Graham was a confident person, and validated or not, very little intimidated him. But even he took pause for a moment as they stepped deeper into the ballroom, overwhelmed by the elegance surrounding them. Somewhere in all this mess of music, hors d’oeuvres, and candlelight was Jax, and out of sheer self-preservation, Graham scanned the crowd looking for him. He finally found his friend next to Lana, both of them looking far too comfortable in their formal wear. Fingers moving to his tie unbidden, Graham hated his knee-jerk reaction to make sure he looked okay.
At least no one would be paying any attention to him. Not with Zoey stunning everyone’s socks off.
“We should probably go say hi.” Clearly steeling her nerves, Zoey pushed the glasses higher up on her nose and headed for the woman holding court in the center of the room. Graham stayed at her side, catching her nervous, clammy fingers in his warmer ones and squeezing in reassurance.
“Maybe I’ll carve you into my log when this is over,” he murmured to her, lips brushing her ear.
Good. That brought some color to her cheeks.
“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” she whispered back.
“So do we get to know what all the excitement is about yet?” Jax was asking Lana as they approached, draining his champagne. “You throw a good party, Ms. Montgomery, but my curiosity is getting the best of me.”
Utterly unfazed by his charm, Lana delicately sipped from her own glass. “After dinner, we’re announcing the surprise. Until then, enjoy yourselves.”
“Save a dance for me?” Jax asked her.
This time, Lana paused, letting her eyes drift down Jax’s strong form, then back up again. She tilted her head as if considering it, then smiled serenely.
“I’m working, but perhaps another time. Zoey? Come sit with me. Our table’s at the front.” Arms linked, Zoey and Lana left Jax to pick up his wounded pride and Graham to enjoy the view.
“She’s amazing, isn’t she?” Graham sighed in contentment, taking a deeper drink.
“She’s something.”
At Jax’s somewhat offended tone, Graham clapped him on the shoulder. “Wrong she. Sorry, man. Did L hurt your feelings?”
“Well, she didn’t not hurt them.” Jax snagged another glass of champagne off the tray passing by. “Come on. Let’s see if I can get my feelings hurt again. So far, tonight’s better than I expected.”
They ended up at the same table as Killian, Enzo, and Haleigh, much to Graham’s chagrin. At least Jax ambled along after them, stealing a seat next to Lana that had been marked for someone else.
Knowing they didn’t fit in one bit, Graham focused his attention entirely on Zoey, playfully entangling their fingers and distracting her by whispering things in her ear. Distracting her had become his new favorite pastime. Unfortunately, despite his best efforts to the contrary, the others at the table pulled her attention. A deep discussion between Haleigh and another woman had turned into a sort of verbal sparring match over who could insult the town more. Graham was good at ignoring complaining tourists, but Zoey was new to the experience. Even as he tried to distract her, he could see her eyes flickering back to the two women.
“I mean, really. Let’s try to be as utterly ridiculous as possible.” Haleigh rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why Killian keeps insisting on going to places like this. I was perfectly happy in Italy. But no, we had to come to Moose Springs.”
The way she said the name of his town rubbed Graham the wrong way. It must have rubbed Zoey the wrong way too because she frowned across the table.
“At least there are people here worth talking to,” the other woman said. “I was down in town today, and I think I ran into an actual Neanderthal. He was so tall it was insane. You should have seen the beard on this one.” With a naughty giggle, she pulled out her phone from her purse. “You have to see him. I took a picture when he wasn’t looking.”
The snickering pair didn’t bother to hide the phone screen from curious eyes. And yeah, it annoyed him to see they had taken a picture of Easton, but it wasn’t the first time. Graham didn’t want to know how many social media posts he’d been an unwilling participant in. But he wasn’t nearly as upset as the woman sitting next to him.
“He might have been cute with the man bun,” Haleigh decided. “But that beard? Eww. And the flannel? I can’t even.”
“That’s Easton.” Zoey was clearly angry. “He’s really nice.”
“Maybe if we let him cut some wood for a while, I could get on board,” Haleigh’s friend said, the pair snickering again. “He has some muscles; I’ll give him that.”
“I’m putting him on my feed.” Haleigh’s thumb moved over her phone. “I’m tagging him as ‘Sasquatch Man.’”
Shifting on her seat, Zoey pushed her glasses up on her nose, glaring. “No, don’t do that. You shouldn’t take pictures of people without their consent.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Haleigh dismissed her. “There’s no way that guy even knows what a smartphone is.”
“I bet he has a great personality,” Haleigh’s companion joked, completely ignoring Zoey.
“He also likes long walks on the beach and sharing hot cocoa,” Graham drawled. “East’s only half-Neanderthal. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Graham glanced at Enzo, where the other guy looked bored to death. “Right, Enzo?”
“What?”
“Enzo agrees.”
Covering her mouth didn’t smother his date’s snort. Even though Lana beamed their way—pausing from her conversation with Jax to see what had made Zoey laugh—the snort drew Haleigh’s attention. Haleigh arched an eyebrow at Zoey. Champagne made some people mean. A bottle of champagne made Haleigh…something else.
“So, Zoey,” she asked, raising her voice so everyone around them would pay attention. “Since you don’t approve of us, why don’t we talk about you?”
Such an innocent question, but there was an undercurrent of malice beneath. He didn’t understand the source, other than Zoey’s closeness with Lana. And maybe that was all she needed for Haleigh to set his date in her sights.
Zoey looked up, momentarily startled at being pulled into the conversation. Leaning forward on her elbows, a tipsy Haleigh smirked. Graham stiffened, because he knew that kind of look. He’d seen it far too many times, and it always made his blood boil.
“I’m not that interesting,” Zoey told the table, but Graham knew her deflection wasn’t enough.
“She saves herself in high-intensity situations,” Graham spoke up. “She gets out of jail free, dangles above certain death, gets kissed by whales, and generally is the coolest person on the planet.”
The smirk on Haleigh’s face grew. “Is that before or after she finishes serving the midnight special at a truck stop? Tell me, Zoey. Is it hard to cut the pies just right?”
“I’m good at my job,” Zoey said tightly. “I like my job.”
Haleigh raised her voice. “If anyone ever hears me say I enjoy serving sloppy seconds to truck drivers, please kill me.”
Gritting her teeth, Zoey’s face reddened as she glared down at her food. Eyes flashing, Lana opened her mouth, but Graham doubted anything she had to say would make this any better.
“So basically, you just called my date trash.” Graham sighed in resignation, cutting Lana off. “Okay, we’re going to have to fight now.”
“Excuse me?” Haleigh looked at him in astonishment.
“No excuses. You called my date trash, and now I’m going to have to fight you.”
And with that, Graham took a spoonful of whatever the creamy, glittery gunk on his plate was and flicked it in her face.
The silence at the table was deafening as goop slowly slid down Haleigh’s long, perfectly aristocratic nose.
Then everything got a bit noisy for Graham’s tastes. Someone demanded to know his full name because lawye
rs would be involved, and who did he think he was, and blah blah gluten allergy blah. Graham ignored it, because he couldn’t have cared less what they were going on about. Instead, he braced his arm on the back of Zoey’s chair, smiling down at her as she tried and failed to keep from dissolving into helpless laughter.
Hannah hurried over, took one look at Graham and his spoon and the shrieking woman, and she gave him her look.
“I need to leave,” he murmured in Zoey’s ear. He liked murmuring in her ear, because she always leaned in, the smell of her shampoo filling his nostrils. “Hannah will actually fight me.”
“If you’re leaving, I’m going with you.”
“Dramatic escape?”
“Definitely.”
Well. Since she asked.
Graham hopped to his feet. “Lana, our apologies for causing a scene. Your gala is as fabulous as you are. Unfortunately, a man’s dignity was at stake, and there are some things we just can’t let slide. Easton would never forgive me. Ladies. I hope I see none of you in my near future.” Then he scooped Zoey off her feet and into his arms, bolting for the exit.
As runaway attempts went, it was fabulous until they hit the elevator. And waited for the elevator. And were forced to make small talk with the confused-looking couple in the elevator, who were too close to Zoey’s feet.
Then the doors opened in the lobby, and Graham darted for the front doors.
They hit his truck running, and Zoey was almost crying from laughter as he stuffed her and her dress into the driver’s seat and kept squishing her over until he could fit in there too. They peeled out of the valet station in dramatic fashion, tires squealing loudly.
“Graham, did you see her face? And then it was all gloop, gloop, plop?”
That had been the best part, next to having an excuse to get out of there. “Never say I won’t defend Easton’s honor. Or yours.”
“My hero.” She batted her eyes, gathered her skirts, and leaned over to press a kiss to his cheek.
And maybe she was just joking, but Graham…well…he wasn’t. Because deep down, he was ready to throw a whole pot of goop at anyone who put her down.
When she scooted over, Graham slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. He hit the hazard lights and pulled off the side of the road, not caring if the truck’s tires left ruts in the perfectly manicured lawns.
“I like waitresses.” He touched her face, silently asking her to look at him. “I like your dress, but I like your Mickey Mouse sweatshirt even more. I like your hair in a messy bun, with these always sliding down your nose.” He nodded at her glasses. “And I like you not wanting to eat whatever they were serving in there, because I didn’t want to eat it either.”
“You have weird taste in everything,” she decided, but her voice had softened. “I’m not Cinderella, Graham. I have a good life, and I don’t need to be rescued.”
Graham chuckled, low in his throat. “No rescuing from me, gorgeous. I’m definitely not the prince. But I know a great place to get away from here and get a real meal.”
“Is it weird? No more weird meat. Please no more weird meat.”
“It’s only a little weird.”
And as she leaned in and kissed him, Graham knew that a little weird was good enough for both of them.
* * *
For the second time that night, Zoey walked into a room feeling entirely out of place, her clothing far too dressed up for Shorty’s, the dive Graham drove her to. But this time, Graham was in his element, his arm heavy over her shoulders and folded back across her collarbone in a protective gesture she wasn’t sure he was even aware he was doing.
Normally, she would have sat across from him, but when Graham scooted into the booth their server led them to, Zoey followed suit.
He kept his arm around her, and yes, it might have made looking at the menu just a little harder than it should have been. But she liked staying close to him. A familiar pink head was seated across the room. Ash said something to her companion, one of the women from the bonfire, and then she came over, sliding into the other side of the booth.
“How did the party go?”
“About as expected. We had to make a quick exit before the cops were called.”
“Sounds about right,” Ash said. “Zoey, never take him anywhere you need to make a good impression. He’s going to humiliate you as thoroughly as possible.”
“I’d rather be with him than anyone else in that room.”
The words left her mouth without Zoey meaning them to. She glanced over at Graham and found him watching her, his eyes holding hers.
“Be careful, gorgeous. I might start to think you actually like me.”
His normal teasing was gentler, his eyes and tone softening. The thing was, Zoey did like Graham. Far more than she had ever expected or wanted to.
Without thinking, Zoey leaned in and kissed him, right in front of Ash and all the rest of the people who knew him. She started to pull away, but Graham’s fingers caught hers, tugging her back to him.
“I’ll just leave you two alone.” Ash scooted out of the booth. Graham waved goodbye but didn’t try to stop her.
The server arriving to take their drink order interrupted them, breaking the moment. Graham glanced at the menu, shaking his head. “Do you have any idea how sick I am of hamburgers and reindeer dogs?”
“And yet, here we are at a place that lists those at the top of the menu.”
Graham nodded. “Yes, but right below are the next thing for your bucket list. Welcome to Shorty’s. If you can eat ten hellfire wings, I don’t have to pay for our drinks.”
“So you’re taking me out, but I have to burn my taste buds because you’re too cheap to actually pay for our meal?”
“Think of it as you earning our meal.”
“What’s the likelihood that I’m going to barf from this?”
“I’d give it about a fifty-fifty.”
Zoey adjusted her glasses on her nose and nodded gamely. “Bring it on, hot stuff.”
Unlike Graham, Shorty had plenty of help. Within minutes, their food was in front of them. Wing for wing, Zoey took him down. And okay, maybe there was going to be some severe gastric distress when this was all over, and she had tears and snot openly running down her face, but someone needed to put Graham Barnett in his place, and Zoey was going to be the one to do it.
“Boom. That just happened.” Zoey mimicked dropping a mic. “But it was cute how hard you tried.”
“I think I’m in love.” Graham leaned back in his seat and held out a saucy fist. “Marry me, Caldwell.”
“Only if I get Jake in the prenup.”
“Done.” They bumped fists.
“Prenups are bullshit.” Graham drained his beer, then settled into the basket of cheesy bread they had ordered. “If you don’t trust someone, don’t marry them.”
“There wasn’t a single couple in that ballroom tonight with anything less than an ironclad prenup.”
“Sucks to be them.” Graham stuffed a hunk of bread in his mouth, mumbling as he chewed. “If she can’t rip your heart, guts, and bank account away from you, then she wasn’t the right one in the first place.”
“You really mean that, don’t you?”
“Yep.” He handed her the cheesiest piece of the bread dripping with garlic butter. “Anything else is a waste of time.”
“You’re a closet romantic, aren’t you?”
“If I was, I’d never tell you.”
Even as he said it, Graham draped his arm over the back of their booth, giving Zoey the perfect place to cuddle into his warmth.
On a whim, she tore off the end of her bread and offered it to him. That dangerously sexy smile reached his eyes, and it was only sexier when he nipped it from her fingertips. Zoey’s breath caught, and even as the server brought the check, her heart co
ntinued racing.
They drove back to the resort, Zoey figuring they owed Lana an apology for disrupting her important night. Graham parked in the employee lot, getting out and walking to Zoey’s passenger door. Sticking as always, he wrestled with it while she watched him with amusement. Finally, it popped open, but only when she unlocked the door.
“Ooh, good one,” he murmured.
“Remember, never be afraid to use your gifts.” Zoey slipped out of the truck, accepting Graham’s helping arm as she wobbled on her heels.
“I’d walk you to your door, but Hannah would kill me.”
“Are you scared of her?”
“Absolutely.”
They snuck in a small side entrance rarely used by other guests, back into the building they had darted away from only hours before. This time, they were alone in the elevator, and as it started to climb toward her floor, Graham drew her closer, pressing the softest kiss to her earlobe.
“I had a great time tonight, gorgeous.”
“Graham Barnett, are you serious?”
The doors had opened, revealing the woman in question. He squeaked. “Umm, hey, Hannah. About earlier…”
“It was me,” Zoey spoke up. “I hit his hand. And aimed the spoon. I hit his hand after aiming the spoon, which happened to be in Haleigh’s direction. It was a magnificent display of accidental food aggression in which he’s utterly innocent. I’m pretty sure it was a ghost.”
“A ghost,” Hannah repeated flatly.
“Yes. Two ghosts. I really think so. Do you have haunter’s insurance? Because that would be terrible for business.”
“Terrible,” Graham agreed, edging around the manager. “Super awful. Let’s look that up. Call me; we’ll talk about it.”
Then they bolted for Zoey’s door, leaving a disgusted Hannah muttering to herself in the hallway about there being two of them.
The Tourist Attraction (Moose Springs, Alaska) Page 23