“Flip twice, don’t let anything burn. This isn’t rocket science, buddy.”
“What about you?”
Graham was going after a girl.
* * *
Somehow, Graham’s teasing hit Zoey hard. Too hard. Like a punch in the guts when she already wanted to puke.
Abandoning the Tourist Trap, Zoey hurried across the parking lot, avoiding the eyes of the other customers joining the line. So focused on just getting out of there, Zoey almost missed the voice calling after her.
“Hey, Zoey. Darlin’, slow down.”
Hard pass on that. She just wanted to be away from all the people inside, even Graham. Still, he followed her as she paused just long enough to pull the keys out of her pocket with a shaky hand. So of course the keys hooked on the inside fabric of her pocket, turning it inside out and sending her money—what was left of it—flying.
“No, no, no.”
Dropping to her knees despite being in the middle of the parking lot, Zoey scrambled to catch her change, frantic not to lose a single dime more. Collecting them carefully, Zoey crushed the handful of coins to her chest, bursting into tears.
“This isn’t the safest place to take a pit stop. You should see how people drive around here.”
A heavy hand rested cautiously against her shoulder, but when she didn’t pull away from the man now kneeling on the ground next to her, Graham curled his arm around her shoulders and drew her into his muscled torso.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
His voice was soft, nearly crooning to her as she sobbed like an idiot into his chest. It was a good chest—a great chest, really—and designed to be cried into. But Zoey barely knew Graham, and her mortification only rose.
“I’m f-fine.”
A low chuckle met her warbled insistence. “Sorry, Zoey.” Graham kept her tucked to his chest. “For some reason, I’m not inclined to believe you. Was it me? I’m sorry. I never meant to come off rude. It’s been a long day, and it’s still the lunch shift.”
“It’s not you.” Valiantly, Zoey forced herself to pull it together. “They canceled my glacier tour today. Everything was refunded, and they said I could reschedule for later in the week if I put down another deposit, but when I went to get my purse, it was gone.”
“The little frog one?”
“Yes. And I’ve searched everywhere. I don’t even like reindeer dogs, but everything at the resort is so expensive, and—”
Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, Zoey sniffled. “It’s so stupid. My coin purse had everything. I know I had it yesterday on the tour, because I kept checking. I didn’t want anyone to pickpocket my bag when I was distracted with the whales.”
When Graham didn’t say anything, Zoey bit her lip to force it to stop quivering. “I’m not like them. I know you think I am, but I’m not. I saved every penny I could for years to take this trip. Do you know how much ramen I ate? And not the good kind in the cup. The cheap blocks from the dollar store kind of ramen. My blood pressure is like ten points higher now from all the sodium.”
“That’s some serious dedication.” Using both thumbs, he wiped away her tears.
“I know, right? But I knew it would be worth it if I could just get here. Only it’s not. Everything isn’t what it was supposed to be.”
“What was it supposed to be?”
“Beautiful. Perfect. Fun. Not so expensive that I can’t even afford to eat reindeer dogs.”
“Ah, and here I thought it was my company you couldn’t resist.”
Rolling her eyes, she still couldn’t help relaxing a little as her stress eased in response to his joking. “Shut up.”
Dipping his head, Graham murmured into her ear. “I know you’re not like them. They drive me crazy, but you I like. Come on. Off the ground. You’re far too gorgeous to be down here.”
Slipping his hand through her arm, Graham stood, drawing her with him. “There. No one puts Zoey in a corner.”
“I’m literally in a parking lot with no corners.”
“Don’t make me dance with you.” His biceps flexed as he kept her close. “I might like it. Have you checked in your rental?”
“About ten times. It’s not there.”
“Do you mind if we check again?”
“No offense, Graham, but I’m an intelligent woman more than capable of looking under a seat.”
“True. But I have something you don’t have.” At her quizzical look, Graham waggled his fingers. “Longer arms. Where’s your rental?”
“Next to your truck. I couldn’t find anywhere else to park. But Ulysses was across the road. I don’t know if he’s still there.”
Taking her hand in his, Graham led her around the building, ignoring the gathering line inside the diner and the glaring faces watching them through the windows.
Sure enough, Ulysses was in full courting mode of the truck next to Zoey’s SUV, snorting and slobbering away.
“Buddy, my woman needs to check the car.”
Ulysses huffed, eyeing them.
“Come on, man. Catch me a break. I don’t want to get stomped on today.”
Abruptly, the moose spun, darting across the back parking lot and into the road. Gasping at the speed of his escape as much as the power of the massive animal, Zoey watched vehicles slow down for him. Ulysses ran alongside the road for several strides before cutting across, bolting for the protection of the forested mountainside.
“How fast was he going?”
“Maybe twenty-five, thirty miles per hour at the most. They’ve clocked ’em at thirty-five, but he’s like me. Too lazy to invest that much effort.”
Even as he said it, Graham opened her car door and started proactively searching through the driver’s side, checking the door pockets and under the seat.
“I already looked,” she said, defeated. “It’s not there. I drove you home, and—”
“And my dog was in your back seat.” Graham crawled in the back, wedging himself awkwardly so he could reach beneath the back of the seats. “Jake loves anything and everything he can get his cute little paws on. It’s as if he instinctively knows things are shiny, even though he can’t see them. Like…yep.” With a flourish, Graham lifted her sparkly green frog coin purse. “My dog hid it for a rainy day. Don’t feel bad. He buries my crap in the truck all the time.”
Zoey opened the purse, checking to make sure it was all there, not out of suspicion but from the need to reassure herself. Graham watched her counting with sympathetic eyes as she leaned against the side of the SUV.