pool hall while he took hell from her cousin than not have her in his day at all. Jumping after her, Rick risked a startled nip from Jake to take her elbow.
“Wait. That guy isn’t you, Lana. You’re always welcome here.”
Maybe he sounded like a complete fool saying so, or at least a little desperate, but to earn a smile like the one spreading across her gorgeous face? Rick was more than happy to be a little desperate for Lana any day.
This time when she went up to her toes to kiss his cheek, her lips lingered.
“How about this. I won’t let him come back here. But if the offers stands, I’ll definitely take you up on it.”
Would the offer stand? Absolutely.
Chapter 6
“Are you sure this is the proper attire?” Lana glanced down at herself. “I’d hate to embarrass myself.”
Dressed from head to toe in her own winter ghillie suit, Zoey gave an emphatic nod, furry strips of white and pale-gray fabric swinging with the motion. “We need to be in camouflage. This moose is a trickster.”
Lana had dropped Jake off with Graham and then met with Zoey out in the woods, off a section of road she wasn’t familiar with.
They’d come prepared. Thermos filled with hot coffee, zero-degree winter gear beneath their ghillie suits, granola bars in their backpacks. Two large flasks of a very spice-heavy eggnog the Lockett patriarch had brought over for Zoey to try and Easton’s livestock tranquilizer gun, complete with moose-sized darts. The rest of Graham’s truck bed was filled to bursting with all the garish holiday inflatables, weathered plastic light-up figurines, and used polyvinyl Christmas trees one could obtain on the sly.
Strings of lights and power cords overflowed from piled-up buckets. They had two lawn chairs to sit on while hiding in the shadows of the surrounding trees and heating pouches for their gloves if they got cold. And lastly, one satellite phone to call in their capture (and subsequent victory), borrowed from a very hesitant Ash, who promised hell to pay if they broke it.
If one were to catch a Santa Moose, there was only one way to do it—set a Christmas trap.
At first, they’d started small. After all, most of what attracted the moose was blinking lights. Lana wasn’t sure where they were or where the power cords Zoey kept stretching were running to, but they’d divvied up the work. The more decorations they set up, the more focused Lana became on not only setting the scene but telling a story. Theirs was a Christmas town filled with hope, full of cheer, and even perhaps full of romance.
Lana had seen the way Mrs. Claus was making bedroom eyes at Frosty’s button nose.
“Lana? Does any of this strike you as a little perverse?”
“Nonsense. It’s perfect.”
They were crouched out in the woods, doing their best to blend in with their surroundings. Between them, they had recreated Santa’s workshop closest to their hiding spot, complete with elves at their toy-making table and all the reindeer happily munching away at brightly lit Christmas light cookie piles.
“This can’t be good for the environment. Global warming is a thing, Lana.”
“Oh, it’s definitely a thing. I make it a priority to actively invest in sustainable businesses. Pass me the tranquilizer gun.”
“Why do you get the tranq gun?”
“Because of the two of us, I’m the only one with specialized training.”
“Making out with a guy from the Chicago SWAT team does not make you an expert shot, Lana.”
“Hiring a professional is a perfectly acceptable way of learning how to defend oneself. His attractiveness doesn’t make my training any less lethal. And that was years ago.”
A sound in the distance caused them both to tense. “Is that—?” Lana started to ask.
“Not unless moose have started stomping through the woods.” She stood, turning toward the direction they’d parked the truck. “Graham, is that you?”
“Sorry, Zoey Bear. I know you have a thing for Easton, but I decided to rescue you this time.”
“How did he find us?” Lana asked.
Zoey snorted. “Serves me right for leaving him a note about where we’d be.” Hands on her hips, she glared at the man emerging from the woods. “Rescue me from what? Our awesome plan of awesomeness? Don’t lie. You got bored and wanted to poke your big fat nose into our plans.”
“I got lonely,” he practically purred in her ear. Anyone else would have melted at the sheer sexiness of the smoldering look Graham gave her. Not Zoey.
“You’ll live. Now go away. We’re busy.”
“I can’t. I