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“She doesn’t look like you at all.”
“You’re right again. She looks like her dad. You can’t tell in the photo, but she’s super tall. Even taller than your grandmother.”
“Gigi says I’m going to be tall. I’m the tallest girl in my class.”
“Gigi?”
“That’s what I call my grandma.”
I look over at Glinda and she smiles lovingly at her nickname.
Our truce talk is interrupted by a large, bald man entering the kitchen. The same man I saw at the front gate when I came in.
Glinda’s face lights up. “Nico. I’m so glad you can join us for lunch.”
Beckett narrows his eyes at Glinda, but she waves him off.
Nico nods. “Thanks for inviting me, Glinda. I’m happy you’re back in town.”
I think something is going on with them. I look at Beckett and he sighs in frustration. He has no control of his household. This is wildly amusing.
We all sit down to a huge spread of food. I’m introduced to their chef, Karen, who seems as excited to see me as Glinda. She’s an older woman with gray hair and kind eyes. It’s clear she has affection for Beckett. For some reason, I like that his security guard is eating lunch with us, and his chef looks at him like a mother looks at their child. At least he treats his staff well.
I learn that Nico is Beckett’s longtime bodyguard, and that Andie calls him Uncle Nico. He’s enormous. Beckett is a big man, but Nico is even bigger. I’d guess he’s in between Beckett and Glinda’s ages.
He and Glinda shamelessly flirt. It’s adorable.
Glinda bats her eyelashes at him as she touches his arm. “Nico, I think you’ve gotten even stronger since my last visit.”
He’s in a suit. It’s not like you can see his muscles. She just wanted to touch him. Beckett rolls his eyes at it.
He smiles at her. “Thanks, Glinda. Beckett has been working out a lot. I join him in the gym sometimes.”
Now that he says it, I realize he’s right. Beckett is much more muscular than the last time I saw him. The T-shirt he’s currently wearing is stretched across his broad chest. His biceps are bulging. I only saw him in a suit last time, but he’s definitely bigger. He’s sexy as hell.
He smirks at me when he catches me ogling him. I quickly turn my eyes away.
At some point, Glinda shifts her attention from Nico to me. “Amanda, I believe I heard Beckett mention that you paint. Are you an artist?”
“I am.”
“Tell us about your work.”
“I paint a lot of different things. Landscapes, portraits, still life. Some realistic, some more abstract. You name it, I paint it. I gravitate toward whatever inspires me in the moment.” I point toward a painting hanging on the wall in the kitchen. “That one right there is one of my paintings.”
She stands and walks over to it, examines it, and then turns back to us looking confused. “Your name isn’t on it.”
“I don’t sign my real name on my work. I made thatdecision years ago when I had Jade. I thought if I ever hit it big, I’d want some anonymity.”
She smiles as she sits back at the table. “It’s signedEnchanted.”
“Yes, that’s how I sign everything.”
She turns to Beckett and gives him a coy smile. Something passes between them. Almost like she just realized something about him. He stares back at her in challenge.
Andie breaks the tension, “What does enchanted mean?”
I answer, “It can mean to be charmed, but it can also mean to be placed under a magic spell.”
