Read Charmed (Contemporary Romance) for Free Online

an olive into her mouth and laughed.
    “And I wouldn’t get too attached to his aging, sagging looks. He’s leaving soon,” Justin added.
    “Oh, yeah?” Jamie asked. Nick leaving was a positive development in her book. Come to think of it, he’d mentioned something about it.
    “In December, he’s going off for a year, taking a sabbatical to go climb the Himalayas or something.”
    “The Himalayas?” Liz repeated.
    “Or something,” Justin called over his shoulder as he left.
    “He really is good looking,” Isabella thought out loud. “He looks like that wolf man in those mutant movies.”
    “Who, Justin?” Liz asked, surprised. “He shaved his hair off as soon as he realized he was going bald — he hardly looks like a wolf man.”
    “No, I mean Nicholas Grey,” Isabella clarified. “I think he looks like the actor who plays that wolf man. Although my son is, of course, even better looking.”
    “You mean Wolverine from the X-Men movies, Grandma,” Hannah corrected.
    “He does kind of look like that guy who plays Wolverine. Hugh Jackson,” Liz agreed.
    “Hugh Jackman , Mom.” Hannah rolled her eyes before turning to Jamie. “So … you have a crush on Nick Grey of all people? That’s just too funny. Oh! We should code name him Wolverine. That’s what my friends and I do when we have a crush on someone. We give them code names.”
    Jamie was alarmed. “I was just teasing Justin. You know, the way you tease Chris. It’s what sisters are born to do — annoy their brothers. But I do not have a crush on … Wolverine. I was only kidding.”
    “You have a crush on Wolverine?” Chris, Liz’s ten-year-old son, appeared from nowhere.
    “No,” they all said at once.
    “Go away,” Hannah added.
    Chris grabbed a juice box from the fridge before leaving, and Jamie waited a moment before peering behind the wall to see if anyone else was there. She saw her father putting his arm around Chris’s shoulders, their backs to Jamie.
    “Hey, is dinner almost ready?” her father asked.
    Chris shrugged.
    “What’re they talking about in there?”
    “Blah! Stupid girl stuff. I don’t get them.”
    Jamie’s father laughed. He then turned and winked at Jamie.
    “I don’t know, you certainly sounded convincing when you were defending Nick’s looks,” Liz said to her back.
    “This is good news, Jamie. If you’re taking the time to notice a man’s looks, you may be ready to start dating again!” Isabella’s Nuyorican accent had faded over the years, but it always came back with a vengeance when she was excited. She looked so hopeful now that Jamie almost didn’t want to burst her delusional little bubble. Almost.
    “Listen, people, I was trying to get on Justin’s nerves. That is all. I do not have a crush on Nick Grey. I don’t even like him.”
    “Really. Why not? He’s a great guy,” Liz said before quickly turning around to make sure Justin wasn’t there.
    “Well, because — ”
    “Hannah!” They heard Justin call. “One of your friends is calling you on my cell phone!”
    “Ahh … just when this was all getting interesting,” Hannah whined before leaving. But her mother and Liz were still looking at her expectantly.
    “Okay. Listen. When I saw him over at the school that first day, I was surprised to see he hadn’t lost his looks. I mean, after listening to Justin’s description, I was expecting Shrek. But I think he must’ve noticed my surprise and taken it to mean something because at the end of our meeting he gave me a sort of warning. I can’t remember his exact words because it was the way he said it that really got to me, but it was like he was telling me to not even look at him that way because he was done raising kids, and he wouldn’t go there again.”
    “Wow, what a jerk.” Liz’s eyes widened. But then she grew thoughtful. “Except, well, I don’t know, that doesn’t sound like him.”
    “Are you sure you didn’t misunderstand? Maybe he said something