Page 46 of Knot Your Sunshine
"Good. Maintain those boundaries until contracts are signed." She continues typing. "Are there other assets needing protection besides your salon concept?"
"My hair oil formulas. Those recipes stay mine no matter what."
"I'll make that ironclad. Pack investments sometimes assume all assets become communal." She glances at something off-screen. "I can have everything done by 9 AM your time. That should give you more than enough time to go over the paperwork, share them with your alphas, and get ready for your meeting."
"That fast?" I sit up straighter, suddenly more awake.
"I don't believe in leaving clients vulnerable, especially omegas negotiating with alpha packs. The power dynamics are already inherently imbalanced." She tilts her head. "Your alphas agreed to cover legal fees?"
"Yes, they insisted on covering everything."
"Good." She nods approvingly. "If they'd discouraged legal counsel, that would be a red flag."
That's a sobering thought.
"One more thing," she continues. "I'll be in Hawaii in three days for another client. If you need anything more then, we can meet in person."
"You'd do that?" My voice cracks slightly with gratitude.
"I prefer face-to-face meetings when stakes are this high. Ensures nothing gets lost in translation."
"Thank you. Really."
"Don't thank me yet." Her grin turns slightly wicked. "Wait until you see how aggressively I protect your interests."
The call ends shortly after, and with legal protection secured, my mind finally has space to drift to warmer thoughts.
I slip off my blazer and sink onto the bed, letting myself imagine how that magical dinner could have extended into the night...
Chapter eighteen
Mia
"Good morning, Mia." Noa's fingers brush my elbow as he passes, guiding me to my chair. The touch burns through my silk blouse, and I have to focus on not leaning into it.
Keanu drops into the seat on my right. "How are you doing,beautiful?" he murmurs in a low voice, then winks.
My stomach does a little flip, heat pooling low in my belly. God, that wink should be illegal.
"Hi, Mia. Did you sleep well?" Josh asks on my left, his beautiful eyes crinkling at the corners. I get lost in them and unconsciously bite my lip instead of replying, which makes him glance away shyly, his fingers drumming nervously against his laptop keyboard.
Hmm, I wonder what else he could do with these fingers…
The door opens, interrupting my increasingly horny omega. A stern beta enters wearing a gray suit and tie, and a nameplate that reads CHADWICK SUTTON.
"Ms. Everly." His handshake is firm but brief. He turns to the alphas. "Gentlemen. Thank you for bringing me in on this project."
Chadwick doesn't sit. Instead, he moves to the wall and pushes a small button. A screen descends from the ceiling with a soft whir as he plugs his laptop into the connection.
"Gentlemen, Ms. Everly, I'll be direct." He clicks his laser pointer and a slide appears. "I've reviewed the franchise pitch deck you sent this morning, Ms. Everly. And while the community-centered approach has… charm, I'm concerned it lacks the scalability essential for franchise viability."
My spine straightens. Did he just call my project… charming?
Slide after slide flashes by, profit optimization graphs, revenue maximization models, premium service tiers. My hands clench under the table.
"Your target demographic," he continues, laser pointer circling a graph, "underperforms in key spending metrics. By shifting focus to high-income brackets and implementing membership models, we can achieve 300% revenue growth within eighteen months."
"That's not—" I start.
