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He’d asked in that way of his that told Minka he wasn’t going to let her off the hook without a convincing reason. “Earlier, after the meeting—seeing how...” she glanced at the tie still bound around his fist “...on edge you were about having the event at Carro’s, I decided to take another look at our usual venues.”
“And?”
“I wanted to see if there were any we could get to lower their bottom line. I came up with several and planned to run them by you, but then Will came in having worked his magic.” She gave a whimsical toss of her bouncy bob. “Talking about it after seemed moot.”
“Why do I get the feeling there’s more to this?”
Minka’s gaze did not falter. She was well aware that her boss had a sixth sense about such things. It was one of the abilities that made him so sensational at his job. The truth was all he would accept, and he’d know if she was giving him less than.
“There’s probably more, but at this point I don’t think it’ll materialize into anything. I stand by what I said. Vectra is our best choice. I honestly don’t think she’ll charge you a thing to have the event at Carro’s.”
Qasim winced, the earlier certainty in his expression giving way to a less confident element. “I’m not exactly her favorite person right now.”
Minka grinned, her laughter imminent. “Then it’s a good thing she doesn’t hold a man’s stupidity against him.”
The dig sent Qasim into a roar of laughter, which carried down the hall as he returned to his office. Alone, Minka’s carefree expression tightened. She looked down at a folder, the contents of which she’d very much wanted to share.
Chapter 8
Robb DeWitt was happy to open his restaurant for a second private event a week later. That night, Dazzles played host to members of the board for Qasim Wilder’s Wilder Warriors Foundation. The fund benefited low-income kids in and around the greater San Francisco area who showed tenacity and perseverance in overcoming obstacles related to school, family and peers that were part of their daily lives.
Each year, Qasim’s organization awarded full-ride scholarships to graduating football players from ten area high schools. Qasim greatly disliked the fact that the foundation’s board wouldn’t allow him to pad the fund with his own money. He would’ve been just fine with paying for the education of every graduating ball player. Minka, who knew that her boss’s generosity bordered on obsession, had given that stipulation.
“Hey!” Vectra gave Minka a tight squeeze. The woman was first to greet her when she arrived for the dinner meeting.
“Thanks for considering this,” Minka whispered.
“No thanks needed.” Vectra waved off the gratitude. “I’m happy to do it. Just wish I could’ve been on the go-to list a lot sooner.” She nodded toward one of the Dazzles servers she recognized and then looked back at Minka. “I’ve attended Sim’s charity events every year since they started. I never thought to ask how you guys select the venues.” She winced. “Guess I was naive to think the hotels give you a break out of generosity considering the phenomenal work Qasim does right here at home. Low-income kids aren’t the only ones who benefit from his attention—there’s local government and businesses with national and international notoriety who benefit, too—hotels included.”
“Preaching to the choir.” Minka gave an exasperated sigh. “Well, they’ll miss the business this year. It’ll be good to shake things up a bit.”
Vectra winked. “Maybe next time around they’ll have learned something.”
Minka bit her lip, looking a touch uneasy. “Listen, um—” she stepped closer “—Qasim’s here.”
Vectra blinked and then adopted the same unease as the woman next to her. She looked around, but couldn’t make out faces inside Dazzles’s dimly lit dining room.
“I heard he wasn’t too happy about me being brought in on this.”
Minka gave in to a cringe. “It wasn’t that, but you guys did have a run-in last week that ended with you looking pretty damn mad when you left the office. He wasn’t sure you’d go for it.”
“Look, Minka, your boss has a knack for rubbing me the wrong way, but I’m above letting that stop me from helping out for a good cause.”
“And that’s what I told him.”
Vectra shifted her weight from one mauve pump to the other. “Was he concerned about that?”
“He’s protective of you, Vectra. Anybody can see that.”
Vectra knew that very well and silently noted that Qasim was so protective that he’d included himself among the list of things she needed to be shielded from.
