She laughed at his cockiness. “Bring it.” She was saying that she was ready for his makeover, but what she really wanted was for him to bring his face right on over and kiss her ever-loving lipsoff.
The barber, Vern, motioned for them to drop hands so he could swivel the chair and lay it back. Daisy let go—hating the way she lost something when she lost his touch. That wasn’t really possible. Except that, with Beckett around, she’d felt more likeherself.
With efficient movements, Vern worked oils into Beckett’sface.
“What’s that?” Daisy squinted to see thebottle.
“It’s a pre-shave oil. It protects the skin and allows the razor to glide smoothly over thesurface.”
That was … a revelation. Perhaps not the one she’d been seeking that would tell her what to do about Beckett and his ultra-talented lips, but a revelationnonetheless.
Daisy widened her eyes and flipped to the camera, checking to make sure the red light was on before she began. “Hi, friends, remember this?” She flourished her hands towards Beckett in the chair. “Well, I learned a fantastic tip for beating razor burn while we were here, and I can’t wait to share it withyou.”
She held her smile until Vivian gave her the thumbs-up, indicating that she’d caught the teaser. They’d worked together so long that Vivian would know to store that footage for a later episode. In fact, with the popularity of Beckett’s makeover, she should have been planning spin-off episodes throughout. She mentally kicked herself for missing that opportunity and then turned back to watch the barber atwork.
Hot towels, oils, creams, a razor, scissors—Vern had all the tools. His counter rivaled Daisy’s with bottles, brushes, and grooming tools lined up three deep. Vern was in a talkative mood, going over his technique and discussing cowlicks—apparently Beckett had several, including one in hisbeard.
Daisy let him take over. He had a gravelly voice. Time had roughed the tone, but his wife probably melted over it when they first met. His olive skin set off his brown eyes beautifully and the gray at his temples worked as a distinguishing feature. Daisy didn’t have to look far to find a picture of a much younger Vern and his grandfather in front of the shop among the images of heavyweight fighters and their pretty belts. They both wore white shirts and black aprons and smiles full of pride. She snapped a picture with her phone, excited to work it into the episode. Her subscribers would fall in love withVern.
Her phone buzzed inside her purse, and since she wasn’t needed at the moment, Daisy checked the caller. She motioned to Vivian that she was going outside to take the call and ducked out. Beckett was wrapped up in another towel, his hands hanging loose like he’d fallen asleep. The bell over the door dinged and she was on thestreet.
“Hi,Mom.”
“Hi, sweetheart. I’ve been watching yourposts—”
“She made me buy three new shirts!” Dad yelled overMom.
Daisy chuckled. Her parents had plenty of money, but Dad hated change—of any kind. Anytime he found clothing he liked, Mom bought two of them. That way, when one wore out, she could slip a new shirt or pair of pants in the wash and throw the old one out without Dad being any wiser. If he did need to shop, Daisy and Mom conspired to tell him he’d lost weight and the clothing was too big. Whether he believed them or not, he alwaysagreed.
Knowing her part in this, Daisy said, “Good. You’ve lost weight since you started golfing more—I’ll bet these fitbetter.”
“You thinkso?”
“I’ve only seen you on video chat, but it looks that way tome.”
“You’ll get a chance to see for yourself,” Mom cut in. “Our plane lands at three-twenty-two onWednesday.”
Daisy’s blood pressure spiked and she clutched at her heart. “You’re whatnow?”
“Our plaaane.” Mom slowed down herspeech.
Daisy sat there, trying to wrap her head around her parents in town, Beckett on her couch and the kissing thing, and Quinton depressed. There were too many variables tocompute.
Mom’s laughter trilled through the phone. “Please tell me you haven’t forgotten about the Meet the FansConference.”
Suddenly everything zipped into place. “Of course not. I—nooooo.”
Shoot! She had a rough draft of her class somewhere on her hard drive. She’d started it over a month ago and, at this moment, couldn’t remember thetopic.
She’d gotten so wrapped up in this makeover and Beckett and life that she’d spaced the commitment. That wasn’t good. Especially since KPaka Cosmetics would have a representative at the conference and probably in herclass.
“I booked us a hotel near your house. I figured that would be easier for you to pick me up there than from one by the conference center where the traffic isheavy.”
“Yeah.” Daisy blinked several times as the tasks multiplied. When she and her mom planned attending the conference together, her life was much simpler. She’d even been looking forward to getting out of her bedroom for a day or two. Now she had to finish her class, pre-record her post for Friday morning, and pick her parents up at the airport. All this plus she’d planned to go on location to film the big Beckett reveal. “Hey, Mom? I gotta go; we’refilming.”
“I can’t wait to see how Beckett turns out. Do you think you can get him to come over to your place for dinner one night? I’ll put something in thecrockpot.”
“I’ll barbeque!” Dad yelled overher.
