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The photos Becca had been sent were all of paintings of beautiful scenery. Nothing exciting. Nothing mysterious. Luc was going to be alpha one day, maybe sooner than later, and I felt he needed something in his house that would keep others on their toes. None of these were speaking to me in that way, but I didn’t want to crush Becca’s hopes before I’d even seen them in person. Maybe there would be something else on offer that would be suitable?
Raising my eyes back to Becca’s, I said, “These all look beautiful, but I’ll visit the gallery tomorrow to see if there’s something more suitable.”
“Your mom said not to embarrass him too much.”
“Toomuch?”
Becca started laughing at the smirk forming on my face. “Yeah, that’s what I thought your reaction would be.”
Millie
It was Saturday,and we’d had a steady flow of tourists come through the door and sold a handful of paintings too. Even with people coming in and out and being on my feet all day, I found myself dreaming about getting away from all this cold and snow by teasing myself with scenes of sunning myself on the beach. Forget skiing, I wanted warmth.
“Hi, are you Lillian?” a voice asked.
I yelped as I came back to reality, then lifted my hands to cover my mouth in embarrassment at being caught daydreaming while on the job. In front of me was the handsomest man I’d ever seen. Polished and refined, he filled out his suit just right, and his unbuttoned jacket showed off his crisp white shirt underneath. I couldn’t stop staring at his chest. His shirt was so fitted, I could see the defined pecs underneath it. My fingers curled inside my palms, aching to reach out and touch them.
“You done staring?”
I snapped out of my daze real quick, shocked and appalled at his and my own response. Doing my best to collect myself but failing miserably, I turned to leave.
I heard a chuckle behind me. “Don’t leave,” he said, placing a hand on my arm.
At his touch, a jolt traveled all the way up my arm to my face, and I could feel my cheeks growing warm. He must have felt it, too, because he removed his hand quickly.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m looking for Lillian Yin.”
“That would be me,” Lillian said, suddenly appearing from behind me.
The man turned to her, and his demeanor instantly changed, becoming suave and sophisticated. “Great to meet you, Lillian. I’m Jacob McCullough,” he said, taking off his glove.
Oh, crap! This was Becca’s friend. I started to leave to cover my embarrassment, but Lillian had other thoughts.
“Nice to meet you, Jacob. Millie, here, is the artist’s daughter. She can give you a tour of the paintings.”
What?!I should have introduced myself as Lira so she could look like the crazy curator who liked to ogle handsome men.
“Ah.” He seemed to take pleasure in my embarrassment. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Millie.”
“It’s nice to meet you!” I said promptly.Too loud, Millie. Pull yourself together.
But his smile had me mesmerized. Those lips could do wondrous things to mine, and it made me realize I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d been kissed.
He laughed, much to my mortification. I looked down to see his hand had reached out for mine, and I deftly put one of my own in his to shake. I expected the warmth, but I didn’t expect how large his hand was and how much I liked it wrapped around mine. We locked in together like a puzzle piece. Another jolt ran up my arm, and this time he didn’t let go.
I took in a deep breath and decided to do the job I was supposed to be doing—selling Dad’s art. I’d sell him the art piece and be done with this situation. Letting go of his hand, I said, “I sent Becca pictures, but unfortunately, some have already sold. Was there one you were looking for in particular?”
“Those paintings were wonderful, but I’m not sure they’re what I’m looking for. Why don’t you show me around, and I’ll see if anything catches my eye.”
My heart had started thumping faster the longer he stared at me. There was something about him that simultaneously calmed and excited me all at the same time. I couldn’t decide if I should bolt and hide until he left or if I should hold hands with him and keep him as close to me as possible in case I lost him.What is happening to me?
Telling myself to keep my head screwed on straight, I focused on the painting in front of us. “Every item is numbered, starting with the beach scene we see here,” I said, pointing at the scene of the vacation Dad took us on so he could capture the perfect waves in his painting. Mom was so mad when she found out there was nothing to do there except sit on the beach all day. I laughed at the memory of Lira wearing rain boots on the sand and not taking them off until we had rolled out a large blanket and made sure not a single grain of sand was within a foot of her.
“Something funny?”
I really need to keep my thoughts at bay.I took another deep breath and smiled at Jacob, explaining, “Just thinking of the family vacation we had at this beach.”
“Happy times, huh?”
