A Wife for a Westmoreland - Brenda Jackson [28]
Zane smiled as he leaned back against the corral post. “Um, that’s an easy one. Every woman has her own unique scent and if a man is attentive enough he’s able to tell them apart by it. Some men will know their woman’s location in a room before setting eyes on her just from her scent alone.”
Derringer pulled in a deep breath. He knew all that already. He tilted his Stetson back off his head. “What I want to know is the effect that scent can have on a man.”
Zane chuckled. “Well, I know for a fact that a woman’s natural scent is a total turn-on for most men. It’s all in the pheromones. Remember that doctor I dated last year?”
Derringer nodded. “Yes, what about her?”
“Man, her scent used to drive me crazy, and she damn well knew it. But it didn’t bother me one bit when she took that job in Atlanta and moved away,” Zane said.
Derringer decided not to remind Zane of the bad mood he’d been in for months after the woman left. “Every woman has her unique scent, but many douse it with cologne,” Zane continued. “Then every woman that wears that cologne practically smells the same. But when you make love to a woman, her natural scent will override everything.”
Zane paused a minute and then said, “And the effect it can have on a man depends on what degree of an attractant her scent can be. A woman’s scent alone can render him powerless.”
Derringer lifted his brow. “Powerless?”
“Yes, the scent of a woman is highly potent and sexually stimulating. And some men have discovered their own male senses can detect the woman who was meant to be their mate just from her scent. Animals rely on scent for that purpose all the time, and although some people might differ with that theory, there are some who believes it’s true for humans as well. So if the scent of some woman is getting to you, that might be your cue she’s your mate.”
Derringer studied his brother’s gaze, not sure if Zane was handing him a bunch of bull or not. The thought of his future being shared with a woman because of her scent didn’t make much sense, but he’d watched enough shows on Animal Kingdom to know that was basically true with animals. Was man different from other animals?
“Some woman’s scent has gotten to you,” Zane taunted.
He didn’t answer. Instead, he looked away for a second, wondering about that same thing. When he looked back at Zane moments later, his brother was grinning.
“What the hell do you find amusing?”
“Trust me, you don’t want to know.”
Derringer frowned. Zane was right; he didn’t want to know.
“And you haven’t heard from Derringer since your date Saturday night?”
A lump formed in Lucia’s throat with Chloe’s question. It was Friday night, late afternoon, and she sat curled on her sofa. Although she really hadn’t expected Derringer to seek her out again, the notion that he didn’t still bothered her, especially because she thought they’d had such a good time. At least she knew for a fact she had, and he’d seemed to enjoy himself as well. But she figured when you were Derringer Westmoreland, you could have a different girl every day.
When he had brought her home Saturday night, she had expected him to accept her invitation to come inside for coffee, although she would be the first to admit they had drunk plenty of the stuff at Torie’s. He had declined her offer and given her a chaste kiss on the lips then left.
“No, I haven’t heard anything, but that’s okay. I was able to write in my diary that I had a date with him and that’s good.”
“One date isn’t good when there can be others, Lu. You do know that women don’t have to wait for the man to call for a date, we have that right as well.”
Yes, but Lucia knew she couldn’t be that forward with a man. “I know, but—”
There was a knock at her door. “Someone’s at the door, Chloe. It’s probably Mrs. Noel from across the street. She bakes on Fridays and uses me as her guinea pig, but I have no complaints. I’ll call you back later.”
When the knock sounded again, she called out after hanging up the phone. “I’m coming.”
She eased off the sofa and headed to the door, thinking she