Winter Interlude (4 page)

Her recent goal assessment was an eye
-
opener, highlighting the years that had passed since she’d met James
.
Eight in all
, a
nd they’d been in a monogamous relationship for six of them
.
To be fair
, she owned part of the reasons
.
Her shop
came
first and foremost for years, leaving her with little opportunity to think about marriage and a family
.
Now that Yesterday’s Treasures was generating a decent income, it seemed as if time kept marching on and she wasn’t getting any younger
,
as her mother kept reminding her.

“Don’t think about it,” she whispered
.
“
S
tick to your resolve
.”
She’d vowed during her buying trip to change things
.
They’d either get married, or she was finally ready to throw in the towel in order to be free to find someone else
.
At this point, she couldn’t ignore that she’d spent most of her adult life playing the waiting game
.
A trip to the altar was the next logical step and it was well past time for it
.

Aside from dealing with Paul, her biggest hurdle now was getting James away from work
.
But she didn’t want to think about that now.

Banishing all disturbing thoughts from her mind, she slipped out of her skirt and stepped into more relaxing jeans
.
While tucking in her sweater, she caught her reflection in the mirror and noticed a few smudges of dirt
.

She washed
her face,
ran a brush through her short dark hair
,
and
applied fresh makeup
.
A touch of mascara framed what she considered her best feature, her brown eyes, making them appear bigger
.
She finished, not needing more than a bit of blush and a dab of lipstick, before eagerly dashing out the door.

Judith and dinner at her favorite restaurant on Union Street awaited.

~

“
H
ey,
g
orgeous,” Paul Morrison said
,
after spotting Judith Reid seated at the bar
.
Miguel’s was packed as usual
.
N
ot with tourists
, but w
ith neighborhood professionals, like him, ready to reel in the weekend with a drink and relaxation during
h
appy
h
our
.

“Hi, Paul
.
You’re looking
very
GQ today
.
Business with a client
?”

“Yeah
.”
He grinned at her reference to his clothes
.
An Armani was definitely more formal than the worn
-
out jeans and sweatshirt he usually wore while working out of his home office
.
“Nathaniel A. Baker just left
.
I have to look the part, you know, if I’m to impress him enough to tell him where to put his money
.”
Yep, appearance was everything when meeting anyone new, and he had to admit, he certainly felt the part
.
His grin spread
.
“And Mr. Baker handed me a million
-
dollar account, which means I’m buying
.”

“Thanks
.”
She held up a glass of what had to be BV
c
abernet, since that was her favorite. “I already bought one and I plan to nurse it all night
.”
Taking a sip, she kept her warm gaze on him as he grabbed the stool a stranger had just vacated
.

“So
,
what’s up with you?” he asked.

“
Kate
’s meeting me for dinner
.”
She smiled
.
“We’re celebrating her birthday
a little late
.
You’re welcome to join us,” Judith offered
.

He nodded
.
“Thanks, but I’ll pass
.”
His time was limited and having dinner with
Kate
Winters was at the very bottom of his to
-
do list
.
“But I’ll share a celebratory glass of wine and keep you company until she gets here
.”
He waved to the bartender and ordered
.

Judith sighed and gave him a disapproving frown
.
“I don’t understand why you two don’t like each other when you have so much in common
.”

His drink appeared
.
Paul
picked up the wineglass and
sipped while considering her words
.
“I can’t speak for her, but for me it’s a matter of taste,” he finally said, scrunching up his nose
.
“She’s definitely a go-getter, but she’s too opinionated
.”
While he appreciated her business acumen and her ability to sell antiques, her pushy personality
always rubbed him the wrong way
—
which didn’t make sense, considering he usually admired that type of person
.
Hell, he strived to be one himself.

Judith remained silent, eyeing him thoughtfully
.
“Are you sure you two can handle three days with each other at Lake Tahoe
?”

“Sure
.”
Kate
had been the main instigator in organizing the getaway and Paul had jumped on the chance to spend an entire weekend with Judith
.
He’d known Judith since they were kids on the same summer swim team. In college,
thanks to
hi
s efforts
, they’
d become
good
friends
, yet he’d always wanted more
. Judith had recently
talked about marriage,
so
he’d mentioned taking their relationship to another level
.
S
he
soon
backed off,
saying she didn’t want anything to spoil their friendship
.
For Paul, i
t was damned frustrating to
be
relegated to
‘
friend
’
status
after all this time
.
“Have you thought more about the trip?”

“Yeah
.”
She nodded
.
“Apparently, it’s important to
Kate
, so I’m working on clearing my schedule
.”
She gave him a pointed look
.
“But
we’re
going just as friends
.
We agreed, remember?”

“How could I forget?” he said, wishing
s
he’d never brought up the
M
word
.
He should
ha
ve known she’d be skittish about
something so permanent
,
when it had taken him years to gain her friendship
.
He
reminded himself
that she
had
recently made the move to the
c
ity
, which was a good thing
.
Baby steps
.
Now that she was only minutes away, rather than an hour’s drive, they could spend more time together
.
He held up his wineglass
.
“Here’s to clearing your schedule
.”
He had three glorious days to change her mind about being more than
friends
by showing her how great they were together
.
Thank God
,
Kate
’s ballsy approach was finally useful for something besides irritating him
.
“When’s she due
?”

“Anytime
.
I’m a little early.”

“Well, I’ll clear out once she shows
.”
Paul had to remain on his best behavior
.
It w
ouldn’t do to hang around and verbally try to get a rise out of
Kate
, something he had a hard time resisting
.
He had to prove he could get along
.
Otherwise
,
Judith might add to her schedule rather than clear it
.
“So
,
how’s work going?” he asked, switching to safer topics
.
She was
a
commercial designer who’d ventured out on her own after relocating from San Jose two months earlier
.

Judith had just finished detailing her latest project when he glanced up to see
Kate
breeze through the restaurant
’s
entrance
.
Once she spotted Judith, she jostled through the throng of bodies
.
A salmon had an easier time swimming upstream than she had working her way to the bar
.