She laughs. “I’ll try. Bye, Kane.”
“Bye.”
She gives me a sexy little wave before she gets into her car. I sit in my truck, watching her back out of the driveway, but the whole time, she’s looking at me. Something about Ivy Callaway has me intrigued, and I kinda wanna fuck around and find out what’s burning between us.
CHAPTER SEVEN
IVY
After launching the lemonade-scented soaps, business has exploded. It was so popular that we sold out within the first twenty minutes. Luckily, Harper and I predicted this outcome, so we made a second batch that will finish curing next week. We’ve hinted that there'll be another drop very soon.
Our customers are losing their minds over it and should because nothing like it has been done before—layered goat soap that changes colors. Harper always gives me a bar of whatever scents we make, and I used the pink lemonade one last week. It was cool to watch it go from yellow to pink as I used it. My skin felt silky smooth after I showered. When I finish my bar, I’m going to be sad because the scent is perfect for summer.
As we’re packaging, Harper comes over to the long table next to my shipping station.
“So I’ve been doin’ some thinkin’,” she says.
“Are you going to fire me?” I don’t know why my mind goes straight there every single time.
“What? No! Absolutely not.” Harper laughs because she’s used to this reaction.
“Okay, am I in trouble?”
She throws her head back and laughs. “Girl, no. I’ve been thinking about the business and how we’ve accomplished so much in the past year. A lot of that is because of you, Ivy. You make great suggestions, and you want to improve the efficiency of the processes. Because of that, I think I’d like to eventually make you my business partner. You’ve been with me for three years, and so much has changed since then. We have all this room for expansion, and we’re bringing in enough to hire more people so we can get more accomplished. But I can’t do it alone.”
I’m in a state of shock and wait for her to say she’s joking, but those words never come. “Wait, you’re serious.”
“Dead serious. Obviously, I want you to finish school first and have your business degree because I think it will be helpful, but I want you to know where my mind is right now.”
“I don’t know what to say. I’m honored, but I really don’t know what it means to be your business partner.”
“You’d be more involved with the behind-the-scenes things, like decision-making, campaign and scent launches, marketing the product, and helping expand. I’d hope to eventually be able to take more of a back-seat approach to the business and let you fully manage the place. I mean, you are a decade younger and all, so you have more working years in you than me. Especially after those kids are graduated and gone.”
My face hurts from smiling. “I’d love that.”
“It also comes with a nice raise and a percentage of the profits every quarter. So the more we sell, the more we make.”
“Holy shit, Harper.”
“You’ve earned it, and I trust you. We’ll do some test runs for a few events later, but in the meantime, focus on school. Just know the opportunity is yours when you’re finished. Gives you plenty of time to prove that you’re the right person.”
“I won’t let you down. I promise.”
She nods. “I know you won’t. Now, since that talk is out of the way, give me an update on where we’re at on our tasks.”
Pulling my clipboard from the table, I hand it to her. “We had five hundred orders. I’ve got a quarter of them done.” I point over at the pile ready to be picked up. “The rest of the labels are printed, and I’ve set out the quantities for each order on top of the shipping label. Once I finish taping some boxes, I should be able to hit the halfway mark today.”
“Amazing. I’ve finished what I need to do so I can help out. How about I take care of taping, and you finish grabbing inventory?”
I give her a nod, and we get busy working like carpenter bees. My mind is reeling, and my face hurts from smiling so much. I can’t believe Harper wants me to become a partner. Partner?
It’s a huge deal because I can visualize how big this operation could potentially grow. This is the beginning of something that could be a household name. I try to calm down so Harper doesn’t change her mind.
Of course, it’s been hard working while going to school full-time, but I only have two more semesters left. I’ll graduate in a year and will get to use the things I learned to help Harper. I know that with that title and raise, more responsibility will come. While my absolute answer is yes, it’s still a lot to think about. My first job could be my forever job. Who else is really this lucky? Well, other than a Bishop.