The Tourist Attraction (Moose Springs, Alaska #1)(75)

“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 lawyers 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.