“If you have a headache, you need to drink more water,” Zafir told me, pulling my face back toward himself. “You come from a cooler climate, so you need to stay more hydrated here. Now hold still. This is a delicate procedure.”
“I thought you were supposed to be good at delicate procedures. Isn’t that what you do when you tinker with all those potions in your study?”
“My potions don’t talk back.”
Instead of looking at his face, my gaze dropped down to study the forearms he’d exposed when he rolled up his sleeves. Zafir didn’t have large, beefy arms like a warrior or soldier, but they did have cords of muscle running through them, pushing his veins up and causing threads of skin to rise. If they didn’t belong to such a cantankerous man, I might have found them attractive.
After tending to my skin, Zafir pulled up a stool for himself. “It isn’t good for me to hunch over,” he grumbled. “I don’t need bad posture on top of everything else.”
His sitting down put us almost directly at eye levelwith each other, and he was close enough that I could smell his scent, which reminded me of books and exotic spices. Zafir’s black eyes bored into mine and his long fingers gently pressed along my jawline, thumb under my chin.
My blood pumped hotter and faster.
I hated him so much.
“Close your eyes,” he murmured, dipping a brush and holding it up.
My pulse skittered. “If you hurt me, you’ll get injured too,” I reminded him as I carefully closed my eyes.
“It won’t hurt if you hold perfectly still.” I could feel the heat of his legs next to mine and the gentle stroking of the brush against my eyelids.
“Only your lips left now,” Zafir said after a minute. “Keep your eyes closed, though.”
“Why?”
“Because some of the products haven’t dried yet, that’s why. And you can’t talk while I do your lips. I’m sure that is next to impossible for you, but just try.”
Light pressure was applied to my lower lip, slightly firm but also slick. I cracked my eyelids open.
Zafir’s face was mere inches away, staring hard at my mouth as he carefully applied another product to my lips. “Your job tonight is simply to catch Julian’s attention. If you can make him notice you, he’ll invite you to dinner or out to a play or something. He has no self-control at all. There, you’re done.”
He leaned back.
“Am I allowed to start a fight? That would get his attention, I’m sure.”
“No.” Zafir didn’t crack a smile. “Just get his attention. Looking like that, he’s sure to notice you.”
I pivoted to examine my reflection in the mirror and barely recognized the woman looking back at me.
“You made me beautiful,” I said breathlessly, tilting my head one way then another.
He screwed the lip stain’s cover back on. “Yes, yes, men love a woman who has obscured normal blemishes and twisted reality to appear perfect. You don’t have to mock.”
“I’m not. Really, Zafir, you did a good job. Thank you.”
He shot me a funny expression.
“What?”
“You used my name. What, no insults? No sly remarks hinting that I’m the worst person you’ve ever met?”
“I’m saving those up until tomorrow. I’ve already met today’s quota.”
He gave a snort that might have been amusement and brought over one of the documents he’d been poring over while I’d attempted my own makeup.
“Here, sign this.” He slapped it down.
“What is it?”
