She blinked, staring up at him through wide blue eyes. “But I already ate.”
“So what? Eat again.”
Chapter 6
Harrison had calledit a brunch date, but Kenzie didn’t think he’d meant it that way. They were just sharing a meal at the New Moon. It wasn’t adatedate.
Don’t you just wish?
Kenzie had watched her clients fall all over him today and had wanted to kick them all out of class. But she had absolutely no right to feel jealous. She had no claim on him. If he wanted to hang out with Hannah and her Akita, that was his business. Besides, she wasn’t into climbers.
Keep telling yourself that.
Harrison attacked his home fries and scrambled eggs as if he hadn’t eaten in a week. “How did you end up working with dogs?”
How could he eat so much and stay in such great shape?
“I’ve always loved animals.” She picked at her soggy fruit salad. “I wanted to be a vet when I was younger, so I got a biology degree from CU. I got a job working for a vet after graduation. One of the vet’s regular clients was a woman who trained SAR dogs. She invited me to a training one day, and that was it. I knew I wanted to train dogs. I started learning, and my businesses grew out of that.”
“And you’re how old—thirty-three?—and you own two businesses. That’s impressive.”
“I had help. I inherited my grandparents’ old dime store and their house. I moved into the house, and the dime store became the kennel and the shop. My parents gave me an interest-free loan to remodel the store and the house, and I paid that off last year. If I’d had to buy the property and start from scratch, I’m not sure I could have done it.”
He nodded as if this made sense. “I bet your parents are proud.”
“I suppose. I don’t see them all that often. They retired to Belize.”
“How do you balance your businesses with dog training and SAR work?”
“The store is closed on Sundays, but the kennel is open every day year round. I have a staff of ten who run both operations, plus a vet tech and a groomer. If I get sick or toned out for a rescue, my managers can handle everything. I teach classes on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights and Puppy Kindergarten on Saturdays, with some private lessons thrown in here and there. Once in a while I have to cancel class when I get toned out for a rescue, but it doesn’t happen often.”
He looked confused. “When do you find time to go on trips, take vacations?”
“Vacation?” Wouldn’t that be nice? “I haven’t taken a vacation since… I can’t remember. Running a business makes that difficult.”
“What if something happens with the dogs at night when no one’s there?”
“I live next door, and I have a surveillance system inside the kennel. My app allows the owners to check on their dogs at any time to see how they’re doing, and I’m able to see what’s going on when I’m home or out on errands.”
She drew out her smartphone, clicked on her own app. On the screen, Inéz was playing with Crank, while the other dogs romped in the play yard or dozed in their kennels. She turned her phone so that Conrad could see.
“An app?” He leaned in to look. “That’s high tech.”
“People feel better when they can see that their dogs are safe, and I have to stay competitive somehow. I have to persuade people to drive up the canyon from Boulder if I’m going to stay in business.”
He grew quiet, glancing down at Gabby, who napped at his feet, his expression troubled. “She woke me up from a nightmare.”
The abrupt change of topic took Kenzie by surprise. “You had a nightmare?”
He nodded, his gaze still on the puppy. “I was there, hanging over that crevasse again. Bruce, Luka, and Felix were frozen into the ice all around me, like fish frozen in a pond. Then I saw that the ice was moving. It was closing in on me.”
Kenzie knew that he really had regained consciousness hanging above a crevasse. She couldn’t imagine how terrifying that had been.
She reached out, took his big hand in hers. “What a horrible dream. I’m so sorry.”
Awareness arced between them, startling her.
His gaze met hers, his fingers threading with hers, a muscle tensing in his jaw. “Gabby woke me up. One minute I was trying to get out of that crevasse, and the next, she was licking my face. Do you think…?”
