she called through my bliss-soaked haze, “you’re finished.”
“Call me Ka-K,” I managed to correct myself in time, choosing the nickname I’d given Giles to use. I took my time sitting up. My whole body felt loose and relaxed as she handed me a mirror.
“I think you are going to give your fiancé indecent thoughts this evening,” she told me with a wink.
My skin radiated a subtle glow that made my whole face look brightened and flawless. “Was that the creams you used or magic?”
She laughed. “A little bit of both.”
Camille reached into her bag and brought out a jar. Placing it on the counter, she pointed to it. “Use that on your hands morning and night. It will make them soft again.”
“I will,” I promised, reaching to rub them and finding they already felt silky soft.
“And let me know when you have set a date for the big day. I will put it on my calendar.”
I swallowed, doing my best to look excited at the idea of my upcoming wedding. Thankfully, she was already packing up her things and didn’t seem to notice. A year from now, it would be Kerrigan here getting a facial before her big day. It almost made me jealous, considering how good it felt. Then I remembered that a year from now I would be able to afford facials and other luxuries. I made up my mind then that a year from now I would celebrate my newfound independence by booking facials for myself and Eliza before I finally fled England.
I found Iris waiting for me in her own room.
“I had a light lunch brought up.”
“Thanks. I’m starving.” I took one of the sandwiches and nibbled delicately.
“I’m always hungry after a facial. I think it opens my pores and my stomach,” she said with a giggle.
“Thank you for helping me with the dress,” I said, taking a seat on the opposite side of her sofa.
“Of course. I imagine you’re feeling all sorts of emotions today. I was a nervous wreck when we announced our engagement. I can’t imagine having all of this thrown at you at the last minute.” She sipped from her teacup thoughtfully. “You can talk to me about it. Any time.”
I nodded, wishing that were true. I found myself wanting to open up to her and spill the strange situation I’d found myself in. I wanted to admit how worried I was that I’d find myself drowning before I realized I’d accidentally gotten in over my head. But Iris didn’t know about my arrangement with her husband or the truth about Kerrigan. Not only would it jeopardize the agreement, but it might also cause problems for her own marriage if she found out she’d been lied to. Still, I felt terrible keeping it from her, especially because part of me very much wanted to be her friend.
She can’t be, a cool voice told me in my mind. A year from now, I would be gone. This was temporary. I couldn’t allow myself to build a real relationship with anyone here, even her.
When the hairdresser arrived, I placed my trust entirely in her hands. I didn’t have the slightest idea what to do with my hair. Usually, I threw it up in a messy bun or a ponytail. It had been months since I’d bothered with a trim, a fact the stylist must have noticed based on the way her nose wrinkled as she analyzed the challenge before her.
“I’m glad we came early,” she announced to us. “You need the full treatment.”
For the next two hours, she cut and colored, chatting nonsense with her friend, who was busy applying a special treatment to Iris’s closely shorn locks. I joined in when I could, but spent most of the time listening. Iris spoke of her family, who lived in Paris. Her mother had been a model, which was no surprise given her daughter’s beauty. Iris herself had split her time between the French capital and London, where she performed with the Royal Ballet until Tod Belmond swept her off her feet at a charity gala.
“I wondered how you met,” I said with a sigh.
Iris cocked her head with a strange expression. “You were there. Although, I don’t believe we met.”
“That’s right,” I said quickly. “One gala bleeds into another.”
Iris snorted. “I had no idea the wealthy spent every week saving something endangered by throwing money at auctioneers.”
I could almost picture the scene of which she spoke: women in beautiful gowns sipping champagne but not