right. Could you fix my braids?” He tugged at the one at his right temple. It looked like it had been fresh a week ago. “They need redoing, and I’m not that great at it.” He stuck his hand into his pocket and pulled out two ornate silver braid caps. “I brought these. I can never get them to work.”
“I’d be happy to rebraid your hair.” Then she realized what an intimate thing he’d just asked of her. As king, he’d no doubt had someone to do his hair for him. But he wasn’t king. And she supposed he didn’t want to ask Elswood. Or Hyacinth.
But braiding his hair meant close, personal contact. Her hands in his hair. And she’d already said she would. There was no turning back now. Not with those starstones dangling from her ears. It was the least she could do for him. “Do you want to sit here in one of the chairs? I’ll go get my brush.”
“Sure, thanks.” He settled into the closest chair.
She went to her bathroom to get her brush and some smoothing oil, something else she’d found among Vesta’s abandoned things. Theo had already used a little on her own hair. It made the iridescence shine even brighter.
She came back to find him taking out the old braids. He held up the small elastics that had been holding the ends. “I should save these, right?”
“Right. I know you brought those caps, but they go over the elastics.”
“They do?” He rolled his eyes. “That explains why I could never get them to stay on.”
She grinned. He’d definitely had help when he’d been king. “All right, what kind of braids do you want?”
His brows lifted. “Um…what kind did I have?”
“Simple three-strand.”
“That’s fine, then. Wait. Yours are fancier. What do you have?”
“Open lace, but that’s more of a woman’s braid. Plus, it might be too much with those caps. How about a three-rope twist? You probably had those when you were king.” She couldn’t quite read his expression. “Too much? I could do a simple two-rope twist.”
He shrugged. “Whatever you think. Surprise me.”
She squinted, trying to picture what braid would look best on him. Then she smiled, tight-lipped because she had an idea. “All right.”
She brushed his hair, which was soft and gorgeous and made her envious, even though she knew she had nice hair, too. For a moment, she almost ran her hands through it with abandon, but she stopped herself. That might be a bit too far.
It might also lead to something that would make them late for dinner.
Instead, she focused on the job at hand. She brushed his hair, again, probably a little more than necessary, then separated out the temple pieces and worked a little of the oil into them. She plaited two tiny three-strand braids, then twisted them together in a rope. He closed his eyes as she worked. Finally, she added the silver caps to the ends. The end result was two slim but complicated-looking braids. A very nice job. Regal, even. Certainly worthy of the man who’d once been king. “There. All done.”
When he didn’t immediately respond, she realized he’d dozed off. She took that as a compliment. She shook his shoulder gently. “Robin?”
“Hmm?” He blinked himself awake.
“Your braids are all done. You want to look in the mirror?”
“I think I feel asleep.”
She smiled. “You did.”
His grin was sheepish. “Sorry.”
She shook her head. “It’s very relaxing to have someone working on your hair. Nothing to apologize for. Come on, have a look and see if what I did is all right.”
They went to the ornamental mirror on the wall, and he peered in. He nodded. “Those are perfect. I can’t even imagine how you did those. So much better than I could have done myself. You’re pretty good at braiding.”
“A lifetime of doing my own hair. Well, after my mother passed, anyway.” She tipped her head at his casual clothes. “I don’t want to nag, but you should probably get dressed.”
“You’re right. I should.” He didn’t make a move for the door, though. “Thanks again for the braids.”
“Thanks again for the earrings.”
A slightly wicked gleam played in his eyes. “Maybe they were worth a kiss?”
“Maybe.” She almost laughed. “Okay, definitely.”
As he leaned in, she put her hands on his chest. With the heels on, she was closer to his height.
He didn’t linger, probably because time was ticking. “How about I meet you at the top of the stairs in twenty minutes?”
“Oh. I was going to go down