“Chris! Chris! Chris!” By the time he made it around to the passenger door, he had two little boys and one little girl hanging off of him like extra limbs. Everyone was talking and laughing loudly—all at once—and two of his brothers were already helping Gwen out of the truck.
Damn it!
Julián was climbing out too, looking mildly amused as everyone talked to Gwen at once and she was smiling and nodding as she tried to decipher what someone was saying to her.
He whistled shrilly and hollered, “Quiet!” Everyone piped down suddenly and looked his way. “Everyone, this is my girlfriend, Gwen Henderson. There’s no way she’s gonna remember all your names, so make sure and remind her who you are and who you belong to if you talk to her.” Turning to Gwen, he reached for her hand and said, “Gwen, this is my mother and father, Angelina and Steven, and this is my grandmother, Francesca. This is Gwen.”
For the next couple of minutes, his relatives came to him and hugged and kissed him and greeted Julián, while Gwen tuned all else out but greeting his mom, dad, and grandmother. She made him proud with the way she gave her attention solely to them and responded to their typical demonstrative Italian greetings, exchanging hugs and kisses. It didn’t seem to bother her at all that they had no concept of personal space with a total stranger. The knot that had been tightening in his gut all day loosened just a bit. Maybe it would be all right.
Dad put his hand on Chris’s shoulder and gestured to Gwen with his chin as she stood chatting with Mom and Grannie. He nodded his head, showing approval for Gwen, and said, “Come in the house. We’ll get Gwen something to eat and drink and she can get to know everyone.”
His dad directed the women as Chris clasped Gwen’s hand with his own. He glanced at Julián as everyone turned and headed back toward the house and the backyard like a receding tide. She’d made it through first inspection and now he’d have to make the rounds to warn the guys to not tickle her.
Julián nudged him as they followed the crowd in the house. “She seems in her element. If she can handle the arena and all the accompanying media coverage, she can handle your family.”
Chris watched her ass as she walked directly in front of him. Those jeans were doing powerful things to his libido as her hips swayed and he imagined how she looked from the front. He’d watched her slip into the white lace push-up bra when she’d been getting dressed and recalled the way the transparent white G-string had slowly slid across her hips as she’d watched him watching her getting dressed. Her sultry smile flickered in his memory.
“Quit staring at your girlfriend’s ass like an idiot and help me bring these hot pans out to the deck, asshole,” his eldest brother, Angelo, said, grimacing while holding the edges of a hot aluminum foil pan.
And so it begins.
Gwen looked back and smiled, pretending to not hear what his brother said, which was impossible because he’d yelled it. She said, “Can I help with anything?”
Angelo turned his charm on and said, “No, my love, you’re a guest. Let us serve you. Everything’s hot and we were just waiting for you to arrive.” He handed the hot pan to Chris and gestured with his thumb in the direction of the enclosed back deck as he took Gwen’s hand and slid it around his elbow and started flirting with her. Two other brothers, Paolo and Stefano, closed in as well on her other side and in front while Chris stood there with a steaming pan.
Divide and conquer.
Julián chuckled and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll stay with her. Go put that down before you get burned.”
Isn’t that the fucking truth? He followed his sister Alessia out of the back door onto the covered back deck that was his mother’s pride and joy, and placed the pan on the huge table with all the others. The table practically groaned it was so heavy laden with food. Various relatives, both men and women, greeted him as they started peeling foil off the pans. His mouth watered and his stomach growled at all the aromas.
Almost every person there who was old enough, and some who weren’t, worked in the chain of family restaurants his family had started in Texas. His parents oversaw the whole operation but ran the business from their restaurant in Junction, while his brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins worked in restaurants scattered through the Texas Hill Country in Kerrville, Medina, Bandera, Wimberley, and Dripping Springs.
Chris and one of his brothers and a couple of cousins were the only ones who hadn’t gone into the family business. It wasn’t because Chris didn’t like to cook or the restaurant business in general. He loved them but he couldn’t stand the constant family drama.