“I do have a Baby Girl candle,” Olli said without missing a beat. “It has Adorable in it.”
Spur grinned at her and shook his head. “You’re just digging a bigger hole for yourself, Olivia.”
She burst out laughing and put her hand on his shoulder as if she needed him to steady herself. “I’ll have to use some of my bonus points to get out,” she said, quieting. “How many do I have left?”
“Probably fifty or so.”
“Probably?”
They grinned at one another, and Olli took a moment to really appreciate him. It had only been a week since the sheep incident and their first date at Six Stars, but she’d known Spur Chappell for a lot longer than that.
“How many points do I have?” Spur asked, reaching out and trailing his fingers along hers.
“Seventy-four,” she said, making up a number on the spot. “You’ll earn some more with this smell-test.” She looked down at her cards, which she’d marked with numbers. The scents were in a notebook in the perfumery. “Okay, here we go. Number one.”
She held the card up, and he leaned forward to take a big breath of it. “Yeah, I actually like that one,” he said. “It’s nice and clean. A man always wants to smell clean when he goes out.”
“Hmm,” Olli said. “What else?”
“It’s not blue,” he said thoughtfully, and a flicker of surprise made Olli blink. He was a quick study, this cowboy. “It feels more…sunny. It has warmth in it. So it’s clean, but it’s also warm. Like maybe Sunshine?”
“It’s actually Meadow,” she said. “But I’m super impressed.”
“Which is what?” he asked.
“Meadow is a bit of grass and a bit of light.” Their eyes met, and she smiled at him. “It’s a completely warm scent. Did you get anything else?”
“You always put something at the very bottom,” he said. “It’s the kicker. It’s what makes someone want to buy the candle or the perfume, and they can hardly ever name it.”
“Ten bonus points.” Flirting with him was so much fun.
“I’m going to guess something masculine…clove?”
“At least you didn’t say pine.”
“I was listening the other night.”
“Clearly.” She put the card down, thrilled that he actively participated when they were together, even if the activity couldn’t be all that fun for him. “It’s not clove. It’s frankincense, so you were very close.”
She lifted another card, and they continued the smell-test. She grabbed a pen after the second one and took notes, feeling like she was miles closer to achieving her men’s line of scents and getting her grant.
They’d finished by the time the pasta arrived, and as Olli plated it up and served him at her clean dining room table, she asked, “Do you think there’s anything we need to go over for the investor?”
“Maybe his name,” Spur said, putting his napkin in his lap. “You haven’t even told me that. Or much about the grant.” He looked at her, and his eyes glinted in the candlelight between them.
“His name is Frank Renlund,” she said. “He owns this massive consumer goods company. They make soaps and lotions, but also cleaners and even household products like paper towels and toasters and all of it.”
“Wow,” he said.
“Yeah.” Olli looked down at her spicy pasta, her mouth watering but her nerves preventing her from taking a bite just yet. “Those who get a grant from him almost always get store placement too.” She looked at Spur, needing him to understand how important this Saturday was to her. “I just learned that when his assistant called today.”
“That’s amazing,” Spur said.
“They have over four hundred stores nation-wide,” Olli said. The stakes for getting this grant felt so sharp and like they’d suddenly driven right into her soul. “I need to get this grant.”
“You will,” Spur said with all the confidence in the world. He went back to his food and then looked at her again. “You’re worried about it.”
“Of course I am.” Olli pushed her veggies around in the sauce, the scent of tomatoes and corn and cayenne meeting her nose. “It’s just…” She sighed. “You don’t get it, because you’re rich. This is a huge opportunity for me. He chooses five small businesses to invest in every year, and his money could take Fluency to the next level.”