Page 4 of The Hook Up
Ty grinned and flattened his hands on the desk, and Ellie ordered herself not to stare at them. God, how long had it been since she’d been groped by anything that wasn’t battery-powered? Much too long if she was breaking out in hives just sitting three feet from an attractive man.
“I was reading up on some of the other industry terminology,” Ty continued, and Ellie snapped her gaze back to his face. “Have you ever thought about writing a few educational articles?”
“Articles?” Ellie folded her hands in her lap. “What did you have in mind?”
“Maybe something about whether you’re a squeezer or a stroker and how that might impact your overall ball handling.”
“Oh.” Ellie flushed, surprised he’d gotten so graphic so quickly. Not that she was complaining. It was refreshing, honestly, to be around a man so candid about sexuality. “I hadn’t thought about doing anything quite that specific. You think there’d be enough readers who’d find it interesting?”
“Definitely. Your customers are hungry for information. They’re looking for something no one else is giving them, so there’s no sense beating around the bush.”
She gave an awkward little laugh, not sure if that was meant to be a naughty euphemism. She was so out of practice. Some men freaked when she talked about sex.
Her brother pretended she sold Tupperware or candles or leggings, though Ellie knew her sister-in-law had introduced him to more than one Madame Butterfly product.
“I love the idea of approaching things from an educational angle,” Ellie said. “Did you have any other suggestions?”
Ty leaned back a little in his chair, and Ellie could have sworn his eyes drop to her cleavage.
Good,her libido telegraphed.Look all you like, hot stuff.
Did women even call men “hot stuff” ?
“My father used to clean his balls constantly,” Ty said. The words splashed a little cool water on Ellie’s libido, and she tried not to jerk in surprise.
“What about a tutorial on ball cleaning?” he continued. “Maybe talking about the importance of removing all the oils, making sure there’s nothing stuck in any of the holes.”
“Wow. Um, yes, I guess that is important.” Her cheeks warmed as she processed the fact that he’d headed down this path. What the hell?
But he was the marketing expert and this was just brainstorming, right? Ellie cleared her throat. “Speaking of oils, did you see we’re rolling out several new products in our Kneads and Desires Rubdown Line?”
Ty grinned, and something warm flipped over in Ellie’s gut. “I love all the product names you guys have,” he said. “The Heavy Hammer, the Big Hitter, the Perfect Pearl?—”
“The Boom Boom Pow is my personal favorite,” she said, laughing. “The name, I mean—I haven’t actually tested all the products. There are so many, and they’re adding new ones all the time. I can’t keep track of all the names.”
“I can imagine,” he said. “Going back to the subject of cleaning, you guys have special products for that, right?”
“Definitely,” Ellie said. “We’ve been trying to encourage everyone to buy a bottle of cleaner with every toy purchase.”
“Toys,” he repeated, his expression thoughtful. “I love that. Having a sense of playfulness about this is going to be key to making it a whole lot sexier. And sexy sells.”
“So I’ve heard.” She grinned and wondered if she was flirting. Is this what flirting looked like? She’d have to ask Miriam.
“What if you did some sort of giveaway?” he said. “Like maybe you write some copy about proper cleaning techniques, and then offer a free bottle of cleaner for every hundred dollars spent on new products?”
“That’s brilliant!” Ellie grinned. “Any other ideas?”
Ty leaned back a little and splayed his fingers over the armrests of his chair. “Well, like I said, how-to videos are hot right now. What if you focused on something like how crucial it is to have your fingers measured? I read an article about why you need to be sure they fit properly in the holes.”
“Oh.” Ellie stared at Ty’s fingers for a few beats then frowned. “Well, I don’t think that’s usually a problem, but I guess I’d have to read the article.”
“Or there are a lot of other ways to come at it,” he said. “Like maybe a whole series on proper hole drilling. It’s quite the science, from what I’ve seen.”
“Uh-huh,” Ellie agreed. Her mouth had gone dry, and she wished now that she’d taken him up on the offer of water. “So you’re thinking these posts would be targeted to both male and female customers?”
“Absolutely. Opening your market up to all genders can help diversify your offerings and reach an audience you haven’t penetrated before.”
“Huh.” Crap. This was sounding way more explicit than she’d planned. Still, she wanted to hear him out. Ellie gave him a bright smile. “I appreciate the ideas.”
