Page 12 of Loving Hard on the Highway

Sean

“Too soon,” I groaned as the alarm on my watch chimed.

Thoughts of Gabbie in my arms, her sweet scent and soft, deep honey skin pressed against me as we danced. All interrupted by time. I reached for the watch on the nightstand to turn it off and glanced over to where Gabbie should have been sleeping, but she was not there.

I sat up, rubbing my face, and scanned the room. Her bag was packed and sat neatly on the bed. Then, I saw the note on my watch.

Gone for breakfast and to buy a phone. I’ll be back before check-out.

What was that about?

?

There was definitely a chill in the car. There was something about the way she angled her body away from me, her arms folded tight against her chest like armor. It was reminiscent of yesterday when we first began our journey, and she didn’t know me. To be fair, she still didn’t know me. She had no idea my father was the powerhouse behind Holsten Industries, and I was his chosen child. Well, chosen since my older brother turned him down, anyway. Could she sense I kept that from her?

Last night, Gabbie opened up to me. She had this way of looking at me when we sang together, as if I’d surprised her, asif she liked being surprised. But now she stared straight ahead, chin tilted slightly up, her lips pressed together like she was holding back words. Or worse, like there were no words left.

As we drove along Route 14, I stole a glance at her. Her thick, dark hair was in a coarse braid over her smooth copper shoulder. She hadn’t worn it like that before. I wondered if she ever wore it curled. The thought made my chest tighten. How was I noticing all those little things about her? I never paid this much attention to the women who constantly threw themselves at me.

She pulled a new phone out of a bag and managed to get it from the packaging. It was probably the cheapest phone at the SuperMart.

“Can you text with that?” I asked, voice low, testing the air between us.

“It says I can send SMS,” she said without looking at me. “And it’s what I can afford.”

“Right.” I nodded slowly, not knowing what else to say.

I tapped on the steering wheel as we sat in silence until she was done with the phone. I expected her to call her friends, but she slipped the phone into her bag.

“Hey,” I tried again, gently brushing her shoulder. “You okay?”

“I don’t think baby girl would appreciate you being all flirty and touchy-feely with me.” She shrugged her shoulder away from me.

“Wait, what?” I paused for a minute, knowing there was only one person I called ‘baby girl’. “You heard that?”

“Yeah, I did, and I don’t think Gemma would appreciate you being all flirty with me. And neither would Myra.”

“If by Gemma you mean my 5-year-old niece, I think she would like you when you’re not being paranoid and jumping to conclusions.”

“Gemma is your niece? Are you trying to gaslight me?”

“No, I swear. Check my phone, go to photos.” I picked up my phone, let the face ID unlock it, and handed it to her. “And Myra works with me at Holsten. She is ? of a very happy throuple.”

Gabbie laughed and shook her head. “Gemma is very cute.”

“Were you jealous?” I teased.

“No,” she protested, but with a sheepish grin. “Maybe I just need to know a little more about you. All I know is that you’re maybe not a highway serial killer.”

“Um.” I paused, unsure if being worth millions would alter things between us. “There’s not much to tell. I’m from San Francisco. I work in Silicon Valley, and my brother is a rancher in Rosetta County.”

“I thought all you tech bros made decent money. Why not just fly back to California?”

I attempted to deflect. “That’s another story.”

“Oh no, you don’t.” She turned to me and pursed her lips. “Fess up.”

I thought about it for a moment and then let it out. “I was on vacation in Miami, and I got a call from my grandfather, my mom’s dad. He wanted to let me know he was terminally ill with six months to live.”

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