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Lunch no longer seemed to be a big ask from him. What he’d freely given me—the means to keep Casa di Rossi—was certainly worth more. Every minute in his presence made him harder to resist, but if it was a temptation I had to endure to keep my property and feel good about the way I’d conducted myself, so be it.
I laid the napkin in my lap. “I accept your invitation.”
“Thank you, Nickels. Will you stay for the entire meal?”
A smile overcame me. Even now, that name gave me a tingle when he said it.
I could only answer one way. “Yes.”
He slid the basket of chips to the side, revealing a buffalo nickel underneath. “I still carry these everywhere.”
“And it still proves you’re a goofball.”
He cocked his head. “An appellation I carry proudly.”
Who saidappellationthese days?
I kept his new designation assuper goofballto myself and pointed my fork toward the empty seat. “Shouldn’t we wait for the mystery guest?”
“Tiramisu was always supposed to be me and you.” He smiled.
I joined him, recognizing the rhyme. “You’re a poet and don’t know it.”
“I’m afraid that’s as far as my talent goes.”
“Don’t sell yourself short.”
“What part of me are you calling short?”
I bit back the giggle. I wasn’t going down to the gutter with him. “Drop the innuendos and eat your damned dessert.” I cut into the square in front of me.
After a minute of silence we had each finished off half.
He sipped his Coke. “I’m leaving Rossi’s.”
“Not a newsflash, remember?”
His grimace at my words made me regret my tone. Instead of digging a deeper verbal hole, I sipped my drink.
He lifted a forkful to his mouth, with a grin that grew. After swallowing he said, “I think we have an excellent replacement planned.”
I half spit out my Coke. Wenzel didn’t come close to being an excellent anything.
“You okay?” Josh offered his napkin.
Feeling foolish, I dabbed at the mess in front of me. “I’ve got it. Thanks.”
“And it still doesn’t involve Smith’s.”
That brought me hope. “Thank you.”
That was a good piece of news. Now all we had to survive was incompetent management. And Ernst had proven that could be done. I could breathe now—at least on that front.
Josh twisted his Coke cup and held my eyes. “It’s the sensible choice, and you know I’ve felt that way for a while now.”
“I thought Snyderman had a different opinion.”
“He doesn’t know a kumquat from a cucumber.”
