Daddy’s Billionaire Chef

This wasn’t a fling to either of us. We had long term potential. Heck, I was already in love with him, but I didn’t feel like I could lower my defenses yet.

Could I really see myself in a long-term relationship with a man who expected me to take off at a moment’s notice and set my work aside for him?

It didn’t feel...really...like he was being a sexist pig, or that he thought he knew better because he was quite a bit older. It kind of felt like he didn’t think much of my job. I liked my job well enough, though it wasn’t my entire life. But that wasn’t the point. It was still important to me. It wasn’t up to Matt to make those kinds of calls.

If he wanted to be with me, he had to respect that I would have different opinions, and have other priorities as to what I thought was vital to my life.

The biggest problem was, I didn’t know Matt well enough yet to guess whether or not there was a chance that he would apologize. If he was genuinely as pigheaded as he was last night, I couldn’t be with him.

As far as I was concerned, until he apologized, we were no longer together. I had to put myself first, no matter how much I wanted him. I had to put my foot down.

If he changed his tone, apologized profusely, and understood that he was wrong, I would listen. But damn…it had better be one heck of an apology.

Much more than moonlight and roses. This man was going to need to grovel.

Chapter 14

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Matt

Normally I tried to clear my mind and be hyper focused during any interview, especially one as important as this one.

But my mind was spinning. I hadn’t felt this fearful in ten years. The thought that I was going to lose my first restaurant had nearly gutted me. Now the thought that I might lose Julia felt like daggers in my stomach and a hand closing around my heart.

I had made the flight in the nick of time, but barely had four hours of sleep on the way. I kept tossing and turning about how horrible I had been to Julia in my frantic, sleep-deprived state.

My publicist had sent all sorts of promo materials that I was supposed to study on the flight, but I could barely make sense of anything. Then we had barely touched down before I was being chauffeured to the station, to get ready before the show.

Now I was being rushed out of hair and makeup into the green room, and I didn’t know what I could possibly talk about to the public. How could I promote my books when my beautiful sweetheart was so angry with me?

I sent her a few texts, but things didn’t look good.

Me: Sweetheart, I’ll miss you when I’m gone. We can work this out.

Me: I can’t wait to find something delicious to get you while I’m here. Maybe some Amaretto dark chocolate?

Hours went by, and I knew that she’d be up, but her only response was not promising.

Julia: I don’t need anything. Too busy with work.

Me: Can we talk as soon as I’m done with this show?

Julia: Nothing to talk about.

Julia: At least we won’t have to worry about telling Dad anything.

Well, that told me everything I needed to know right there.

Slipping into a chair, I stared into my espresso, replaying our last conversation over and over.

Julia loved when things were organized, and seemed excited to be part of a team. She had vaguely mentioned that the lawyers didn’t really listen to her or respect her. It sounded like her new job allowed her some input. She was able to actually contribute to the project.

I would have smacked my palm into my forehead if I hadn’t been worried that I would tick off the makeup artist if I smudged something. That was the part of Julia’s job that she loved. Contributing. It had nothing to do with Jerry Jonah. She’d probably never even met the asshole. She was trying to impress her brother, and do a great job on her own.

And there I was, in the middle of the night, asking her to drop everything to come on a last minute trip while ignoring her own job.

I was an even bigger asshole than Jerry.