“Because it’s makeup, Braden. Who cares?”
“Your followers.”
“The mobs who follow influencers aren’t concerned about anything real.”
“Do you know all of them?”
“Of course not, but—”
“Don’t you see, Skye? You have the chance to grow a platform. To reach people. Once you reach them, you can introduce them to the kind of photos that will move them.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Her mouth drops open.
Yup, got her.
Social media wields a lot of power these days. Skye should know. Social media pays her salary.
“But,” I continue, “never take the first offer. I don’t care how high it is, counteroffer something higher.”
“What if they tell me to go jump in the lake?”
“Then they tell you to go jump in the lake.”
“But then—”
“Skye, show them you know what you’re worth. They’re not getting just Braden Black’s girlfriend with you. They’re getting an ace photographer, someone who can make their product look amazing. They know that, and if they don’t, they will soon.”
“Wait a minute,” she says. “You didn’t…”
I know what she’s asking. She doesn’t have to say the words. It’s not the first time someone thinks I made a phone call. I don’t know anyone at Susanne Cosmetics. I had no idea Skye wears their makeup or that Addison does posts for them.
“Of course not. I had nothing to do with them calling you. It may surprise you to know that I don’t have time to call cosmetics companies and ask them to hire my girlfriend.”
She nods.
“Never be afraid to turn down the first offer. You’re new at this, so they know they can lowball you.”
“You really are brilliant.”
“I’m no more brilliant than the next guy,” I counter. “I just know what my strengths are, and I know what they’re worth.”
True story there.
“Braden…”
“Yeah?”
“Addison thinks you’re behind all this, that you’re trying to make me into an influencer and destroy her in the process.”
Not a surprise. Addison Ames is such a narcissist that she thinks the whole world revolves around her. It wouldn’t ever occur to her that I don’t have any extra minutes in the day to give her a second thought. And when I do have an extra minute? She’s about one billionth on the list of things I’d choose to think about.
I take a drink. “That’s what she said?”
“Yeah.”
“And you believe her?”