The Reluctant Roadtripper (A Romantic Comedy)

Chapter 31

Fort William, Scottish Highlands

Well, that bloody smarts.

"You don't want me to move up here?" I can tell my face will be showing my betrayal. I've put myself out there, laid my heart on the line, offered to move to the Highlands, for fuck's sake . . . And he doesn't want me here?

Owen looks confused for a moment, as if he can't understand why I'm so hurt. Then his face clears. "Oh shit, Mirren - I didn't mean it like that. I'm saying you don't need to move up here because I'm already moving to Glasgow." He grins, leaning across the table to take my hand. "So it would make no sense you being up here if I'm not. Unless you really like Fort William, of course."

"You're moving to Glasgow?" I breathe, the dread finally draining out of my body. "When . . . When did you decide this?"

"A few months ago," he tells me. "I realised I just couldn't maintain this lifestyle much longer. Like I said earlier, it gets lonely. I've made friends up here, don't get me wrong, but it's not the same as the group of friends I have around the Glasgow area, and doing these tours all the time can be a bit draining. So I'm leaving the North of Scotland to my second-in-command at Scots-2-Go and heading south."

"What are you going to do there?" I ask curiously.

"I'm looking to expand the business further, but with shorter trips and daytrips based out of Glasgow," he explains, his face animated by enthusiasm. "Remember all those places I mentioned yesterday? Argyll, Ayrshire, Dumfries & Galloway? I'm going to run tours to those places instead. The longest trips will only involve one or two nights away maximum, so I can actually start living my life properly instead of just travelling in an endless loop around the North Coast 500. This tour was always intended to be my last one up here; I'm moving at the end of next week. I've rented a flat in Partick."

"That's not far from me," I whisper shakily. "Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"

"Honestly? I was worried that by telling you I was relocating to Glasgow, it might feel like I was putting pressure on you, and I didn't want to scare you off. Especially as I initially wasn't sure if you might just see us as a fling."

"I definitely want it to be more than that." I tell him truthfully. "I was willing to do pretty much anything to make this work."

"Well, now you don't have to," he smiles. "We'll be in the same city, and we can work all of this out as we go along."

Thank goodness!

"I wonder if we'd have found each other again in Glasgow, had this trip not happened," I ponder aloud.

"Who knows, really? I'm just glad I don't have to wait any longer to find out." He squeezes my hand, and my heart flutters frantically at the soft expression on his face.

There's so much to love about this man. His kindness. His sense of humour. His cheeky side. The golden eyes, the sexy professor glasses, those dimples. The way he looks after me. I can't imagine ever feeling this way about someone else. I didn't even realise I was capable of this depth of feeling until now.

And now it's the following day and I'm on the train home, already missing him. Wondering how I can possibly survive even a week without him.

We had a really understated goodbye earlier, where he dropped me off at the station, and I insisted he left immediately. I couldn't deal with an emotional goodbye, but now I regret that decision. I wish I could just have brought him home with me, rather than having to wait seven days for delivery.

"You really are smitten, aren't you?" Nessa drapes an arm around me, clearly sensing how down I am. "What's happened to my hard-hearted Mirren?"

"Her heart melted," Michelle laughs, and I shoot her a glare. But . . . she's not wrong. Owen Sullivan took a blow torch to that particular organ and completely did a number on it.