Page 25 of The Scent of Happiness

ADHD? That explains some things. He wanted to ask her about it but Brooke didn’t seem like she wanted to discuss it.

“I got a refund,” Brooke said, squashing the Breach of Contract idea. “Which was nice. And I got to keep my ugly soap. I don’t regret taking the class, even if I didn’t get to finish. I got a lot of mistakes out of the way quickly. My next batch of soap was a lot prettier. The batch after that was good enough to give away as Christmas gifts. I kept going until I got professional enough to start selling.”

“And that’s how you got on Dixie’s radar again.”

“Is it arrogant to say that my soap is better than hers?”

Theo shook his head. “It’s not arrogance if you can back it up. Do you think she’s jealous?”

Brooke placed both her palms on the tabletop. “Here’s what I don’t understand. There are more than seven billion people in the world, and they all bathe. I think there’s room for more than one kind of soap.”

“Including the unscented stuff I get at the store?”

Brooke sat back in her chair. “That’s what I don’t understand about you. Why would you deny yourself the simple pleasure of a nice-smelling bath?”

“A bath is a waste of water,” Theo said. “You should get in the shower, get clean, and get out.”

Brooke stared at him, her mouth half open. “Who hurt you?”

“No one hurt me,” Theo said. “But I don’t like to sit in my own water like I’m human soup.”

“Yikes.” Brooke pushed her glasses up her nose. “And you don’t enjoy your showers, either. I find that sad.”

Theo shifted uncomfortably in his chair, glad that the table hid his lower half. He didn’t want to think about Brooke in the bath, her nude body stretched out in a tub full of water, scented bubbles on her skin.

He fumbled for what to say next. Now that his little head was doing the thinking, his brain was having a hard time forming words. Even more worrying was that his attraction wasn’t purely physical. Brooke was gorgeous, but she was so much more than that. The woman sitting across from him was quick-witted and interesting. She was unapologetic about her life choices and passionate about what she did.

“So soap is your side hustle.” It was an awkward thing to say, but Theo’s thoughts felt as cluttered as Brooke’s apartment, and he didn’t have any post-its to keep him on track.

“It would be nice if it were my main job.” Brooke moved her journal closer to her and smoothed her hands across it. “But how do I do that?”

“You could.”

“Nah, I don’t think so. And the library is an okay place to work.”

“If I had to guess what you’d be doing with your life ten years out of high school, I never would have thought you’d work in a library. I would have said you’d be in front of people, like with a TV show, or as a public speaker, or a life coach. Something like that.”

Brooke burst out laughing in a full-throated guffaw. “That. Is. Priceless. Why in the world would you say that?”

“I don’t think it’s funny.” But her laughter was contagious and he found himself smiling across the table at her. “You had lots of friends, and you were in the school plays. I remember you as the fairy godmother in Cinderella, and Glinda in the Wizard of Oz. What were you senior year? I can’t remember.”

“I didn’t try out that year,” Brooke said. “College applications ate my life.”

“But you liked theater, right?”

“Not really, and I was starting to get typecast.”

“As someone…what? Beautiful and otherworldly?”

Brooke looked away, a blush creeping up her cheeks. “That was a long time ago.”

“It was.” He wouldn’t mention that he’d seen both shows twice, or that she was the best part.

“What about you?” Brooke asked. “I’d never guess you’d become a lawyer. Why’d you pick that?”

“My dad was an attorney.” The words were so automatic he didn’t have to think about them.

“So?”