Winter Interlude (39 page)

Whatever the reason, he didn’t want to dwell on it
.
Nor did he want to dwell on all those wasted years
spent
chasing Judith
.
She’d always hold a special place in his heart
.
I
f
she’d ever given them a chance to be a real couple, things might have turned out differently
,
as his love
and devotion
for her had been total
.
He was convinced more now than ever that he was making the right decision to move on. H
aving experienced a taste of
Kate
’s passion, he now wanted someone
—
namely her
—
who could keep that passion alive.

He finished pouring two cups of coffee,
then
turned at the noise of the patio door sliding open
.
A moment later,
Kate
walked into the kitchen
,
then
hesitated when she spotted him
.

“Good morning
.”
He smiled as
he handed her a hot mug and nodded at the counter
.
“Cream’s over there.”

“Thank you,” she murmured
.
She eyed him with a guarded expression, before concentrating on pouring cream into her coffee.

Paul leaned against the stove and crossed his legs at the ankles
.
He sipped, keeping his gaze on her backside
.
She wore jeans and a sweater that did little to hide her curves. Her complexion had a rosy hue to it this morning
.
Her hair, swept off a face devoid of makeup, accentuated delicate features and he was again reminded of a nymph from a fairy tale
.
They were roughly the same age, but everything about her made her appear years younger
.

He didn’t believe he loved
Kate
.
How could he
?
Not after such a short time
.
He’d spent too many years taunting her,
landing
and fielding verbal jabs, for him to be comfortable with the thought of loving her so readily
.
H
is original view of her was shattered this weekend,
and now
he wanted to dig down through all of her layers and uncover them one at a time
.
He had every intention of pursuing her until he had it all figured out.

~

T
he bright morning light
was a stark contrast
to the dark commotion churning inside her
.
Kate
was no less conflicted than hours ago
; s
he hadn’t slept
a
minute
.
Lord
help
her, she hadn’t wanted to face Paul, but hiding was never her style
.
Neither was evasion. She always met challenges head-on, so why change now?

Ignoring him, she put the carton back in the fridge
.
Mirroring his stance, she perched her rear against the opposite counter and warily watched him while she took a drink
.
He was dressed in faded jeans and a t-shirt that looked as if they were molded to his frame
.
Observing his nonchalant pose, she couldn’t help but find him sexy, which didn’t sit well beside her guilt
.
Nor was she happy about what his presence did to her senses
.
He simply took her breath away
,
made her heart beat faster
.
As cliché as that sounded, there was no other way to describe her feelings
.
Her gaze zeroed in on his lips
,
and memories of that kiss and her aggressive behavior flooded her
.
Something else she wasn’t happy about
.
If only she could forget…everything.

“Would you like some eggs for breakfast?”
Kate
finally asked, deciding anything was better than standing there looking at each other.

Paul shrugged
.
“You don’t have to bother
.
I can eat the Honey Nut Cheerios I bought.”

“
Don’t be ridiculous
.
We have plenty of time before we hit the slopes
.”
Then, her eyes narrowed. “You are planning on going
,
right?”

“Yeah, I’d originally planned on it
.
And I guess there’s no reason not to now.”

“Well, you don’t have to go
.
Just drop me off and I can find a ride home on my own.”

Her offhanded comment must
ha
ve hit a nerve because he stiffened
.
“
What?  A
fraid
to spend the day with me?” he asked, piercing her with an icy blue stare.

“Come on, Paul
.
You can’t think last night changes anything.”

“Excuse me
.”
An incredulous expression crossed his face
.
“I must be a little dense, so you need to spell it out.”

“Hello
—
this is
Kate
—
remember?” she replied in an exaggerated tone
.
“Butt of your jokes
.
Last night was a mistake.”

“How can you say that after what went on between us?” Paul set his cup down so hard on the counter
,
coffee sloshed
over the rim
.
He snatched
up
a
dishcloth
and attacked
the mess
with short, jerky motions
,
before throwing
it in the sink.

“What about Judith
?
What about James
?”
Closing her eyes for patience, she sighed and counted to ten
.
“We can’t pretend they don’t exist for us.”

“What about them
?
Yesterday you said you were done with James
.
T
hen you kissed me
.
You can’t pretend it never happened
.”
Paul’s
voice rose with his annoyance
.

Raw emotion rose
up like
bile in the back of
Kate
’s throat
, e
motion
that s
houldn’t be
there
.
Not toward Paul
.
T
hey’d only spent three days together
.
Still, the thought of Judith and Paul together hurt and she snapped, “Look, I can’t deny that I’m attracted to you, but neither of us is
free
.”
And knowing about Judith and his love for her, she added, “
E
ven if we weren’t
,
I can’t see a future between us
.
So maybe pretending nothing happened
is
better.
For both of us
.”

Paul shook his head, clearly not buying her reasonable suggestion
.
“How can you give James any consideration after the way he’s treated you
?
He doesn’t deserve you.”

And Judith doesn’t deserve you,
she wanted to shout
back
, but didn’t
.
There was no way she could let this continue
.
She’d already done enough to screw things up
.

“
W
hether you admit it or not, something did happen and we have started something,” he whispered savagely, stalking toward her with determination in his eyes
.
He took her cup
from her hand
and placed it on the counter
.
She was too stunned to do anything but
gape at him
as he pulled her into his arms and bent to kiss her
.

The moment their lips touched, jubilation swirled inside
Kate
.
Sensation rolled over her in heated waves.
Too caught up in a building inferno, she responded without thinking of the consequences
.
Kissing James had never been like this
.

She moaned into his mouth
.
W
hen the sensual sound reverberated into her thoughts, she froze
.
Distress and emotional overload swamped
Kate
and she burst into tears
.
In seconds
,
they were free flowing.

L
ike the day before, Paul pulled away, shushing her, holding the sides of her face and kissing her tear
-
s
tained cheeks
.

“I’m sorry
.
But you have to see what we have
.”

His voice held torment, which she ignored, too overcome with her own
.
“This changes nothing,” she whispered
.
“It only proves we turn each other on
.”
She pulled out of his arms, causing him to take a step back
.
She longed to hear words of love from him
.
Knowing she wouldn’t, or shouldn’t even want them, she had to get away
.
Using all of her strength of will, she spun around, and with as much dignity as she could muster, slowly walked out of the room.