Winter Interlude (60 page)

“It’s nice to see you
,
too
.”
He walked up to the counter and did a three
-
sixty, taking in her shop. “Wow, the store’s changed since the last time I was here
.
A lot of new stuff
.
Looks like business is booming
.”

“
Thanks. Sales are strong.
”
She tapped the keyboard on her laptop to bring up the account she was reconciling. “So, what’s up? I’m sure you didn’t drive all this way to ask about business.”

When he remained silent,
her eyebrows shot up
.
“Well
?
I’m
a little
behind
.”

He
smiled and leaned
against
the counter
.
“Okay, since
you’re obviously too busy for idle chitchat
, I’ll get to the point
.”
He paused
for the longest time
, as
if searching for a way to begin.

After more seconds,
Kate
prompted,
“
Today would be nice.
”

“
Damn
,
you’re annoying sometimes,” James said.
She started to object and h
e
put up a hand
.
“I’m here on a goodwill mission, so sheath your claws
,
woman
.”

When she flashed
get to it
with her eyes,
he offered an innocent grin
.
“Okay,
this is me
ge
t
t
ing
to the point
.
What’s going on with you and Paul
?”

“That’s personal
.
”
She
kept her expression neutral so as not to reveal her
shock
. How did he even kno
w there was anything between her and Paul, let alone
have the nerve to ask
about it
?

Jame
s’
smile
didn’t quite
reach
his eyes
.
H
e shook his head
and waved a forefinger in front of her
.
“Ah, ah, ah, wrong answer
.
I thought we decided to be friends.”

“Oh, and you think that gives you a right to dig into my personal business
?
If so, think again
.”
S
he snorted and
, closing
her laptop
, she
picked it up and
turned
toward
the back
room
.
“I’m really behind,
” she added
,
while walking
. “So, you’ll have to excuse me
.”

“I never took you for a coward,
Kate
.”

How dare he call her a coward
?
S
he
stopped dead in her tracks and
spun
around
.
“
This doesn’t concern you.”

“When you hurt my brother,
it concerns me a lot
.”

“Does Paul know you’re coming to his defense?”

“No, I’m definitely butting in
.
I don’t like it that you’re trifling with him.”

“Trifling
?”
Fuming, she
went rigid
and lifted her chin
.
“
I’m not the one who’s trifling
.”
N
odding
at
the door, she said, “
I’d go
before you say too much
and really tick me off
.”

“You know
,
Kate
,” he said, making
no effort to leave
.
In fact
,
his stance was
now
combative
.
“I
always thought the problems in our relationship were all because of me and
my inability to
communicate or to
commit
.
But
now I’m not so sure
.” He waited a heartbeat before adding, “What’s more,
I think you
’re running scared, which
is
cowardly in my book
.”

His words stung.
“Why are you doing this
?”
she
whispered, hating
the thought that he might be right
.
“I’m not a coward
.
The fact that I took your shit for eight years proves
i
t.”

“Yeah,
and
you never had to take the final step to commitment either, even though that’s what you
always
claimed to want
.
Only, now
I’m starting
to
doubt you really wanted it to begin with
.”

T
ears
seeped into her eyes as she denied hotly,
“That’s not true
.
I want commitment
.”
She wiped her eyes and glared at him, daring him to
disagree
.

James eyed
her for a long minute
.
Then, he asked, “Who is this Mike
?
What’s he to you?”

“Why me
,
Lord
?
” she muttered, looking toward
the heavens, knowing James wasn’t going to leave without some answers
.
“Just some gu
y I met at Tahoe
.”

“
From what Paul’s said, I gathered you two started something
.”
At her stony silence, he prodded, “Am I right
?”
When she offered a slight nod and looked away, he added, “
S
o how coul
d you let
some guy
come between
that
?”
He waited until she made eye contact again. “I
t’s not like you to flit from man to man
.
Why start now?”

She laughed
.
“I’m not flitting from man to man
.
I like Mike
.”
Then, she weakened
and
shook her head
,
c
losing
her eyes to block out the pain
.
She
opened them and
blinked, staving off the tears that built
.
“I’ve really mucked things up
.”
She wiped the moisture out of her eyes
.
“Oh, James,” she said, finally letting down her defenses
.
“
I have no clue of what I want any more
.
Everything’s gone haywire
.
Three weeks ago, I hated Paul
and you were my universe
.
Now, you and I are done and
I love Paul
but
he hates me
.
I don’t know what to do about it.”

James caught and held her gaze
,
not letting go for what seemed like
an
eternity
.
“You know what to do about it
.”
He offered a
knowing
smile
.
“I’m just not sure you want it as much as you say you do.”

“
Y
ou’re wrong
.
”
She lifted
her
head
, but
couldn’t maintain
eye contact
and
had to look away.

“Prove it,” he taunted
.
“You need to be willing to
go beyond your fears
and grab the brass ring
.
You aren’t even reaching for it, and it disappoints me
.”

He took his sunglasses out of his pocket
and
put them on
before turning and walking
out of her shop without a backward glance.

Staring
dumbfounded
through the window
as he
climbed into his SUV, s
he wanted to
run out and
yell that he didn’t know what he was talking about
.
But his words held
too much
merit.
And like a scratched CD, they replayed over and over
.