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He clears his throat as he sits back down at the table. “So, did you like working at Vendange, Tasha?”
“Yeah.” She glances at him and shrugs. “I mean, I wasn’t doing rocket science there or anything, but it was enjoyable enough. The place is always busy, and I enjoy doing lots of different things there—tending bar and looking after inventory, training other employees on the computer and the menus. So, yeah. I liked it.”
Nick contemplates her. “Sounds like you know what you’re doing.”
Tony grins, pulling Tasha affectionately under his arm. “You kiddin’ me? My girl right here is smart as fuck, Nick. She knows that restaurant inside and out. She could run the damn place. Practically does already. Ain’t that right, Avery?”
I nod, feeling the weight of Nick’s gaze slide toward me now. “Tasha’s amazing. She’s driven, hard-working. She can do anything she sets her mind to. The customers love her too.”
“Well, listen, you guys,” she says. “I appreciate this love-fest and all, but none of it matters because I’m never going back to Vendange. Not if I have to get within a hundred yards of Joel.”
Tony grunts. “Damn right you’re not. We’ll get by for a while until you find something else, babe. I don’t want you worrying about it, all right?”
“What if Joel wasn’t there?”
All three of us look at Nick, confused.
“What do you mean?” Tasha asks. “Like, if I press charges or something? Get him arrested and have his ass fired?”
“It’s up to you if you want to press charges.” Nick’s tone is even, but there is something cryptic in his expression. “If he was gone from Vendange for good, would you want to work there?”
“Yeah. Of course.”
“How would you like to manage it?”
I gape at him, frowning. “Nick, what are you saying?”
“I’m saying as of tomorrow morning, Vendange is under new management. Mine.”
“What?” I can’t believe what I’m hearing. “But . . . how? And when did this happen?”
“I spoke to my lawyer about it before we left Manhattan.”
Of course. The curt conversation about a deal Nick wanted handled. This is what it was about?
He glances to Tasha. “If you’re interested, my attorney, Andrew Beckham, will meet you at the restaurant tomorrow morning at seven A.M. to go over some paperwork.”
“What about Joel?” I ask.
“Beck has already informed him that the restaurant has a new owner and that his services are no longer required. Joel was escorted off the premises a few minutes ago.”
“That was the call you just took?” I’m incredulous, and not a little impressed. “You just made all of this happen in a matter of a couple hours?”
Nick nods as if buying businesses on a whim and making a clean sweep of their toxic assets is something he does every day. Which, yeah, of course, it probably is.
Tasha seems even more astonished than I am. “I can’t believe you did this. I can’t believe you’re offering me this chance. Are you seriously offering me the job?”
“Very serious. Vendange is a thriving business from what I’ve gathered tonight. I think, with better management, it could be a very lucrative investment. For everyone involved.” He holds his hand out to her. “So, what do you say? Are you in?”
She beams at him, nodding enthusiastically as they shake hands across the table. “I’m in.”
Tony tilts his bottle toward Nick. “Well, hell. I’ll drink to that.”
Chapter 37
“I can’t believe you drank Tony’s homemade beer.” I brave a glance at Nick from the passenger seat of his car, looking for some way to break the ice between us. We only left Tasha’s house ten minutes ago, but it feels like days because Nick has barely spoken to me. “One sip of that awful home brew was enough for me the day I tried it, but you actually drank the whole bottle.”
He shrugs, slanting me a brief look. “Not a fan of hops soaked in old gym socks, I take it?”
