Page 37 of The Scent of Happiness

He closed his eyes and leaned closer, inhaling. “It smells warm.”

“Go with that,” Brooke said. “It smells warm to me, too.”

“But it’s cold outside,” Theo said. Brooke knew he didn’t mean today. She could tell by his air of total concentration that he was imagining another time.

He breathed in again. “Winter. I’ve come inside after sledding. My grandma is making oatmeal cookies. The clock ticks in her kitchen and I sit on the floor with my stocking feet next to the hot air register. The whole kitchen is filling with the promise of cookies. They smell wholesome, with enough chocolate chips to make them decadent.”

“That was beautiful.” Brooke wrapped up the granola bar and stashed it in her bag.

Theo nodded, still lost in thought. “It’s like talking about it makes it smell better. Let’s do another one.”

“Sure.” Brooke sniffed her sleeve at the crook of her elbow.

“Bless you,” Theo said.

“I didn’t sneeze,” Brooke said. “I do that to sort of reset my nose. Try it.”

Theo covered his face with his arm. “This works?”

“Usually.” The theory was that you couldn’t smell yourself, just other people. Only, how could Theo not smell himself? She wanted to bury her nose in the hollow of his throat and just enjoy.

“Now what?” He patted his pockets. “I’ve got a wallet and a phone. Some keys. Nothing good.”

Brooke shook herself out of her fantasies and looked into her bag. She moved aside The Creative Business Professional. That wouldn’t be interesting to him. Theo smelled books all day at work. Chapstick? Definitely not. Ah. She had hand lotion from that store in the mall. They’d been giving out samples, and she’d tossed it in her bag without thinking about it. It had been there ever since. The label said “Champagne Kisses.” She couldn’t remember exactly what it smelled like, but based on the name, she could guess. It would probably open with a powerful citrus pop, then deepen into mellow black currant and other fruits before finishing with something deep and sexy.

“Try this.” She hid the tiny bottle in her cupped hands, opened the lid, and waved it under Theo’s nose.

He closed his eyes and took a shallow breath, a small smile on his lips. He paused, then inhaled deeply, taking the scent deep into his body.

His eyes flew open and he held Brooke’s wrist. “What is that?”

“Lotion?” she said. “Just something I had with me.”

“No, this is…” Theo closed his eyes again. He cupped his hands around hers, leaned forward and inhaled. “This is that girl.”

“What girl?”

“Shh. I can barely…” Theo sipped at the scent, his face so close to her hands that he could nibble her fingers. His features softened into an expression of delight. Brooke had to resist the urge to stroke the dark stubble on his chin. What would his close-cropped beard feel like under her fingers? And why was that suddenly the only thing she wanted to do?

“I remember,” he whispered. He opened his eyes and looked directly into hers.

“What do you remember?” she whispered back.

“College. I followed a girl up three flights of stairs in Watts Hall because she smelled like that. How do you have the same perfume?”

“I don’t.” She opened her hands to show him. “It’s just lotion.”

“What? That’s not—” He picked up the bottle and turned it over. “I was sure it was some kind of expensive designer fragrance. The way she looked, the way she carried herself…”

“Price doesn’t matter.” Brooke waved her arm, indicating the gardens. “These flowers bloom for free.”

“That’s true.” Theo took one more whiff of the bottle, then recapped it and handed it back. He shifted on the bench as if to get more comfortable, moving closer to her. He looked out at the jasmine and other plants. “I wish I could take them home, to help me remember.”

Brooke shook her head. Didn’t he get it by now? “You won’t forget.”

“I’m worried I’ll wake up tomorrow thinking I imagined the whole thing. How do you do it?”

“Do what?”