Winter Interlude (17 page)

He started out of the restroom and halted
.
Why was he in such a hurry
?
He shook his head
.
No way
.
He couldn’t be attracted to her
.
Never in a million years would he think he’d ever enjoy her company
,
and never in a gazillion years would he think she’d attract him.

“Not good, Morrison,” he muttered
.
A
lt
hough he didn’t think James would ever commit to
Kate
, he had no business encroaching on his brother’s girlfriend
.
He had no business finding her attractive
.
R
emember, she’s the enemy
—
her words
,
not his
—
so he should avoid her
.

Instead of listening to his mind’s warning, he grinned as he walked toward the table when she glanced up at him
.
He was just having a good time, something he hadn’t had in a long while
.
He could handle
Kate
.

Still, he wasn’t a total fool
.
He’d keep the conversation going, but restrain from any and all sexual innuendos. No eye gazing. No charming smiles.

He sat back down and for the rest of the meal did just that
.
He had no idea if she was following his lead or not, but he was grateful all the same that she restricted her tongue as well.

Finally, after paying the check, he stood and helped her into her coat
.

Thank God the ordeal was over, he thought as they headed
toward
his car
.
The snow was still coming down, but wasn’t sticking to the ground
.
Yet.

“Can I tag along in the store
?”
He
c
licked the keyless entry as they neared his BMW.

He glanced at her, realizing by her puzzled look she hadn’t caught his words
.
He repeated his question and opened her door
.
“I want to get some wine.”

“No problem,” she murmured, looking none too pleased
.
“I forgot we were going to stop.”

He waited until she was inside to shut her door, then ran around to the driver’s side, climbed in next to her
,
and started the engine
.
“We don’t have to, if you’d rather not
.”
He pulled onto the road.

“No
.”
She offered a tired sigh
.
“Shopping tonight would be more convenient.”

Paul slowed the car w
hen the Safeway sign came into view
.
After parking, both emerged at the same time
.
He hit the keypad to lock the car and then turned toward the store’s entrance
.
As she rushed to catch up with him, he glanced around and noted
snow
swirling everywhere
.
In the few minutes it
took
to drive to the store, the temperature dropped and the ground cooled enough for the snow to begin accumulating
.
Once inside the automatic doors, they stamped their feet and shook the flakes off their heads and clothes
.

“Look at it come down,” he said
with a laugh
.
He caught
Kate
’s excited gaze with raised eyebrows and a grin
.
“Powder day tomorrow
!”

She grinned back
.
“Definitely compensates for being stuck here with you.”

“Be nice,” he warned, grabbing a cart
.
“Otherwise I’ll have to rat you out to Judith
.”

“I am being nice
.
Far be it from me to ruin our truce since dinner went so well
.”
She took control of the cart and headed for the far aisle
.
He hurried to keep up as she said, “We need basics
.
What do you need?”

“Me
?
I thought you were cooking.”

“Why
?
Because I’m the little woman
?”

“Well
,
you are little and you are a woman
.”
He grinned, letting his eyebrows rise and fall and looking her up and down suggestively.

She snorted
.
“Funny
.”
She grabbed something off the shelf and tossed it in the cart
.
“I never thought of you as a chauvinist.”

“Wishful thinking
.”
He shrugged, studying the items she’d added to the cart with the precision of a NASCAR auto mechanic
.
“Just making conversation
.
I don’t cook
.
Can barely boil water
.
Judith isn’t much better, so I was hoping more than anything you could
.
Y
ou have to admit, you look like you know what you’re doing, given all that food,” he said, indicating the basket
.

His comments seemed to satisfy her
.
She nodded
.
“I guess we can make it
a
foursome tomorrow night
.”
She paused
,
holding a wedge of cheese in her hand
,
and turned to him
.
“What do you like for breakfast?”

“Surprise me,” he said, grinning
.
He picked up the Romano cheese along with some green stuff she’d just placed in the cart and quirked a brow
.
“
W
hat do you plan to make?”

“Something I mastered in my French cooking class and one of James’ favorites.”

“I guess there are worse things than being stuck with someone who actually knows how to make a
n om
e
let
.”
He ignored the glare she sent him and
pointed to
the eggs in her hand
.
“I’m perfectly happy with scrambled eggs.”

“Shows you how much you know
.
I’m making a soufflé.”

“I stand corrected
.
Soufflé,” he joked, not wanting to think about how following behind her while she pushed a cart up and down the grocery aisles seemed cozy somehow, like they’d been doing it for years
.
He mentally groaned and tossed the silly thought from his brain
.

When she stopped at the coffee bean display, he watched in horror as she haphazardly mixed different beans together into the small bag
:
first Columbian, then dark roast
,
and finally Kona, then repeating the process
.

“What’re you doing?” he shouted
.
He reached out and grabbed her wrist to stop her.

“Don’t look so appalled
.”
She threw
out an amused laugh
as she
pulled out of his grasp and continued mixing
.
“Trust me, you’ll enjoy it
.”
When done, she caught his gaze with hers and winked, then added in a teasing voice, “And just to make sure there’s no misunderstanding between us, I’m talking about the coffee, not sex.”

The look and playful words caught him off guard
.
Out of nowhere, a quick flash of lust hit
.
Images of her dancing stark naked in front of him invaded his senses, as she stood so defiantly with her hair in disarray and a challenging grin plastered over her face
.
He
swallowed hard
, momentarily speechless
.
Though petite, she had all the right equipment in all the right places to incite anyone’s lust
.
Heaven help him
!
Get a grip
!
This is
Kate
Winters you’re lusting over
.
Your brother’s girl
.

He
pushed away
the errant thoughts
, but
they hung on with a tenacity that clearly
suggested
he’d been without sex too long
.
Abstinence was definitely playing tricks on his body
.

“I’ll grab some milk and half
-
and
-
half
.”
He did an about
-
face
and headed
in the opposite direction, hoping time and distance would cool his overactive libido.

“Get enough for several days for everyone, okay?”

He gave a backward wave and nodded
.
Thankfully, his self-appointed task gave him the space necessary to bring his wacky
mental
images under control
.
He dismissed the unwanted desire as circumstantial
.

“Face it
,
Morrison,” he muttered under his breath
.
“It’s been awhile
.”
He sighed, thinking he’d have to rectify the situation
.
The thought depressed him
.
He hadn’t dated anyone new in over a year
, s
ince Judith started talking about relocating to the
c
ity.