Page 43 of The Match Faker

I did as I was told. The sofa shifted. Liam had moved closer. His rich scent filled my lungs.

My heart stalled, then raced. I hadn’t been this close to Liam since… since maybe never and it was freaking me out.

I tried to keep calm, but when he swiped the damp cotton pad over my eyes, it became impossible.

‘That okay?’ he said softly.

I nodded. I couldn’t talk right now. I couldn’t even think straight.

‘On the way back from the shop, I called a make-up artist friend and she said to use hot water, soap and coconut oil to loosen the glue, then hopefully the lashes will fall off.’

I attempted to speak again, but still couldn’t. There was something so calming about the heat of his palms resting against my cheek. The soothing sensation of the warm pad sliding across my lids and his hot minty breath tickling my skin when he spoke.

As I thought about how close he was to me, my pulse raced. This felt so intimate.

‘There,’ he said. ‘No more lashes. You can open your eyes now.’

I didn’t want to. I wasn’t sure how they’d react to seeing Liam’s perfect face right in front of me.

‘You okay?’ I heard the concern in his voice. I had to open my eyes. If I just remembered I was here with annoying Liam, I’d be fine.

Except right now, he was being anything but annoying.

I opened my eyes slowly and a flurry of tingles raced through my body.

How was it possible for someone to be so attractive? His big brown eyes sparkled and his lashes… God, it was so unfair. If I had lashes like that I wouldn’t have even considered getting fake ones.

His lips were parted and for a second I wondered how it would feel to have them pressed against mine.

‘You good?’ He frowned, pulling back.

‘Y-yeah, I was just…’ He’d have to be blind not to notice me staring, so I had to address it before he thought I liked him. ‘I was just thinking how unfair it is that you have such long eyelashes.’

‘Don’t tell anyone, but these are extensions.’ He fluttered his lids.

‘Really? They look so natural!’

‘I’m joking!’ he chuckled.

‘Oh!’ I slapped his arm gently. God, it was even firmer than it looked.

‘Mum used to say the same—that long lashes were wasted on me.’

‘She’s right. You’re already too pretty for your own good.’

Oops, that slipped out. My cheeks heated.

‘So you think I’m pretty?’ He fluttered his lashes again.

‘Um, well, you do modelling and stuff, so… I… I better check my face.’ I jumped up from the sofa, then picked up a handful of products.

Once I was in the bathroom, I let out a deep sigh. As if I hadn’t embarrassed myself enough already today, I had to blurt out the fact that I thought Liam was hot. Well, I didn’t use that word exactly, but close enough.

I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting to look in the mirror. But I couldn’t hide forever, so I opened them slowly, ready to assess the damage.

Oh.

Ginormous beehive aside, I looked much better. All of the eye make-up had gone. There was just a smidge of foundation on my jaw.

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