Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 47254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 189(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 189(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
I wasn’t sure what the fuck I was doing, but at that very moment, talking about business was the only thing that made sense here. That kiss and that hand job were random blips of madness brought on by exhaustion and close proximity. Reality was a tad harsher, I mused, twisting the stem of my wineglass.
“Ahh. Gotcha. What do you think of my new website?”
“It’s…nice,” Theo replied cautiously.
I narrowed my gaze. “Nice? I paid a fortune to revamp that site. What’s wrong with it?”
“Nothing at all. It’s just…” He shrugged but didn’t continue.
“What? Boring?”
“No, no. It’s professional, intuitive, and aesthetically pleasing,” he assured me.
“But…”
“It’s just…” Theo hedged with a sigh before smacking one hand on the table. “It’s lacking a wow factor. A punch. A pop. Something that sets you apart from other bakeries. To be honest, if you told me you sold stationery and paper goods, I’d believe it. Pretty font and a pleasing layout help, but they aren’t what ultimately sells your product. It’s the—”
“Gimmick,” I supplied, sipping my wine thoughtfully. “I don’t like gimmicks.”
“I was going to say hook. The trick to selling is to make people curious. If they’re willing to take a peek into your shop window, they’re one step closer to buying. It works the same for your Internet presence.”
“Hmm. I suppose that makes sense. I thought the pop-ups were the curiosity factor, but—”
“You aren’t selling a pop-up bakery, though, you’re selling cakes and cookies and tarts. You have to make them pop.” He made a starburst gesture before opening his menu.
“How? I’m not naming desserts after nineties pop stars,” I grumbled, giving a thumbs-up when he pointed at the traditional roast listed under Main Course. “I’m open to suggestions and of course, I’ll pay you for your time.”
He furrowed his brow. “Pay me?”
“Yeah, like a consultant fee. If you’re interested.”
“Don’t be silly,” he huffed, burying his head in the menu. “I’m not in the industry anymore. I’m an accountant.”
“It’s your time, though. I don’t need much—maybe an hour or two to bounce some fresh ideas around so I hit the new year running, instead of worrying about what I did wrong last year.”
Ouch. I sounded grim as fuck. I wondered if Theo caught it too and took pity on my sorry ass, ’cause he pushed his menu aside and held out his hand.
“You can buy lunch today. Deal?”
I shook his hand and smiled. “Deal.”
“Great! Now first, what kind of results are you looking for? Give me your basic goal and a pie-in-the-sky ‘probably won’t happen, but it would be cool if it did’ goal.”
“Um…okay.” I rubbed my beard thoughtfully. “Bare minimum—I’d like to do better than break even. Big dream goal—if the stars aligned and everything went my way, I’d finish off next year well in the black with enough money saved to open my own bakery again.”
“All right. My advice in the short term is to work on your wow factor. If Britney banana cream cupcakes aren’t your jam, we can think of something else.”
“Like what?”
“Hmm. I don’t know. Maybe—” Theo grabbed my wrist, the way he had on the plane when he was excited about something. “Fairy cakes!”
I scoffed. “I told you…fairy cakes don’t sell. They’re under-frosted cupcakes. Nothing special.”
“We’ll make them special,” he enthused with a confidence that made my dick twitch.
I ignored the insistent pulse below and fixed him with a no-nonsense look. “How?”
“By developing a new selling point.”
“Theo…”
He let go of my wrist and leaned against the booth. “Holidays and occasions make it easy. You start with a catchy name and a gimmick. Fairy Cake Valentine Madness, for example—terrible name, but bear with me. The gimmick could be something simple, like DIY decorating kits that you sell by the dozen…complete with frosting, sprinkles, etcetera. You could sponsor decorating parties year-round with themes like Fairy Cakes in Winter, Fairy Cake Easter Hop-Along. Pupcakes are a fun idea too. Cater to dog lovers and kids and…get everyone talking about one specific product. Fairy cakes.”
Theo raised his glass in a toast, swallowing the rest of the contents just as our server came by with our appetizers and a second round of drinks. We placed our order, eyeing each other over our salads until we were alone again. I speared a tomato and pointed it at him when Theo opened his mouth to launch into another sales blast.
“I like your enthusiasm, but there’s just one problem, Theo. No one talks about fucking fairy cakes.”
“They’ll talk about mine.”
“Yours?” I arched a brow as I popped the tomato into my mouth.
“Mine. I’ll come by your bakery one day this week and whip up a batch of my famous chocolate chip cupcakes, but—” He held up his hand before I could correct him. “I’ll make them into fetching fairy cakes instead. My icing is scrum-delish. You’ll be offering me a job in no time.”