He nodded. “I have a lot of experience, actually. We can sit down and I’ll teach you everything I know. When I’m done, you’ll be sick of hearing me talk.”
No chance of that,I thought.
When I took my break between shifts, I drove across town to the gemstone laboratory. I was afraid that something would go wrong at the last minute. Like the lab had filled all their orders this morning and had no more production capacity until next year, or that they were suddenly raising the deposit amount tosixtythousand dollars.
But when I arrived and met with my contact, everything was fine. I signed my name on all the paperwork, wrote her a check, and told her to wait two days to deposit it so that my other deposits could go through. We shook on it, and then I walked back out to my car.
And just like that, I had spent fifty grand. My business was officially… well,in business. I gazed around at the new world. The sun was shining and traffic was flowing on the street next to the laboratory. It felt like fireworks should have been going off, but everything looked exactly the same as before.
“Woo!” I said, doing a little jump and fist-pump.Yours Forever Gemstoneswas off and running.
And it was all thanks to Hunter Cade.
21
Erica
After signing the contract with the lab, I went back to the brewery and worked until close. Even though it was eleven o’clock when I got home, Hunter was sitting at the kitchen counter, working on his laptop.
“You’re still up?” I asked. “Usually you’re in bed by now.”
He wordlessly hopped down, went to the fridge, and pulled out a bottle of champagne. “I couldn’t go to bed until we celebrated!”
“You didn’t have to do that,” I said, even though I was grinning on the inside. “It’s not a big deal. Certainly not worthy of champagne.”
“Sure it is.” The corkedpopped, bounced off the ceiling, and rolled across the kitchen floor. “If this isn’t the time to celebrate with the Columbus Walmart’s finest ten-dollar bottle of sparkling white wine, then I don’t know what is.”
I laughed while he filled two champagne flutes, then handed me one.
“To Erica’s new venture,” he toasted. “May it have all the success in the world.”
“Toournew venture,” I corrected. “Or have you forgotten the check you gave me today? The one that’s exactly a dollar more than Miriam’s?”
“I’m just an investor. You’re the brains behind the operation.” He sipped his champagne, then winced. “Oof. I know it was only ten bucks, but I expected better.”
“It’s not great,” I said, “but it’s the thought that counts.”
He sat down at the kitchen counter next to his laptop and phone. “Now that you have a contract with the lab, what are the next steps?”
I took a long sip of the not-very-good wine. “I need to finish the website. I already have a few pages up, but I need to connect it to an online store so we can take orders.”
“Did you do your website yourself?” he asked, tilting his head and smiling. “I never took you for a computer geek, Erica.”
“I’m definitely not. The website company I use has a bunch of templates to choose from. That way I can just edit text and swap out buttons. Here, let me show you.”
I slid the laptop around, opened a browser, and typed in my website address. Hunter got up from the breakfast stool and came around to stand next to me. His breath stirred my hair against my neck as he leaned in.
“Can I give you some constructive criticism?”
“You’re an investor. And my friend. Iwantyour opinion,” I replied.
Hunter gestured at the screen. “This is all fine. There’s nothingwrongwith it. But it’s kind of generic. I could whip you up a couple of designs that look way better. If you want.”
“Yeah, if you don’t mind!” I said. “I just threw this website together myself. I would have loved to hire a design company, but… You know. Money.”
He leaned across me to grasp the bottle of champagne. His scent filled my nose as he refilled his glass, then topped me off. My sexclenchedunintentionally until he pulled away.
“I’m really glad I’m back,” he said. “This is a good business opportunity for both of us.”