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The eyes would be trickier. “What are you going for?”
She gave a weak shrug. “You decide.”
I cupped her chin with my hand and tilted her face up, doing my best not to get caught up in our closeness. Her gaze faltered a bit, but she followed my instructions. I moved with careful precision as I painted on a thick black line above her lashes. I opted just to emphasize her natural features and hope she didn’t look washed out beneath the lights.
“Look down.” A few swipes of mascara later and she was almost ready. “Go like this,” I said, parting my lips. She copied me and I dabbed a red across her lips. I gave it a few pats with my finger to blend, and then I was done.
I had a hint of regret as I got up from her lap, but I pushed it down. We managed to wrestle her hair into light waves that seemed almost intentional, and then she was ready. She had already gotten dressed before we started and looked every bit like an executive in her burnt orange pantsuit.
“Ready?” I asked, straightening her jacket.
She smiled at me, and I could see that spark of confidence back in her eye. “Of course.”
Daphne was perfect. There was no other way to describe it.
I sat with Donovan in one of the front rows as she gave her presentation. From the moment she walked on stage she had the audience’s attention, and everyone listened as she spoke. She talked for about half an hour then fielded questions. By the end, she had made people laugh and listen, and if she had had another hour I bet she could have made them cry.
We broke for a brief reception before the rest of the events started, and Donovan and I waiting for her by the door.
“She really is good,” Donovan mused.
I couldn’t help but smile. “She’s a powerhouse.”
When she finally came out she was beaming. “How’d I do?”
“Amazing. As always.”
There was no party that night, and we were all so tired from everything that Daphne and I headed up to our room after dinner.
A thought crept into my head as Daphne dug through her suitcase. “The front desk said they would get us another room, but they never got back to me. Let me call them.”
“It’s fine,” she said as soon as the words were out of my mouth. “We only have one more night anyway.”
“Yeah, but they should still refund us at least.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she insisted. She hesitated for another second, then added, “They had another room for us yesterday, but I didn’t see a point in moving since we were already settled. Unless you’d rather get a new room for tonight.”
“No, I don’t mind.” I couldn’t tell her that I was happy about it, just like I couldn’t let myself hope she had done it intentionally. But deep down inside, there was a glimmer of hope, foolish as it was.
I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. We had one more night sharing a bed, but I wasn’t going to make a move. I didn’t have a good excuse, anyway. Every time we had been intimate had been when Daphne was stressed and I could pass it off as ‘helping her relax.’
God, we had never even kissed.
That had been my hard line. I knew that if I kissed her,reallykissed her, I wouldn’t have been able to survive. So, I worked around it. Since we had never gone much farther than me eating her out it hadn’t been a problem. That was one reason I had been so shocked the night before. She had told me to kiss her, and it had been hard to refuse.
“Marina?” Her voice pulled me from my thoughts. “Is it okay if I shower? I feel gross from running around.”
“Yeah, go ahead. I’ll take one after you.” I didn’t usually shower twice in one day, but I felt gross too. It was hard not to after walking around for hours.
She was quick and came out wearing one of the robes and we traded spots.
I returned freshly showered and ready for bed, to find Daphne laying on top of the covers, still in her robe.
“Daph?”
She didn’t look at me, instead focusing on her nails. “I haven’t had anything to drink tonight.”
I was smart enough to guess she wasn’t talking about water. “And?”
