Their gazes met yet again and she studied him for a moment before she answered. “You’re not wearing cologne.”
“You’re right.” He’d run out of the last one he’d owned and never replaced it.
“Your deodorant is unscented.”
Right again. Though for whatever reason, he was embarrassed to confirm that observation. No one he knew spoke of deodorant.
Rhett frowned. Now he was thinking like a prim little miss.
“The soap you use has a hint of pine. Musk.” She shook her head, her lips turning up at the corners. “If you knew what the base of musk was, you’d stop using it.”
“That bad?”
“Awful.” She smiled and it was like an arrow pierced his heart. She was gorgeous in her simplicity. Like a ray of sunshine. “I’ll spare you the details.”
“I’ll let it go for now. But eventually, I expect you tell to me.” He shook a finger at her.
She laughed. “I think your shampoo matches your body wash. You do use body wash, right? Versus a bar of soap?”
“Right again, to both questions.” He was impressed. She was dissecting him by scent and so far, she was dead-on accurate.
“Interesting. Most men lay it on thick. Too thick.” She wrinkled her nose again, a gesture he found endearingly adorable.
“So do most women.”
“Agreed.” She tilted her head toward him with a delicate sniff. “Without all the false layers, your true scent comes through much more clearly.”
“And do you find that offensive?” He had to ask. He knew she wasn’t made up of layers of false scents either. Besides the soap, which was starting to wear off, he could smell something else. Flowery, delicate, sweet and simple, she smelled much like he thought of her.
Interesting observation.
“Of course not.” She reared back, as if shocked by his question. He sounded like a wimp, asking such a thing but he couldn’t help it. Her opinion mattered. “Scent is a very powerful thing you know, especially when it comes to attraction.”
“I know.” Hell yeah, he knew. Just spending the last few minutes with her, sitting so close, he was becoming aroused by her nearness. Her scent.
“You have a very pleasant smell,” she stated primly.
He wanted to laugh but held it in. She sounded like a proper schoolteacher from the nineteenth century. It made him wonder if she felt the same crazy attraction as he did. He couldn’t act on it. It would be career suicide if he did. For once in his life, he was on the straight and narrow and he found he liked it. He didn’t want to screw it up either, since he was desperate for his brothers’ approval.
If he could make this happen, if he and Gabriella could create the perfect women’s scent that turned into a rousing success, then he could take it to the next level. A men’s scent, an entire scent family, it was all possible. He would be president of the parfum division and Hunter would finally have to agree Rhett knew what the hell he was doing. He wasn’t the screwup, fuck-around baby brother any longer.
He’d grown up, damn it. And he wasn’t about to allow himself to become distracted by the pretty perfumer who had him intrigued.
No matter how badly he wanted to be distracted.
Chapter Four
“More wine, miss?”
Ella parted her lips, ready to decline, but the waiter proceeded to refill her glass, not waiting for her reply. Worry whispered through her and she nibbled on her lower lip.
She was drinking too much and eating little—a lethal combination. Her third glass of wine and it was all going straight to her head. Cold and crisp, with a delicate, fruity taste and heady fragrance, it was by far the most delicious wine she’d ever consumed.
And consume it she did.
Besides the wine, the food was amazing, what little she ate of it. The restaurant was beautiful, dark and intimate, and the service impeccable. She felt like a princess, her every whim indulged.
“Want dessert?”