Goddess of Love (Goddess Summoning #5)(63)

"They?" Venus frowned at the gaggle of noisy young women. Why was Griffin interested in them while he was on a date with her?

"They are my sisters." Then he did look at her. "I hope you don't mind meeting my family."

"Your family?" Venus realized she sounded squeaky, but she couldn't seem to help it. Pea had said meeting the family happened later!

He smiled and nodded apologetically. "Yeah, I guess I should have warned you sooner, but I didn't want to scare you off."

"Oh. Well. Oh," was all Venus could manage.

"And one other thing," he said quickly as the group of girls caught sight of him and began to move in a single rush toward them. "I'm the sculptor."

"You're the..." Venus began and then simply stopped and stared at him as the truth hit her. The name on the plates had been D. Angel. DeAngelo. Of course he was the artist, which explained why he'd been so tense and silent. This was his art opening. "How extraordinary," she murmured.

Chapter Twenty-One

G riffin's sisters were enchanting female whirlwinds. They reminded Venus of forest nymphs. They also reminded Venus of why she could only spend a limited amount of time with forest nymphs. The little creatures were exhausting.

"Yep! We've been tellin' Griff for years that he shouldn't be so hush-hush about his art. It's cool, really. And it doesn't make him less macho. It's not like he's an interior designer or somethin' like that. He's a fireman. You don't get much more macho than that," said Alicia, rolling her eyes in the direction her brother had disappeared with the gallery owner. Alicia was the youngest of the group, and Venus thought she was cute in a spaniel-like way, even though she was clearly the most scatterbrained of the sisters.

"You wouldn't believe how hard it was to get this show together," said Sherry, the oldest and also the prettiest. She looked a lot like her brother with her thick, dark hair and her amazing blue eyes.

"Yeah, Sherry took the slides of Griff's work on the sly, and then snuck with them to the gallery owner, pretending to be his publicist," said Kathy. Venus loved her short, spiky haircut and thought it made her neck look incredibly swanlike. She also liked the sparkle in her blue eyes, which definitely reminded her of Griffin. And Kathy's job fascinated Venus, too. She was a radio personality on something called a soft rock station. Venus would love to question her about what that meant, especially because that would mean she could listen to her talk more - Kathy's voice was a smoky mixture of woman and sex appeal, and it was truly a sensual experience just to hear her speak.

"I wasn't pretending," Sherry said, tossing her long hair back over her shoulder. She grinned at Venus. "I am a publicist. I just usually promote bands and not artists."

"And Griffin's not paying you," Stephanie said. She, too, had Griffin's dark hair, but her eyes were more green than blue. She'd explained that she was working on an advanced degree at the University of Tulsa. Venus wasn't sure what a jurisprudence was, but it sounded important, and she liked Stephanie's intensity.

Sherry laughed. "No, he's not paying me. But he is going to change the oil in my car for the next fifty thousand miles."

"Hey! He's going to change the oil in my car," Alicia whined.

"You girls fighting over me again?" Griffin grinned at his sisters, then handed Venus a fresh glass of champagne. "Here ya go, my goddess. Thought you might need a drink after spending time with this group."

"Your goddess? That sounds awfully presumptuous of you," Sherry said.

"Yeah, don't you need a goddess's permission before making her your own personal deity?"

Kathy practically purred.

Venus smiled and caught Griffin's eye teasingly. "Your brother is the kind of man who lays claim to what he wants. I suppose it's a good thing Venus is Goddess of Love and not war. Love has a more docile temper."

"Docile? You?" Griffin's lips tilted up.

"She didn't say she was docile, doofus. She said she was more docile than the freaking Goddess of War, which still means you should watch yourself," Alicia said.

"Exactly," Venus said.

"I've already decided that she's more naughty than nice."

"Is he insulting me?" Venus asked Sherry.

"I don't think so. In his own way I think our Griff means it as a compliment."

"Hey. I'm right here."

In perfect unison all four sisters rolled their eyes at him.

"You're driving her away from me and dooming me to a passionless, lonely existence where I'll be known as the crazy old fireman/artist who spends all his time changing the oil in his sisters'

cars and never has a moment to himself."

"And the problem with that would be what?" Sherry said sweetly.

"Hey, would you get all hunched over and put on a French accent like Kevin Kline in French Kiss, and mutter stuff like, Those girls make my ass hurt, while you suck on a disgusting cigarette and drink little glasses of red wine?" asked Kathy.

"Kat, you've got to give up that Netflix subscription. You're spending way too much time watching and rewatching movies," Sherry said.

"I like movies." Kathy pouted.

"Are you feeling the need to run screaming from this place?" Griffin asked Venus. She laughed. "I like getting to know your sisters." It was clear from the way his sisters doted on Griffin that they adored him as much as he obviously adored them. What a multilayered man he was: fireman and warrior, artist and loving brother. The sisters continued to argue about the oilchanging schedule and Griffin. Venus sipped her champagne and glanced up over the lip of her glass, catching his gaze. While he watched her she took the strawberry that garnished the rim of the glass and licked the tip of it. She saw Griffin's breath catch. Yes, he certainly was multidimensional, which included the healthy dose of passion she knew all too well was simmering just beneath his surface. A passion she would love to sample again and again and...