“Caterers, for example?”
“Absolutely.Ones who would never consider putting buffalo wing cupcakes on the menu.”She grinned.
Sofia had an easy-going but professional air that appealed to him.
“But I’ll also provide options for music, entertainment, videographers, that sort of thing.”
“So why would I pay you?”he asked.
“Peace of mind.I imagine there are a dozen things you do better than anyone else on the planet.Which means you have no time to be a party planner.It would be a waste of your time and energy.Why should you wonder if the caterer has enough chairs for all of your guests to sit on, or enough napkins for dinner and dessert?The truth is, you don’t have any idea of all the things you need to be concerned about.Because you’re related to Lara, I’m happy to give you a crash course, but I know how big your ranch is.It takes a lot of energy.You don’t have time to arrange an event.And you don’t want to wake up in the middle of the night thinking about the details.”
Plenty of things kept him up.And he could add tantalizing thoughts of her to the mix.
“Of course, you could choose a different event planner, but the truth is, almost no one else in South Texas is as big as Encore.They will end up getting most of their hard goods from us.So, you’d be paying more for markups, as well.”
He appreciated her businesslike approach.“That’s a hell of a sales pitch.”
“It’s not a sales pitch.Frankly, we don’t need the business and my guess is, because of the remoteness and the fact the celebration wasn’t your idea, the timeframe and the lack of a guest list, working with you would be a significant pain in the ass, enough so that I’d probably add a Pain in the Ass Fee to the bid.”
“Are you always so blunt?”
“You’ve already been quite nosy.Why shouldn’t we be forthright?”
“You’ve got a point.”
“Besides, I prefer the word direct over blunt.But I was right, wasn’t I?”
“About me being a pain in the ass?”
“As I said earlier, I’ve heard of your reputation.You’re not an easy man to work for.Exacting.Unforgiving.”
His ego suddenly felt a little bruised.“You also said you’d heard some good stuff.”
“That was the good stuff.”
He winced.
“I think you intimidate some people.”
“But not you?”
She hesitated for just a moment.“On a personal level, yes.”
Her honesty impressed him.
After a little breath, she went on, “But when it comes to business, I’m not afraid of you.”
“Is that confidence or recklessness speaking?”
“Confidence.I don’t leave things to chance.We handle multiple events every week.On the Gulf Coast, we arrange corporate dinner cruises, organize a yearly rodeo and we’re the company of choice at the biggest events center in Corpus Christi.All of that means we have relationships with the vendors in the area.We work with them, we know their strengths.Better yet, we know who to steer clear of.I know which pieces of the contracts are negotiable.I can get you people who might already be booked.”
“The party isn’t until fall.”
“Weddings are often scheduled a year in advance.You’ve actually started planning this at least six months too late.”
“Seriously?”
“I can make up the lost time, though, and I have some pull with local musicians like the Matthew Martin band.”
