Dad's E-Mail Order Bride (9 page)

It took him three attempts to blow all forty of the candles out, but the crowd cheered for Graham anyway. And the minute the crowd descended on the cupcakes, Graham was wise enough to step out of the way.

Peg’s cupcakes were famous in Port Protection and no one intended to be left out.

“Great party, huh, Dad?” Rachel asked a few minutes later, licking at the icing on her cupcake.

“The best party ever,” Graham told her. “You really outdid yourself, pumpkin. On the decorations. The food. Everything.”

“It’s the least I could do for my tottery old father.”

“And your tottery old father greatly appreciates it,” Graham assured her, sliding his arm around his daughter’s shoulder.

“Did you make a wish when you blew out your candles?”

“I’m well past my wish-making years, Rachel.”

“I knew you’d say that,” Rachel said. “So I made a wish for you.”

She darted off before Graham could ask—not that he couldn’t guess what Rachel’s wish for him had been. And that knowledge caused him to look around for Courtney. He found her over where the band had been playing, flanked by the grinning-from-ear-to-ear Barlow twins.

She’d looked amazing in her little black dress the night before, but Courtney looked even better tonight in jeans and a pink sweater.
Hot
pink is what Rachel called the color, and this was one time Graham had to agree with his daughter’s favorite adjective.

Hot
described Courtney to a T. She was too hot to ignore, but too hot to handle. The exact reason why an old dog like him should stay out of the chase.

Plus, Graham wasn’t willing to follow Courtney to New York City, and he was smart enough to know that’s what it would take if they did
hook up
as Rachel so aptly put it. A woman like Courtney would never settle for a ho-hum life in Port Protection. Stalemate, because he’d never go back to a hectic life in the city.

Courtney reached out to wipe a bit of icing from the corner of Mark’s mouth with her napkin. The poor guy melted right before Graham’s eyes.

For one split second, Graham was jealous.

“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”

Graham jumped at the sound of Peg’s voice. “Who?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Graham Morrison. You were staring at Courtney as if you could eat her with a spoon.”

Graham frowned. “You’re wrong. It isn’t like that between us.”

“And don’t give me that ‘we’re only friends’ speech Courtney gave me earlier. A woman like Courtney doesn’t fly all the way from New York unless she’s interested.”

“You don’t know the whole story,” Graham mumbled.

“I don’t need to know the whole story. The way you two look at each other says it all. And if you’re half the man I think you are, you’ll do something about it before Courtney loses interest.”

Peg walked off and Graham gazed across the warehouse again. Two other single men had joined her group of admirers.

His first instinct was to go over and rescue her, but Graham held back. It was already after ten and the party was breaking up. People were collecting their things, saying goodbye to their neighbors.

Besides, it didn’t appear Courtney needed to be rescued. In fact, she seemed to be enjoying all the male attention.

Graham fought off another pang of jealousy and turned his back on the whole scene. That’s when he saw Rachel hurrying toward him, Tiki right behind her.

“Tiki and I are leaving now, Dad. Peg said it was okay if I took the decorations down first thing in the morning.”

“Leaving?”

Rachel rolled her eyes. “Dad. You gave me permission last week to spend the night with Tiki after the party.” She turned to Tiki. “Isn’t that right, Tiki?”

“Yes. I was standing right there.”

Graham didn’t remember Rachel asking any such thing.

And even if he had, things had changed.

“That was before I knew we were having a
guest
for the weekend,” Graham reminded her. “Tiki can spend the night with us.”

“But, Dad,” Rachel whined, “Courtney won’t mind if I sleep over at Tiki’s. I’ll go say goodbye to her now.”

“Rachel come back here,” Graham called out, but Rachel and Tiki were already running in Courtney’s direction.

Graham swallowed, hard.

He and Courtney could
not
go back to the lodge alone.

Not when all he’d been thinking about all night was how much he wanted Courtney in his bed.

Graham arrived just as Rachel asked the question.

Courtney looked over at him. “Are you afraid to be alone with me, Graham?”

The look he gave her said he understood her meaning. “Nope. Are you afraid to be alone with me, Courtney?”

“Of course not.”

They both sent Rachel a smug look.

“Oh, forget it!” Rachel huffed. “We’ll go see if Tiki can spend the night with me.”

When the girls walked off, Courtney looked at Graham and said, “I hope I didn’t overstep my bounds by asking Tiki to spend the night.”

“Not at all. I thought you were backing up my suggestion.”

Courtney laughed. “If we both suggested the same thing, maybe Rachel’s right. Maybe we are afraid to be alone together.”

He didn’t deny it—but only because he didn’t get the chance.

Peg approached to give Courtney a goodbye hug. “Please come visit again soon, Courtney.” Before she let Courtney go, she whispered, “And in case you change your mind, my job offer still stands.”

Good lord, what was it with these people? Did they all have matchmaking on the brain? If she could have handled the embarrassment, she would have assured everyone she didn’t need encouragement. She’d fallen for the guy already.

Peg pointed a finger at Graham. “And you. You remember what Mother Peg told you.”

Despite Peg’s insisting they didn’t have to, they spent the next thirty minutes helping her get things back in order. On the way to the lodge—Rachel, Tiki and Broadway well ahead of them—Courtney said, “Am I wrong? Or was I the subject of whatever Peg told you to remember.”

“No, you’re right,” he said. “Peg was trying to play matchmaker, too.”

“I thought so,” Courtney said. “Peg offered me a job for the summer running The Wooden Nickel.”

Graham threw his head back and laughed.

His reaction ticked Courtney off a little.

“Why do you find that so funny?”

“You?” he said and laughed again. “Putting your career on hold to run a general store in outback Alaska for the summer? That isn’t only funny, Courtney, it’s ridiculous.”

“Well, I disagree,” Courtney told him, even though she didn’t. Taking a summer job in Alaska or anywhere else was ridiculous. But it still irritated her that
Graham
thought it was ridiculous. That could only mean Graham didn’t want her to stay.

He stopped walking and Courtney did the same. The dim glow of the solar lighting along the railing of the boardwalk gave her enough light to see his puzzled expression.

“You can’t be serious,” he said. “You’d really consider running The Wooden Nickel for the summer?”

“Are you implying I couldn’t do the job?”

“Of course not.”

“What then?” Courtney asked. “That I don’t have the guts to call my mother and tell her I’m taking the summer off?”

Now he really looked confused. “How did this suddenly become about your mother?”

“Good question,” Courtney admitted and resumed walking.

When he caught up, he said, “I upset you, and I’m sorry. The only reason I found Peg’s offer funny was because you just landed that big account. Taking months off to run a general store seems ridiculous to me. That’s all. It’s none of my business what you decide.”

Okay, he’d put her in her place. Though the fact that Graham didn’t care where she spent her time hurt a little, Courtney looked over at him and said, “Forgive me for overreacting just now?”

“Sure,” he said.

They walked a little farther before Courtney said, “I guess when you mentioned my career, it reminded me how soon I have to go back to reality. It’s been nice these past two days. No responsibilities. No fires to put out. No disgruntled clients. Right now running a general store sounds like a dream.”

“We all have our dragons to slay, Courtney,” Graham said. “Even here in Port Protection.”

Courtney wanted to ask what Graham’s dragons were.

But she didn’t.

They walked in silence after that, Courtney pretending not to notice the full moon winking at them through the thick forest as they strolled along the boardwalk, or that the entire setting was achingly romantic. But by the time they reached the lodge, Courtney was grateful she and Graham had both insisted that the girls stay with them.

The girls would keep her from doing anything stupid.

There was no doubt in Courtney’s mind that, had they come back to the lodge alone, she would have ended up in bed with Graham. And that would have been too convenient.

Her entire history with men had been based on the convenience of the moment and basic human needs. She wasn’t proud of it. But she’d never met anyone who held her interest long enough for things to develop into a relationship.

The way she felt about Graham was different.

And reducing what she felt for Graham to a weekend fling would have been far more tragic than never lying in Graham’s arms at all. If she ended up in Graham’s bed, Courtney would want it to be forever.

Graham didn’t enter her bedroom. He only poked his head around the door. And wished he hadn’t. She was still in bed, propped up on her elbows, looking straight at him.

Tousled hair.

Bare shoulders except for thin straps.

Sexy black lace barely covering her full breasts.

Graham almost fell to his knees.

Somehow he managed to say, “We need to get an early start if we’re going to tour the island.”

“Give me thirty minutes and I’ll be ready.”

“Do you want Rachel’s stale cereal for breakfast? Or my famous pancakes?”

“What do you think?”

“Good choice,” Graham said and quickly closed the door.

Seeing Courtney all mussed and sexy-looking took his thoughts back to last night. He couldn’t help but wonder what might have happened if they hadn’t thwarted Rachel’s plan and left their fate to chance.

Don’t even go there,
Graham warned himself.

He no longer left his life to chance. He’d made that change when he came to Alaska. Now he planned things out. That’s what taking control of your life meant. And once he came up with a plan, he stuck to it.

Just like now, making sure Courtney was awake. The morning weather report called for afternoon showers, so if they followed his plan and left early, they’d make it back to the lodge well before the rain set in.

No one knew better than Graham how miserable it was to be caught out on the water in the rain. He’d made that mistake before. He didn’t plan to make it again.

Unfortunately, living in the Tongass National Forest was always tricky business when it came to the weather. With an average rainfall of a hundred and twenty inches per year, rain could come at any time. Although the predicted high for today was in the mid-eighties, once the clouds rolled in, the temperature would drop like a stone.

So yes, planning was important to him.

In his personal life.

And also because of the business he was in.

He didn’t like surprises. And maybe that element was another reason why the whole Courtney situation had thrown him off-kilter. Courtney had been nothing but one big surprise after another from the moment she set foot on his dock.

Walking home from the party last night was a perfect example. She’d been snippy with him one minute, and the next minute she’d been asking him to forgive her for overreacting.

He did admire Courtney’s ability to admit when she was wrong. It was a trait Graham hadn’t quite been able to master.

Of course, tomorrow morning Courtney would leave, Graham reasoned. And then he wouldn’t have to worry about any further surprises.

Or wearing a tux at dinner.

Or dancing close to Sinatra songs.

Or hot pink sweaters.

Or kissing her again.