The Tourist Attraction (Moose Springs, Alaska #1)(61)

In answer, Zoey nodded into his palm, turning her face and pressing her lips to the base of his thumb.

“You just kissed my thumb.”

“Was that weird?” Zoey asked. “That was super weird, wasn’t it?”

In answer, Graham took her hand, his eyes locked on hers as he kissed each of her knuckles, slow, soft kisses that made her legs shaky.

“It was the weirdest.” His eyes sparkled in the soft light, reflecting off the waves like dancing, broken glass. They started walking again, rounding a bend just as a cloud rolled away from the sun, leaving them once more in that strange, soft midnight sunlight.

A quiet squeaking noise pulled her attention, followed by a series of clicking. More joined the first, then several loud huffs.

“What is that?” she whispered, trying to see out into the water. All she could make out were shapes in the distance.

“A narwhal pod. You’re lucky. They usually don’t come this close.”

Mesmerized, Zoey leaned into his side, trying her best to find the long horns the whales were renowned for. Instead, there was only the soft slap of their bodies slipping beneath the surface.

“Graham, can you see them?” When Graham shook his head, Zoey sighed. “That would have been perfect.”

“We can wait awhile, see if they come back,” he offered kindly.

But the sounds of the narwhal pod were gone. Taking his hand, Zoey started walking again. “I wish I could have seen them.”

He glanced down at her in consideration. “We could always go swimming.”

“Could we? I feel like maybe we shouldn’t. Isn’t the water freezing?”

“Naw. It’s fine. Come on, Zo. Where’s your sense of adventure?”

“I’m pretty sure being in the middle of the wilderness with a stranger thousands of miles away from everything I know pretty much entails that I am all about the adventure.”

“Are we? Still strangers?”

“Aren’t we?” she murmured, countering with his own question. Zoey really hoped not.

“You’re in love with Easton, aren’t you?”

Zoey sputtered. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

“I see the way you look at him.” Graham sighed in mock misery. “I get it. The ladies always liked him the most. I don’t know. The rippling muscles thing never really did it for me. I was always a sucker for the artsy types.”

“You don’t like me for my rippling muscles?” Holding up her arm, Zoey flexed. “You see that? It’s impressive.”

“There are no words.” Even as he agreed with her, Graham’s large arms curled around her, tugging her closer.

“You’re about to show off, aren’t you?”

“I’m considering it. Do I need to?”

“You definitely need to.”

“Since you asked so nicely…”

Even though she expected it, Zoey still squeaked when he scooped her up. But unlike a far sexier picking up situation, where her legs would be wrapped around his waist and Graham would be gazing down at her with lust in his eyes, she somehow ended up sitting on his shoulders facing the water, with his head between her thighs and her hands gripping his hair for balance.

“Don’t worry. I won’t drop you,” Graham promised as he ambled down the beach. “Not unless I have a really good reason to.”

His hair was soft, and since his head was right there, she ran her fingers through it. “Graham? What exactly are we doing out here? Other than defying gravity and giving you a neck ache?”

“I wanted to show you something.”

“What did you want to show me?” Zoey asked the top of his head. They skirted another boulder and then stopped.

“This.”

Beyond them, the rough, dark gray waters of the Turnagain Arm rose and crashed, widening from the narrow passageway to a broad, violent sea, ringed in jutting mountains. The low hanging sun cast yellow and orange hues across the far-off mountaintops, the highest snowy peaks reflecting that midnight sun. And somehow in that moment, on the shoulders of a man she was only starting to know, this wild, strange place was the most beautiful thing Zoey had ever witnessed.

“There’s this moment,” Graham said quietly. “A moment everyone who decides to live in Alaska has, where they know without a shadow of a doubt that this is where they belong. I’d been here a hundred times, but the first time I truly saw this place was after I came back from college. I knew nothing out there could be better than what I had here. No matter what else you do or don’t get to experience, Zoey, I wanted you to come here, to my moment.”

And maybe it was his moment, but as the clouds parted again, the narwhal pod surfaced, so close Zoey could see the reflection of their horns. She’d never seen anything so incredible, so otherworldly in her life.

Utterly mesmerized, she couldn’t breathe.

“Do I get points for summoning a herd of sea unicorns for you?” he murmured.

“Graham.” She couldn’t put to words what she was feeling, but never had anything been so right.

She didn’t know why—when there was something this amazing in front of him—Graham chose to lean his head back and gaze at her. “Looks like it’s your moment too, darlin’.”