Before he knew what she’d done, Daisy had his phone cradled between her shoulder and cheek. He wondered if it would smell as wonderful as she did when he got itback.
“Hi, Kelly—it’sDaisy.”
“Daisy! Thank you so much for the lip balms. My lips have never been sosoft.”
Beckett noted his in-call volume made it possible for him to hear every word of the conversation. He’d need to adjustthat.
“You are so welcome. Thank you for working so hard to set up the secure account for our fundraising. You were so fast—it made the whole experienceseamless.”
Beckett knew better than that. From what Vivian said, Daisy almost killed herself to put this together in such a short amount of time. Yet here she was, praising Kelly for her small part. He paused, noting the way his chest warmed at seeing Daisy’s innatekindness.
“The pleasure was all mine,” replied Kelly. “I have a question for you,though.”
“Shoot.”
“How do you do that ’60s swoopy eyelinerthing?”
Beckett couldn’t believe his no-nonsense boss was asking for makeup tips. Daisy was some kind of wizard casting spells over the people around her. Mr. Hayes, from RB’s, hadn’t been too happy with her at first, but by the time they left the menswear store yesterday, he was her second-biggest fan. Second only to Kelly,apparently.
“I’ll send you a link to my tutorial. Do yourself a favor and buy a liquideyeliner.”
“I will. I’ve been using the Jamaican castor oil. My lashes are so thick and long I may have to trim them.” Kelly laughed. “I feel sopretty.”
Daisy’s smile split her face. “I’m glad it’s working, and you should feel pretty—you’re an amazing person and you do so muchgood.”
It didn’t escape Beckett’s attention that Daisy noted personal qualities as the reason for Kelly’s beauty and not her lashes or smooth lips. He’d never thought of Kelly as beautiful, nor had he thought of her as not attractive. He’d never thought of her that way at all. Did every woman want to feel pretty? Probably. The women in the small villages he visited would pierce themselves with bone and wear rustic jewelry. If Daisy made her viewers feel like she’d made Kelly feel, then the secret to her success wasobvious.
He didn’t have a second to process his contemplations, because Daisy shoved his phone back into his hand. She put her hands on his shoulders and turned him to face the door. Then, she put her palms on his back, the heat from her touch burning right through his shirt, and propelled him out the door. She blew him a saucy kiss and shut the door in hisface.
He worked to grab onto one of the thoughts blowing past his head at light speed. The one that finally dropped out of warp speed was that Daisy was a good person. Not just good, she was the best. Kind to a fault, she looked for the finest in people. And the way she complimented Kelly, making Kelly feel like the big star, was selfless. She lived like success and happiness and goodwill were unlimited currencies. He knew better, but he liked that she didn’t. Her humanity was her most attractivequality.
“Hello?” called someone from hisphone.
“Hello?” he asked. He’d been so caught up in his thoughts he forgot who he was talkingto.
“Can you hear me?” askedKelly.
“Yeah, yeah.” Beckett put his hand on the wall to steady himself as he walked. “What did youneed?”
“Nothing. I just wanted to tell you what a great job you’re doing there—we’re all very excited about theresults.”
“Yeah—they’re good.” On some level, he was aware that he sounded like an idiot, but he wasn’t sure what to do about it when his mind was befuddled by Daisy’stouch.
“We’re doing a lot of brainstorming here for future projects. I’ll get back to you when we figure it allout.”
“Sounds good.” He dropped onto the couch and turned off the phone. It was a good five minutes before he realized he hadn’t saidgoodbye.
Beckett was hyper aware of the heat Daisy created with one touch. He could still feel her hands on his skin, and it warmed him all the way to his bare toes. He wasn’t seeing Daisy as a kid sister; she was … more. If he wasn’t careful, he’d leave his heart behind when he left. Because he was leaving. There were projects that needed to be done and people who needed him. He’d chosen his place in the world and he loved it. How many people in the world woke up knowing they were going to make someone’s life infinitely better that day just by showing up to work? FreeWater was his calling, his mission. He couldn’t turn his back on all that. He just couldn’t—not even for someone as brilliant and superb asDaisy.
Chapter Thirteen
EveryDayGlam!BeautyTip
It’s time to switch things up! Most beauty regimes follow thisorder:
Clean
Exfoliate (twice aweek)
