Page 26 of Husband for the Holidays

A short time later, Konstantin walked her into a busy salon where a stylist introduced herself as Ghaliya.

“I thought I was picking out a dress, not having a full makeover,” Eloise grumbled as she saw a nail tech preparing her station for her.

“You said you didn’t want Antoine to know how much you’ve struggled,” he pointed out dispassionately, eyes on the wall of nail polish arranged in bands like a rainbow.

“What sort of look are we going for today?” Ghaliya asked brightly as she returned from hanging Eloise’s coat. “Are you attending a holiday event? A special occasion perhaps?”

“Return of a prodigal daughter?” Eloise asked with a facetious quirk of her mouth in Konstantin’s direction. He might as well have some say, since he was paying for it.

“This isn’t an apology tour. It’s a triumphant return,” he stated firmly, then frowned. “Are you going to cut your hair?”

She shot a protective hand to the ponytail at her nape. “A trim, maybe. Why? Should I?” She’d worn it short through her teens and early twenties, only letting it grow out lately because she hadn’t had the will or funds to cut it. She had rediscovered she liked having long hair.

“With your features, a pixie or a bob would be very cute,” Ghaliya said with enthusiasm.

“No,” Konstantin said in firm refusal.

Eloise drew her brows in question, puzzled by his emphatic reaction.

“That length suits you,” he stated, cheek ticking even as he looked away. “But do whatever you want.”

“I used to wear it short, but I prefer it long.” Eloise played her fingers against her nape, not sure what to make of his opinion.

“It sounds like you know what you want,” Ghaliya said diplomatically. “Shall we get started? Did you want to make yourself comfortable, sir? We should be finished by eleven if you’d rather come back. We’ll be across the street at the boutique by then.”

“I’ll meet you there.” Konstantin held Eloise’s gaze as though he was waiting for her to confirm she would be okay if he left.

She nodded jerkily, kind of touched that he was so considerate, but also worried by how dependent she was becoming on him. Maybe she had more of her mother’s tendencies than she’d ever realized, because the minute he left, she felt abandoned.

On the other hand, given all that had happened since the elevator doors had opened in that New York high-rise two days ago, she desperately needed time and space away from him to process.

Ghaliya didn’t give her a chance to dwell on any of that, though. She distracted her with a thousand small decisions around hair, nails and makeup while keeping up a pleasant chatter of innocuous topics like celebrity gossip and the latest fashions.

Before Eloise knew it, she was in the boutique across the street, staring at someone who was both recognizable and a complete stranger.

Her hair had been highlighted and trimmed to create a gold frame around her face and generous waves had been pressed into it, making it look shiny and casually polished. The longer length and shape did suit her. Those old pixie cuts had made her eyes seem too big for her face, but with a subtle touch of makeup and an understated lipstick, the balance was just right.

For clothes, she chose a cashmere sweater in fern green over a wrap skirt with diagonal buttons on her hip. It left a good portion of her left leg bare, revealing her black tights and tall boots. She was trying a beret when Konstantin entered.

His imposing presence immediately soaked up all the oxygen in the exclusive shop, making the walls shrink in around her.

In an effort to move past all the awkwardness of this morning, Eloise turned and dropped her hand on her hip, throwing her weight to one side while pointing with her other hand at the hat. “Chic? Or overkill?”

The way his inscrutable gaze traveled all over her made her feel as exposed as a doe in a field, sending a small zing through her that urged her to run.

“Keep it,” he said in a deep voice. “It’s cold out.”

Practical, she noted with a twinge of letdown.

“Let me get you some jacket options,” the stylist murmured as she disappeared to another section of the small store.

Eloise turned back to the mirror and fiddled with the hat, surreptitiously glancing at Konstantin in the reflection, wondering if he was still cross with her over the way she’d behaved when they’d woken.

His gaze was caressing her butt!

A tingling sensation of his hand there had been torturing her all morning. Now a fresh rush of heat flooded into her loins as she remembered the satisfying sensation of his hard thigh pressing against the tender, throbbing flesh, tipping her into a place so delicious her mouth dried as she remembered it.

His gaze came up to meet hers in the mirror and she couldn’t make herself look away, even though she was accosted by the memory of moaning into his mouth, holding onto him as her body quaked.

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