“Hi, girls.” Holding a rectangular cardboard box, Amanda sauntered into the café. “I just came from the office building. There are packages waiting for you in the lobby.” She looked expectantly at Wonder. “What did you get?”

“Shoes, and flip-flops, and a couple of bras.”

Amanda lifted a brow. “I thought you didn’t wear them.”

“I don’t. But Kri says I should wear a sports bra when training because my bouncy duo is distracting the guys in her class.”

“I can imagine.” Amanda chuckled. “You’re the most sought after female in the village.”

Wonder grimaced. “Yeah, just not by the one I want.”

“Let’s have a girl talk. Maybe I can help.” Amanda wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

Waving her dishrag, Carol huffed. “Good luck with that. She dismisses everything I say, and we all know I’m an expert on the subject.”

Just thinking about Carol’s suggestions made Wonder blush. The woman used to be a pro who’d seen nothing wrong with exchanging her charms for material things from men. When she’d told Wonder about her days as a courtesan, which she’d explained was a kind of paid mistress, Carol had sounded wistful, not remorseful.

Amanda waved a hand. “I can imagine what kind of advice you gave her. Wonder is still just a girl. She needs to learn how to be a woman first. Then, when she’s confident in her femininity, she can use some of your tricks.”

“I’m right here.” Wonder pointed to herself. “You’re talking about me as if I’m not.”

“My bad.” Amanda led her to a table. “Carol, can you get us all cappuccinos and put up the closed sign? We can’t have guys intruding on our girl talk.”

“I’m on it.”

“So tell me, darling, who is that guy who’s pretending not to be interested?”

“How do you know he is only pretending?”

“First of all because there isn’t an unmatched male here who doesn’t want you. But I assume we are talking about a certain tall and hunky redhead?”

Wonder nodded.

“What makes you think he is not interested? I hear that you guys are spending a lot of time together.”

Where to start? And how was she going to explain Anandur’s mixed signals when she didn’t understand them herself?

“He says he’s too old for me. But then he gets jealous when he sees young immortals talking to me. When he was my prisoner, he flirted with me all of the time, but that was only to make me cooperate with him. Now I don’t know what he wants. He walks me home every evening, he comes to eat lunch here whenever he can, and we had dinner at his brother’s house three times already.” Wonder ran out of air.

“I see.” Amanda regarded her while tapping a finger on her lips. “You need a makeover, darling.”

“Amanda thinks everything can be solved with the right clothes.” Carol put down a cardboard carrier with three small paper cups inside it.

“Not just clothes, darling, it’s the whole package. We need to make Wonder look like a woman, and even more importantly feel like one. Everything will be different when she is confident in her femininity.” She flicked Wonder’s braid aside. “Can you do me a favor and let your hair down?”

“Why?”

“I want to see it.”

“Fine.” She pulled down the rubber band holding the end and unraveled the strands.”

“Ugh.” Amanda looked at her hair with a grimace. “When was the last time you had a haircut?”

“I didn’t. I just put it in a braid.”

“Figures.” Amanda finished her coffee in one gulp and pushed to her feet. “Get your packages from the office. I’ll get my trusty shears and my makeup case and meet you at your place.”

“And I’ll bring my hair products and curling iron,” Carol offered.

Oh, boy. The idea of a makeover was kind of exciting, but also a little scary. She didn’t want to look too different.

On the other hand, she kind of understood what Amanda had meant. Dressing and acting the part would not only help Anandur see her as a grown woman, but also help her own her femininity.

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m not sure I want to change the way I look too drastically. What if Anandur doesn’t like the new me?”

“Don’t worry about it. I know what I’m doing. The change will be very subtle.” She pointed at Wonder’s chest. “Fifteen minutes. Your place.”

“Oh, wait. What about training?” Wonder asked as she and Carol headed for the office building.

“Classes are canceled for today and tomorrow. Didn’t you get the text?” Carol asked.

“No.”

“That’s probably because you’re not on the list. I’ll add you when I have the chance.”

“Is it because of the raid?”

Carol nodded. “The Guardians are busy getting ready.”

“Is Kri going?”

“If she is, it’s not as part of the raiding party,” Carol said. “Kian doesn’t allow females anywhere near Doomers, not even Kri who can kick ass with the best of the guys. But she can do other stuff, like keep the humans calm and help evacuate them.”

Wonder found her last package, tucked it under her arm, and waited for Carol to find all of hers.

“Why is that? What’s the difference? If she can fight as well as a guy, then why not?”

Carol’s pretty face contorted into a snarl. “Trust me. There is a good reason for it. I agree with Kian on that.”