Winter Interlude (27 page)

“Neither did James,” he answered, holding back a laugh at the
impertinence
in her voice
.
“You don’t seem to hold it against him
.”
He nodded to the stove and the chocolate melting cake they had yet to eat
.
“Just work your magic and I’ll set up the board
.
Then, you can tell me all about
singing
around
campfires
.”

She laughed
.

Minutes later, she carried in a tray
.
“What happened to Monopoly?” she asked
,
indicating the Trivial Pursuit board he’d set up.

“It’s the only game I could find
.
Figured we play this or sit and stare out at the snow all night
.”
Or her, in which case, playing an outdated game was definitely much safer
.

She nodded
.
The scent from her delicious melting cakes drifted under his nose as she placed the dishes on the coffee table next to the game board and sat, Indian style, beside him
.
“Too bad we can’t roast marshmallows over the flames
.
Then it
would
be just like camping.”

H
e helped himself to the dessert.
“I’ve never been camping, but I know this
.
If camping involved pure decadence like this and you added roasted marshmallows, it doesn’t sound all that enjoyable
.”
When she
shot a confused glance his way
, he
explained
, “I’d be sporting a sugar headache right about now
.”

She giggled and the sound
zinged through
his ears, the ring of it
penetrat
ing all the way to his gut.

In an effort to ignore her allure, he took another bite and closed his eyes, savoring the rich taste
.
“This is like eating a piece of heaven
.”
Only one thing was better…he pushed the image of her naked in front of the fire out of his mind
.
He doubted she’d appreciate the direction his thoughts had
wandered
.

“I haven’t played this game since college when we played for drinks rather than wedges.”

“
Wedgies?” he blurted out on a laugh
.
“
Now that’s a round I wouldn’t want to lose.”

She gave him a look that could freeze fire and held up the little plastic piece
.
“I said wedges
.”
She then pulled the green wheel out of the box,
and
placed it on the board
.
“
I’ll
admit
I wasn’t very good at it.”

“I doubt I’m any better, so we’ll be evenly matched,” he said, digging out the yellow whee
l and
setting it next to her green one
.
As she grabbed the die and tossed
it
, he asked, “So where’d you go to college
?”

“San Jose State
.
With Judith
.”
The look she threw at him this time
was even more priceless
.
Any moment he expected her to knock on his head and say
,
“
H
ello, is anybody in there?”

“Sorry
.”
He shrugged, as a bit of warmth hit his ears
.
“I guess I should’ve known that
.”

She rolled her eyes and an unladylike sound erupted from her throat
.
“
Ya
think
?”

He
reached for the
die
.
“Oh, c
’
mon
.
So I didn’t pay attention back then
.
I’m paying attention now
.”
He
rolled
.
“
And I’m more than curious about your past.”

When she started to shake her head, he put up his hand and said in a more
wheedling
tone,
“
It’s just to pass the time.
”
He leaned in closer and lowered his voice to a whisper
.
“
Unless you’re afraid to talk for fear I
might discover
your deep
,
dark secret.”

“
Of course I’m not afraid of talking
,” she denied, scooting further away from hi
m
.
“
Besides, I have no secrets
.”
But the blush
pinking her cheeks
said otherwise
.

“Then I don’t see a problem
.”

“Okay,” she said,
and picked
up the die to take the first turn, since she’d rolled the high number
.
“To show you how wrong you are
,
I’ll play
along
.
But my life up to now is rather boring
.”

“You’re exaggerating, I’m sure.”

“
Don’t say I didn’t warn you
.”
Her
quick
laugh ended in a loud groan as she landed on purple
.
“I suck at entertainment
.
The questions are based
on
ancient stuff
only
my parents
would know
.”

Paul smiled indulgently and read the question
.

Kate
snorted
.
“Who in the hell cares what occupation Clint Eastwood’s character was on
Play Misty
For
Me
?”
She shook her head
.
“I have no idea.”

Still grinning, Paul glanced at the answer
.
“Take a wild guess.”

“A dis
k
jockey.”

Wide
-
eyed and open jawed, Paul could only stare
.
“How in the world did you guess that?”

“So I’m right
?”
A giddy laugh escaped her lips
.
“
Who knows? I might just win
.”

“And since you’re so curious about me…”
s
he added
a purple w
edge in her wheel
and
tossed him
a
n almost
gloating grin
,
“
...I’ll tell you the basics. I
grew up in a suburb outside Chicago
.
In high school I got interested in art, which lead me to San Jose State and that’s where I met Judith
.”
Before she moved her piece, she asked, “
How about you? Did you go to Woodside H
igh
S
chool
like James did?
”

“Yeah.”

Kate
took
another
turn, earned
a second
wedge
,
and then
was
stumped on the next question. Handing him the die, she said offhandedly, “
So
,
did you play football
, too
?”

He hesitated
and his eyes narrowed, wondering about her question. “
No. I was into swimming.”

About to pick
up a card
, she halted and looked at him.
“Wow, that’s cool.”

“When I was fifteen, I won two championship races for my summer swim team,” Paul said,
moving his piece to an orange square.
“Breaststroke and butterfly in the fifteen
-
through eighteen-year-old age group.”

“Really
?”

“Yeah, really
.”
He nodded and had to look away
.
The approval in her
eyes
did something to his insides and made him secretly glad for the wins to impart in the first place
.

He then told her about making his high school swim team as a freshman
.
“I went to regionals that first year
.”
He kept silent about the part his achievement played in helping him overcome his shyness
.

He found himself opening up to her as they continued playing. Despite
Kate
earning two wedges to each one of his, he was totally enjoying the game and the conversation.

He’d shared more than of his past with her than any other woman
,
except Judith
.
W
hat surprised him the most was that the words came out so naturally, probably a result
of
seeing admiration flash in her eyes after his revelations
.
Normally, he wasn’t the type of guy who beat his chest, but that’s exactly what he felt like doing
.