Page 133 of Stay With Me

Nick had to laugh. “Really?”

“Yeah, he’s funny. I can see why you guys are such good friends,” she admitted.

Nick furrowed his brow.

What the hell does she mean by that?

“He can be kind of a jackass.”

“Well, he’s been polite and professional as far as I’ve seen,” she remarked.

“Huh. Well, that’s good to hear.”

“Anyway,” she went on. “I think you’re not giving him the treatment he deserves.”

He scoffed. “What kind of treatment does he deserve?”

She tilted her head as she stood from the chair and retrieved something from her own desk. “He’s the head chef so I think he needs more time and space for creative pursuits.”

He couldn’t help chuckling. “Really?”

Surely, she was kidding.

But her face clearly indicated she was not.

“He’s the head chef, Nick,” she reiterated.

“Yeah, but he’s …Chase.”

He continued to chuckle, in spite of the cross look that overtook her face, but instantly snapped his mouth shut when she tossed a copy of Annabelle Driscoll’s review onto the desk in front of him.

He gulped as she placed both hands on the desk and leaned across it toward him, wearing a serious expression.

“This is a five-star review in theNew York Times,Nick,” she informed him in a no nonsense tone. “And I know that on some subconscious level, you believe that this was your doing,but it wasn’t. Chase gave you the options that you chose from, Chase was the creative force that made your vision possible, and Chase is the one who will continue to keep this place relevant.”

Nick’s gaze remained glued on her, having thoroughly been put in his place, as she stood straight again and began pacing the room slowly.

“Normally,” she went on. “This wouldn’t be my area.I don’t know anything about running a restaurant. I do, however, know all about making sure employees have the tools they need in order to be successful. And after meeting with Chase, it’s clear to me that he needs greater freedom to nurture his creative side.”

Nick managed to not laugh at the idea of Chase having a creative side because he knew Sammie had a point. Cooking was, after all, an art. Or so he was told.

“What do you suggest?”

“I think you should give him that office next door and at least one day per week during which he can experiment or do whatever it is he feels will help him work better, without anyone pestering him.” She stopped pacing and leaned against her desk, arms crossed over her chest. “He shouldn’t have to spend his days off doing R and D foryourrestaurant. Five more years of that is a surefire way for him to leave and start his own place.”

He squinted at her. “He told you all of this?”

She lifted her palms. “Part of my job is to be an advocate and confidant.”

“Huh.”

Damn.He’d yet to see such an authoritative side of her. Sammie was kind of a force to be reckoned with, and something about it made him want to lock the office door and pick up where they’d left off in here the night he’d met her.

Knowing, of course, that he couldn’t do any of that, he simply agreed with her.

“An office and a creative day for Chase. I’ll make it happen.”

As if on cue, Chase chose that moment to stick his head through the open door.