Chapter Nine – Emeline #2
“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?”
I picked up the coffee beans and took a deep breath through my nose, then smelled his sample. I closed my eyes and sighed. “That smells like my kind of Heaven.”
When I realized what I’d said, I snapped my eyes open to see him staring at my mouth.
His eyes lifted to mine. “Really?” he asked in a teasing tone.
“I just…I meant, it reminds me of riding. Horses! Riding horses.”
He grinned.
“You know, the leather from the saddle, and the…just…that smell.”
The way he was looking at me, with such an intensity, caused me to nearly sigh like a teenage schoolgirl. “It smells like something you would wear.”
Levi’s brows rose. “Does it?”
I swallowed and nodded. “Yeah, it does.”
He reached over, lifted my sample to his nose, and took a deep breath. “Sweet-smelling with a hint of spice. Cinnamon?”
I was lost in his light brown eyes. Why was this man so damn handsome? He was making it very difficult not to want him.
“Perfectly describes the woman who will be wearing it.”
My cheeks heated, and I tried like hell to look away, but I was mesmerized by him. I swore Levi leaned slightly toward me.
“You two look cozy,” Caden crooned suddenly.
I jumped back, and my brother laughed.
“You okay there, Emeline?”
“Yes, you just scared me, that’s all. Are you done?”
He held up his bottle. “Of all the people I thought would be finished first, I’m not him.”
I giggled. “I’ve got my notes down, Lilibeth.”
Levi held up his swatch. “I do as well.”
After we mixed and bottled up our new scents, I pulled out my phone and frowned.
“What’s wrong?” Lilibeth asked.
“I tried to get Ensley to go out with us, but she’s declined. I asked where she was, and she told me.”
Sadness filled his eyes. “What day is it?”
“It’s the tenth,” Lilibeth answered.
Caden and Levi exchanged equally concerned looks.
“What’s with the tenth?” Lilibeth asked.
I drew in a breath and let it out. “Ensley’s best friend from high school, Grady, passed away on this date ten years ago.”
Lilibeth put her hands on her chest. “Oh my gosh, that’s so sad. What happened?”
Caden walked away. He and Grady had also been close, even though they were a few years apart.
I cleared my throat. “He, um, he took his own life.”
Now Lilibeth’s hand covered her mouth. “I’m so sorry. I never should have asked.”
“You didn’t know,” Levi said. “Everyone actually thought they’d end up together, even though they were just friends back then.”
“Ensley didn’t want them to ruin their friendship by dating. She’s never really gotten over his death.”
Lilibeth slowly shook her head, then looked toward Caden. “They were friends?”
“We all used to hang out together. Me, Caden, Ensley, and Grady. Ensley blames herself because she started dating someone, and Grady wasn’t happy about it.
But neither would ever cross that line. Of course, no one really knows why Grady did what he did.
He was always the one in the group trying to make everyone laugh. It came as a complete shock.”
“Again, I’m so sorry.”
Levi glanced back at Caden. “I guess it’s time to go.” Levi bent and kissed me on the cheek, totally catching me off guard. All I could do was smile and nod. He looked at Lilibeth. “I had more fun than I thought I would. You two have a good evening.”
Lilibeth walked toward the front door where Caden was standing, wearing a brooding expression. “I’m so glad you both came, and I hope you had fun, too, Caden.”
“It was…different.”
Laughing, Lilibeth unlocked the door. “God forbid you admit you had a good time, cowboy.”
Caden smirked, then opened the door. “See you around, sweetheart.”
Before Lilibeth could reply, Caden was out the door. She did however mumble asshole, which almost made me laugh.
Levi tipped his cowboy hat to both of us and called out, “See you around, Em. Thank you, Lilibeth.”
“Sure thing. You guys behave tonight!”
I watched as Levi walked out the door, and Lilibeth shut it. I let out a breath and closed my eyes for a moment. I had to fight not to lift my hand and touch where he’d kissed.
Quickly turning, I started gathering the bottles of scents to put them back.
“Okay, the way you look at that cowboy makes even me get hot.”
My mouth fell open. “I do not!”
Laughing, she replied, “The hell you don’t. Even your brother told me you’ve had a crush on Levi since you were little.”
“What?” I spun around and looked at her. “When did he tell you that?”
She tried not to smile. “When you were both smelling one another’s scents and staring into each other’s eyes.”
“He did not!”
“Oh, yes, he did.”
After taking a minute to gather my thoughts, I slowly shook my head. “My brother knew I liked Levi?”
She gave a small shrug. “Apparently.”
“Was he mad?”
Frowning, she asked, “Why would he be mad?”
I threw my hands up in the air. “I don’t know! I don’t know anything anymore. Sometimes the way Levi looks at me, it makes me think he feels something between us. But then he’ll go and say he’s not ready to date. I’m so confused, Lilibeth.”
Taking my hand in hers, she said, “Let’s go out. We can dance with guys we don’t know and just have some fun. Call your sister. Tell her she’s going whether she likes it or not. Moreen’s meeting us there.”
“But Caden and Levi went out as well.”
She laughed. “Are they the going-out police?”
I chuckled. “No, but what if we go to the same bar?”
Lilibeth tilted her head and regarded me for a moment.
“I don’t want to sound mean, but your brother doesn’t really seem like the type who would go to Billy’s Honky-Tonk.
He seems more like the kind of guy who’d go to…
what’s the name of that bar outside of town?
The one where all the old timers go and hang out. ”
I burst out laughing. “You mean the dive bar?”
“Yes, the one right on the edge of town.”
“Billy’s.”
“No, not the honky-tonk.”
“No, I know what you mean, it’s Billy’s. Billy Junior owns the honky-tonk.”
Lilibeth frowned. “Why would he name his bar the same as his father’s?”
“To be fair, he added honky-tonk after it.”
She laughed. “Call your sister, tell her she’s going out. I’ve got to change, so should I swing by the ranch to pick you both up?”
Taking my perfume bottle, I grabbed my purse. “Sure, that’s perfect. See you in about an hour?”
“See you then.”
I started to head toward the door, Lilibeth behind me. As I stepped out and headed to my car, she yelled out, “Wear something sexy!”