Winter Interlude (35 page)

Carrying two goblets by the stems in one hand, the wine and opener in the other, Paul strode toward her, still appearing all too composed for her peace of mind
.
“
J
ust be thankful it’s
a decent
c
ab and
not Boone
’
s Farm, which what I used to drink in college when we were out of beer
.”
He set the glasses down,
then
sat back at his end of the sofa to uncork the bottle
.

After pouring, he caught her eye and handed her
a glass
before picking up the other
.
“The
wine
may have been cheap back then, but the company was always rich
.
Just as it is tonight,” he said, offering a toast and
giving her
a smoldering look that could melt the polar ice caps
.
Then
the look disappeared so fast,
Kate
wasn’t sure if her imagination had gone into overdrive
.
She gulped down more than a sip, wondering if she was slowly going insane
.

Please,
just
let me go just one more night without making a complete fool of myself
.

Then, if she survived unscathed
, she vowed to
dump James
and do everything in her power to find Mr. Right
.
Unfortunately, Paul
owned Judith
’s heart, so he was no more Mr. Right than his brother
.
No amount of wishful thinking would change that fact
.

~

“
W
ant to keep me company while I cook?
”
Paul asked,
pulling the trigger on
the long lighter
.
Like the previous evening, he’d made his
way
around the room and now lit the last candle
.

When
Kate
looked up, appearing startled by his question, he repeated it, adding with a shrug, “I just figured you needed a break from reading
.”
Did he sound like a sap or what
?
Why not just put a sign on my back that says
,
‘
L
onely
.
’
“Never mind
.
It was a stupid suggestion
.”

“No, it
was
n
’
t
.”
Kate
set her book aside and stood
.
“
And y
ou’re absolutely right. I do need a break
.
Besides, it’s getting too dark to read.”

He started for the kitchen
.

She followed
and leaned against the counter
while he
gather
ed
the
hot
dogs, mustard, ketchup
,
and relish
from
the fridge
.

As Paul glanced
over at her
while
shutting the door with his rear
end
,
he was
glad
for
the
groceries
in his hands
that
prevented
him from acting on
a sudden
,
overwhelming
urge to hug
Kate
.
He never should
ha
ve
begge
d
for her company
,
he now realized
.
E
specially when
dusk’s shadows
and
the
candlelight
only
softened her features
and gave
her a vulnerable appearance
.
He fought to ignore
the
glimpse of sadness
he
also
caught in her expression
—
one
that
was
much too solitary
—
reminding him of
himself
.
He
discarded
the idea
.
Kate
Winters was the least solitary person he knew
.
While he
preferred his private lifestyle
, her animated personality always drew a crowd
.

He dropped the items on the counter
and bent to search
through the cabinets
for a pan
.
After adding water, he set the pan on the burner
,
then
turned to
face
her
.
“How about another glass of wine?”

She shook her head
.
“
Not
until dinner is served
.
But I
’d love
some water
.”
She proceeded to get it herself, then moved to
her previous spot
against the counter
and downed half the
bottle
.
C
ross
ing
her legs at the ankles
, she smiled
.
“
I could get used to having a man
wait on
me
.
”

She’d obviously meant the words as a joke,
but
there was still a hint of
something akin to
painful realization
in her tone
that
grabbed his heart and squeezed
.
Hard
.
What the hell was wrong with James?

Don’t look at her
.
O
therwise
,
you’ll do something
totally crazy
,
like try to comfort her
.
And that
would
be a big mistake
.
Touching her would lead to kissing
,
and kissing…well, it was just better if he didn’t touch her
.

He switched
on the burner
,
then
poured himself another glass of wine and took a sip,
purposefully keeping his gaze on anything but
Kate
.

She
was probably thinking about breaking things off with James
.
Paul had a good idea of what made his brother tick
.
Everything had always come easy to
him
.
Kate
, in his opin
ion, was one of those things
.
M
ainly because
she’d always been too available,
which
happened to be
exact
ly the
reason Paul had always given her so much grief
.
But James was no idiot
.
Once
she
quit being the aggressor and walk
ed
away,
his
brother would
then
realize
what he was losing and take
decisive
action
.

Was he a little envious of his brother?
H
e
groaned
inwardly
at the thought
, unsettled by what that meant
.
Maybe it
had always bothered him
—
on a subconscious level
—
that James never had to work at
sustaining
his relationship
, while he’
d
work
ed
tenaciously to
merely gain
Judith’s friendship
.

Staring
into the burner’s flames
, Paul
prayed
for the water to boil
faster
.

He
picked up his wine and sipped, wondering
why
he
enjoyed
having
Kate
nearby observing his cooking
.
The
scene
seemed so
cozy…almost
intimate
.
A brief
glimpse
of them spending more time in similar situations
shot
through his brain, and a longing for what would never be tightened the knot of regret
forming
in his
gut
.