Page 60 of Wood You Knot

“Hey, beautiful,” he said, putting his hand on my hip and pressing a kiss to my temple. It was the sweetest gesture and how he greeted me every time he saw me now. I loved it, melting into his touch almost as much as Chewpaca had with Hannah.

“Hey,” I said, biting down on my bottom lip and peering up at him.

“I stopped by the photo booth earlier, but you weren’t there. It looks great.”

“Yeah, Mr. Robertson asked if I could walk around and take a few photos before the event started, so that’s what I’ve been doing,” I answered, glancing down at my watch. “Speaking of which, I should get back to the booth before anyone shows up. I’ll see you after?”

“Definitely.” Nix nodded. “Good luck.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Nix

“Is it just me, or was there, like, double the amount of people here than last year?” Parker asked later that night as we started packing up the booth.

We’d barely had a minute to talk all night. Our table, and every other game table, for that matter, had a lineup of people and kids wanting to play. Preston and Paxton’s dunk tank was extra popular. They’d both been dunked several times throughout the night, much to their chagrin. Anya was able to get a dunk in and left grinning from ear to ear with satisfaction.

The ring toss table was positioned across from the dunk tank and beside the beanbag toss table my father ran. The field was in my line of view, so I was able to look up on occasion and see what Sage was up to.

For most of the evening, I hadn’t been able to see much of anything but the crowd, but now that the crowd was beginning to thin out, I had a clearer view of the photo booth and the gorgeous blonde poised behind her camera, snapping pictures of a family. I couldn’t help but grin with pride. It was neat, seeing her in her element from afar.

We were losing sunlight fast, though, and the event was coming to an end.

“Yeah, I think we’ve definitely seen more foot traffic this year,” I agreed, my attention returning to my brother. He was grinning, having caught me watching Sage again for the umpteenth time that evening.

“Why don’t you just go over and talk to her? I can handle getting things packed up here,” Parker said, gesturing to the totes we’d brought to put the rings and stakes away.

“You sure?” I asked, and he nodded. “All right, fine,” I relented with a grin. “I’ll come back soon to help you load it into the truck.”

“I can do it myself, and Sage probably needs more help than I do,” Parker said, tipping his chin in her direction. I looked over my shoulder, taking in the line that had formed.

I left Parker to pack up the ring toss table and headed over to the photo booth. I wasn’t sure how I could help her with the photo-taking aspect, but I could help take down the photo booth when the sun finally set.

By the time I arrived, Sage was photographing a different family, with about five or six left waiting. Most of the people waiting were volunteers and their families, who’d likely been too busy before to come over.

Lingering near the end of the lineup was a man wearing a business suit who seemed out of place. It wasn’t just his attire, it was the way he was observing Sage with a deceitful, calculating look on his face.

I walked by him, and he didn’t seem to register me at all, looking past me toward the front of the line. He had an aura of self-assurance, but the kind that came from an inflated ego and not genuine confidence. I didn’t typically take an immense disliking to total strangers, but for some reason…something about this guy rubbed me the wrong way.

I approached her when she was checking her camera to see the latest set of photos she’d taken. “Hey, Parker thought you might need some help. What can I do?”

“Oh, hey,” she blurted out, sounding relieved to see me. “Uh, if you could maybe get the rest of these people to fill out the form in advance, that might help speed things up a little. I want to try to get everyone in before we lose the sunlight. I think I have maybe ten or fifteen minutes left.”

“I can do that.” I nodded, and she handed me a pen and the clipboard she had set on the registration table.

“Thanks, Nix. You’re the best,” she said, stepping forward to take photos of the next family.

I approached the lineup, smiling at Damien Wood’s twin daughters, Aria and Ronan. They were Tabitha’s cousins, which meant they were related to my nieces and nephew too. “Hey, girls. Hey, Damien, how’s it going?” I asked, passing the clipboard to him to fill out.

“Good, how about you?” Damien asked gruffly, taking the clipboard from me and passing it to his fiancée, Charlotte, who started filling out the information required.

“Can’t complain,” I said.

“Oh, I bet.” Charlotte smirked, passing the clipboard back to me. “Word is you’ve got yourself a new girlfriend,” she added, her eyes straying to Sage.

“Yeah.” I glanced at the woman in question over my shoulder. She was directing the family sitting there, coaxing smiles out of the little ones. She snapped a few photos and straightened, thanking the family, and letting the parents know the photos would be available within the week.

Then it was Damien and Charlotte’s turn. They headed over to the bench, taking the seat the other family had just vacated, and I moved on to the next people in line, getting them to fill out the form.

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