Winter Interlude (16 page)

Kate
took a bite and
closed her eyes, savoring the taste
.
When she opened them, she caught Paul watching her, a lopsided grin plastered
on
his face.

“What
?”
Self-conscious all of a sudden, she traced the edges of her mouth with her tongue, then wiped her lips with her napkin.

Still grinning from ear to ear, he shook his head
.

When his slow rumble of a chuckle erupted, she glanced down to make sure there was no
ketchup
on her turtleneck
.
“What’s so amusing?” she asked, meeting his gaze
.
“
D
on’t tell me
it’s
nothing because you’re grinning like an idiot.”

“You’re inhaling your food with gusto
.”
He indicated her plate with a nod
.
“I was just wondering where you put it all in that minuscule body
.
What are you
?
Five
feet and maybe a hundred pounds
?”

“I’m five
two,” she corrected
.
“And no woman reveals her true weight
.
Ever
.”
She was too vain to tell him to add eight pounds
.
Let him think she weighed less than she really did
.
W
hy the thought pleased her, she had no idea.

“I see
.
”
He nodded
slowly
.
“Still, it’s nice to be around a woman who can enjoy her food without worrying about dieting and all that nonsense.”

A flush of heat washed over her as the approval in his voice wrapped around her like a warm blanket
.
She looked down at her plate, not liking the tingling sensation on her neck those enthralling, liquid pools of blue generated
.
She studied
her burger,
working
to keep both from affecting her further
.
Finally, she was able to say with a modicum of normalcy, “I guess I’m lucky
.
I never gain an ounce and I love to eat
.”
She took a bite and slowly chewed until the feelings dissipated, before swallowing
.
Once they did, she spoke with more conviction
.
“I think it’s all that nervous energy I expend
.”
She shrugged
.
Her focus landed on his plate
.
“It looks as if we both appreciate a good burger.”

“What’s not to like
?”
His beguiling smile was back
.
He captured her gaze once more and, not letting her look away, added, “I’ve always had an appetite for the finer things in life.”

Another warm flush seeped from her belly to her extremities
.
To break the spell he innocently cast, she glanced out at the water and took deep breaths, without noticing the view this time
.
If she didn’t know better, she could
ha
ve sworn he was flirting
.
But she did know better
.
Paul Morrison never flirted with anyone, not even Judith, whom he loved more than life itself
.
More likely, he was trying to rattle her
.

As her gaze remained fastened on the scene outside, big white feathers began floating in the air, increasing in density by the second
.
Her
attention refocused on the view.
She pointed
.
“Look, it’s snowing.”

“Really
?”
His gaze followed her finger
,
to see
snow now
falling in earnest
, but the flakes dissolved as soon as they hit the water.
“Wow
!
Look at it
.
I hope it keeps up.”

“Maybe we should do the snow dance,” she teased, glad see that his thoughts had moved to something else besides tormenting her
.

“Snow dance
?”
His eyes narrowed.

“Yeah
.
It’s a lot like the rain dance only it produces snow
,
not rain
.”
Tsking
, she shook her head
.
“Surely, you’ve done one?”

He laughed
.
“No, you’ll have to educate me.”

“I’m sure there’s not much I can teach you
.”
She mentally groaned
at the unintended double entendre
.
Good job,
Kate
.
Why not give him an open invitation to torment her more
?

“Oh
?
I’m sure you’re full of surprises and could teach me a lot,” he said, without missing a beat
.

His mischievous voice, full of innuendo, sent a small thrill up her spine
.
If that wasn’t enough to worry her, another infectious grin reaching all the way to his eyes had her stomach turning somersaults
.
For
h
eaven’s sake, he belonged to her best friend and just because Judith’s biological clock wasn’t ticking as loud
ly
as hers didn’t change that fact
.

Don’t look at him
.
He reminds you of James
.
That’s why you
r
insides are twisting like a pretzel
.

“Whoa, back up,
b
ucko,” she said, once she found her equilibrium
.
“We’re getting way off base.”

“Oh, come on
.
We’re just having a little fun
.
It doesn’t mean anything
.
Y
ou can’t tell me you’re not enjoying this as much as I am
.”
His eyes flashed pure amusement
,
sending enough warmth to her core to further impair rational thought.

She couldn’t stop the smile from forming
.
“That may be so
.”
Why deny it
?
She
was
enjoying him for once in her life
.
But she wasn’t without some sense
.
This was Paul
, a
nd he and Judith loved each other
.
“We’re still sworn enemies
.
I’m willing to be nice, but I don’t think I’m ready to bury the hatchet yet.”

He shrugged
.
“Okay, it’s your loss
.”
He sighed and took a sip of his drink
.
“But let me know when you’ve buried it deep enough because I find I don’t mind playing nice with you.”

Twisting her napkin in her lap with one hand, she cleared her throat and concentrated on bringing a fry to her mouth with the other
.
To answer him would be pure madness
.
Oh
,
he was good
.
So good at rattling her
.
Instead of humor and snide remarks, he was now using the
in
famous Morrison sex appeal and charm.

The man is not attractive
.
Repeat ten times and stop stealing glances at him
.
He was Jame
s’
brother
,
for Pete’s sake
.
She needed to ignore him
.
She needed to remember he was Paul Morrison, her hated enemy
.
She needed a drink
.
No
, w
hat she needed most was distance
.

Remaining silent, she sighed and resumed eating
.

Paul didn’t seem to notice her newfound absorption in her food
.
He continued talking while she pretended not to notice the
cute
way his eyes crinkled at the edges when he smiled or the devilish gleam in them when he found humor in something and shared it with her
.
F
eeling trapped like a charmed cobra unable to break away from the charmer, she breathed a sigh of relief when he got up to go to the restroom.

She couldn’t wait until the meal was over so she could escape to her secluded room
.

~

P
aul washed his hands and glanced into the mirror
.
What the hell was he doing
?

He snorted
.

Flirting
.

That’s exactly what he’d been doing
.
With
Kate
Winters
!
His brother’s problem
.
T
he same
Kate
who gave back in triplicate everything he threw at her
.
How had their game changed
?
Had the earth turned on its axis
?
He hadn’t been able to stop himself
, t
he words just flew out of his mouth
.
N
ow, searching his reflection, he couldn’t deny one fact
.
She intrigued him, made him want to keep flirting
.
No woman had ever intrigued him
like this
.
Except Judith
,
and he never flirted with Judith
.