Free Since You've Been Gone (Welcome to Paradise) by Elle Kennedy Page A

that motel room door closed for the night. She honestly couldn’t remember ever feeling so sexually sated.
    But they’d done more than get naked this last week. Austin had taken hundreds of photographs. Mari had filled up an entire sketchbook with memories from the trip. The conversation had never lagged, the attraction never waned, and now that the journey had come to an end, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of disappointment. Soon she’d be heading to Des Moines, where she’d spend the rest of the summer living under her parents’ roof again.
    “Shit.”
    Austin’s soft expletive jarred her from her thoughts. She glanced over, realizing he’d come to a complete stop on the side of the paved road.
    “Why’d we stop?” she asked, puzzled.
    He rested both hands on the steering wheel. “I just realized…I have no idea where we’re going to stay.”
    The rueful reply caught her off-guard. “What do you mean?”
    He released a rapid breath. “I don’t have my own place here. I usually just crash at my mom’s, but we can’t stay there. Scratch that—I don’t want to stay there. The twins are a no-go too, since Jake and Bree live in Denver, and Owen and Maddie’s place only has one bedroom.” He tapped his fingers against the wheel. “I guess that leaves Nate and Charlotte.”
    Mari sucked in a breath. “You mean we’ll be staying with Charlotte Hill?”
    For the first time since they’d arrived in Paradise, humor twinkled in Austin’s green eyes. “Please don’t tell me you’re gonna get all star-struck around her.”
    “I might,” she said sheepishly.
    He sighed. “You’re totally going to embarrass me, aren’t you, Smith?”
    “I might,” she said again.
    When Austin laughed, the husky sound made her heart skip a beat. “Well, try to control yourself,” he said. “Charlotte’s actually pretty humble, and she gets embarrassed when people make a big fuss over her.”
    “Hey, I forgot to ask, but where is the party going to be?” Mari inquired as Austin put the SUV back in drive.
    “My mom’s place.”
    A silence fell between them, and although tension rolled off Austin’s body in steady waves, Mari didn’t force him to vocalize his visible agitation.
    She shifted her gaze back to the window, but there wasn’t much time to admire the sights because less than five minutes later, Austin turned onto a long dirt road bordered by trees on either side.
    When an A-frame, chalet-style house came into view, Mari’s eyes lit up. The house was gorgeous, and looked so darn cozy she was hit by a jolt of envy. Gosh, what she wouldn’t give to live somewhere like this.
    The dirt road gave way to a dusty drive and an enormous front yard dotted with shady elm trees. There was a blue pickup truck parked near the wraparound porch of the house, and next to it was a black SUV with tinted windows, which Austin pulled up beside.
    “I love this house,” Mari remarked, her gaze drifting to the rustic porch and upper-level balcony.
    “Owen and his crew built it,” Austin told her.
    “Really? I should get them to build one for me.”
    The front door flew open the second she and Austin got out of the car, and then a gorgeous woman with long red hair appeared on the porch. Mari immediately recognized Charlotte Hill, her breath catching as the singer descended the porch steps and hurried toward them.
    Charlotte was much shorter in person, just about Mari’s height, but her presence was larger than life as she threw her arms around Austin and hugged him so tight Mari noticed him grimace. But he looked more amused than annoyed by the grand welcome, and he did return the hug, even bending down to plant a quick kiss atop Charlotte’s head.
    “Hey sis,” he said roughly. “Long time, no see.”
    “ Too long,” Charlotte corrected, the joy in her green eyes fading into irritation. “We haven’t heard from you in three months.”
    “I’ve been busy with work.”
    “Uh-huh, sure, like I really