He had to think. “Your place.”
“How about I make some supper—it’s almost dinner time anyway—and we watch whatever you want to watch.”
At the mention of dinner, Conrad’s stomach rebelled. He lurched to his feet, staggered into the bathroom, and spent the next ten minutes throwing up. He didn’t want Kenzie to see this, but she had followed him and stood beside him, holding a damp washcloth to his forehead, bringing him some relief.
“For what it’s worth, your liver is eternally grateful,” she said.
Conrad moaned, flushed the toilet, and bent over the sink, some thought in his addled brain about brushing the god-awful regurgitated whiskey taste out of his mouth.
“I’ve got aspirin in my truck. I’ll go grab one.”
By the time Kenzie returned, an aspirin and his glass of water in hand, his teeth were brushed and he was standing upright-ish—and feeling disgusted with himself. He’d never claimed to be an expert on impressing women, but he was pretty sure that getting drunk in the middle of the day and puking his guts out wouldn’t do it.
“Here you go.”
“Thanks.” He popped the pill, drank.
She led him back to the sofa and sat beside him. “Feel better?”
He nodded. “Except for my pride. I warned you. I’m a fucking mess right now.”
“Don’t worry about that.” She took his hand, looked over at the TV, where he and Bruce were slogging their way up The Bottleneck. “Let’s forget about supper for a while. This is your K2 climb, right?”
“Yes. How do you know?”
She laughed at his expression. “I’ve watched all your climbing films. In case you hadn’t noticed, I kind of have a thing for you.”
He reached out, took her hand. “Say that again when I’m sober, okay? I don’t know if I’ll remember it later.”
* * *
Bruce looked at the camera,grinning, his Aussie accent charming. “Conrad here is my climbing wife. We’ve been together for twenty years now. It’s a marriage made in heaven.”
The Harrison on the screen laughed. “More like hell.”
Kenzie sat beside Harrison while they watched another climbing film, this one about their Makalu expedition, her heart aching at the anguish in his eyes. “You and Bruce made a great team.”
Harrison nodded. “He always had my back. I couldn’t have done half the things I’ve done without him.”
She didn’t believe that, but she didn’t say so. “Where did you two meet?”
“In a bar in Fairbanks. We tried to hook up with the same woman—a sexy brunette. I hit on her and got shot down. He said something about women loving Aussie accents and moved in. She shot him down, too, and left with another woman.” Harrison chuckled at the memory. “He and I ended up drinking a beer together to commiserate and found out we had more things in common than our taste in women.”
“Climbing.”
Harrison didn’t seem to hear her, his smile fading. “I thought we could do anything.”
She reached over, took his hand. “Can you do me a favor?”
He nodded. “What?”
“Can you promise me that you’ll try meditating with Esri?”
He frowned, then nodded. “Okay. I promise.”
“Will you remember that you promised me?”
“I’m not that drunk—not now, anyway.”
