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“No. I had an older brother, but he was born with severe birth defects. He never made it out of the hospital.”

She gasped. “Your poor parents!”

“Yeah, it happened before I was born and it was so traumatic that my parents decided not to have any kids after that. They figured it would be too hard to go through something like that again. But their birth control failed and they got me.” I spread my hands out for emphasis. “I was born one hundred percent healthy. They called me their miracle baby.”

“I bet they were grateful their birth control failed.”

“They were actually. Both of them always dreamed of having kids and they were considering adopting when I came along. I was always close to both of them, but after my mom passed, Pops and I became even closer. It sounds corny, but he’s one of my best friends.”

That reminded me, I needed to text my father and see how he was doing. I’d forgotten last night, and although I lived in my own place, we worked together and usually talked every day. I knew he’d miss me and wonder how things were going on this trip.

It was unusual that I hadn’t heard from him. Something was up with him, I was certain of it. He’d been uncharacteristically secretive lately, but also kind of cheerful. We usually talked about everything, so I figured he’d tell me what was going on when he was ready. I hoped he wasn’t sick or something.

“What about you?” I asked. “I know you said your parents were super overprotective, but would you say you’re close?”

Blair shook her head. “No, oddly enough, we’re not. My mother is highly critical of me. How I eat, how I dress, and in particular my weight.”

That made me mad on her behalf. Blair had a curvy figure, but she wasn’t fat by any means. She was perfect.

“As for my father… well, I don’t know how to say it better than this, but it’s like he thinks of me like a possession. Like I’m another one of his priceless art prints or sculptures. Or some annoyingly yappy designer puppy he picked up from the breeder.”

“That sounds hard.”

“My friend Katy thinks that after the kidnapping they’re too afraid to let themselves get close to me in case they lose me, but they’re also too proud to let me go, because that would mean someone or something else took me from them again.”

I stared. “That’s really insightful.”

She gave me a sunny smile. “Well, unlike you, Katy loves talking about her feelings. She’s been going to therapy for years.”

“For what?” I asked, wondering what a billionaire heiress would have to be in therapy for. But then I remembered how Pops always told me that money didn’t buy happiness – or love.

Blair shrugged. “I think sometimes it’s comforting to have someone who will listen to you without judgment.”

“Can’t blame her for that.”

Blair

“Okay your mother was a genius. I want to do the share-share thing for the rest of the trip.”

I took a bite of the lobster mac and moaned out loud. “This is so good.”

When Jenny didn’t answer I realized that she was watching me, her gaze pinned on my lips. I resisted the urge to lick my lips and see how she’d respond. We’d had a moment outside when the lady was taking our picture. I didn’t know how else to describe it. The instant we pressed up against each other for the photo, it was like I was where I was supposed to be. Every cell in my body had jumped to attention.

She’d felt it too, I could tell. I just wasn’t sure what to do about it. I mean, I knew what I wanted to do about it. I wanted to bury my head between Jenny’s strong thighs and not come up for air until she’d lost that ironclad control she seemed to keep around herself.

I was dying to make a move on her, but I was also painfully aware that I was basically her employer right now. I didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable. I wasn’t super experienced with dating and reading signals. If I made a pass and it turned out I was misreading things, she’d feel uncomfortable for the rest of the trip. She might even quit. I couldn’t let that happen. I was having fun with her, I didn’t want another driver.

“We’re making good time today,” Jenny said as we finished our meal. “If we drive farther today, we’ll have more time to visit Mount Rushmore tomorrow.”

“That sounds good,” I said. “I don’t want to be rushed at Rushmore.”

I wiggled my eyebrows and she rolled her eyes. “Har har.”

We drove until it was dark, ending up in a stretch of the state that was sparsely populated, with miles between exits. By the time we came across a decent sized town, we were both yawning.

“There’s a hotel here,” Jenny said, pointing at the road sign. “Let’s stop before I fall asleep. It’s so damned dark on these roads my eyes are starting to blur.”

“Okay.”