Page 35 of Sandbar Sunrise
“What?”
“Yeah, hot wax, sensitive skin, one distracted tech away from utter carnage.”
The look on Stone’s face was, if J.J. had to categorize it, horrified.
“Sure, yeah, we don’t want that.”
“Can you imagine losing your fortune to a bad bikini wax?” J.J. cackled out loud, envisioning the headlines.
“No, I cannot. Bad investment, sure, but bad salon treatment? The other billionaires would never let me live it down.”
J.J. raised her hand and conjured the headline, just for fun. “Billionaire loses Bazillions to Bonked Brazilian, yeah, good thing you’ve got me to protect you.”
“So, we keep it to haircuts and highlights, manis and pedis.”
“Smart man, and we’ll stay away from lasers too.” J.J. was making these decisions on the fly. She was seeing the salon in her mind’s eye.
“Hey, I may not be a billionaire in space, but I told you I did seeStar Wars.Lasers sound cool.”
“Not light sabers,lasers. Another way to get rid of hair. Takes up too much space. It’s not what I envision for the place.”
“You’re the boss.”
J.J. looked at Stone and shook her head. “I’m not the boss. I’m the mastermind, the big-picture gal. I'm out of here as soon as I get you on the right foot. I’ve done my time behind a shampoo bowl. Managing a bunch of stylists is its own special kind of punishment.”
“Sure.”
“Okay, so we need to order equipment first and get the plumbing contractor in here. This isn’t set up right. We need three, maybe four if it’s tight, shampooing sinks right here.”
“You know, I think I better write this down,” Stone said, took out his phone, and started typing.
“The ordering needs to be done first, and then we need to decide on a product line. I think we insist all the staff use it. It’s critically important that we make a deal for products. I was always telling Shelly that she had a mishmash. One kind of thickening mousse, a different brand gloss. That doesn’t help with consistently good results.”
J.J. stopped when she realized the absurdity of having Stone Stirling take notes and follow her around like she was in charge.
“Hold on a minute, so how is this going to work, anyway? I’ve never consulted before. I mean, you’re not my secretary or assistant.” J.J. pointed to the phone Stone was hunched over, seemingly trying to keep up with her list of ideas.
“No,” Stone agreed, “but I didn’t get where I am today by ignoring my investments.”
“Right, sure.”
J.J. didn’t press. The more Stone was around, the better she could keep an eye on him. And that’s what she promised Libby she’d do.
ChapterThirteen
J.J.
J.J. had two meetings. The first one was about as intimidating as meetings got.
The rep for Kedren International Products had insisted they meet in Ann Arbor, saying, “I can’t possibly make it out to—where are you again? Loonawon County?”
“Lenawee.” J.J. had corrected her on the phone. Loonawon was a new one. She tried not to laugh. The sales rep for Kedren International Products didn’t have a sense of humor.
What she did have was the hottest, most exclusive, and honestly fantastic hair products in the world. No one in Lenawee County or anywhere in Michigan had them in their salons.
If J.J. could make a deal with the company to be the first Michigan salon to carry the line, well, that seemed like something!
She had visions of luring high-paying salon clients from Detroit.
