Page 19 of Grumpy Billionaire Seeking Wife (Billionaires Seeking Wives Club #1)

“So, are we going to talk about the podcast or not?” Sabrina changes subjects quickly as she grabs her glass of water. "Let's talk about something else right now."

“I mean, if you’re interested in making a deal, then there’s no reason why we can’t discuss it,” Miles says, sighing. “I mean, I didn’t really want to talk about business tonight, but if needs must be…”

I stare at Erica and then at Sabrina. “So, exactly what is this podcast? Is it just about you guys going on crazy dates? Just please tell me how you’re going to make money from that.

” I'm annoyed at the thought of Sabrina going out with all sorts of losers.

It's not like I'll be able to save her from every date.

“No, that’s not what it’s about.” Erica frowns, and there's an edge to her tone I recognize.

She's upset with me. “Did you not see the PowerPoint presentation that I sent you last week?

I'm trying to take this seriously, Wes, and if you're not going to give me the respect I'm due as a business person, then?—”

“The video that was like an hour long?” I raise an eyebrow at her. “You didn’t really expect to me to watch an hour-long video that had clips from different movies.”

“They were leading men from different literary books,” Erica says, sighing. "Which is the premise of our podcast."

“Like I said, is this podcast about your dating woes?” I press my lips together.

My sister doesn't seriously think I'm going to sponsor a podcast about her and Sabrina going on dates.

“I mean, hopefully, one day you will both make a successful match, but I'm not paying for a podcast about how you both met the one.

" I roll my eyes. "I'm in business to make money.

Now, if you want to use money from your trust, I'm sure Mom and Dad will lend it to you, but the idea doesn't sound like one I'm interested in right now. "

"That is not the premise of our podcast." Erica folds her arms against her chest. "You're so infuriating. You don't even let me speak or explain."

Miles joins in with a nod. “Come on, Wes. They deserve a few moments of our time to hear their pitch.”

“What? I’m just saying it sounds like a dud. Look at those two losers they were here with earlier. If they’re not going to have any discernment when they’re choosing dates, then I feel like this podcast is going nowhere, and I’m just paying for crappy outfits for stupid dates.”

“It’s not about us dating,” Sabrina cuts me off, her eyes flashing.

“It’s about leading literary men in fiction books and how they compare to archetypes of the men we date in modern society.

” She leans back and smiles as Erica nods and encourages her to continue.

“It’s about the evolution of dating and the roles of men in society.

We went from strong, overbearing men who were heads of households to men who value equality, and then there are men who seem to hate women.

We want to compare the characteristics that make leading literary men great with actual men in relationships today.

We’re not interviewing men we choose to date.

We are interviewing men in other relationships and their partners. We will also be at looking the?—"

“I see." I hold my hand up and look over at Erica. "I apologize. I was wrong. I see that now. This is far more encompassing than I assumed."

“If you’d watched my PowerPoint,” Erica says with a pointed look, “then you would have known.”

“Your elevator pitch shouldn't have been an hour-long PowerPoint video on YouTube.

" I shrug."If I weren’t your brother, you would not even get a foot in the door with other investors with a sixty-minute PowerPoint. Nobody has time for that,” I tell her honestly.

If she wants to get into business, she needs to hear the truth.

"Point noted," Erica says and rolls her eyes. "Wes Carrington, king of the business world, has spoken."

I ignore her and turn to Sabrina. "So, explain this to me in a bit more detail."

“Okay, so, you’ve heard of Mr. Darcy, right?” Sabrina asks, her face alight with excitement. She’s passionate about this project. “From Pride and Prejudice .”

“Yes, of course.”

“Well, he’s an example of a leading hero in a literary book.

” Sabrina continues ignoring my tone. “Basically, our plan is to highlight a hero from a book each week and then compare them to modern dating stories. And how close or how far away the current males in society are from fictional leading heroes.”

“So you see, this has nothing to do with us ,” Erica says, bitingly.

“We’ll interview the modern woman, as well.

We’ll highlight dating experiences they’ve had.

Then we’re going to compare the men they’ve been dating with the literary archetype, like Sabrina said: Mr. Darcy or Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights, and yes, maybe we will also pull on personal data, but that's not the point.”

"I see." I look over at Miles. "This isn't exactly our area of expertise."

“Exactly. You don’t read. And you certainly don’t read any books that would have fictional characters that we’re going to be using in the podcast. Unless you're into romance and literature.”

“I'm not. So my question is this: if you know I’m not the audience for your work, why do you still expect an investment?”

Erica presses her lips together. I can tell she’s getting annoyed. But I need her to show me why this is a good fit for my money. Just like I do with every potential business looking for an investment.

Sabrina takes a deep breath and taps her fingers against the table.

"I just want to ask this, Wes: Do you always invest in things you know about? She stares at me. “For example, I seem to remember when you were in college, you invested in an oil company, and I feel like you didn’t really know that much about the oil industry and rigs when you invested in it.”

I nod slowly. “True.”

“And, didn’t you end up making a couple of million dollars off those investments?”

I nod again. “A bit more than that, but I see your point.”

I stare at the two of them. “How are you going to make money off this?”

“Well, we believe that once we grow our audience, we’ll receive sponsorships from different businesses.

For example, we would hire an intern, possibly paid, if we have enough funding, who would reach out to corporations like Match.com or OKCupid or CoffeeMeetsBagel or sex shops or condom manufacturers, who might want to sponsor ads on our show because we will have men and women listening who are active in the dating world and would care about their products,” Erica says quickly.

She's thought this through. "We have many potential targets for advertising. "

I tilt my head to the side. “You think women and men will listen to this podcast?" I raise an eyebrow.

“Yes, we want to appeal to all demographics,” Erica says assertively. “We feel like everyone wants to date better, no matter how they identify. This isn't just for one type of relationship. This is just an anthropological overview of dating in our twenty-first-century society."

Miles butts in then with a wicked smile. “Do you think Rudolpho and Bad Boy Joe would listen to your podcast?”

“They should,” Sabrina says quickly with a quick laugh. “I mean, if they knew what was good for them and they actually wanted a chance with women like us."

“You think listening to a podcast would have made this date go better for them?” I wonder if she really believes that.

“I mean, I don’t know, but it would have given them more of a shot,” she says, shrugging and playing with her hair. Her lips are ballooning out even more, but I wait for someone else to say something.

“I mean, I think we would get a lot of listeners,” she says quickly. “I think we can knock this out of the park.”

I stare at her for a couple of seconds. “Like you guys knocked your YouTube channel out of the park? The series where you guys tried different dance moves?” I blink and try not to laugh.

I try not to think about the time I caught them belly dancing and how sexy Sabrina had looked shaking her hips.

I look away as I remember the pole they'd gotten and how Sabrina had fallen to the ground when she attempted to climb it.

“I mean, obviously that wasn’t ready for prime time then, but we’re almost out of college now, and we want this to be our careers. We’re willing to put in the work,” Erica says. “I mean, if you’re not interested, then we will find someone else who has faith in this and us.”

“I think that you have potential,” I say finally as I stare at Erica and then at Sabrina.

I am not sure if I mean that, but I'd like to be involved in the project.

I'd like to be around to guide them. “I mean, I would want you to answer to me with some monthly updates. I will be hands-on with this project.”

“That’s fine,” Erica says quickly. "We would expect that. I mean, we would be okay with that, right, Sabrina?”

Sabrina folds her hands nervously. “I guess so.” She wrinkles her nose. "How hands-on, exactly?"

"Not as much as you'd like,” I tease her and she blushes. “I mean, how hands-on would you like me to be?” I ask her. “You’re interested in getting my money, but you don't want my advice?”

“No, no, of course. I mean, as long as it’s professional and…” Her voice trails off as she looks over at Erica.

“I’m not the one who’s known for being unprofessional,” I say to her, and she blushes again. We're in dangerous territory.

“What’s going on?” Erica asks, looking suspicious. “There’s something going on here, and I want to know what.”