She switched her gaze to Frank, as Benjamin’s eyes were starting to give Olli a chill. “I expanded to candles. My bottom line grew and grew. I learned advertising and the power of social media. I know you have four hundred and four stores across the country, and I know where my new line of men’s colognes will sell the best.”
She took a breath, almost to the end of her speech. “I didn’t do any of that with a boyfriend. Well.” She shrugged, her head bobbing from side to side for a moment. “I’ve had men come and go in my life, some during this and some before. Some supported me, and some didn’t.”
She shook her head, determined not to let her emotions into this. “The point is, Mister Renlund, that I don’t need a boyfriend or a husband to run this business.” She met Benjamin’s eye and felt the fire burning in her soul. “You told me to get one, even for a few days. I didn’t want to get this grant because of that. There are eight men who live next door, and I could’ve asked any of them to play a part for me. I want to earn this grant, because my products are superior, and because they’ll fit right into the Renlund United brand.”
“You think perfumes and scented candles are unique?” Benjamin asked.
“Mine are,” Olli said. “Renlund United serves a large general population, seventy-eight percent of which is female. I know women, gentleman. Even if we already have a bottle of perfume we love, we’re looking for the next one. We want a candle in every room. Sometimes more than one, because we never know what our mood is going to be when we get home from work, or how we’ll feel after making dinner, or how exhausted we’ll be once the children finally go to bed.”
“If only twenty-two percent of our customers are male, why do we need men’s scents?” Mr. Renlund asked.
“Every man wants to smell his best for the woman he’s hoping to impress,” Olli said, echoing something Spur had told her. He was there with her, and Olli smiled as if she were about to kiss him. “Every woman wants her man to smell amazing when he shows up to take her out for a night of dinner and dancing. She wants to go home with his crisp, blue, peppery, or clovey scent on her clothing. Then she can smell him again and again, fantasizing about when he’ll finally kiss her, or when he’ll call, or if she should text him to say what a great time she had.”
Her throat closed, and she had to stop talking. She took advantage of the moment to look back and forth between the two of them, both of them watching her with keen, intelligent eyes. “My scents are uniquely cowboy,” she said. “Women across the country adore cowboys, because they represent what we all love: country, animals, and God.”
Benjamin’s eyebrows went up, but he didn’t say anything.
“Let me get this straight,” Frank said. “You’re selling men’s cologne…to women.”
Olli grinned at him. “Precisely, Mister Renlund,” she said. “Any businesswoman who’s smart knows that every product should be developed with the purchasing woman in mind. We’re the ones who buy the majority of the items in our homes, from children’s toys, to household products, to everything for our men.”
Frank and Benjamin exchanged a glance, and Olli took a deep breath. “Now, if you don’t want to go through the other candles, which I will point out are fabulous and exclusive, I have some prepared scents for the men’s line to show you.”
Before either of them could accept or decline her invitation, the door to the perfumery opened. Spur walked in, and Olli let out a gasp.
“Hey, sweetheart,” he said easily, his face handsome and worry-free. “Sorry, I’m late. Animals can be unpredictable.” He moved to her side, and she saw the flawless jeans, the boots that had never touched ranch dust, and the cowboy hat he wore to church. He bent down and kissed her, and Olli gave a nervous, mostly breathless laugh.
She looked at Benjamin and Frank, and they now both had their eyebrows up, their eyes wide, and plenty of curiosity radiating from them.