avoid being photographed by the paparazzi. You wouldn’t believe the way visitors looked at her—because of course everything else she wore was hospital issue.”
Alec downed some of his beer. “You and Jess were very close.”
Megan nodded. “She was my roommate on and off for years.” They had written their wills together. And planned their funerals. Megan had watched Jess die. Those details, though, were nothing but a big conversation stopper. “Sometimes, if the victim was healthy and she knew him, Jess would jump on his back.” At Alec’s puzzled expression, she explained, “That’s a typical move in K-dramas. The heroine gets drunk and the hero piggybacks her home. Have you ever seen one?” He gave her an are-you-fucking-serious look, and she laughed. “Okay, okay. I figured. The girls are always tripping over their own feet and falling. They sprain their ankles as often as you or I might sneeze. And don’t get me started about their expressions when the heroes kiss them. Oh God, they look like frozen fish, eyes open so wide it’s painful to look at. You wouldn’t believe how many times we yelled at the screen. We used to throw stuffed animals at it.”
“If it was so painful, why did you keep watching?”
Good question. “I don’t know. Some scenes, especially the ones including any kind of skinship, are like watching a train accident in slow motion—you’re horrified, but you can’t look away. Yet those shows have something I can’t describe. They’re addictive. Oh, and the male shower scenes? Big, big selling point.”
He smiled. “You know a lot about K-drama.”
“You don’t say,” she replied, tilting her head back on the sofa cushions. “Jess was learning Korean for our trip. We were going to eat spicy chicken feet at the street stalls. And stuffed pig intestines, udon noodles, and rice cakes. We were going to drink soju bombs, get drunk, and hope some nice flower boys would piggyback us back to the hotel. But we didn’t have time.”
His face went somber. “I’m sorry. I know how hard it is to lose people you care about.”
“Thanks. I bought takeout for her from a popular Korean restaurant in Seattle. Spicy chicken feet and rice cakes—but it wasn’t the same by a long shot.” Head still on the sofa, she looked at him. “And the nurses caught us. Turns out Korean food is smelly,” she finished with a smile.
She stared at him for a long, long moment, just soaking him in. His rough expression was made sharper by the shadows from the fire, his eyes sparkling intensely. She’d said too much already. Most men would have run for the hills by this point, but it seemed Alec wasn’t scared of this kind of talk. “Why are you here?” she asked softly, her gaze never leaving his.
“Wanted to catch up with an old friend. Make sure she was all right.”
“I’m all right. As all right as I’ll ever be,” she whispered.
Enough self-pity. She sighed loudly and stood up. “My bottle is empty. Do you want another beer?” She made her tone as perky as she could. God knew she had years of experience.
“Sure. Hit me,” Alec said as she went to grab the booze.
Suddenly she felt self-conscious about keeping him with her. “It’s getting late. Are you sure you can stay? Don’t you have anyone waiting for you? Wife? Kids? Girlfriend?”
He shook his head. “No wife. No kids. No girlfriend. Candidates keep running away. I’ve been told I’m a bit overbearing. And that’s coming from Heather, who loves me, so imagine what the actual candidates had to say.”
She sat down near him again. “Are you a major asshole?”
“Nah, just a middling-size one. What about you? Any significant others?”
“Nope.” Cancer had put a big damper on her love life. Most men bailed at the mere mention of the illness. One had stuck around, but not for long. “Last boyfriend—boyfriend prospect, really—made tracks before this happened,” she said, motioning at her chest. “Which was a good thing. He was a boob man. It would have been a deal breaker. A total tragedy.”
“Moron.”
His answer caught her by surprise. “Really? It wouldn’t have bothered you?”
He winked. “I’m an ass man. You in any danger of losing the booty? Because then we got problems.”
She broke into laughter. “I don’t know if I should be offended or amused.”
“Now seriously, if the future of your relationship depends on a body part or a prosthetic, you are in the wrong relationship.”
She frowned and yanked at his hair.
“What are you doing?”
“Just making