“This is important to L,” he reminded her gently.

Inhaling a deep, steadying breath, Zoey nodded. “You’re right. Lana needs us here. We’re being good friends. And there’s probably food.”

“Theoretically.”

The ballroom had been decorated with a similar kind of understated opulence as everything else in the hotel. Round tables glittered with polished silverware and crystal wineglasses. A massive hearth dominating the far wall burned with an attended fire, where a disgruntled Diego stood, balancing a silver platter of miniature s’mores in his hands, complete with tiny, perfectly charred marshmallows. A private balcony stretched the length of the ballroom, with two-story sheets of glass separating those guests still inside and those mingling around stone fire rings outside. Everywhere he could see, glasses of champagne were held carelessly in hands glittering with diamond tennis bracelets or expensive-looking watches.

Graham was a confident person, and validated or not, very little intimidated him. But even he took pause for a moment as they stepped deeper into the ballroom, overwhelmed by the elegance surrounding them. Somewhere in all this mess of music, hors d’oeuvres, and candlelight was Jax, and out of sheer self-preservation, Graham scanned the crowd looking for him. He finally found his friend next to Lana, both of them looking far too comfortable in their formal wear. Fingers moving to his tie unbidden, Graham hated his knee-jerk reaction to make sure he looked okay.

At least no one would be paying any attention to him. Not with Zoey stunning everyone’s socks off.

“We should probably go say hi.” Clearly steeling her nerves, Zoey pushed the glasses higher up on her nose and headed for the woman holding court in the center of the room. Graham stayed at her side, catching her nervous, clammy fingers in his warmer ones and squeezing in reassurance.

“Maybe I’ll carve you into my log when this is over,” he murmured to her, lips brushing her ear.

Good. That brought some color to her cheeks.

“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” she whispered back.

“So do we get to know what all the excitement is about yet?” Jax was asking Lana as they approached, draining his champagne. “You throw a good party, Ms. Montgomery, but my curiosity is getting the best of me.”

Utterly unfazed by his charm, Lana delicately sipped from her own glass. “After dinner, we’re announcing the surprise. Until then, enjoy yourselves.”

“Save a dance for me?” Jax asked her.

This time, Lana paused, letting her eyes drift down Jax’s strong form, then back up again. She tilted her head as if considering it, then smiled serenely.

“I’m working, but perhaps another time. Zoey? Come sit with me. Our table’s at the front.” Arms linked, Zoey and Lana left Jax to pick up his wounded pride and Graham to enjoy the view.

“She’s amazing, isn’t she?” Graham sighed in contentment, taking a deeper drink.

“She’s something.”

At Jax’s somewhat offended tone, Graham clapped him on the shoulder. “Wrong she. Sorry, man. Did L hurt your feelings?”

“Well, she didn’t not hurt them.” Jax snagged another glass of champagne off the tray passing by. “Come on. Let’s see if I can get my feelings hurt again. So far, tonight’s better than I expected.”

They ended up at the same table as Killian, Enzo, and Haleigh, much to Graham’s chagrin. At least Jax ambled along after them, stealing a seat next to Lana that had been marked for someone else.

Knowing they didn’t fit in one bit, Graham focused his attention entirely on Zoey, playfully entangling their fingers and distracting her by whispering things in her ear. Distracting her had become his new favorite pastime. Unfortunately, despite his best efforts to the contrary, the others at the table pulled her attention. A deep discussion between Haleigh and another woman had turned into a sort of verbal sparring match over who could insult the town more. Graham was good at ignoring complaining tourists, but Zoey was new to the experience. Even as he tried to distract her, he could see her eyes flickering back to the two women.

“I mean, really. Let’s try to be as utterly ridiculous as possible.” Haleigh rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why Killian keeps insisting on going to places like this. I was perfectly happy in Italy. But no, we had to come to Moose Springs.”

The way she said the name of his town rubbed Graham the wrong way. It must have rubbed Zoey the wrong way too because she frowned across the table.

“At least there are people here worth talking to,” the other woman said. “I was down in town today, and I think I ran into an actual Neanderthal. He was so tall it was insane. You should have seen the beard on this one.” With a naughty giggle, she pulled out her phone from her purse. “You have to see him. I took a picture when he wasn’t looking.”

The snickering pair didn’t bother to hide the phone screen from curious eyes. And yeah, it annoyed him to see they had taken a picture of Easton, but it wasn’t the first time. Graham didn’t want to know how many social media posts he’d been an unwilling participant in. But he wasn’t nearly as upset as the woman sitting next to him.

“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.