Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 95712 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95712 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Okay, so not everyone loved being around Lilibeth.
As Levi and Lilibeth worked on his scents, I felt my mood grow sour. If I didn’t watch out, I was going to become just as grumpy as Caden.
When I looked at him, he was smelling one of his circles and frowning. “Too much Amber.”
“Let me smell,” I said, sniffing the coffee beans, then his sample. My brows rose. “I like that.”
He shook his head. “Smell this one,” he said, practically shoving another sample up my nose.
I held up my hand. “Wait, Caden. Let me clear my nose!”
After taking a few deep breaths of the beans, I smelled the other sample. Smiling, I exclaimed, “That’s amazing!”
He grinned. “I think so too. Almost smells like the cologne I currently wear.”
“Your cologne is Musky Oakmoss, by Dossier.”
My brother snapped his head around to look at Lilibeth. “How did you know that?”
It was her turn to wink, and I was glad it was at my brother, not Levi. “I know my scents, Mr. Wilde.”
She glanced back to Levi, and I felt myself stiffen. “I’m sorry, Levi. I can’t get a clear scent from you, other than the soap you use.”
He laughed. “I don’t normally wear cologne.”
“What perfume do I like?” I asked her.
She waved me off. “That’s so easy. You wear Marc Jacobs’s Daisy.”
My mouth fell open. “I can’t believe you know that.”
She giggled. “So many women wear it.”
I frowned. “Well, that doesn’t make me feel so good.”
“That’s why you’re here, to make your own signature perfume,” Levi said. When I looked at him, his smile nearly blinded me. For a moment, I forgot how to speak.
“Stop flirting with my sister,” Caden warned as he lifted the cotton to his nose. He smiled widely, which was rare to see lately. “This is it.”
Lilibeth smelled it and raised her brows. “Very nice. Did you write down the recipe?”
He scoffed. “Of course I did.”
“While Emeline and Levi keep working on their notes, we’ll get this mixed.”
Caden asked, “Do you use a base of some sort?”
She nodded. “I do.”
“What perfume do you wear?” Caden asked, surprising all of us.
“Just something I make here at the shop.”
Caden leaned forward when Lilibeth leaned over the table. “You smell like…the sea and lilies.”
Her eyes sparkled. “My perfume has notes of sea salt and lily. You have an excellent nose, cowboy.”
If I knew my brother, he was about to make some sort of sexual joke. “Don’t even, Caden!”
Levi laughed. Caden slammed his brows down, and Lilibeth looked confused.
“Damn, your sister knows you.”
“For your information, I wasn’t going to say anything.”
With one brow raised, I stared at my brother.
The corner of his mouth rose into a smirk. “Fine. I was.”
Lilibeth looked between the three of us. “What am I missing?”
I shot her a smile. “Nothing. Just ignore us.”
“Um, okay, well, we’re going to start by adding fractionated coconut oil, then the right proportions for the notes.”
Caden got lost in the process of helping Lilibeth make his signature cologne.
“They make a cute couple,” Levi whispered.
Focusing back on my brother and Lilibeth, I nearly snorted. “Beauty and the Beast.”
Levi chuckled. “You hit that nail right on the head. But I think your brother needs someone like Lilibeth.”
I didn’t want to admit how relieved I was to hear him say that, but that stupid teenage girl came out before I could stop her.
I picked up my sample, which I finally thought had the best balance of notes. “What about you?” I asked without looking at him.
“What about me?”
“You don’t think you and Lilibeth would make a nice couple?”
That time I did look at him. He glanced over to Lilibeth and studied her for a few moments. I was internally kicking myself.
Right before I looked away, he caught my eye. “Not at all.”
Blinking a few times, I asked, “Why not?”
He gave a one-shoulder shrug. “I’m not interested in getting involved with anyone right now. I’m not even divorced yet. But…I mean, I guess if the right person came along, I could see myself dating again.”
“I would imagine Caroline will be signing the divorce papers soon?”
He placed a few drops onto his cotton swatch. “I wish she’d just sign them and let us both get on with our lives. Honestly, though, right now I’m just focusing on helping Rhett heal.”
“What about you? Don’t you have to heal, as well?”
He looked at me, and our eyes met. I swore something passed between us, I just couldn’t tell what it was. A soft smile appeared on his handsome face. “I guess I do. Life doesn’t seem to be very…beautiful lately.”
“That reminds me of that Bryan Adams song.”
“What song is that?”
“I think it’s called ‘Life is Beautiful’. I like it, it’s a good song.”
He held up his swatch and smelled it before he said, “I’ll have to listen to it. What do you think about this?”