Since You've Been Gone (Welcome to Paradise) (2 page)

He swept his gaze over her once more. She had a fantastic rack, creamy cleavage spilling from her tight tank, and goddamn, but he really was loving those legs. She couldn’t be taller than five-two-ish, but her legs still looked long and shapely as hell.

When his eyes returned to her face, he saw the knowing smirk on her lips. “You need to be more subtle when you’re checking out a woman,” she said frankly. “I’ll tell you what, give me a ride to the next service station and I’ll give you some tips on how to ogle without getting caught.”

Austin just shrugged. “I don’t mind when the woman I’m ogling knows just how much I’m enjoying the view.”

Mari cocked her head. “Huh. Somehow I don’t find that offensive. Anyhoo, about that ride…”

Chapter Two

Mari didn’t usually beg for rides from complete strangers, but she had to admit, it wouldn’t be a hardship spending some more time with her sexy rescuer, even if it was just a short car ride.

She couldn’t believe her luck—not only had someone actually stopped to help her out, but said stopper happened to be the hottest man on the planet. Other women might turn their noses up at his appearance, but Mari had always been drawn to the scruffy type. Her pulse kicked up a notch as she stared at Austin Bishop’s stubble-covered face and messy dark hair, and then her heart stopped beating altogether as her gaze slid down his impressive body. He wore a Denver Broncos T-shirt that looked like it had gone through the wash a hundred thousand times, but the thin material only made it easier to discern the rippled awesomeness of his muscular chest. Faded denim jeans encased his long legs, and his tan-colored boots were scuffed-up and lightly spattered with mud.

She wondered if he worked on a farm, but he didn’t give off a farm-boy vibe. Wasn’t a cowboy either, since no self-respecting cowboy left the house without a Stetson on his head. The shiny silver SUV he was driving told her he wasn’t an unemployed shmuck like her, but his lean body and bad-boy stubble made it difficult to hazard a guess about what he did for work.

Not that it mattered—she didn’t care what a man did for a living as long as it made him happy. Happiness was super important, in Mari’s opinion. Which was precisely why she’d chosen to move back home instead of settling for some random job she wasn’t passionate about. She was an artist, damn it! With a teaching degree, to boot. She refused to work as a cashier or a waitress or any of the other positions she’d seen advertised in the want ads. Thanks to layoffs, she was no longer employed as an art teacher, but she was certain she’d find something in Des Moines. She already had two interviews lined up, one in the public school system, the other with a private school.

But God, moving back home? She was
so
not looking forward to that. She loved her parents dearly, but living under their roof again would be pure torture.

“Okay, I guess not then…”

The teasing male voice broke through Mari’s thoughts, and she found Austin grinning at her. Man, he had a sexy grin. And a dimple in his chin. She was such a sucker for dimples.

“Sorry, what did you say?” she asked.

“I said I’d be happy to take you to the next service station, but wouldn’t you rather get dropped off at a bus terminal? Or the airport?”

She pondered the question. “A bus terminal would be great,” she admitted. “Like I said, I’m in absolutely no hurry to get to Des Moines.”

Austin gazed at her in sympathy. “You don’t get along with your folks?”

Mari sighed. “No, I do. It’s just…they’re so…conservative. They’re all about rules and expectations and doing everything in a particular way, whereas I’m more of a free spirit, I guess. I’m kind of the odd one out in my family. I’ve never totally fit in with them.”

“I know what you mean.” With a faraway look, he raked a hand through his hair, drawing Mari’s attention to his perfectly defined biceps. Then he snapped out of whatever reverie he’d gotten lost in. “Shit, we got off topic again. So, the bus terminal? Let me check my phone and Google where the nearest station is.”

“You sure you don’t mind giving me a ride? I could always wait around for the tow-truck dude.”

Something flickered in his eyes.

Was that a flash of heat?

Mari’s cheeks warmed. Nah, she was imagining it. He definitely hadn’t looked aroused by the word
ride
.

She was, though. Uh-huh, she was certainly aroused. Her nipples strained beneath her bra, and her core clenched as she met Austin’s moss-green eyes. She’d never met anyone with eyes that shade of green. Dark and earthy and utterly hypnotic.

“I don’t mind at all,” he said slowly.

Their gazes connected. Mari’s cheeks scorched even more.

She forced herself to break the eye contact. “Let me grab my stuff then. I’ll call the tow company on the way and tell them to take the lemon straight to the junkyard instead of a garage.”

“Good plan.”

It didn’t take long to empty out the Toyota—she’d only brought a small duffel and a backpack for the five-hour drive, and the rest of her belongings were being shipped from Chicago. As she followed Austin toward his SUV, she rummaged around in the front pocket of her backpack until she found her phone.

“Mind posing for a picture?” she asked her dark-haired hottie.

As he stopped to look at her, she raised the phone and snapped a shot of his perplexed face before he could respond, which brought another grin to his lips.

“Um. Okay. Didn’t realize this was a Kodak moment.”

“It’s just in case you murder me,” she said frankly, before sweeping her fingers over the touch screen of her phone. “I’m emailing your name and photo to my folks. So if I turn up dead, they’ll know who did it.”

Rather than look insulted, Austin threw his head back and laughed. The deep rumble of a sound was so sexy her pulse sped up again.

“Want to take a picture of my license too?” he offered. “That way they can also have my address and measurements?”

She was about to roll her eyes in response, but her jaw fell open as she watched Austin reach into his back pocket for a brown leather wallet. To her shock, he handed her his driver’s license and urged her to photograph it. Which she did, because hey, stranger danger was
real
, even if that stranger happened to be a sex god.

She emailed her dad again, then put away the phone and glanced up to find Austin nodding his approval. For some silly reason, it pleased her that he hadn’t balked at the precautions she’d taken.

“You’ve gotta be careful these days,” he told her.

“You could photograph my license too,” she said helpfully. “For all you know,
I’m
the serial killer.”

The dimple in his chin appeared. “I think I’m safe. Besides, I can totally take you.”

Oh yes, you can…

She silenced the naughty voice in her head and headed for the SUV’s passenger side, but Austin beat her to it. To her sheer amusement, he opened the door for her.

“What?” he said when he caught sight of her expression.

“You know, I think that’s the first time anyone has opened a car door for me.” She shook her head in bewilderment. “I always thought chivalry was dead.”

“Nope, it’s alive and kicking.” His smile was self-deprecating. “Maybe I was a knight in a past life.”

Laughing, Mari slid into the car. A few seconds later, Austin was in the driver’s seat and starting the engine.

She shot him a sidelong look, admiring his chiseled profile. She couldn’t quit staring at his stubble. She wanted to drag her fingers over those razor-sharp whiskers, explore the texture, trace the strong line of his jaw. Her art tended to stray toward abstract and conceptual, but for the first time in her life, she found herself wanting to paint a portrait.

Or a nude…

Again, she silenced the dirty voice.

“So you said you’re from Colorado? Whereabouts?” she asked, figuring that if she kept the conversation going her thoughts wouldn’t keep drifting into dirty territory.

“Paradise,” he answered as he steered the SUV off the gravel shoulder. “It’s a small mountain town about forty minutes north of Denver.”

“And what do you do in Paradise?”

“In Paradise? Not much. I’m a photojournalist, so I spend most of my time traveling.”

Mari’s eyes brightened. “That’s amazing. Are your photos featured in magazines? Newspapers?”

“Both, but mostly magazines. The last spread I did was for
Harper’s
. Before that, it was
National Geographic
. Really depends on what the assignment is.”

“Are you on assignment now?”

He nodded, but she noticed he didn’t look enthused. “I’m photographing small towns. Main Streets, in particular.”

“That’s cool. Sort of like
The Bridges of Madison County
?”

Austin glanced over. “Is that a movie?”

“Um,
yes
!” Mari gaped at him. “Only one of the best movies ever.”

His face remained blank.

“Meryl Streep, Clint Eastwood?” she prompted. When he shrugged noncommittally, she gave an exaggerated sigh. “Clint plays a photographer for
National Geographic
. That makes him your kinsman! How could you not know that movie?”

“I don’t watch many movies,” he confessed.

“Not even those shoot-’em-up action movies?”

“Not even those.” He grinned. “My sister-in-law Maddie is a huge action nut, though. She owns every action movie ever made. Last time I was home, she made me sit through a Jason Statham marathon.”

“That sounds like a blast. Jason Statham is
hot
.”

Austin rolled his eyes. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I was thinking the whole time, how hot Statham is.”

“So you have a sister-in-law—your brother’s wife?”

“Yup.”

“Older brother or younger?”

“Older.” His tone grew vague.

“I always wanted a sibling,” Mari said glumly, “but my parents didn’t want to have any more kids. Do you have just the one brother?”

“Three, actually.”

Three more hotties who looked like Austin?
Yummy
, she almost blurted out.

“And before you ask, Owen and Jake are four years older. Nate is eight years older—he turned thirty-three last month. Another birthday I got shit about for missing.”

His bitter tone gave her pause, but before she could press for details, he abruptly changed the subject. “So what do you do for a living? And how’d you lose your job, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I don’t mind.” She sighed. “I was a teacher at a public school in Chicago, but there were a bunch of cutbacks and layoffs, and the art department let go of half its staff. I was the last one hired, therefore the first one fired.”

Austin turned with a quick look of sympathy. “I’m sorry to hear that. You were an art teacher then?”

She nodded. “Grades five to nine. I work on my own practice in my spare time. I mostly sell my stuff online, but I had a lot of paintings on consignment at a few galleries in Chicago.”

“That’s awesome.” The praise sounded genuine, a contrast to the response she usually got from her parents when it came to her career choices.

“Everyone I knew in college decided to take a more ‘practical’ path,” Austin went on. “According to them, art and photography and other creative fields are dead ends. That’s why I love meeting fellow creative types. You know, the ones who’ve decided that practical sucks.”

She grinned. “Well, since you appreciate my field so much, I’m sure you’ll be A-okay with me sketching you.”

Without letting him respond, she whipped her sketchbook out of her backpack, then fished a drawing pencil from the front pocket.

Next to her, Austin chuckled. “Are you serious?”

“Dead serious.” She shot him a grave look. “I’m sorry to inform you, but I’ve become obsessed with your jawline. I must draw it.”

Chuckling again, he dragged a hand over his tantalizing stubble, then gave a little shrug. “Knock yourself out.”

Almost immediately, Mari’s pencil started moving across the blank page, while her eyes stayed glued to Austin’s sexy-as-sin face.

“Wait, are you going to be staring at me like that the entire time?” He sounded dismayed.

“Uh-huh. But don’t worry, just pretend you’re Kate Winslet.” She paused. “Oh wait, that reference is probably lost on you since you don’t watch movies.”

Austin wagged a finger at her. “Hey, I know
that
one. And as I recall, Kate Winslet is lying there
naked
while DiCaprio draws her.”

Mari pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. “Not totally naked,” she protested. “She’s wearing the Heart of the Ocean.”

“Just keep it PG,” he warned, but she could tell from his expression that he was just joking around.

“How about PG-13?” she countered.

“Deal.”

Smiling to herself, Mari settled back in her seat, got comfy and started to sketch.

Austin couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so at ease with a woman. He and Mari had been driving for forty minutes, but the time had passed so fast it felt more like forty seconds. He was seriously enjoying the redhead’s company, and knowing that the bus terminal was only twenty minutes away sent an odd feeling of reluctance through him.