Kiss My Cupcake(51)

“I agree with all of those things, but do you know what D&B has that we don’t?”

“Bad ambiance and a tacky name?”

“Yes and yes, but also money for marketing. Lots of it.”

He waits for that to sink in. It doesn’t take long. I pull my phone out of my purse and bring up their social media. They have a massive following and they’ve just announced their new location coming soon on its own social media profile. I click on it and of course they already have double the followers I do. Neither of us has the kind of money they do to throw at TV and billboard ads. “And no matter how crappy a bar they are, that money equals visibility we don’t have, plus a recognizable name.”

“Exactly.” Ronan raps on the bar with his knuckles.

“You really think they’re going to be a threat?” For the first time since I saw that horrible sign, I’m struck with a niggle of worry.

“I honestly don’t see how they can’t be. Chain restaurants are notorious for killing off small businesses. They’re huge competition. I don’t know about you, but I have reno costs I still need to recoup and losing business to that nightmare is going to make it that much more of a struggle.”

I chew on my bottom lip. “I’m barely scraping by,” I admit.

He seems surprised by that revelation. “It’s that bad? Your place is always hopping.”

“I got a really good deal on rent, which is basically the only reason I can afford the storefront, and Paul paid off the cupcake truck in actual cupcakes. At the end of next week I’m going to be on my own with cupcake production. Honestly, any loss of business is going to be bad for my bottom line.” And my bank account.

Ronan taps his bottom lip with his index finger. “You know what we need to do?”

“Find a new storefront that isn’t across the street from Dick and Bobby’s?” Not that I could even hope to afford it. Also, this location is prime, which is obviously what the owners of D&B realized.

“It really is an awful name for a restaurant.” He gives his head a shake. “Anyway, we need to get as many loyal customers as we can before that place opens.”

“Agreed.”

“We should host combined events to get even more people to come out. Have big simultaneous promotions.”

I stare at him from over the rim of my delicious alcohol-laced coffee.

“You have to admit it’s a good idea.” He plucks another cupcake from the box.

“What about the Best Bar competition?”

“We can still compete against each other for best bar thing, but this is a way bigger threat, and more important because it has the potential to flush both of our businesses down the toilet.” He bites into the chocolate cupcake.

“So you want us to work together?”

He nods. “Yeah, what do you say?”

“Okay. We can do it, but it’s an even split on events and promotions. And we have to promote each other equally on our social media.”

“That’s a good idea.” He wipes his hand on his pants and holds it out. “Deal?”

I slip mine into his. “Deal.”

There are far worse people I could get into bed with—proverbially speaking, of course.





chapter fourteen





Coordination Nation


Blaire



Over the next few days, Ronan and I work out a calendar of events leading up to the Christmas holidays. I’m a visual person so I color coordinate everything, and send it to him via email, but I also print a copy and have it blown up in color so we can post it in our respective shops. On top of that, I have daily social media posts prepared.

It’s Thursday and tonight I have trivia night followed by Ronan’s karaoke. The timing is great, since the quarterfinals for Best Bar are going to be announced next week, narrowing it down to the top twenty-five bars. I’m pretty excited about it, because now that we’re working together, I don’t have to worry about him starting early and stealing my business, although he stopped doing that a while ago. Plus we both have specials, and if they move from one bar to the other they get an additional coupon to use for a future event, which means more incentive to keep coming back.

I have a plan, but to orchestrate it I need to acquire some pertinent information about Ronan and free up a couple of hours this afternoon. I could get the information by asking him, but I kind of want it to be a fun surprise. It’s nine in the morning, and Ronan usually isn’t in until closer to ten, so I step out into the back alley. As I expected, the back door of The Knight Cap is propped open with a wedge.

I peek inside but don’t make my presence known. Instead I sneak down the hall. It’s a bit of a feat, considering I’m wearing heels and have to go extra-high on my tippy toes so they don’t click on the floor.

I pass the bar to get to Ronan’s office. I scan the area, spotting Lars and one of the female servers close talking. They’re too wrapped up in each other to notice me, so I make it past them undetected and slip into Ronan’s office. It still hasn’t been updated like the rest of the place, but it smells like his cologne. The same old dilapidated chair with a full-blown butt groove and picked-apart armrests sits in front of the ancient, pitted desk.

Originally, I found this office rather disgusting, but now, knowing what I do about this place it’s sweet that Ronan hasn’t changed a thing about it.