Page 67 of Perfume Girl

How far was she willing to go?

I supposed it all depended on how much she was willing to fight for this place. There was still a chance for her store’s survival, but at what cost?

On the floor in the far corner lay a red ribbon, the kind used to wrap gift boxes, and resting next to it glinted something that could have been a perfume bottle.

“How do I look?” Raquel appeared beneath the arch of a doorway, looking stunning in a red chiffon dress. She hurried past me toward the corner and swept up the bottle, cupping it in her hands as though hiding it from me.

“You look beautiful, Raquel.”

She spun around playfully and hid the bottle behind her back. I was distracted by her halter-neck dress, complimented by strappy heels which almost made her as tall as me. Shiny auburn locks spiraled over her shoulders and her make-up looked natural.

I admired this sultry version of her. No doubt she was trying to use the power of her beauty to fracture the ground beneath my feet.

I smiled. “What are you hiding in your hand?”

Raquel carried the bottle across the room, and then opened a drawer and placed it inside before closing it.

She turned to face me. “You look very handsome, Mr. Beauregard.”

“I’m a little dressed down for you.” I’d gone for Levi’s and a white shirt.

“You look good in anything,” she said.

My memory betrayed me with flashes of our kiss this afternoon in Clearwater, the way she’d looked so bohemian in that sundress at the polo match, such a natural style compared to all those other guests. Her easygoing nature had provided a welcome freshness to the stuffy atmosphere. Her lips had tasted like sunshine and sugar—devastatingly erotic, reminding me of how she’d moved beneath me in that bed, and God, her beauty…

For the love of all things holy…get your head back in the game.

“Everything okay?” she asked.

“Of course.” I looked around the front room. “This is a great place.”

My gaze drifted to a familiar bottle.

“Something wrong?” she asked, following my stare.

“Savage King?”

“I was testing it. Your colognes are popular. I sell about five a week.”

“Only five?”

She smirked. “I encourage them to buy mine.”

“Ah.”

“Well, I did once.” She looked vulnerable in that moment.

This time I’d be wary of her easy seduction. There’d be no more flirting on my part, no more reckless decisions that involved intimacy. This morning’s connection hadn’t thrown me at all—in fact it had made me more resolved to end this façade. We had nothing in common other than our mutual passion. Yes, this woman radiated a compelling blend of sensuality and serenity but that was probably just an act.

“How does it feel having to shut this place down?” I asked, a little cruelly.

She shrugged. “I never saw it coming…but I’m happy in my new job.”

“Show me around.”

“There’s nothing much here.” She used her thumb to point behind her. “I have a small laboratory in the back.”

“I’m interested in seeing it.” Stepping closer, I savored us almost being the same height. She’d probably worn those heels so she could feel more like my equal. But it would take more than that for her to gain control of this evening.