“Nope, I won’t. Nom nom nom” Jack said, pretending to take bites out of Bella’s shoulder, causing her to giggle like a fiend.
“Gag” said Piper and walked away.
Chapter 25
Later in the month, Bella found herself at home alone - no kids, no Jack. Angela and Madeline were in Australia of all places - they’d gone travelling for the month before they each had to head back to their respective schools. Jack had been back east all week, meeting with various agencies in Washington D.C., and wasn’t due back until sometime the next week. Sloane was at tennis camp, and Piper at dance camp, so Bella had Daisy with her and Primmy and would see them all the following weekend in Houston.
Deciding it would be a good weekend to catch up on a few things, Bella put the dog gates up, corralled the dogs in the kitchen, set the alarm, and headed to Bella Pelle.
She let herself in, reset the alarm and dropped her bag in her office, then headed to the lab to collect the samples Luis had left for her.
She pulled on her white lab coat — embroidered withIl capo, The Boss in Italian — over her white men's undershirt, beneath which she was already wearing cropped camouflage pants and pink Valentino Garavani Rockstud flip flops.
Love the shirt, hate that name.
Heading into the lab, she gathered all the samples into a basket and took them to the conference room, where she could spread everything out over the enormous marble table. A quick trip back to her office for her reading glasses, a pad, a pencil, and her phone — she twisted her hair into a messy bun, secured it with a pencil from the pot on her desk, and got to work.
Luis had spent the last few months working on a body version of Astra Seta. The base would remain the same though they'd need a thinner consistency, reducing the percentage of the more expensive active ingredients to keep it cost effective. Deciding to make it a true balm in a decorative tin — Jerome was already working on the design — they had also agreed to give it a fragrance, since it was a body product and not meant for the face.
Remembering the night-blooming jasmine from Jack's backyard, she had paired that with sweet orange and lemon oils, with a hint of oud as one of the base notes. After testing several options and making detailed notes for Monday, she set her pen down.
There's something missing.
She walked quickly to the fragrance room — where they kept samples of every essential oil and natural fragrance imaginable — scanning the shelves until she found what she was looking for. Back at the conference table with a bowl and mixing utensil, she scooped a small amount of balm and added two careful drops.
HA — that's it. I know what it needs.
Perfect.
The fragrance had a faint sea salt quality that changed everything.
This smells just like Amalfi on hot summer nights. It's fabulous.
The scent was sultry but not overpowering. Combined with the slight sheen of the olive oil-based balm, it left the skin smelling and looking luminous — like silk you wanted to feel under your fingers.
This is going to sell like crazy. I can’t wait to see what Jerome comes up with for the design.
Pulling up the note’s app on her phone, Bella dictated:
“Stelle di Mare- which means ‘Stars of the Sea’in Italian.
Inspired by sultry summer nights along the Amalfi Coast, where stars shimmer on the surface of the sea. A true body balm, rich with Castelvetrano olive oil, scented with night-blooming jasmine, sweet orange, lemon and a whisper of sea salt.
For skin as luminous as a Mediterranean night sky.”
Marking down the amount of fragrance oil on her notes that she had used, along with the correct sample name, she headed back to the lab to leave the information for Luis, as well as put the other samples away. As she approached her office to grab her bag, Bella paused, certain she’d heard something. Glancing over at the alarm system monitor on the wall, she could see it read ‘DISARMED.’Huh, I know I set that. Wait, what was that? I DID hear noise.
Moving quietly, picking up a stapler,oh yeah, Bella, that’s really going to help,and poked her head around the corner, peering into her office.
“JACK!”
Jack sat there, on the edge of her desk, with a wide smile on his face.
“Surprised?”
“Yes! What are you doing here? I didn’t think you were back till next week. How did you get in?”
“Carrie gave me the code. We finished up early, and with Sloane and Piper away, and me missing my best girl, I caught a flight to Dallas instead of going straight to Houston — I hope that's okay?”
