Winter Interlude (46 page)

Honest
y had a few
drawbacks
.
Until that moment, i
t
never
dawned on her that by chasing him for so long, she bore the brunt of responsibility for their problems
.
S
he
’d
always thought that going after what she wanted was a good thing, but she never realized the impact it had on others around her.
She had been pushy and aggressive.
Recognizing this, she could finally view his actions through different eyes.

She smiled. “I can see us as friends.”
How could she not have him for a friend when h
e’d be
en such a huge part of her life
?
Besides,
she did care about him
and always would
.

James returned her smile
.
“And friends should tell friends what really happened.”

“Now look who’s being tenacious
.”
A quick
laugh
bubbled up when his expression said he wasn’t about let it go
.
“Okay
—
you’re right
.”
She had to hand him something
.
Otherwise
,
he might keep digging until he unearthed her feelings for Paul
.
“
I have a date tomorrow night with someone I
met
two years ago.”

“
You’re kidding?
”
Total s
urprise
lit his face
.
“
I never
would have guessed that
.
”
He was silent for several seconds before asking, “
So
,
who is it
?
Someone I know?”

She groaned
.
“What is this, the Spanish Inquisition
?
Why is my love life
suddenly
so important?”

“You’re already in love with him
?
”
James asked in horror
.
His hand went to his chest
.
“
Why don’t you just go for the jugular?
”

“
It’s not like that. Mike’s
not you, but he’s
a lot of fun.
”

“
So his name’s Mike
and he’s fun?” He shook his head. “
My radar must be getting rusty
. I thought
for sure
something happened between you and Paul.”

“Oh?” She worked to keep her tone even. James couldn’t know what went on and she wasn’t about to enlighten him.
“
That’s pretty far-fetched.
W
e did become
friends, but that’s it.” She stared off into space. “
A
fter
spending time with
Mike
,
I started to
question things
.
He was nice and treated me like I was special.
I gave him a few pointers on skiing powder
, and
we rode
back to the city
together with three other friends
.
He’s taking me to
dinner
as
a
thank
-
you
.
That’s it
.
I’m not sure I’m looking for anything
more serious
right now.”

He
nodded, then
took a long sip
,
and sighed
.
“I wish you the best
.
I hope it works out with this new guy
.
”

“Thanks, James
.”
She heaved a sigh of relief and smiled
.
“I’
m taking
it
one
day at a time
.
I
’ve
definitely quit being the pursuer.”
T
hinking of Paul, she added, “If he wants me, he knows where I am
.”
S
he looked at James
thoughtfully,
and said, “What about you?”

“Me
?”
Taken aback, James shook his head
.
“I’m a lost cause.”

“Oh, come on
!
You’re not so bad.”

“You need proof
?
Look at us
!
I rest my case,” he teased.

“Why do you say that
?
You have a lot to offer someone.”

“
What good is it when
I can’t commit
.”
He grimaced
.
“I seem to recall hearing those exact words popping out of your mouth
too many times to count
.”

“
Just don’t concentrate on work so much
.
You have to admit it makes you a little self-absorbed and
even
selfish
.”
Looking back
,
he
’d used work as a wall
to buffer her tenacity
.
But someday he’d meet someone who’d breach his defenses. “Y
ou never know what’s around the corner,” she said, remembering how in less than one week her life had become topsy-turvy
thanks to
one man
.
Kate
’s grin spread. “Someday
, when you least expect it
, someone is going to
knock you off your feet
.”
When that happen
ed, he’d c
ommit
.
“
You just haven’t met the right person yet.”

“
Yeah, ri
ght
!”
h
e snorted
.
“And if you believe that, I’ve got a bridge to sell you
.”
Clearly not wanting to dwell on her words, he changed the subject
.

They talked several minutes about the powder and how much snow fell.
He was hoping the snow would stay until the end of the week.
He’d planned to surprise her with taking Friday off to make it up to her.

“What about you?” he asked.
“
Why do
n’t
you come up too?
”

She cleared her throat
, unable to think of how to answer
.
“I’ll think about it,” she said, evading his searching eyes
.
She
had to avoid
P
aul, which created a major dilemma
.

She’d always had free use of the Morrison Tahoe house
.

“Since we’re no longer an item, it’s probably not a good idea to
continue
us
ing
your house,” she said, hoping he’d buy that excuse because he’d wonder why she wouldn’t be the first one on the slopes
this
Saturday
.

“That’s silly
!”
James shook his head
.
“
You’ll always be welcome
.
”

She scrunched up her nose.
“I
’d
just feel unco
mfortable
.”

He shrugged
.
“
Well, if you change your mind, it’s available
.
Paul and I are the only ones who use it in the winter
.
I know my parents think of you as
family, so they’ll never mind
.”
He paused,
then
frowned
.
“
Come to think of it, they’re going to take this breakup hard.”

“
So is my mom
,”
Kate
said with a sigh
.
“I so wanted to be engaged by Chrissie’s wedding.”

“I am sorry about that.”
His gaze zeroed in on hers again
.
“
T
ell me you’ll think about coming up this weekend
.
Because if you
g
o, I won’t feel like such a
jerk
for your having to face your family in Chicago as a single person
.”

“What’s this
?
Trying to buy me off with your house?” she said
.

“Maybe
.
You have to admit
,
your presence this weekend will go a long way to
ward
easing my conscience.”

“Let me think about it
.”
Apparently,
James
made
a much better friend than he ever
had a
lover
.
She never thought things would turn out this way, but it felt right
.
Who knew the
idea of going skiing with James
would be
a fi
tting end to their relationship
?
“I’ll let you know
.”