Page 61 of Mistletoe Latte

“Okay,” Skylar said. Her voice was rough, but she wasn’t crying anymore as she held herself steady on her bed. Emma’s knees were already aching, but she kept it up.

“You must be excited about the dance. Did you talk to…?”

She paused with her blush brush as Skylar’s cheeks pinked on their own. “I did,” she gasped out with a giggle. “What you said worked. We talked for fifteen minutes about coffee, and he told me all about Italy. And…” Skylar lifted her phone and waved it around. “He gave me his number!”

“Congrats.”

“He said he’d save me a dance tonight. It has to go perfect.”

No wonder she was in such dire straights. Emma focused on blending. After adding a dash of blush and bronzer, then a hint of highlighter on Skylar’s enviable cheekbones, she lifted her apple-shaped hand mirror.

“Holy hell.” She raised her chin and whipped it back and forth. “You can’t even see it.”

“Why don’t we do some eye shadow? To compliment your dress?”

Skylar pointed to the dress hanging off her closet door. It was adorable and young, with a high neckline, no sleeves, and a poofy skirt. Emma zeroed in on the crimson belt around the black satin. “A cranberry with a dab of white on the corners should work perfectly.”

The girl dutifully closed her eyes as Emma got to work. She wasn’t as well-practiced in elaborate eye looks and had to concentrate. While she was tracing the black eyeliner across Skylar’s lids, the girl suddenly asked, “What’d you and my uncle talk about to get you to stay?”

Her hand jumped at the end, giving Skylar a severe cat-eye. Emma clasped her wrist to keep from accidentally dotting fake beauty marks on her cheeks as well.

“We, uh, talked about dessert and coffee.”

“And then you smooched,” Skylar said with a laugh.

Damn it.Emma tried to laugh it off, even lie, but her throat caught, and she couldn’t. “Hold still, please,” she said instead, focusing on the girl’s eyelids. Emma finished as quickly as possible, then gave one final spritz of a setting spray.

“How’s it look?” Skylar asked.

“See for yourself.” Emma held up the mirror and the girl squealed.

“Oh my goats, this is amazing. I look so…Antonio’s gonna love this. Eee! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She wrapped her hands around Emma and squeezed hard.

With care, Emma replaced her makeup tools and closed the box. “You’re welcome.”

Skylar was busy posing in her mirror, trying out various pouts with her reflection surrounded by cutout pictures of boys. She batted her mascara lashes and tested her lips before snatching up a lip gloss and coating her mouth. Even in the fancy dress and makeup, there was so much kid inside.

“How are you so good at this?”

Emma paused in the doorway. She could give any number of reasons. But as she dug her palms into the leather handle of her makeup kit, the old shame roared back. “When I was your age, I had bad acne. Not a couple of zits here and there, it was cystic.” Emma brushed a finger over her cheek where the worst of the scars remained. She put on a smile even as the pain bludgeoned her self-esteem. “I taught myself to put on my face from magazines and some old MUA training vids. It gave me back my confidence.”

It was the only way she was able to survive high school. Even now, if she didn’t wear her full coverage, people would gawk. Coworkers would ask if she was sick or infectious. She’d wake before dawn to put on her makeup and wash it off at two a.m. so no man would know.

“That’s bullshit,” Skylar said. “Sorry, but…no one should be mean to you for things you can’t control.”

Tears built in Emma’s eyes. She blinked them away before they could fall. “Thank you. You should get back to your friend.”

“Oh, shit! Abby!” Skylar dashed down the stairs and grabbed her friend’s hand.

“Does this mean you’re going to the dance after all?” Nick asked.

His niece stuck her tongue out, which he laughed off as the two girls ran to get dressed. Standing by the door, Emma caught his eye. He smiled and whispered, “Thank you.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“WAIT, I NEED one more,” Nick ordered the two girls. Skylar tossed her head back and groaned.

“We already took like two hundred pictures.”

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