“I was right. You’re sorry.”
He let her go. “My life—it’s fucked up right now. I can’t seem to get my act together. I don’t have a job. I don’t have my own home. I’m not even sure I’m going to stay in Colorado. I don’t want to drag you into my mess. It wouldn’t be fair to you.”
Did he mean this, or was he just trying to let her down easy?
“Let me decide what’s fair to me, okay?” Wait. What had he just said? “You’re thinking of leaving Scarlet?”
“Yeah. Maybe. I don’t know.” He let out a breath, ran a hand over the stubble on his jaw, his gaze falling on the magazine on the top of her pile, the one with a photo of him with his climbing buddy, Bruce, who’d died on Everest.
A muscle in his jaw tightened.
The good old days.
That’s what Rose had said to him while holding up that exact magazine.
For someone who claimed to be a psychic, a therapist, a witch, a healer, an energy worker, and God only knew what else, Rose could be an insensitive ass at times.
You’re not much better.
Kenzie was thinking about herself, while Harrison struggled with his grief.
Heart aching for him, she reached out, took his hand. “Give yourself time. You’ll get through this. You have friends here, people who care about you. I’m one of them.”
“Thanks for your help today.” He released her hand, took her coat out of the closet, and held it up for her.
“You’re welcome.” She slipped her arms into the sleeves and turned to face him. “Can I come by to check on Gabby tomorrow?”
She’d be checking on him, too, but he didn’t need to know that.
“Sure. Come any time.” He drew her close, ducked down, pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “See? I can’t help myself.”
She liked hearing that. “Then don’t. Don’t help yourself.”
He drew away again, ran his thumb down her cheek, his expression troubled. “You’re beautiful, Kenzie. You’re smart and fun. But I don’t think I’d be good for you.”
She heard the despair in his voice and was sure now that he wasn’t just saying this to spare her feelings. He truly believed it. “How about this? Kiss me whenever you want, and we’ll take it a day at a time.”
* * *
Conrad rolled over,drew a pillow over his head, but it was no good. He’d been a bastard and had made Gabby sleep in her crate, which meant that her crying had kept him awake. Now she was waking him up.
He sat up, glanced at the clock. Six a.m. “Don’t you sleep?”
Gabby wagged her tail, nose pressed through the front bars of her crate.
“It’s a good thing you’re cute.”
To be fair, the puppy wasn’t the only thing that had kept him awake. Kissing Kenzie had left him so horny that he’d had to beat off to get to sleep. Even then, he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind. He’d tried to blame two years of celibacy, but he knew that wasn’t it.
He wanted Kenzie.
“Kiss me whenever you want,” she’d said, her words following him into sleep.
Yeah, well, that would certainly keep them both busy.
He grabbed his jeans and pulled them on. He didn’t want to freak out the neighbor lady again. Then he lifted Gabby out of her crate and carried her to the back door, grabbing his parka along the way. Outside, the first snow of the season lay on the ground. Just a dusting, it barely covered the grass.
“I’m not sure you’re going to like this, but you still have to do your business outside. Got that?”
