Shine and Shimmer (Glitter and Sparkle #2) by Shari L. Tapscott

Author:Shari L. Tapscott [Tapscott, Shari L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-02-07T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

It’s late Monday afternoon, and Linus is supposed to meet me in—I check my watch—five minutes. I sort all my soaping ingredients and plug in my slow cooker, letting it slowly heat my oils. I have a good feeling about today’s soap. With Linus helping, I don’t see how anything could go wrong.

He steps into the room just as I’m rubbing copper-colored mica on the back of my hand. “What do you think of this?”

Linus angles my hand up to the light for a better look.

“If I coated myself with it, would I look like an Oompa Loompa?” I ask, frowning thoughtfully at the smear of color.

Raising his eyebrows, he asks, “Is there a market for Oompa Loompa body dust?”

I meet his eyes, serious. “Maybe.”

He grins, just like I hoped he would. His smile is contagious, and I grin right back. Slowly, he lowers my hand, but he holds it a few moments longer than necessary. When he finally releases me, he asks, “What are we making today?”

“I want to try a coconut oil salt soap.” I scroll through the saved recipes on my tablet. After I find the one I’m looking for, I hand it to him. “What do you think?”

As Linus reads through the recipe, I note the way his eyebrows draw together when he’s deep in thought. I can imagine him studying for a test, completely engrossed in the text in front of him, can picture him pulling an all-nighter, rubbing the back of his neck when he gets drowsy.

“What?” he asks.

I blink, realizing I’ve let my mind wander and am staring at him. Dismissing the question, I motion to the tablet. “What do you think? Will it work if we try it hot process?”

He gives me a funny look and then shrugs. “It should. We’ll just need to work quickly so it doesn’t seize up on us.”

“I guess we should get started.” I pick up my goggles and pose with them on. “I hope these won’t be too distracting for you.”

Grinning, he slides on his own pair, which, unfairly, look more like clear sunglasses. “I’ll do my best to focus.”

We get started. To my surprise, working with Linus is easy. Side-by-side, we read through the instructions, talking as we measure and mix. He catches me right before I dump the sea salt into the oils, saving me from ruining yet another batch.

“When do we add it?” I ask, turning toward the recipe.

“Just before we scoop the soap into the mold.”

Shrugging, I turn back to the oils and slowly add the cooled lye water. Once it’s at trace, I put the lid on the slow cooker and pull off my gloves and goggles.

Linus smiles, probably because I have goggle lines around my eyes, but he doesn’t tease me about it.

“You know, this is actually kind of fun,” I admit as I plop onto one of the nearby stools.

“You didn’t think it would be?”

“I’ve helped Lauren with a lot of her stuff, and I’ve never liked any of it.

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