Zoey squeezed the stuffed toy, adding softly, “And I realized I couldn’t leave.”
“Because of the moose.”
“Yeah. Because of the moose.” She gave him a watery smile. “And because of the bears and the whales, the ice caves and the mountains. The bonfires and the cinnamon rolls and little horrified faces made of ketchup on reindeer dogs. I can’t leave. This is where I want to be.” Her smile strengthened. “That’s a really tight shirt.”
“I like the color,” he admitted.
“I do too.”
“Zoey, I want you.” Inhaling a deep breath, Graham took a step toward her. “Darlin’, I need you. What will it take to make us happen? Because I would do anything—”
When the three-hundred-pound security guard hit him, it was with the force of a freight train and the determination of a man who had never saved his airport before and was damn well going to save it today.
Graham didn’t have a chance.
Face to a carpet that had seen the bottom of way too many people’s feet, Graham’s arms were wrenched behind his back, the guard using his greater weight to pin Graham in place. Jake started barking in alarm, but Zoey was quick enough to realize what was happening, keeping his leash too tight for him to reach the guard.
“Is this really necessary?” Graham grunted, the breath squeezing out of his lungs.
“Trespassing—” Wheeze wheeze. “In an airport—” Cough cough choke snort. “Is punishable—dang it. Graham?”
“Yeah, man.” He eyeballed the guy on top of him. “Hey, Joey, do you think you can arrest me in a minute? I’m trying to win my dream girl here.”
“How’s it going?”
“Well, I’m getting spooned by you and not her, so you tell me.”
The security guard groaned, shook his head, and then climbed back to his feet, allowing a squashed Graham to do the same. Joey bent over, hands on his knees, wheezing hard. “That’s a long way to run. I should’ve turned left, not right.”
Patting Joey on the back, Graham nodded. “Yeah, got to always turn left. And maybe focus on the cardio, buddy.”
Joey gave him a thumbs-up, then lumbered over to a bench seat, dropping down. Waving off a pair of additional security officers, he flapped his hand at Graham to continue.
“As I was saying, I want you—”
Then Zoey’s mouth was on his, tasting of icing and cinnamon, sweet and soft as she melted in his arms. Her eyes gleamed with held back tears. “Keep going. You stopped at the best part.”
Groaning, Graham kissed her again, whispering against her lips, “I need you.” Hands in her hair, he lingered over her mouth, adding, “And I will do anything to keep every inch of your perfect self in my life.”
“I’m not going to be perfect for long.” Zoey glanced ruefully at the plane taking off on the runway. “All my underwear’s on that plane.”
He couldn’t help but kiss her again. “I’m probably about to get arrested.”
When she laughed against his lips, Graham didn’t care one bit if he ended up in jail for the second time over this one.
The life he wanted—the one he’d been waiting for—had started the moment she walked into it.
* * *
As love stories went, it wasn’t the worst. Graham spent the day being questioned by airport security, the night in a little room while TSA checked and rechecked his credentials. Eventually, he was sentenced to serving thirty hours of community service for his crimes. They let him keep the shirt, as long as he paid for it.
Considering everyone in Moose Springs knew Graham and his reason for getting himself into trouble this time, he never lacked for company or a cold beverage as he ambled down the road on his off hours between lunch and dinner shifts, spearing any trash he could find. And if he spent more time sitting in Jonah’s squad car than ambling, well, Jonah was a busy guy. He enjoyed having a moment to sit and talk about love too.
Zoey didn’t mind the bright orange of the safety vest Graham wore on his community service time, but she quickly grew to hate the orange “Anchorage or Bust” shirt he’d procured at the airport gift shop.
“This is our love shirt, Zoey Bear,” Graham told her just to tease her. “If I take it off, the romance will be over.”
She took that shirt off often. From where they were both sitting, the romance between them was doing just fine.
Moving to Alaska for a moose wasn’t really a thing. At least not a financially legitimate thing. But Zoey was a planner, and she could plan on the fly with the best of them. She never asked Graham to use his influence with the town to help her find a job. Zoey marched straight up to Jackson Shaw and told him exactly why the resort needed her as a tour guide. Sold on her drive and enthusiasm, Zoey walked away with the job of her dreams—and Graham’s nightmares. Graham had never seen anyone as happy as she was, a headset tucked behind her ears and a group of wide-eyed tourists hanging on to her every word.
At night, curled up in his arms, Zoey whispered her plans against his skin. When she’d saved up enough money, she was planning on taking flying lessons, opening her own business, and running her own flight tours. Graham had absolutely no doubt she’d do everything she dreamed of.
And while Zoey slept in—exhausted from taking on the world—Graham stood outside his workshop, chainsaw in hand, and he finally carved that sucker.
A moose curled up around a bun. He’d never been so proud of anything…except for winning her.
Four months, twenty-one days, and three hours from the night Graham had looked up from a hoagie and met the eyes of the woman he’d love forever, he stretched out in the back of his pickup truck, bundled up in a blanket and a thick winter jacket, that same woman and a second sandwich tucked in close for warmth.
“You’re getting crumbs on me,” Graham warned her, even though he didn’t mind.
“No, I’m not.” Zoey swatted away his tickling fingers. “Are you sure?”
“About the crumbs? I’m pretty sure those aren’t my crumbs.”
“No, goofball, about the—”
Her voice slipped off into silence, eyes wide as she stared up into the night sky. Taking her hand, Graham relaxed back, content to watch the woman he loved living her dream. Knowing she was his dream and all he would ever need. When she leaned into his shoulder, inhaling a soft sigh of happiness, Graham whispered in her ear.
“Darlin’, I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.”
As the northern lights danced and played across the stars for her, Graham kept the little ring box in his pocket awhile longer. This was Zoey’s moment, not his.