Page 45 of Falling For You

I chuckled and shook my head. “Are you used to getting the condescending one?”

He laughed and tugged on the blanket. “How’d you guess?”

“I think it’s just your delivery. You’re trying to be helpful, but it could be misunderstood.” I shrugged. “But I didn’t take it that way at all. Honestly, I always look at my food blog as a hobby with some faraway and unattainable dreams attached to it. You, somehow, made me feel less crazy, thinking it’s possible.”

He scowled and shook his head. “Of course, it’s possible. There are a ton of foodies out there dying for fresh recipes, but it sounds like the first step is believing in yourself.”

“I never thought I had a problem with that.” I opened my laptop. “But maybe you’re right.”

“Trust me. I know I’m right.” He smiled and eyed me. “If someone can make a Reuben casserole amazing, I can only imagine what you can do with less stinky ingredients.”

I snorted, and my eyes widened. “Oh, my gosh. I can’t believe that just slipped out.”

He moved a little closer, and my breath hitched. His gaze dropped to my mouth again. I slowly licked my lips, praying that we might kiss again.

My heart hammered in my chest as he inched closer. It felt like all the blood in my body rushed to my toes.

But…

Before I knew it, Owen scanned my blog on my laptop.

He leaned over me with his brows furrowed in concentration as he took control and scrolled through my blog.

If he got any closer, he’d probably be able to feel my pounding heart.

I let out a deep breath, and he glanced at me. His face was only inches from mine, and a faint smirk rested on his features.

He definitely knew what he was doing to me.

Owen sat back and looked at me. “So, you’ve got some great recipes, fun little anecdotes, and awesome photos.”

I cleared my throat and tried hard to shift my focus away from Owen and onto my food blog, but something about him just ticked all the darn boxes.

My gaze met his, and he smiled wider like he could read my mind. “But I think you need a little more focus. I feel like you’re juggling fifty different things, and it’s unclear what sets your brand apart from the others.”

I groaned a little. He was right. Why hadn’t I come up with that? “I have so many ideas, but something else pops up whenever I try to focus. I come up with some great dessert idea, or I forget to post and—”

He shook his head. “I don’t believe you ever forget to post. I think you might be scared to post, but I don’t for a second believe it slips your mind.”

“How so?”

“You’ve taken too much care with it.” He sat back and pushed his legs out in front of him. “I think you’re scared of failure.”

I chuckled. “Who isn’t?”

“No, you’re right. You can’t let fear define you. It’s how you will push through. When you go visit your site logs in the future and it shows you’ve only had ten visitors instead of ten thousand, how will you keep that drive and motivation until youhit ten thousand visits?”

I nodded, feeling like I might just have a shot. “You’re absolutely right. I have been afraid. I have hundreds of photos and recipes at my fingertips, enough for a year of daily posting, but I haven’t done it.”

Owen’s eyes widened in surprise. “You’re that far along? You have that much content?”

“I do.” I suddenly felt sheepish, as if he were ripping the Band-Aid off while simultaneously analyzing my mind.

He tapped his finger on his knee. “Then we need to come up with a solid business plan. First, we’ll narrow down your goals to help you keep focused. Do you want this to become an income stream? If so, do you want it to be your main income stream or a side hustle? After that, we’ll focus on what you want your brand to be. Easy meals? Desserts? Main dishes? Quick meals?”

“I feel like I just finished a quarter of business school at university.” I laughed, shaking my head. “You make it sound so easy.”

He reached for my hand and squeezed it. Another charge pushed through me as our eyes locked on one another. “It is easy. You just need a little push and some guidance, and you’ll be off and running when I leave.”

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