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take a while.”
    Yeah, he had a lot to fix. I hunched my shoulders in misery as I trudged over to the sofa. He sat down right next to me, his expression softening. God, yuck, I didn’t want him feeling sorry for me, even if he did know how I felt.
    “Hey, it’s not your fault. And I meant it when I said you have a nice smile. More important, you’re a good person. I’m just going to make the outside line up with what you have going on up here.” He touched my neck, and soothing heat flooded through me.
    Immediately, I felt calmer—and suspicious of that shift. “What did you do?”
    “I used an electrical impulse to stimulate your hypothalamus, but I can’t make the kind of changes you’re asking for without a little pain. It’ll go smoother if you’re not already vibrating with tension.”
    “How much pain are we talking about?” I pushed out a slow breath, bracing. “And why can’t you make it painless? Or knock me out?”
    “Normally, a sedative would be administered, but I’m not an anesthesiologist. This procedure is low risk, but administering medication—well, I’m not doing that. You could be allergic, or it might not work on you the way it’s supposed to.”
    When he put it that way, I saw his point. This was close enough to plastic surgery without a license for me to get scared. I breathed deep, wondering if I should back up. But it was too late; the hash mark had already formed atop my infinity symbol. In this deal, there were no do-overs or takebacks.
    “I can handle it.”
    “Let’s focus on what you want. How would you like to look?”
    “You can make me resemble someone else?”
    “Sure. But it’s best if I optimize you. People tend to assume minor cosmetic procedures over the summer, weight loss, gym membership. They’ll fill in the blanks as long as you don’t have a whole new face.”
    “Then I’d love to be the best possible version of me.”
    “Okay, let’s start with your eyes. I can change the color or brighten them, as well as correct your vision.”
    “And people will think I got contacts or Lasik surgery.”
    “Pretty much.”
    “There’s nothing wrong with the color, is there?” It wasn’t like I spent any time staring at my own irises.
    “No, they’re pretty, like the sun through topaz. You just can’t see them too well with your glasses on.”
    Heat washed my cheeks. “You don’t have to say stuff like that.”
    “You think you’re a troll, because the people at school made you feel that way, but you have good raw material. You’ll be a knockout when we’re finished—and without as much structural redesign as you think.”
    “Then just do it.”
    He arched a brow. “You don’t want to direct me?”
    My shoulders squared, and I sucked in a sharp breath, trying to steady my nerves. Though I half suspected I was dreaming, it was terrifying to consider how much power I was giving him. “You’re the expert. Just go for the best version of me. I trust you.”
    Sweetness and surprise flashed in his face. “People don’t, usually. I’m just a means to an end.”
    “The genie in the bottle?”
    He touched my cheek so lightly, as if it were eggshell porcelain. “Something like that.”
    “Let’s get going,” I said, dropping my eyes.
    “One final question … What’s your ideal body type?”
    I’d never thought about it, mostly because I preferred to believe it didn’t matter what I looked like, at least it wouldn’t with people who cared about me. Beauty was in the eye of the beholder, right? So all my life, I had been holding out for the day somebody thought I was fine the way I was, but now I was sacrificing that potential for the sake of my plan. My stomach twisted with nerves.
    “Slim hourglass, I guess. I always envied girls who look gorgeous in anything.”
    With great tenderness, he set gloved hands on my face. The heat quickly built to unbearable levels, and soon I was choking back my screams. As he’d hinted, it was like surgery