“Steer,” I told him before placing the phone to my ear.
He mumbled “Pushy” under his breath but did take the rickety tiller.
“Hello, to whom am I speaking?” A reedy-voiced punk replied in my ear.
“Timothy. Good. Timothy, I’d like to speak to your supervising manager.
” He gave me some song and dance. “No, that is unacceptable. Please tell your supervisor that Phillip Brauning of Brauning Chocolates is on the line and wishes to speak to him. About what? About the fact that an enrobing machine in one of my future acquisitions is not functioning and that is wholly unsatisfactory.” I could feel Haider’s glower poking me in the side like tiny daggers.
“Why? Well, Timothy, it is unsatisfactory to leave one of the largest suppliers of chocolate in Europe, and their subsidiaries, lacking basic mechanical repairs on one of your units.” The tone on the other end began to change.
“Yes, Phillip. Two L’s. Correct. Brauning Chocolates.
I’m sure if you pull up our accounts you will see…
yes, that’s right. That Brauning Chocolates.
The same Brauning Chocolates that currently has over two hundred of your enrobing machines in four different factories in Germany alone.
What a shame it would be to lose any future purchases for our shops in the States because of a simple request for speedy customer service.
” Some clearing of throat and sputtering from young Timothy poured through the phone.
“Yes, of course, well hello and who is this I am speaking with? Ah, Gregory, head of industrial repairs. Oh, lovely yes. This afternoon. How accommodating. You’ll come out personally.
All the way from Ohio. That is quite nice.
Yes, such wonderful service. Please feel free to arrive tomorrow morning so that you can rest from such a lengthy drive. You’re most welcome. Have a good day.”
I tapped the red end call button and passed the phone back to a wide-eyed Haider. “Gregory will be at the shop at eight a.m. tomorrow to fix the enrober.”
“Oh my God that was…I mean it was super snobby and highhanded obviously but I could kiss you for that!” He was a joy to see.
Happiness suited him. He reminded me of a small bird that had found a feeder filled with bright seeds and lush berries.
Making Haider happy warmed my breast in a way I’d not felt in years.
“Obviously incredibly highhanded and, perhaps, even a bit arrogant with an extra dash of rich-man superiority,” I teased as I placed my hand over his atop the tiller.
His hands were fine-boned. His merry gaze darted to where my palm sat over his and then flew back to my face.
“As for that kiss I’d be more than willing to take it as a sign of reconciliation. ”
All pedaling ceased as I waited to see if he would kiss me or shove me into the damn lake. It could go either way.