Chapter One
Poe
“Maybe if I lit fireworks on the roof it would get more people in here,” I moaned theatrically.
Cady’s head swiveled around like she was possessed and she shot me the stop being a drama lama look. “It’s hard to sell people healthy candy, Poe,” she said and popped another piece of my patented low-carb hazelnut fudge into her mouth.
“I seem to have sold it to you just fine,” I said. “Is there going to be any left for the customers by the time you’re done hosing that batch?”
“See what I mean!” she exclaimed, as if she’d just discovered cold fusion. “You’ve just got to get people through the door, Poe. Once they try your stuff, they’ll be totally hooked,” she said and ate another piece. “Oh my Goddess, this stuff is heaven.”
Cady’s photography studio was next door to my candy shop. The strip mall was high-end and situated next to a big galleria mall. Our other neighbor was a family jewelry store that had its own security because the diamonds inside were worth so much money. Celebrities shopped there, but they were let in through a door in the back for private viewings. There was also a designer clothing store on one end and a French bistro at the other.
I lamented that Dick’s Diamonds let the celebrities in through the back because it would have rocketed my business into outer space if one of those hot little starlets of the month had come in for some fudge. I mean, they could have their candy and keep their figure. Everyone could if they’d just give me a try. Cady was right, though. I wasn’t very good at getting people through the door.
My shop looked like your standard candy shop, with bright pink décor and gleaming glass cases. That meant that people looking for regular candy stopped as soon as they read the name.
Keto Kandies
And people who were on keto diets, like me, weren’t even looking for candy. Most of us had resigned ourselves to never having candy again because we couldn’t fit regular candy into our eating plan and the other keto candies on the market were pretty nasty. In my opinion.
That was where my idea had come from. You see, three years ago, I was fat. Like really fat. Like, my doctor had told me that the fat was going to kill me if I didn’t do something about it. I was borderline diabetic and my blood pressure was inching up to dangerous levels. I was only twenty-five the day we had the serious conversation about my health.
“I’m not even going to worry about you losing weight right now, Poe. What I want is for you to get your blood sugar down and start exercising. We’ll worry about the rest once you’re doing good with both of those.”
It turned out that was all I needed. He gave me three months to get my blood sugar and blood pressure down before I went on meds. I made up my mind that day that I would find a way to do it without medication. The last thing I wanted was to saddle myself with having to take medication to keep me alive for the rest of my life.
So I went into full research mode. What I found was the keto diet. Amazingly, my blood sugar issues resolved on the diet because I’d stopped eating things that raised it. My blood pressure dropped too. Once I’d lost a few pounds, I started walking.
My doctor was thrilled when I went back three months later. He told me to keep it up, and I had been for the last three years. I felt amazing, but I missed chocolate treats. Up until I opened Keto Kandies, I’d been working as a pastry chef. It was pure torture because I could never have anything.
I’d pitched the idea to the head chef of offering a low-carb dessert option, but he’d vetoed the idea immediately. That didn’t deter my decision to create delicious treats for people who were doing a keto diet.
My first batch of fudge came about one night while I was experimenting with brownie-flavored fat bombs. Fat bombs are tasty little treats made out of coconut oil and various flavors. When you’re on a keto diet, you get your energy from fats, so sometimes you need a little something to give you a pick-me-up. Eating plain coconut oil or butter would work, but that’s not very fun.
Presto!
My Keto Kandies were born. “You really think my stuff is as good as the carb- and sugar-filled stuff?” I asked as Cady ate another piece. I don’t even know why I asked. It was obvious.
“Yeah. Totally. I’d buy some if I wasn’t so broke,” she said with a smile.
“I don’t want your money. Besides, you’re my official taste tester. It means a lot to me that you think they’re so good since you’re not on the keto diet.”
“If I was, these would be the only thing that would keep me sane,” she said.
“That’s why I did all of this,” I said and felt a twinge of sadness.
“Like I said, you’ve just got to get people through the door, Poe. Once they try the candy, they’ll be hooked. Even non low-carbers will love this stuff.”
“How do I do that, though?” I asked. “If I could solve that problem, I’d be selling that hazelnut fudge instead of letting you taste test the whole batch.”
“What you need is an advertising campaign.”
I laughed out loud at that one. “Cady, please. You of all people know I can’t afford that.”
“I have an idea,” she declared. “I have this totally hot friend that is trying to break into modeling. If you could get him in an ad, he’d have all of the women and Omegas flocking to this place. Hell, he’d probably even attract a few Alphas.”
“How am I supposed to pay him?”
“Well,” she said and waggled her eyebrows.
“Oh my Goddess, Cady. Shut up. I’m not a prostitute.”
“You wouldn’t regret it. Trust me. He’s smokin’. But I’m sure I could work something out with him. Maybe he would trade doing the ad campaign for you if I would do the pictures for his portfolio for free.”
“I don’t think I can ask you to do that,” I said. “I can’t ask you to work for free.”
“It’s not for free, Poe. Consider it my way of saying thank you for all of the chocolate. Then all you have to do is cover the cost of the ads.”
“Let me check my spreadsheets.”
I went into the back office with Cady in tow. She sat on the couch I kept back there while I analyzed my monthly expenses and savings reports. I didn’t need to pay myself a salary that month, right? I mean, I could always sleep on the couch in the office if I lost my apartment.
“I’ve been trying to set aside some money for a Valentine’s Day ad. I don’t have quite enough saved, but I think I can still do it,” I said. “Even if it means I have to sleep on that couch.”
“I’ll call him right now,” she said and dug her phone out of her pink sequined purse.
She got up and wandered out into the shop. I fought the urge to follow her and listen to their conversation. Cady was outside of my office for several minutes on the phone. I heard snippets of what she’d said, but it wasn’t enough to piece together the conversation. Ugh, I hated being patient.
Cady finally came back into my office with a huge smile plastered on her face. “Blake said he’ll do it as long as you promise to volunteer two weekends of your time at the animal shelter.”
“Done,” I said. I could do that, right? I had no idea what the animal shelter had to do with Keto Kandies or modeling, but it seemed like an okay trade-off. I knew I could use the good karma.
She gave me the thumbs-up and then went back out of the office to continue the call. By the time she’d hung up with Blake, the whole shebang was arranged.