Winter Interlude (49 page)

Kate
mentally shook herself, forcing her attention back to her date. S
he was able to coherently answer Mike’s questions as they walked, but most of her sentences consisted of one or two words
.
Thankfully, they neared her apartment building
quickly
and
,
less than a minute later
,
she was unlocking her door
.
Her only wish was to make it inside without falling apart
.

Mike cleared his throat, drawing her out of her thoughts
.
“Is something wrong?” he asked, staring at her intently.

“No,” she
lied,
suddenly realizing her mooning over Paul wasn’t fair to Mike
.
He’d been amusing company all evening and she couldn’t allow her mood to ruin things now
.
He may not be Paul, but he was fun and the first guy besides a Morrison who interested her
.

“Are you sure
?”
Concern shone in his gaze
.
“Because
,
up until a few minutes ago
,
I thought things were going great
.
You were laughing at my jokes and
telling
your own
.
Then, suddenly it was as if a light bulb turned off
.
Your brightness stopped
.”
He observed her for several long seconds
.
“Such a big change makes me wonder if I said something wrong.”

“No
.
Nothing like that
.”
Using a great deal of willpower,
Kate
forced a quick laugh, shoving the pain and Paul out of her mind, and concentrated on the guy in front of her
.
She exhaled a deep breath and offered a wry smile
.
“I’m sorry
.
You caught me daydreaming about work and one of my hard
-
to
-
please customers
.”

“Gee, thanks
.
And here I thought we were connecting and you found my conversation riveting
.”
His eyes held a mischievous sparkle as he added, “Guess this means you’re not inviting me in for a nightcap
?”

“Sorry
.”
She winced
.
“I’m a little old
-
fashioned
.
It’s a little too soon for nightcaps
.”
She shrugged
.
“And I do need to take care of a few business matters
.”
Her smile turned more apologetic
.
“But thanks for a wonderful evening
.
I had fun.”

He grinned, clearly taking her reply in stride
.
“Can’t say I’m not disappointed, but I’m not totally dissuaded, either
.”
He picked up her hand and laced his fingers with hers
.
He brought their intertwined
fingers
to his lips and kissed the back of her hand
.
“The thanks
is
mine. I had a great time
.
Can we do it again sometime?”

Kate
nodded and her smile spread into a wide grin
.
“I’d like that.”

He released her hand and took her chin with his forefinger and thumb,
tipping
her head back
.
He bent
forward
and his lips met
Kate
’s in a soft, gentle kiss that sent tingles up and down her spine
.
Though not the same as kissing Paul or James, it was nice and made her think there would be life after the Morrisons.

Mike broke the connection and stepped back
.
“How ’bout Saturday
?
D
inner and a movie?”

Kate
was caught a little off guard by the invitation, but his offer was a perfect solution to her dilemma with James
.
She didn’t want to risk bumping into Paul in Tahoe
.
“I think Saturday would be perfect.”

“Great
!
I’ll pick you up at seven
,
okay?”

“Seven’s fine
.”
She turned
,
unlocked her door
,
and added before going inside, “I’ll see you then.”

P
aul closed the
file
, disgusted because his attention span was shot
.
He reached for the remote
.
For an hour, he pretended to watch some thriller, yet stewed the entire time
.
He eventually gave up and went to bed only to toss and turn, while wondering what to do about
Kate
.
Finally, around two he dozed, having found no solutions
.

Wide
awake at his usual five a
.
m
.
, seconds before the alarm sounded, he shut it off and lay there, his thoughts still centered on
Kate
.

I
n
a nanosecond
,
his past conversations with
Judith
flew through his mind
,
full of her
overt
messages that
he’d ignored
.
He star
ed
at the dark ceiling,
and realized
he’d missed her
nonverbal cues
,
as well
.
Thinking back to
Kate
and their weekend together, he hadn’t noticed any
similar
cues that told him to
keep his distance
.
To the contrary
, her personality
and body language
spoke to him, pulling him closer
.
Obviously
, the attraction was mutual
.
Had he misunderstood
Kate
’s messages, just as he had Judith’s all those years
?
That thought had him reevaluating their last day together.

He
rolled
out of bed and headed for the shower as more questions arose.

Why had she left him in the locker room
?
Why the note
?
She’d obviously decided to leave him earlier, so why couldn’t she tell him to his face
?
He never took her for a coward
.
If anything
,
she was too ballsy
—
demanding
what she wanted instead of waiting for it to come to her
—
so why take the easy way out and run
?

He turned on the water and waited until it warmed up before stepping inside, his thoughts racing to find answers.

Unless she was also affected by what they’d shared
.
Had she used her words and actions as barriers to keep him from getting closer
?
Mulling over the idea, as the hot water ran over his body, he decided it made the most sense
.
O
nce he accepted she
might ha
ve run from what she felt, he view
ed
her actions differently, more objectively, which led to another conclusion
.
Kate
might
have agreed to the trip to Tahoe this weekend with James out of misplaced guilt due to what happened between her and Paul
.
He grinned
.
That also made sense
.

Kate
didn’t love James
.
If so, she never would
ha
ve responded to his kisses like she had
.
That was the main nonverbal cue he couldn’t dismiss
.

Paul
turn
ed
off the water
and
grabbed a towel
.
Elation spiked, giving his energy level a boost.

“I’ve
been
an idiot
,” he murmured, looking at his face in the mirror
.
He couldn’t
let things go, hoping they’
d
work out, without doing something
.

Even though
Kate
’s actions
pierced his heart
, he could understand her motives
.
They d
idn’t excuse her behavior, but did make him feel as if he still had something to fight for
.

He dressed quickly
, grabbed his electric razor
,
and headed for the kitchen and breakfast as his mind churned, moving to his next problem…James
.

Paul knew James might take exception to his brother taking away something he thought of as his
—
and
Kate
fit that description
.
But James didn’t love
Kate
.
Not enough for a lifetime
.
Of that
,
he was certain
.
So why would James ask her to go skiing with him
?
He’d have to find out, which meant confronting his brother and risking his irritation
.
Kate
wanted commitment, something he could give
.
S
he was
definitely
worth fighting for, as was that something special they shared
.
He’d be a fool not to pursue her until he had her right where he wanted her, by his side
.
For a lifetime.