“I can imagine. Who was the last person you were with?”
“A journalist I met in South Africa. She was pretty damn cool, but we couldn’t make the long-distance thing work. What about you?”
“I dated this artist in Chicago for two years. He painted the craziest shit, like futuristic landscapes and weird killer robots. He was a great guy.”
Austin tweaked a strand of her hair. “Um, if you want to vouch for someone’s character, I’m not sure you should lead with ‘killer robot paintings’.”
Mari’s laughter fanned over his pecs. “Yeah, you’re right, that does make him sound nuts. But Michael really was sweet. The relationship just fizzled after a while. He wanted to move in together, but I couldn’t see myself ever living with him, or marrying him, or having kids with him. That’s when I realized we probably shouldn’t be together.” She stroked his chest with her palm, her tone growing thoughtful. “Do you see yourself getting married?”
“Eventually. Maybe once I get the traveling bug out of my system.” He shrugged. “For now, I’ll leave the marriage thing to my brothers.”
“Are all three of them married?”
“Nate and Owen are, but Jake’s on his way. I think he’ll probably propose to Bree this year.”
“What are they like?” Mari asked curiously.
“My brothers or their partners?”
“Both.”
“Well, Nate is the oldest, and I guess he’s the strong, silent type. Come to think of it, so are Owen and Jake. Those two are identical twins, but they took completely different paths in life. Owen runs his own construction company, and Jake enlisted in the army right out of high school. He was Special Forces, but now he’s an instructor on the base in Colorado Springs.”
“Oooh, military men are so hot.”
Austin rolled his eyes. “I think the entire female population agrees with you. Jake was never hurting for female company. But he’s committed to Bree now. She’s a lawyer, not sure what kind of law she practices, but she’s a great girl. Really sweet.”
Too sweet, he almost added, but he didn’t feel like going there right now. Since he’d met Mari, he hadn’t been obsessing as much about his family issues, and he wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible.
“Maddie is great too,” he went on. “She’s Owen’s wife, and the two of them fight like cats and dogs. Maddie is way too opinionated for her own good and the most stubborn person I’ve ever met.”
Mari laughed. “I like her already. Okay, so Bree and Maddie are with the twins. Who’s Nate married to?”
“Charlotte. They were high school sweethearts, but she left after graduation to study at Juilliard. She came back a couple of years ago for their high school reunion, and the two of them reconnected.”
“Juilliard, huh? That’s pretty impressive. What does she do for a living?”
“She’s a singer.”
Mari sounded even more impressed. “That’s cool. Would I have heard of her?”
“Well, she’s pretty popular, so I’m guessing you have. Charlotte Hill?”
In the blink of an eye, Austin found himself lying there alone, as Mari shot up to a sitting position, her jaw wide open.
“Your sister-in-law is Charlotte Hill?” she exclaimed. “Why the heck didn’t you tell me that earlier?”
“I take it you know her music,” he said dryly.
“Duh. She’s awesome. I didn’t put any of her songs on my car playlists because her music’s too mellow for a road trip, but I have all her albums on my iPod. I can’t believe she’s married to your brother! You have a celebrity in your family—that’s so freaking cool.”
He chuckled. “It’s so weird to hear you refer to her as a celebrity. I mean, technically she is, but Charlotte is so down-to-earth you’d never know she was famous. Actually, you’ll probably get to meet her when we get to Paradise. I don’t think she’s on tour right now.”
“Wow, that would be unreal.” She shook her head in amazement. “I’ve never met a celebrity before. And I really do love her music. I hope I get the chance to tell her that.”
“Well, she’ll be there for sure this coming weekend because of the party, but hopefully she’ll still be in town when we show up.”
“What party?”
Austin gave himself a mental kick in the shin. Fuck. Why had he let that detail slip?
“What party?” Mari repeated when he didn’t respond.
He stifled a sigh. “My mom’s fiftieth birthday is this Saturday.”
“What! But that’s only six days away. Will you be able to get the assignment done in time to—” Mari’s blue eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute. You’re planning on skipping the party!”
He didn’t answer, which put an outraged look on her face.