Divine Phoenix(Divine Creek Ranch 10)(34)

Clay shifted on his stool, and he smiled at her. “No claw marks. You must’ve weathered meeting Jane Herbert okay.”

Lily gave him a crooked smile. “I felt like I was back in middle school with the mean girls. Rawr. I’m ready to get started, boss.”

“I don’t know why I worried that they might be more than you could handle. I like that I’m seeing more and more of the old Lily resurfacing.”

Heat crept into her cheeks under his warm gaze. “It’s nothing I can’t handle and I really want to succeed at this…on my own merit.”

Clay nodded. “I understand. It’s just good to see you dealing well with it.” He placed his big, strong hand on the desktop monitor and turned it on. “This is going to be one of your responsibilities. Tabitha had been doing this job but she’s turning over sole responsibility of it to you.”

“I’ll bet that went over like a lead balloon.”

“No, actually she’s giving it up willingly. She’s never hidden the fact that she disapproves of this particular line of jewelry. I’m hoping you’ll do well with it. As a matter of fact, if you enjoy it, I’ll teach you to craft the pieces I sell from this website and you’ll get a percentage of the profits.”

“Really?” Oh, man! I could be in the house that much sooner. Lily was curious why Tabitha would take such a negative stance to something that was just business.

“Tabitha did the bare minimum of what needed to be done, without any…finesse. You could take charge of this and wind up making a huge difference in your income.” He pulled up the website and waited for the page to load. “If you have any experience with managing websites, you could also redesign this one. It’s just the basics, really. I did the photography of the pieces myself, which is another way that you could help to give it a more polished look, especially if you can find live models.”

Lily came closer and giggled when she saw the name. Clay Cook Intimate Jewelry. This was why Tabitha didn’t like it. He had a line of genital jewelry.

Clay pointed at the navigation bar. “See? It’s very basic, categorized by type. I need the orders to be shipped in a timely manner. As it is, they are a low priority for Tabitha and constantly delayed for various reasons. I also want to improve the packing standards.” He gestured to the supplies scattered on the work table. A stack of old newspapers, felt-tip markers, and a jumble of different-sized cardboard boxes stacked haphazardly at one side.

He explained to her the minimum that needed to be done. She got a notepad and started making a list. When he was finished outlining his expectations, she asked him the direction he wanted to take it and she made another list. Possibilities began formulating in her mind, and she found herself getting excited about the future.

“And you could teach me to make some of the pieces?”

“Absolutely.”

“Will I still have time for studying and schoolwork if I take this on? I want to do a good job at both.”

Clay’s touch was gentle and reassuring on her shoulder. “This is a marathon, not a sprint. If you can work on getting the orders current and respond to inquiries, everything else will come with time. Would you be willing to deal with these customers in the store?”

“Of course. Why—oh. Never mind.”

Clay smiled. “Tabitha won’t deal with the customers buying genital jewelry face-to-face. It makes her very uncomfortable. I don’t expect her to give hands-on tutorials or even open the boxes, just make the transaction. She does everything else without complaint so I haven’t made an issue of it. I just let her ship everything as though it were an out-of-town order. For various reasons I don’t want to do that anymore.”

“I don’t mind taking care of those sales. Just tell me how you want to handle it so it’s discreet.” In a small town like Divine, that could be a sticky issue.

“You could use the separate row of cases at the back of the store where the solid gold jewelry is displayed. Just answer questions and turn over their purchases to them. I’d thought of having instruction guides printed up for some of the more complicated pieces but haven’t had time. You could handle that if you’d like. Really, Lily, it’s up to you, how far you want to take it.”

Lily smiled broadly and felt herself flush when tears misted her vision. “I can do this, Clay. I can make something of this. I know I can.”

Clay nodded, and a warm gleam came into his eyes. “Just make a list of what you need, Lily.”

Lily’s mind was spinning with the possibilities.