Wayward Son (Jensen Family #3) (42 page)

“Hi Grandma
.
”

“Mama
,
” Monica called
.
“Mama come here
.
”

An elderly lady in a flowered apron stepped out of the kitchen
.
“Ah, my beautiful boy
,
” she crooned in Spanish and as Monica
did, grasped his face and proceeded to cover it with
kisses.

“Gran
A
buela
,
” he greeted the older woman and
exchanged a few further words in Spanish with her while trying to dodge the
hands that
squeezed his arms and patted his chest,
his great grandmothers odd way of checking he was eating enough and growing
well.

Angel had watched the whole thing in amused silence, smiling when she saw
Gavin’s cheeks redden at the attention he was receiving. The
attention soon turned to her, with Gavin gesturing in her
direction and coming to stand beside her as the two older ladies descended on
them.

“I’m glad you thought that was funny
,
” he whispered to her
.
“Now it’s your
turn
,
” he faced his two female grandpa
rents
.
“
T
his is my girlfriend
, Angel.
”

Both ladies grabbed her and kissed her cheeks, the older of the two
exclaiming.

“E
lla es
Hermosa.
”

“She says you are beautiful
.
” Gavin
translated.

“Thank you
.
” Angel could
feel her cheeks getting warm at the complimen
t; she
grasped her long hair and pulled it to one side, the bulk of it coming over her
left shoulder, giving both women a clear view of the many love bites Gavin had
placed on her neck.

Monica scowled at him and Paula shuffled away muttering in Spanish abo
ut the prowess of her great grandson.

“Well, there’s no need to ask what you’ve been up to this past week is
there?” Monica commented.

“Grandma
,
” Gavin started
to protest.

“Hey Gavin, how are you?” Monica’s brother John came to his rescue.

“Great now, than
ks John
.
”

“No worries
,
” he turned to
his sister
.
“Come on Mon,
he’s a young man, you remember what we’re like
,
” he gently chastised her.

“You still are you old rogue
,
” she laughed,
she was about to turn away when she spotted a tall blond man sidle through
the door
.
“Novak?” she
asked.

“Hi Grandma
.
” Novak’s face
split into his broad smile and he bent to cuddle the older woman
.
“Long time no see
.
”

“Indeed, what happened to your beautiful hair?” Monica grasped Novak’s
hand and took him with her through to the
garden.

“Where’s Dad?” Gavin asked his uncle.

“Talking business with Matt and Jake in the garden
,
” he replied
.
“Hi, I’m John
,
” he introduced himself to Angel
.

“Angel
,
” she smiled.

“Sorry
.
” Gavin cut in
.
“Grandma’s disapproving glare always
puts me off
.
”

“S
he’ll get over it
,
” John replied, they had reached the
garden
.
“Paul’s over
there
,
” he pointed to the far corner of the
garden.

“I’d better go and say hello
.
” Gavin had
grasped Angel’s hand as he surveyed the large amount of people and children in
the gard
en.

“I’ll be ok here
,
” she told him.

“I’ll look after her
.
” Novak stepped
over a ride along toy
.
“Wine?” he
asked Angel.

“Yeah,” she nodded
.
“Hang on, come
down here, you have lipstick on your cheek
,
” she wiped the pale pink lipstick off.

Novak smiled
,
“Gavin’s Gran
never could resist me
,
” he led the way
to the kitchen.

Gavin made his way through the garden, greeting family friends and
relatives as he went and finally reached Paul’s side.

“Hi Dad
.
”

Paul smiled at his son and excused himself from his
conversation
.
“Hello boy
.
”

“I didn’t mean to disturb you
.
”

“It’s ok, business was concluded a while ago
. W
e were just chewing the fat. Did you
have a good week?”

“Yeah, it was great, the house is looking fantastic
.
”

“Good, did you start up the pool heaters
and
uncover the gym equipment like I asked you to?”

“Yes Dad
.
” Gavin tutted
.
“And we even tidied up before we left
.” H
e mocked.

“Good. Good
,
” he put his
hand on Gavin’s shoulder as they began their trek through the garden and felt
his son flinch from his
touch
.
“Am I embarrassing you?” Paul asked.

“No, my shoulder is sore
.
” Gavin replied.

“I hope you haven’t pulled any muscles, you have a game on Wednesday”

“No pulled muscles
.
” Gavin
confirmed.

“What then?” Paul asked.

Gavin turned to face his father, his
back to
the garden and knowing Paul wouldn’t let it go until he knew the cause of
Gavin’s pain, he opened a few more buttons on his shirt and slid the garment
from his shoulder.

“Oh
,
” Paul smiled
.
“I gather things have progressed
between you and Angel?” as
he was speaking he looked
over Gavin’s shoulder to the patio where Angel was sitting with Novak and
raised his hand to acknowledge her.

“They did
.
”

“Do you think it’s safe to leave her with Novak?” Paul asked.

“Probably not
,
” Gavin laughed
.
“Although he d
oes
know I would kick his arse if he so much as touched her
.
”

“Uh-oh
,
” Novak spoke
.
“Now you’re in trouble, Papa Jensen has
noticed that you’ve marked his cub, he won’t be happy
.
”

“He’ll be fine, trust me
.
” Angel laughed,
try as she might, she simply could
n’t dislike Novak.

“You’re right, knowing Mr.
J, he’ll be dead
chuffed that Gav is getting some
,
” Novak sipped
his wine
.
“I told Kiera
about my girlfriend
,
” he changed the
subject.

“I did wonder why you were alone
,
” Angel replied
.
“She didn’t
take it well?
”

“She was very calm but now I feel like a total shit
,
” he answered.

“You are a total shit
.
” Angel
confirmed
.
“But Kiera’s
tough, she’ll work her way through it
.
”

“If there’s anything I can do to help I will
,
” he replied
. “S
he doesn’t want to see me before
I go home
.
”

“Then your best bet would be to stay out of her way. I hate you for
hurting her but I can’t bring myself to dislike you completely and to be fair,
she does fall quickly for guys like you
.
”

“I’d like to sit here and tell you I’ll change my ways
,
but we both know that would be a lie.
Women are my weakness, I love them and plan to sample as many as I can before I
settle down
,
” he admitted.

“That’s horrendously selfish
.
” Angel told
him.

“I know, but I am a single man, or I will be within the week,
there’s no harm in playing the field a bit
.
”

“Leaving a trail of broken hearts behind you
.
” Angel finished.

“I don’t make them any promises of longevity or fidelity and yet women
still want to get in my pants, I’d have to be a monk to refuse
.
”

“You can jus
tify it all you like, from a
woman’s point of view, it’s just plain wrong
.
”

“But that’s the fundamental difference between men and women though isn’t
it? Men seem to prefer sex without commitment and women like it the other way
around
,
” Novak finished
befo
re rising and greeting Paul
.
“Hey Mr.
J, what’s the reason for the party?”

“I just closed a big deal, made a huge profit
,
” Paul beamed
.
“You appear to be missing about three
foot of hair
.
”