“Jake!” Zoey burst into giggles.
The border collie wriggled and waggled and licked Zoey’s face until her glasses fell off. With his exuberant attentions, she was unable to maintain her sun salutation or Chaturanga whatever thingy the overly pacified instructor droned at them.
At Zoey’s side, Lana was doing the moves flawlessly, her cell phone under her nose and her nails typing away.
Ambling over, Graham joined the two women in their line. “What are you two lovely ladies doing this fine morning?”
“Mountainside Morning Yoga.” Lana didn’t look up from her phone.
“Sounds like a breakfast,” Graham decided, squeezing in between Lana’s and Zoey’s yoga mats. “L, no cell phones in class.”
Stretching out comfortably on the grass, he flicked her phone with a finger before turning back to Zoey. “So, yoga, huh? I pictured you more of the running through the woods screaming type.”
She opened her mouth to retort, then started giggling again as Jake scooted on his belly through the grass, resting his muzzle on the mat between her arms.
“Yes, I love you too,” she promised. “But I paid for this, Jake. I did; I paid way too much for it.”
“To see him? This guy?”
The instructor opened one eye, aiming it Graham’s way.
Graham jutted his chin upward in greeting. “Heya, Russ.”
“Good morning, Graham. If you’re joining our class, please lower your voice to pleasing levels and take a downward dog position. Feel the stretch.”
“Feel the stretch, Zoey,” Graham stage-whispered to her. Her glasses had slipped down her nose in this position, and he wanted to nudge them back up for her.
“Deeper,” Russ instructed. “Let the stretch take your mind off your worries.”
“This guy used to be so uptight in school. I used to cheat off his papers in kindergarten, and he’d throw a fit.”
“Sun salutation,” Russ hummed. “And greet the morning.”
“How do you cheat in kindergarten?” Zoey asked, giggling.
“I’d just copy what he drew.”
Clearing his throat, Russ raised his voice. “Greet the morning in quiet reflection.”
Zoey lowered her voice to an actual whisper. “Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”
“We’re closed today. There was the possibility of being criticized, and I don’t take criticism well, constructive or otherwise.”
“Graham. Greet the morning or please leave my class.”
Well, when Russ put it that way… Greeting the morning popped his back in the kind of way he’d feel for the rest of the day.
“Hey, Zo.” Getting her attention, he waggled his eyebrows at her. “What are you doing today? Besides this?”
Her already bright eyes brightened even more. “I have a shuttle to catch in forty-five minutes. Lana and I get to go whale watching out of Seward. Oh my gosh, I’ve been dreaming about this for years, and suddenly, it’s today. It’s in less than an hour! I couldn’t sleep last night.”
Could she have been any cuter? Graham wasn’t sure he’d ever been as excited about something as she was about this. Russ called for them to go back into downward dog, and for a moment, Graham watched his actual dog touch noses with Zoey, Jake shivering with pleasure and Zoey looking just as happy.
Okay. So that might have been the cutest thing he’d ever seen in his life.
“Sorry, love.” With a sigh, Lana shook her head. “It seems my work trip has become more work than trip. I’m going to have to sneak away from this one too.”
When Zoey’s happiness slipped, it took Graham’s heart right along with it. “What do you have to do?”
“Nothing for you to worry about, just a little investment meeting or two. Maybe Graham wants to go.”
Whale watching? With a whole bunch of tourists? Nope, Graham most certainly did not want to go. He glanced at Zoey and realized his reluctance must have shown on his face.
“Or Killian,” Lana continued, aiming a knowing look Graham’s way. “I bet he’s free, and you two get along well.”
Ooh. L always could hit a man where he lived. It was probably why these two were friends.
“How’s that fair? You offer a guy a fun-filled day of whale watching with his favorite Zoey and then take it away?”
“You snooze, you lose.”
“I’d enjoy the company,” Zoey said shyly, sounding embarrassed. “You don’t have to though.”
“Sadly, I’m going to have to pass.” Softening his tone, Graham scooted his hand over an extra inch and hooked his pinkie finger over hers. “I’d love to spend the day with you, but I have a feeling there’s a no Jakes rule on this trip. Even if I booked it out of here, I couldn’t get him home and get back here again in forty-five minutes.”
Despite her clear disappointment, Zoey gave him a reassuring smile. “It’s okay. I’m fine going alone.”
“Just go with Killian,” Lana pressed. “He likes you. He won’t mind at all.”
Now, why did that stick in his craw so much? Graham grunted, glaring at the grass.
“Don’t force him, Lana. I’m perfectly fine on my own. I don’t need a babysitter.”
“No, but I promised you I would go with you, and this is the second thing I have to miss.” Lana sounded embarrassed and more than a little frustrated.
Eyes closed, Russ raised his voice to be heard over them, smooth and peaceful but so loud.
“Everyone rise to your feet. Now, take a deep breath. Reach for the sky, opening your chest and your shoulders and your mind. Let the mountain air wash over you. You are the mountain. As you go into mountain pose, be the mountain. Let its slopes be your slopes.”
“Be the mountain, Zoey,” Graham told her as they stood. “Be it.”
She shushed him, but her shoulders were shaking from containing her mirth.
“From mountain, we go into tree. As you were the mountain, you now become the tree. You are the tree.”
“I think inner me is getting confused,” Graham murmured out of the side of his mouth to Zoey. “Excuse me, Russ?”
“Yes, Graham.”
“What kind of tree am I? Cedar? Evergreen?”
Russ ignored him.
“I think you’re a leaning log,” Zoey murmured back. It was true. Graham was doing a significant amount of leaning toward the woman next to him.
“Is there a downed tree pose? I can stick my sticks in the air.”
This time, Russ opened his eye and trained it on both of them.
“Remember, Morning Mountain Yoga is for opening yourself to the beauty of the world around you. As we mentally prepare ourselves to go into happy baby pose, first stretch your toes to the heavens, legs open, vagina to the sky. Lift with your hips, open and welcoming to the new experiences of today.”
Now, Graham had done many things in his life, but he had never once pointed his vagina to the sky.
But hey. It was always good to try new things.
“Hey, Zoey. Psst, Zoey.”
“Mm-hmm?”
The sexy little bit beside him was trying desperately not to fall out of position, her face purple from holding in her laughter.
“Am I doing this right?”
Jake had the decency to turn away.
By the time they came out of happy baby pose and relaxed on their backs for a while, Graham had to admit he felt more pelvically open to the universe than he’d ever felt before. That and bizarrely sleepy, but it might have had more to do with listening to Russ hum for a solid ten minutes than anything else.
Having Zoey by his side, Jake snuggled between them, felt oddly pleasant. And yes, they’d only known each other for a few days, but when he looked over and saw her stretching out comfortably on the grass, gazing up at the mountains rising above them, Graham couldn’t help but want to spend a little more time with her.
Hooking his pinkie around hers, Graham tugged lightly to get her attention.
“Hey, Zoey. Why don’t we drive down to Seward together? If we leave now, I can drop Jake off at home and get us down to the boats in time. I promise you won’t miss your ride.”
She hesitated, then shook her head.
“Learning about everything from the tour guide is the fun part.” Zoey reached over and patted Graham’s arm. “Thank you for being sweet, but it really is okay.”
Throughout their exchange, Lana stayed quiet, but Graham felt her eyes flickering over to them more than once.
“I could puppysit for the day,” Lana offered. “You know Jake and I are super tight. If not, Killian would love an excuse to get out of today’s meeting.”
While Graham was fairly certain this was manipulation, it felt a lot like her being an actual friend at the moment. Because when faced with the idea of his Zoey on a boat with tall, dark, and fancy pants, Graham was pretty sure he would much rather spend the day with her.
“Are you sure, L? Jake gets scared when he’s alone with strangers, and he gets sick from the stress. He needs to be with you or at my place.”
“I solemnly swear I will take the best care of Jake that anyone has ever taken of anything ever. Now, are you going, or am I calling Killian?”
Well. It wasn’t like Graham had anything better to do. He’d already opened his pelvis to new experiences for the day.
Zoey really was beautiful. And with the look of hopeful excitement back in her eyes, Graham realized he would do far too much to keep it there. Finally allowing himself the luxury of carefully adjusting her glasses high on her nose, Graham gazed over at her, voice softening.
“Whale watching it is.”
* * *
When Graham agreed to go on the whale watching trip with her, Zoey’s first inclination was relief. But when he turned his head her way, playfully squeezing her pinkie finger, it occurred to her Graham might be a problem.
A sexy problem, but a problem nonetheless.
After a quick change of clothes and a phone call to Moose Springs Adventurers to switch Lana’s name to Graham’s on the reservation, Zoey grabbed her Alaska bag and hurried down to the lobby. She found Graham just inside the hotel with Lana, ignoring the lurking Diego and his brochures, Jake at his feet and a worried expression on his face. Somehow, they’d procured a leash—one of the rules of the resort—but no one was actually holding the thing except for the dog. Ears perked and leash folded neatly in his mouth, Jake turned his cute little nose back and forth between the two humans, following their conversation.