Elliot was beaming like a fool, but he couldn’t help it. Being the one who put that amazing smile on her face gave him a buzz like nothing he’d ever experienced before.
He led her deeper into the small botanical garden. Opulent plants and flowers crowded all around them, small paths strung with twinkle lights zigzagged throughout. Exotic birds perched in a few of the trees, their song following them. Elliot led Lena into the heart of the lush mini-jungle where a few lounge chairs were set up. Two other guests lazed around, but for the most part, they had the place to themselves. Elliot ordered a couple drinks from a passing waiter, and within a few minutes, they were sipping on two very large tropical cocktails.
Thin pipes were camouflaged within the trees, and every few minutes they’d release a fine mist of water that was enough to cool without soaking the guests. Lena jumped when the mist first fell with a faint hiss, but then she turned her face up to catch the coolness with delighted pleasure.
“Is this okay?” he asked, though by the look on her face she was enjoying it.
She gave a little laugh. “Yes. It’s only bodies of water that make me a little nervous. Rain, showers, that kind of thing, don’t bother me.”
He could envision her standing in a shower all too easily and tried to steer clear of that particular distraction. He wanted to get to know her a little better, get her comfortable with him. Not pant after her like some horny teenager.
He led her over to the chairs and sat down next to her. Lena leaned back on her chaise with a happy sigh. “Okay, this I could get used to.”
Elliot took a healthy slug of his own drink and settled back. “Don’t get to relax much?”
She laughed. “Not often, no. Between Tyler and work, I think the last time I just sat down and did nothing was…” A small frown formed between her brows. “Huh. I honestly don’t remember.”
“That’s something that should definitely be remedied.”
She laughed again. “That would be nice. I’ll let my boss know.”
“What do you do?”
“I’m an office aide at Tyler’s school. It’s great because I work the same schedule that he’s in school. But I’m surrounded by kids all day, which can get…overwhelming sometimes. This break is nice.”
“I bet. Well, if one of your business ideas takes off, you can spend all your time on a lounge chair and hire people to do everything else for you.”
Lena snorted. “That would be nice. Honestly, I would just love for me and Tyler to be able to get our own place, not have to rely on my brother so much. When I had Tyler, Oz helped out so I could stay home with him. It was actually cheaper than working and putting him in day care. Now that he’s in school, I’m willing to do anything, but my resume isn’t the most impressive. I like working at the school, but I still can’t afford to get us on our own. And there’s not much else I can do, though I’ve applied at enough places. If I could make enough money with one of these ideas… But like I said, my plans seem to be great in concept only.”
Elliot inwardly cringed at the rush of shame that hit him. It had never occurred to him how hard it might be for people to find jobs. He’d always assumed if people really wanted to work, they just needed to go out and do it.
From what he’d heard from Cher and Oz, Lena definitely had the brains to develop something that could really be successful. But there was more to making a profit in business than just having a good idea. Maybe that was some way he could help.
“I’m sure your ideas are better than you think. Tell me some.”
She waved her hand like she was trying to erase his words from the air. “You don’t want to hear those.”
“No, I really do. Come on. I’ve heard a couple of them already.”
“What? From who?”
“Cherice told me a few.”
Lena blinked, surprised. “She did? Why?”
“She was impressed with them.”
She snorted again, a sound that Elliot normally found irritating in other people. But Lena’s snort was a delicate sort of poof of air that sounded more like a wheeze than an actual snort. It was adorable.
“I doubt that. They’ve all been disasters.”
“Oh, come on. I’m sure they weren’t all that bad.”
“Really? You’ve already heard about the mug fiasco.”
Elliot laughed. “Yeah, but that wasn’t a bad idea. If you’d had the manpower and the right equipment, you might have made a go of it.”
“Maybe,” she said, but she didn’t look convinced.
“Come on. Tell me the worst idea you’ve ever had.”
“The worst?”
“Yeah. Get that one out of the way, and then we can go from there.”
She shook her head. “The worst was another mug idea. After the baked pottery ones fell through, I thought about making some out of stained glass. We were sitting in a church for a friend’s wedding one day, and I was staring at the windows, thinking how wonderful it would be to wake up to that view every morning. With an enclosed back porch or kitchen window or something with stained glass that I could enjoy while I sipped my coffee.”
“That does sound amazing.”
“Right? Well, then I thought instead of a porch or window, which I’d never be able to do, why not make the mugs out of stained glass. There are clear glass mugs, so I figured stained glass wouldn’t be that much harder.”
“Makes sense. I think it’s a great idea. They’d be gorgeous.”
“That’s what I thought. Until I talked to a glass blower.”
“And?”
“She laughed me out of the building.”
“Why?”
“Because stained glass has those little veins of lead running through it to keep the different panes of glass separate.”
“And…”
“She didn’t think it would be a great idea to give customers lead poisoning.”
Elliot’s eyes widened, and he barked a laugh. “I didn’t even think about that. Well, damn. But it was a good idea.”
“Yeah, but apparently not all good ideas are actually marketable.”
He laughed again. “Apparently.”
“The one that came the closest to actually making some money was my gift baskets.”
“Gift baskets?”
She took a sip of her drink and nodded. “I wanted to get a gift basket for one of my co-workers for her birthday one year. Went online to check out prices, and they were insane! I’m talking sixty dollars for a tiny basket that probably cost ten dollars to put together. If that. And then they tacked shipping and delivery fees on to it. So I figured if all those businesses could make money charging outrageous prices, I could make something just as good, and probably better, charge less, and still make a good profit.”
“Sounds like a great plan. So why didn’t that one work out?”
Lena shrugged again. “It did okay. I always sold the baskets I made, but I ended up having to severely drop my prices to do it. I guess when you are a new business, it’s hard to get noticed unless you are selling for peanuts. I sold what I made, but I was only making a few dollars profit per basket, and I wasn’t getting many large orders for multiple baskets or for the high-end gourmet ones. I sold at a few fairs, but for those I had to buy all the materials ahead of time, and I didn’t always have the cash on hand to take a really good selection. If I’d had more time or money, more marketing, help. Maybe…”
Elliot was impressed. “Well, maybe I can help you there.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, her eyes watching him warily.
“I might not be great with ideas, but marketing and fundraising I can do. Apparently, it’s about the only thing I can do.” He injected the words with as much humor as he could to hide how much the reality stung.
“That’s sweet of you, but you don’t have to do that,” she said.
“I want to. It would be my pleasure to help you out.”
She shook her head, her lips pressed together. “I can do it on my own. But thanks.”