He’d heard she was a perfectionist and relentless in her quest for quality. She had also been called difficult, annoying and just plain brilliant.

“You can’t dictate the GM,” he said. “He’s already been hired. At least in the short term.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Who is it?”

“You’ll find out later. Besides, the first guy’s just coming in to do cleanup. Someone else will be hired in a few months. You can have a say on him or her.”

Her eyebrows rose. “Interesting. A gunslinger coming in to clean up the town. I think I like that.” She drew in a breath. “How about five percent of the profits, a three-year deal, I get some say in the next GM and I take my specialty items with me.” She held up her hand. “But only to my own place and you can keep them on The Waterfront menu as well.”

He wasn’t surprised she wanted to branch out on her own. Most good chefs did. Few had the capital or the management skills.

“Oh, and that salary you offered me before was fine,” she said.

“Of course it was,” he told her. “That assumed you didn’t get this other stuff. How many are you bringing with you?”

“Two. My sous-chef and my assistant.”

Chefs usually came with a small staff. As long as they worked well with the others in the kitchen, Cal didn’t care.

“You’ll never take the vacation,” he said. At least she never had before.

“I want it,” she said. “Just so we’re clear, I will be using it.”

He shrugged. “Not until we’re up and running.”

“I was thinking late summer. I’ll have everything together by then.”

Maybe. She hadn’t seen the mess yet.

“Is that it?” he asked.

She considered for a second, then shrugged. “Get me the offer in writing. I’ll look it over and then let you know if we have a deal.”

“You’d never get this much anywhere else. Don’t pretend you’ll back out.”

The smugness returned. “You never know, Cal. I want to hear what your competition puts on the table.”