Mistletoe and Mr. Right (Moose Springs, Alaska #2) - Sarah Morgenthaler Page 0,139
closed up here.”
Zoey peered at him suspiciously, then shook her head. “I need my glasses,” she slurred. “I can’t see. Danger, danger, Will Robinson.”
Graham grinned, because for a tourist, she was kind of growing on him. Trying to adjust her glasses on her nose, Zoey failed to realize that she’d been using them as a bookmark. Taking her very delicate frames, Graham carefully opened them and set them on her nose.
“Imma call a cab.” When she started to stand, she ended up staggering. “Whoops.”
Graham caught her arm to steady her. “Hey, Zoey? Did anyone else but me give you a drink tonight?”
“Nope. But Lana had some aspirin.”
“Are you sure you took aspirin?”
Sticking her nose in his face, Zoey raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure I took aspirin?”
Well. This was a first on his watch. “Give me your phone, Zoey. I want to call your friend.”
It took her a minute to find her phone in her hand, but with Graham’s help, Zoey got there eventually. She proudly presented it to him. Without asking permission, he squished her thumb on the phone to unlock it, then found Lana’s name on the recent calls list.
“Yes?” A familiar purr answered on the fourth ring. “I’m rather busy, love.”
“Lana, it’s Graham. Tell me you didn’t give Zoey drugs when she was drinking. Do I need to call an ambulance right now?”
“Oh, no. She’s a lightweight. She never drinks.”
Graham growled. “And you convinced her to start with a Growly Bear? Come on, L. I trusted you.”
“Hmm, I’m sure she’ll be fine. You always take such good care of us.”
“What did you give her?” Speaking slowly and making sure to enunciate through his gritted teeth, Graham tried to keep his temper. “Lana, this isn’t funny. She’s looped.”
“Zoey only took a couple baby aspirin for her headache. I’ll come back for her. In my defense, I thought she’d already gone back to the resort. She never stays out this late.”
And he was sure Lana looked her hardest too.
Graham cursed under his breath. “No thanks, I’ll handle it. You’re a terrible friend, you know that, right?”
Not bothering to listen to her answer, Graham hung up, focusing on the woman in front of him. He didn’t take a lot of things seriously, but Graham had a singular distaste for people bailing on each other.
“Your eyebrow is twitching. Up down up down.” Zoey tried to waggle her own eyebrows, glasses slipping.
“Yeah, well, Lana makes me twitchy.” Wrapping an arm around her waist, Graham helped her to her feet.
“Don’t be mad,” she slurred. “It’s not her fault. Money makes people crazy.”
Graham caught a hand in the jaw as she gestured exuberantly in demonstration. “Like, crazy. And she’s got so much. So. Much. Where’s my cab? Imma call another one.”
“Sorry, Zoey, I’m going to take you home. I’m not calling you a ride at this time of night, because the good drivers are already taken. Trust me, you don’t want the B-team of Moose Springs rideshare drivers.”
“What’s the mileage on your meter?” One drunken eyeball narrowed suspiciously. “Overcharging is wrong. Is wrong.” When she poked him in the chest with her finger, Graham’s grin widened. “I’m watching you, mister.”
This sloshy little bit was quickly in the running for his favorite customer ever. And since Lana had taken a dive off the ladder of Graham’s good opinion tonight, the position was currently open.
Juggling Zoey while closing would have been easier with an extra hand, but Graham was dexterous with his feet when needed, and she was determined to help. By the time they killed all the lights and locked the front door, Graham’s truck was the only vehicle left by the building. With some effort, Graham pried open the passenger side door, freshly bent from Ulysses’s wooing.
“In you go. Seat belts aren’t optional.”
“Nope. Nope nope nope. Stranger danger.”
“I’m not a stranger,” Graham promised. “We’ve already met.”
Again with the narrowed eyes. She was a suspicious one. Chuckling, Graham took her phone, snapped a picture of the two of them together, then messaged it to Lana. “See? Now there’s proof I was with you tonight. The cops will come looking for me first if you never arrive safely. Lana will tell them.”
“What if she doesn’t arrive safely either? S’not a good plan.” Even as she argued with him, Zoey crawled into the front seat with all the grace and dignity of a newborn baby goat. He clipped her seat belt and closed her door. Graham sighed as he went to the driver’s side and climbed in.