“Don’t pin all your hopes on this one,” Rhett reminded Alex quietly. “There’s still one more.”
“There is,” Gabriella agreed, grabbing vial number three. “This is B26. And it is nothing whatsoever like the other two.”
“Hmm. Sounds promising,” Alex murmured, watching with interest as the perfume was passed around.
Rhett studied everyone, his gaze riveted on Hunter at first, who sniffed his touche and immediately reared his head back as if startled. Then inhaled again, longer this time, his gaze narrowed, his head cocked. Seemingly absorbed as he studied the scent.
Damn if he could tell whether Hunter liked it or not. And his middle brother’s opinion was important, though he was loath to admit it.
Anticipation curled through Rhett and he waited impatiently as the vial was passed to each person. Gabriella remained quiet. Standing so close to him, he could reach out and touch her skirt. But he didn’t so much as look at her, too anxious to sample the next perfume. Too worried if she did look at him, she’d see the anxiety written all over his face.
The reaction toward the third scent wasn’t as vocal as the second one. Everyone seemed stunned silent—and Rhett wasn’t sure if that was a bad or good thing. But when he finally had the vial in his hand and sprayed the scent onto the touche, he brought the thin paper to his nose, sniffing delicately, almost afraid of what he might discover.
It hit him like a punch to the gut. Heat, so much heat. Golden sand and dark night, lit torches accompanied by the low murmur of drums. A blazing bright sky tempered by a cool breeze. Plumeria blossoms and salt, the scent of her skin, the scent of his, the two of them combined, their limbs tangled in the sheets.
Evocative, haunting, he could visualize as well as smell the scent.
“It’s very sexy,” Gracie suddenly said, waving her fingers. “Can I see it again, Rhett?”
He handed it to her from across the table and she took it eagerly, spraying the perfume liberally on the inside of one wrist. Hunter watched her, an incredulous expression on his face when she held her wrist in front of his nose.
“I love it,” Gracie declared, a giant smile on her face. “It’s different yet familiar. It reminds me of something, but I can’t quite place it.”
Hunter snorted but didn’t offer a reply.
Gabriella remained quiet, as did Rhett. He looked at her from the corner of his eye, saw the relief written all over her face, how her shoulders sagged the slightest bit. Her gaze flickered to his, a secretive smile curling her lips and he marveled at her talents.
How had she captured their time together on Maui in a bottle? Those shared, intimate moments between them could potentially be worn by millions of consumers on a daily basis. Nights filled with endless sex on a fragrant island, now forever contained in a perfume.
Un-freaking-believable.
“I agree,” Alex said. “This is definitely more along the lines of what I was looking for. What about you, Rhett?”
Everyone swiveled their head in his direction, even Gabriella, waiting for his assessment. He wanted to take in all the glory, declare that yes indeed, he and Gabriella had worked side by side and come up with this marvelous scent. This perfume that would take them to
the next step, would set every other scent on its ear.
But he couldn’t take any credit behind offering her a bit of inspiration. He wasn’t about to confess exactly how he did that either. It probably wouldn’t go over well, despite how excited they were by its possibilities.
“I like it,” he said carefully, searching his brain for the right words to describe it. “It’s sexy and dirty and full of heat. Yet it has a hint of floral, of sweetness tinged with—with a vulnerable sense. Like a first-time vacation on the island, all wide-eyed wonder and secret nights full of wickedness.”
Gabriella’s jaw dropped, but she still said nothing.
“It’s shocking,” Hunter said frankly. “It smells like sex, if you want me to be honest.”
“Sex?” Alex chuckled and shook his head. “Are you referring to the actual act or the aftermath?”
Everyone chuckled, thankful for Alex’s question breaking the sudden tension.
“All of it,” Hunter answered, grabbing his wife’s wrist and smelling her yet again. “It changes too. It smells even…dirtier, the longer it’s on her skin.”
“Scents change with a person’s natural chemistry and body heat,” Gabriella suddenly piped up, her voice scratchy. She cleared her throat before she continued. “I would recommend you all spray it directly onto your skin and see how you like it.”
They all scrambled for the scent, Rhett finally getting his hands on it once more. He sprayed the inside of his wrists and brought them to his nose. Sniffing first one, then the other, the pungent, familiar scent of her filled his head.
Fuck all, the scent smelled exactly like Gabriella, sated and limp after he’d made her come. He couldn’t believe it—yet couldn’t deny it, either.
“What does it smell like to you, Rhett?” she asked softly, the temptress. She knew exactly what it smelled like.