Page 20 of Sugarlips
“Shockingly,no. Owning a house with your cheating ex-fiancé is not reason enough to passionately want to sign on as the marketing manager for a real estate company.” She shook her head, dipping her finger into the chocolate frosting and licking it off. “Thing is… I did my research. I had all these adorable ideas to grow their client base. I was going to set them up to partner with a bakery—” she paused, gesturing to me. “Like yours. And mail cookies in these little boxes shaped like homes to people interested in selling or buying property. I had this idea to turn their open houses into elegant gatherings to bring higher income clients. Offer champagne and cheese to people coming in. Hire a violinist to play in the house for mood music while potential buyers walk around.” She sighed, slumping into her seat. “But when they asked me about passion, I deflated right in front of them.”
I reached over, breaking off a piece of the sugar-free Pop-Tart I made. “Which is weird… because itdoessound like you’re passionate about it,” I said, gauging her expression as I spoke. Her whole face lit up when she talked about those ideas.
“I am! That’s the thing! I really had fun coming up with those ideas. But when I think aboutonlyworking on real estate…onlycoming up with marketing ideas for one type of company… ugh. I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Maybe it’s for the best I didn’t tell them my plans for the company. There’re really no intellectual property rights on ideas like that. They could steal them and hire someone else to implement them entirely and I’d have no recourse for that. It’s a catch-22 when you work in creative fields.”
“So… now what?”
“I need to look online again. Scour the web for job openings and hope there’s one within a commutable distance.”
“And if there are no jobs around here?”
She shrugged. “I guess I’ll have to move. Or take a job I really hate.”
“Why not make your own consulting company here?”
Chloe snorted and flipped her silky blond hair over her shoulder. “My sister said the same thing. But who in Maple Grove would hire me to market for them? I mean,really.”
There were tons of businesses in Maple Grove that needed her marketing brain—Beefcakes included. We were already in over our head, and now that Neil’s reality show had ended, we could potentially see a drop off in business if we weren’t careful.
I cleared my throat and leaned back in my seat, folding my arms. “Out of curiosity, what would you do for a business like ours?”
“For Beefcakes?” Her gaze narrowed at me for a moment. “Well, you already have a huge fan base—not only because of the reality show, but because of that viral video with him and Elaina.” She caught her bottom lip between her teeth, deep in thought as her gaze roamed the inside of our bakery. Her eyes slid slowly back to mine, narrowed to slits. “Are you sure you want to hear this?”
“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t.”
“Well, I’d start with the easy stuff… your social media.”
My brows dipped. “I thought I was doing pretty damn well with our social media.”
She snorted, a scoffing sound. “You’re doing Facebook well. But there’s a whole land outside of the book of faces to market on. Your target audience is bachelorettes—younger than most of the people on Facebook. Beefcakes should be on Instagram… YouTube… TikTok… Snapchat…”
“Twitter?”
Chloe rolled her eyes at me. “God, no. Twitter is a dumpster fire. You and Neil should be doing cute baking videos and tutorials on every platform available. Maybe even showing a bit of your workout routines in addition to your recipes—talk about which baked goods pair best with different types of work out days.”
“Such as…” I paused, thinking. “On a heavy cardio day, try eating one of our peanut butter fat bombs an hour before a long run to fuel your workout?”
She snapped her fingers, pointing at me. “Exactly!” And what protein shakes do you drink? Do you have any tasty recipes?”
“Oh, God. Neil and I have dozens of protein shake recipes we could share.”
“There you go,” she said, smacking her palms to the table. Her eyes lit up brightly, a grin spreading over her beautiful mouth. “This is a bit more extensive, but if I were you, I’d also be looking to branch out. How do you monetize your fame with people on the other side of the country? People who loved your creations on the show, but will never travel from Oregon to New Hampshire? How do we monetize those people?”
She leaned in across the table and I couldn’t help but mirror her movements. It was like there was a magnet inside of her that was tugging me in. “Yeah… how?”
Her smile widened. “You could figure out a way to ship your baked goods in the United States. But you and Neil could also create a cookbook. Sell some of your recipes widely across the U.S.”
“But… won’t that cut into our sales here in the bakery?”
She snorted again and waved a hand. “No, no. People will always buy the real thing. They’ll try to recreate your cupcakes, but they won’t be totally successful. You saw my terrible unicorn cupcakes and that was with you right beside me baking, too. Plus, you’ll never reveal a handful of your best recipes. Those will only be available here for purchase.”
I fell back in my seat, staring at Chloe as she confidently grinned back at me. If those ideas were just off the cuff, imagine what she could come up with if she had time to pitch and create a year-long plan. “You’re hired,” I said.
Her confident smile slipped momentarily, my declaration catching her off guard. “I—I’m what?”
“You heard me. You’re hired. Neil and I are in over our heads here. And… you didn’t hear this from me, but Neil is leaving the country for a couple months on another gig.”
She nodded, frowning. “I heard.”
