Page 48 of Without Apology

“Yep.” Ready as I would ever be.

As if sensing my stress, he took a hold of my hand in the middle of the back seat. “You okay?”

I nodded, forcing myself to take a deep breath. “As an adult, I’ve never been out of the state of Texas.” I imagined, to a world traveler like him, this would sound ridiculous.

“Where did you go when you were younger?”

“California when I was eight. Arizona once. We even went to the Caribbean when I was twelve. My dad didn’t get a lot of time off, but when he did, my mom would try to plan vacations.”

He squeezed my hand. “You said you attempted once as an adult to get on a plane?”

I was amazed he remembered my outburst of information. “I attempted to fly to the ‘happiest place on earth.’ Didn’t get past airport security before I bolted. Not even my nieces and mouse ears could help me overcome the fear.”

His eyes held sympathy when I met them. “You ever been to New York?”

I was wistful in my response. Although I’d resigned myself to never flying, it didn’t mean I hadn’t wanted to experience the world. “No. Always wanted to go. One of my bucket list items includes seeing a Broadway show. Maybe I’ll catch a traveling one to Dallas someday. I also would love to experience Times Square, although not at New Year’s as that always looks way too cold.”

He chuckled. “It is. Those people are insane. Most aren’t from New York.”

Because I wanted to get to know him better, I posed the question, “Would you call New York home?”

A frown flitted over his face. “I own a condo there. So if that’s your definition, I suppose it is.”

“How long have you lived there?”

“Since university, but I bounced back and forth between there and London. I own a flat there, too.” Again, he wore strange expression on his face.

“Real estate doesn’t have to define home. I suppose it’s the one place you can’t wait to get back to after a long trip.”

He swallowed hard. “Then I suppose you could say I don’t have a place I call home.”

Now it was my turn to squeeze his hand. Though I knew he claimed to have wanderlust, I couldn’t imagine being without a place you couldn’t wait to get home, somewhere you could kick off your shoes and climb into your familiar bed with your loving dog, knowing you had a stash in the kitchen of Frosted Flakes.

I stifled a yawn as I watched the driver pull out. Time for seatbelts. After buckling up, Simon reached over to grab my pillow. After settling it in his lap, he took the blanket in his hands. “Lie down. Get some sleep.”

If I wasn’t so tired, I might’ve felt more sexually curious about having my face in his lap, but as it was, I simply lay down, content when he put the blanket over me and settled his arm to rest on my shoulder. First, though, he caressed my hair off my face. The gesture was both intimate and gentle. I didn’t know what this time with him would mean, but as I closed my eyes, I felt the most at peace as I had in a long time.

When I woke, we were in the full light of day. It took a moment for me to orient myself so I could sit up. Simon was looking at me as I smoothed down my hair, and I hoped I hadn’t been snoring. “What time is it?”

“We’re four hours in. You need a pit stop?”

I hesitated, but I did need to pee. The coffee from this morning had consequences. “Sorry. I know we’re trying to make good time.”

“Don’t be sorry. Ralph, the lady needs to stop. If you can find a place which has both petrol and food, that would be brilliant.”

“Sure thing, Mr. Granger.”

We pulled off the freeway ten minutes later. It felt divine to stretch my legs once I was out of the car. We were at one of those large gas stations with fast food attached. My stomach rumbled, serving notice it was time for something other than coffee.

After making it to the ladies’ room just in time, I stepped out of the stall and took a peek at myself in the mirror. Good Lord. My hair was a hot mess, and I looked as if I could use another eight hours of sleep. I finger combed my tresses back and corralled them with an elastic band before splashing my face with water. Next, I rinsed my mouth, thinking I should’ve brought in my toothbrush.

Feeling moderately better once I walked out of the restroom, I noticed Simon standing by the cash register. He appeared as if he was about to step into a meeting, not back into a car for twenty hours. It really was unfair he always looked so good. I snagged some gum, a soda, and a candy bar, bringing them up front. He quirked a brow at my choices but smiled at the barely legal cashier, who appeared a bit dumbstruck over him. No Laverne here.

“Add these to my purchase, please.”

She rung us up, and he insisted on paying, selecting a bottle of water for himself.

“Oh, what about Ralph?”

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