Wayward Son (Jensen Family #3) (31 page)

“I think they are great
,
” she smiled
.
“
I feel very
comfortable around them,
they are both so easy going.
T
onight is going
to be fun
.
”

“It is
,
” Gavin agreed.

“I’m going to need to re-apply the pancake before we go out
,
” she gestured to her face.

“Ok, I’ll drop you home after this
.
”

“We’ll meet
you at yours Angel
,
” Gabby piped up
.
“I’ll do your make up for you, you
won’t even know you are wearing any
.
”

“I’ll do your hair
,
” Kiera offered.

“Looks like you boys will have to amuse yourselves for a few hours
,
” Angel said causing Novak to throw the
bac
k of his hand dramatically against his forehead.

“Oh no, how will we manage?” he intoned, stopped only by a well aimed
Acor
n to the head courtesy of James
.

The three boys arrived in a people carrier taxi to collect the girls at
eight that evening. Julian l
et them into the house
and warmly welcomed Gavin and his friends.

“The girls are in the kitchen
,
” he told the
three young men.

The girls, preened to perfection, on their second glass of wine
, they
were rosy cheeked and a little giggly,
much to the amusemen
t of the boys.

The evening was a great success with lots of laughter, the six of them
becoming firm friends. The taxi unloaded its young passengers outside the
Jensen house. Gavin, having d
ecided not to drink, was able
to
driv
e
Angel home in his car, Gabby
and Kiera were staying the night at his house.

“Are you coming in?” she asked.

“Nah, I’m going to make a move
.
”

“Ok
,
” she put her
key in the lock
.
“You know, I
won’t break if you touch me
,
” she said
.
“And I could really use a hug
,
” she was rewarded by a l
ovely smile as he moved in closer and wrapped his arms
around her.

“I’ve wanted to do this since Saturday night
,
” he told her.

“Then why didn’t you?” she asked, her eyes squeezing shut, her arms
wrapped firmly around him, breathing in his scent.

“I didn’t
want to freak you out
,
” he answered releasing his grip
.
“You had enough to deal with, you
didn’t need me trying to get hold of you on top of everything
.”
Her arms were still around his waist as
he moved and pressed his lips to hers briefly
.
“I’ll see you tomorrow?” he asked.
Angel nodded, wishing he would kiss her properly
.
“Night
,
” he ushered her into the house before
going back to his car.

The following morning at breakfast, Paul announced that his daughter,
Marissa, from his first marriag
e would be arriving
that afternoon to spend the rest of half term with him.

Marissa and Gavin shared an acrimonious relationship
,
with Marissa resenting Gavin’s presence
along with the fact that he had had most of Paul’s attention for pretty much
all of th
e past year. Gavin hated the fact that the
girl was stupidly spoiled and attention seeking and had no concept of privacy,
often barging into his room at inopportune moments and borrowing his things
without asking permission.

“What time does the bad tempere
d Prima Donna
arrive?” he asked
.

Paul ignored the
insult. “
Around three
,
” he replied
.
“I was thinking it might be a good idea
for you lot to spend the rest of your holiday down at the Sussex house
.
”

“That’s do-able
.
” Gavin
a
nswered.

“The house and pool are
finished, there are
landscapers working on the front garden, pretty much all the furniture has
arrived, I’m just waiting for your bed to be made but there is one in your
room. You can do what you want down there without me nagging you about the pool
,
” he
smiled.

“I’ll run it past the others, see what they say
.
”

The general consensus, after persuading James to stay for the rest of the
week, was a resounding yes and after a quick call to Angel, the group made
arrangements to head off to Sussex later that day
.

“Don’t go shooting off down the motorway
,
” Novak warned Gavin
.
“We won’t be able to keep up and you
are the only one who knows the way
.
”

“I won’t. We can stop for lunch on the way there
,
it’ll save us having to cook until
later
.
”

So that they weren’t tie
d to sticking together,
they were taking three cars. Gabby and James in her Mitsubishi Pajero, Novak
and Kiera in the borrowed BMW and of course Angel and Gavin would be taking the
Supra.

“You drive, I’ll direct
,
” Gavin said to
Angel when he picked her up
.
“We’re going to
stop for lunch, I’ll take over the driving from there
.
”

“I could get used to this
,
” Angel purred,
pulling out onto the road.

Gavin smiled “
You should.
I just figured you’d like to do the motorway driving and open her up a
little
.
”

“You
figured right
,
” she nodded
.
“I’ll try not to lose the others
.
”

They stopped for lunch at The Wiremill Inn at Newchapel and killed an
hour sitting by the river before completing the journey
.

“Bloody hell, its huge
,
” Angel gasped
as they rounded the bend in
the drive way.

“Yeah, it’s Dad’s plan to move us down here at some point
,
” Gavin pulled a face.

“Oh, that’ll be a shame
,
” she breathed.

“It won’t be for a while yet, he has far too much going on at the office
and the club at the moment to seriously conside
r it
and there’s no way he’ll sell the Kingston house
,
so I fully intend staying there, at
least all the time
I have a reason to.
”

She smiled and stepped out of the car
,
regarding the huge white house in front
of her
,
“You could have
some serious parties h
ere
.
”

“I expect there will be, it’s not like the noise will annoy anyone and we
have more than enough room
,
” he pulled
their bags from the boot
.
“I’ve put you
in Dad’s room for now
,
” he told her
leading the way to the double width front door
,
which opened
to
an expansive white marble lobby with a sweeping marble staircase
.

“Needless to say, Suzanne was in charge of decorating
,
” Gavin said, his voice echoing
.
“If Dad had his way, the whole place
would be filled with floor cushions and done out like an opium
den
.
”

“I knew there was a reason I liked your old man so much
,
” Novak commented as he entered the
lobby and looked around him
.
“
W
ow
.
”

Taking their bags in one hand and grasping Angel’s hand with the other,
Gavin moved towards the stairs.

“Come on Guys, I’l
l show you where the guest
rooms are then give you a tour
.
” Gavin made sure his friends found their rooms then took Angel to Paul’s
room.

“It’s very white
,
” she said
.
“And big
.
”

“Yeah, Suzanne says waking up in a totally white room is very peaceful
and put
s you in the right frame of mind for the day.
I personally think that’s bullshit
,
” he grinned.

“You like your dark, moody colours don’t you?” she laughed.

“I do. I’m just going to dump my stuff, you ok here?”

“Yeah. How come I’m not in your room?” she stop
ped
him.

“
Honestly? Because I don’t want to put
any pressure on you and that’s easier to do from across the hall,
” he said softly
.
“
I want you Angel, but I’m not Quinn. I’m giving you the space you need.
I’m only across the hall,
” he pointed to his door.

“
Listen to you
,
” she jested
, trying to take the attention away from the flush she must have had on
her face.
“Just across the hall. You make it
sound like I step out of this room, take a couple of steps and then I’m at your
door. Your room is at least forty feet away
.
”
She wanted to
jump his bones, but she truly appreciated that he wasn’t pressuring her.

“I’ll l
eave the door open
,” he promised, turning towards his room.