The Billionaire's Challenge - Final Google

Selena was shockingly beautiful, even with those amazing eyes closed. He wanted to protect her and thought back to this morning. Bacon, he thought. And anorexia. He didn’t know much about it, but he knew that it was a bit like an addiction. Wrapping his arms around her, he vowed that he’d never give her a reason to slip back into that way of thinking. Whoever had hurt her, he wanted to find them and beat them. Never an advocate for violence, Reid still wanted to teach the man who had hurt this delicate woman a lesson in respect.

Chapter 9

“This isn’t going to work.”

Selena turned towards the woman who had spoken. With a swift glance, she took in the pinched mouth, the overly made-up complexion, and the angry eyes. The assistant marketing director, Ruth. She’d been on vacation over the past week, so she hadn’t been in on the brainstorming conversations. Now the woman sat in the meeting with a scowl, ready to criticize any and everything.

Pasting on a professional smile, Selena tilted her head. “I appreciate everyone’s feedback. Why don’t you think so?” she asked, folding her hands in front of her as she stood in front of the group. Unfortunately, her new boss, Dave, was in another meeting so he wasn’t here to defend the group’s efforts. After spending the night with Reid, making love to him and realizing how beautiful making love could actually be, Selena felt…empowered! She’d never felt this kind of euphoric happiness. A kind of serenity that not even Ruth’s nasty comments and sneers could dissipate.

Ruth sighed as if the burden of this meeting was too much for her, then tossed the mock-up of the advertising board to the middle of the table with obvious disdain. “Because people don’t buy makeup like this. They get one or two pieces at a time. Not an entire ‘look’ at once.”

Digging deep for patience, Selena smiled. “I completely agree.”

The woman rolled her eyes. Actually rolled her eyes! In a business meeting? That just…well, she supposed it happened but it was shockingly unprofessional.

“So, why would you even suggest promoting five different ‘looks’ to the public? It’s a waste of advertising dollars that we could be spending on a more effective idea.” She flipped through the financial reports, shaking her head. “I never should have gone on vacation. Dave should have run this by me before tackling such a ridiculous idea.” She leaned forward, glaring at Selena. “What we’ve been doing so far has been working perfectly. Rembrandt Cosmetics has grown exponentially over the past decade. We were on the right course.”

So much for her serenity! Selena counted to five before she responded. Then she lifted her eyes and focused all of her attention on Ruth as she said, “You’re right. Rembrandt Cosmetics has expanded extremely well over the past ten years. And the current marketing strategy has advanced the product line and gotten the attention of many new customers.” She paused, looking at the others. “I believe it is time to take the next step. Over the past year, I’ve listened and observed our customers, learning what they want, what they like, and how they shop. But more importantly, why they shop.”

“Just so you know, customers don’t go into a store and buy the entire line of makeup at once.”

Selena told herself that Ruth didn’t know of her background, didn’t know that she’d been training the trainers for several years now. So she patiently nodded. “Yes. You’re absolutely right. Sometimes. And sometimes, a woman needs a fast, efficient process to find out what works specifically for her. This idea does that.”

“So, why are we here? If you know that women don’t buy in bulk, this effort is wasted!” the woman sneered with a dramatic wave of her hands.

Selena brightened her smile, trying not to be patronizing. “Well, this idea does exactly what you’re saying. I’m not suggesting that someone go out and buy an entire makeup line and Rembrandt definitely doesn’t promote bulk sales. Every woman is different and every need requires specific attention. That’s why we have very specific products for each look.” She went back to the five pictures that she’d drawn when submitting her idea. “For the smoky eye, we’re suggesting three different eye liners.”