Page 28 of Midnight Kisses
Her eyebrows flew up. “Date. Repeatedly. Like…for a fixed term?”
“For as long as we want, until one of us decides we don’t anymore.”
“There’s a word for that, Miles. Exclusive, repeated dating is called having a girlfriend. You want to be my boyfriend, that’s what you’re saying?”
I took a deep breath. “I guess I am.”
“Do you know that if being my boyfriend goes well, it might lead to becoming a husband and father too?”
I narrowed my eyes. “Don’t try and frighten me, blondie. I’m not a child. Yes, I know there’s the chance it will escalate. I heard what you said about mediocrity being driven by person, not circumstance, and I’ve thought about it. I’m not saying I want to get married tomorrow, but…uh…” I had to clear my throat, it had gotten all thick.
“But what, Miles?”
“The idea isn’t repulsive.”
“Wow,” she said, sounding decidedlyun-wowed.
Somehow, somewhere, this had all taken a turn for the worse. I wasn’t sure when exactly, but my palms were sweating and I felt nauseous–which took me up to three feelings. Plus, I was starting to feel desperate, because she wasn’t jumping up and down with excitement like I’d envisioned when I’d come up with this plan this morning in the shower. Bringing me to a grand total of three too many fucking feelings.
Trying to buy some time to think, I carefully rinsed the plates and stacked them in the sink. When I turned back to face Perry, I still couldn’t read her expression.
“Let’s get back to talking about scaling up Perry Skin,” I said.Back to safe territory.“I assume you have some kind of business plan?”
She nodded.
“And a marketing plan? And you’re where you need to be with product testing?”
“Yes.”
“I know some people who do mentoring for startups.” I was one of them, but she wasn’t going to accept my mentorship if she wouldn’t even accept my money. “They take on new projects all the time—all I would be doing would be adding you into the mix. Sleeping with me won’t help or hinder you in any way.Once you’ve synthesised the feedback, I think you’ll emerge with valid investor leads, but I also believe you should crowd-fund in tandem. You’ve probably already thought of crowdfunding—” she gave another a stiff nod. “—I knew it. But you probably disregarded it because it would be more efficient to find a singular investor, right?”
Yet another nod. She wasn’t giving me a fuckingthing. I began to feel like I was standing in a town square, flaying myself.
“I have to say, I think you’re underestimating how much people will like you. People will invest in your product but they’ll also invest in your journey. For a business like yours with a core value of trustworthiness, you’ll get more mileage if your target audience feel like you’ve come from the ground up and they’ve been part of that. Sure, a one-off five bucks from a mum in Kirikiriroa, Hamilton doesn’t mean much. But if she’s a loyal customer for years because she feels like part of the Perry Skinorigin story, that’s, 100 or 200 a year. It doesn’t need to be either/or, as long as you manage the optics carefully—you can crowdfundandhook a big fish investor. You’ll need to vet investors carefully, but someone like my mother—it doesn’t have to be Helen—” I said quickly when Perry shook her head in one quick, jerky motion, “if you don’t want any Lawrences involved. But someonelikeher.”
“This is a lot to process.” Perry rubbed her face tiredly, making her skin pinken. “First you emotionally blindside me, then you dismantle my business plan. In your head. In the shower.”
“It’s what I do,” I said, matter of fact. “This might come as a surprise to you Perry, because I’m such a fun-lovingrascal, but I’m good at it. Pure nepotism wouldn’t have kept an export business afloat through a pandemic.”
She studied me.
It made me a bit uncomfortable to stand still as she mentally stripped me of my blithe exterior, all my carefully affectedrascalry.
“Trust me, blondie. People think money is the only thing a business needs, but brand equity is just as valuable, and it’s the change-marker in terms of longevity. I’ll get Sadie to email you tomorrow with some valuable contacts who can help you implement this plan, and advise you on the necessary disclosures. Again, all I’m doing is giving advice and contacts, so you’re not beholden to me in any way. You’ll owe me nothing.” Finally, I ran out of steam. “How does that sound?”
She rolled her lips. “It sounds like very .. sound advice.”
“Sound?” I was offended. That was thefineof compliments.
“Good advice,” she amended. “Expensive advice. People charge a lot of money for strategic direction from an expert like this.”
I wiggled my eyebrows at her. “That’s why my father pays me the big bucks.”
“You said it was a family business, and you mentioned exporting. But what exactly do you do?”
“I’m the CEO of Elysian Wine Exports. My dad founded it and when he retired, I took the reins.”
Her expression still didn’t give much away. I was an expert at reading people’s faces, it was one of the ways I was able to stay a few steps ahead in negotiation. But with Perry, it was harder. Either because emotion was clouding my judgement, or because I just didn’t have the right frame of reference.
