“Then you better work fast.” Ash smirked at him. “Glacially slow is not going to win this race, and that one is hot on your heels.”
Tilting her head in confusion, Zoey followed the direction of Ash’s chin nod. “Who, Killian? Oh, no. He’s…no.”
Graham chuckled, squeezing her fingers before letting them go. “Good, because he drives me nuts.”
“I mean, he is really hot. And if you get past the chiseled muscles and dangerously good looks—”
Keeping the growl out of his throat wasn’t even in the realm of possibility, even though Graham knew she was just teasing him. Since the little minx was grinning openly at him, Graham didn’t feel bad at all leaning over the counter and stealing her hand again, tugging her close enough he could wrap an arm around her waist and haul her up on the counter. Zoey squeaked in surprise, then snickered as he rested his forehead against hers.
“What are you doing later?” he murmured.
“Making sweet love to your nemesis.”
“I knew it.” With a dramatic sigh, Graham pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose. “Fine. Just as long as you’re both thinking of me the entire time.”
“I mean, was there any other option?” She ran her fingers through Graham’s hair. “I’m stealing your dog.”
“That’s not all you’re stealing.”
Hmm. Maybe he still had a chance after all, because even a room full of strangers cheering for her singing hadn’t brought this much sparkle to her eye.
Lana sidled up, finishing her Growly Bear as she did. “We’re moving the party to Killian’s suite,” she informed Zoey, leaving the unspoken question hanging between them. Lana didn’t seem quite her normal self, strained around the eyes and not nearly as carefree as usual. Zoey must have noticed too because she glanced at Graham.
“I should go.”
Graham gently tugged the end of a tendril of hair with his finger. “Sounds like a lot of fun.”
He wanted to ask her to stay with him, but the last thing he was going to do was keep her from enjoying herself. The rest of the night went about as expected. Drunken eating. Drunken singing. Drunken selfies. A fight broke out, giving Graham an excuse to kick everyone out, then he spent a solid half hour stuffing the bulk of his glassware in the oversized commercial dishwasher in back.
Since Ash and Easton offered to take Jake home, Graham was all alone when he closed the diner and locked the door behind him, root beer in hand. He wasn’t terribly surprised to turn around and see someone sitting on the tailgate of his truck, legs swinging. Between local kids sneaking a place to mess around and drunken…well…anyone…his poor abused truck had been molested by more than Ulysses for being alone in a dark parking lot. But instead of strangers or local teens, Graham realized his truck’s companion was none other than the woman who had carved her way into his thoughts.
“Hey, gorgeous.” Bending down, Graham kissed her cheek without thinking about what he was doing. Then, because thinking about what he was doing didn’t seem to affect his less than stellar decisions, he added softly, “You’re a sight for sore eyes.”
“You saw me two hours ago.”
“It was a long two hours.” This time, he kissed her other cheek.
“What are you doing right now?” Zoey asked hopefully.
“Hmm. I was aiming for a hot date with some woman I barely know. How about you?”
“There’s this guy who pulled a sexy helicopter excursion out of his back pocket on me yesterday, and I was thinking of seeing if he was up for a little mischief.”
“Mischief. Zo, you’re talking my language.” Taking a sip of his root beer, Graham asked, “What’s the game?”
“I stole Killian’s car.”
“What?” He choked on his drink.
Dangling a pair of keys in front of his face, she bit her lip to keep from laughing.
“Technically, Lana and I stole Killian’s car. He’s busy ripping Enzo a new one for being an ass to the hotel staff, so we figured that he could deal with some cooling-off time. We were wondering if you’d like to go for a joy ride in a Lamborghini.”
“And be an accessory to felony theft? I may have to pass on this one.”
“That’s what Lana said you would say. She’s actually on the joyride right now. These are your keys. I just stole them too.”
Amused, Graham offered Zoey his hand as she slid off the tailgate. She wrapped her arms around his waist, squeezing him tightly.
“Hi.” Zoey beamed up at him.
“Hey, gorgeous.”
“How was work? Before all the singing tourists showed up and made you miserable. Did you have a good day?”
Her question was so normal, so expected from two people who knew each other. And yet Graham was taken back. He couldn’t remember the last time someone asked him how work was or how was his day.
“My day was good; my night was better. And right now is fabulous.”
Graham wasn’t ready to fall for anyone, but her slender fingers had a grip around his heart, squeezing for all she was worth. And she didn’t even know it.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
If she said his place, Graham was tempted. Deeply, sorely tempted, no matter how much of a bad idea it would be. Graham knew himself, and he knew that temporary wasn’t what he needed. But when she said to hop in, Graham did exactly as she asked.
“I heard that on clear nights, you might still get to see the northern lights, even in summer. There’s a scenic lookout not far from here that’s our best shot.”
She sounded so excited Graham hated to tell her she was wrong. They were too far south and the summer sun too bright to see what Zoey was hoping to see.
“Luffet and Mash again?”
“Diego and Grass. They argued about it for a while. Diego said no, but Grass was sure he’d heard others had luck there.”
“Trust Diego. Kid’s not seasonal; he knows what he’s talking about.”
Still, Graham settled into the passenger seat, his arm on the back of the bench and hand lightly gripping her headrest. Zoey shifted so that her shoulder pressed into his wrist, a small movement inviting the connection growing between them. Good, because it was getting a lot harder to not scoot over, to not put his arms around her. Wanting her was grinding on his self-control almost as much as every time she glanced over at him, biting the side of her lower lip.
“I promise I’m not taking you out there to ax murder you.”