Winter Interlude (41 page)

~

A
s he s
tepp
ed
into his ski suit, Paul’s thoughts centered on
Kate
.
If only they could revert to the irreverent couple of the other night when their relationship had been easy and open, he’d be the happiest man alive
.
But
Kate
had a guard up
—
one worthy of a prizefighter
.
Until he dealt with his
unfinished business with Judith, he didn’t think he should try to get around it just yet
.
Even though he and Judith were no longer a couple
—
in fact
,
had never been one in the true sense of the word
—
he still had to talk to her and set the record straight
.

He s
traighten
ed up
,
pulling at his
zipper as a bigger question ate at hi
m
.

Would
Kate
end things with James
?
Or would she cave when his brother tried to smooth things over
?
Paul worried that her breaking up would represent a new challenge for his brother
.

After sorting it all out, Paul decided those two just weren’t meant to be
.
Eight years of chasing and dodging certainly
wasn’t
the best foundation
on which
to start a life together
.
Maybe that’s why he’d always given her a hard time
…
because it bugged him so much
.
He could always see their dance so clearly
.

Paul pressed the last snap together and snorted
.
He grabbed his clothes and hurried out the restroom door.

“
Kate
?”
He looked around and didn’t see her
.
He glanced
toward
the restroom door
, as Cameron Riley, another skier from the
B
ay
A
rea
,
opened the locker
adjacent to his.

“Hey, man!” he said. “How’s it going?”

“Good.”
Paul nodded and
twirled the wheel on
the combination lock.
Kate
must have closed it when she went to change.

“
Skiing should be great today
.
”
Cam
reached for his skis and poles.
“
I’m heading up the tram with Thomas and Jansen.
Wanna
join us?”

“I’m not ready yet. I’m waiting for
Kate
.”

“
I just saw her carrying her equipment on my way in.
Looked like she was in a hurry
,”
he
said
.
“You’re welcome to ski with us till you hook up with her again.”

“Sure,”
Paul
said, spying the note
as realization set in
.
He quickly read
Kate
’s note as his stomach
lurched
,
then forced a tight smile for Cam’s benefit
.
“Just let me stow my stuff.”
How could she?
She actually ditched him like some creep she was trying to get rid of
.

He slammed the locker, grabbed his gear
,
and followed
Cam
out the door
.
He’d had it with chasing after women who didn’t want his attention
.

T
he kiss changes nothing
,
Paul
.
It only proves
we turn
each other
on
.
Kate
’s words
,
and the look on her face
as she said them
,
played in his brain
.
Her disappearance said it all
.
She wasn’t interested in being with him
.
No matter that it felt so right and he wanted her more than he’d ever wanted anyone else in his life, he knew he had nothing if it was all one
-
sided
.
Eight years of chasing after Judith
taught him that
.
He’d learned his lesson well
.

It was her loss
.
He’d just go skiing and forget she existed
.
Why
waste of all this fresh powder
?
H
is heart wasn’t in it,
however,
and he had to push himself onto the tram.

The gorgeous day and the awesome conditions did little to make him feel better
.
He skied several runs, trying not to dwell on
Kate
or her actions
.
Around one
o’clock
, they took a break for lunch, but Paul wasn’t hungry.

“I’m done,” he said to
Cameron
,
as he stepped
out of his bindings
.
He lifted his skis on his shoulder and nodded. “I’ll catch you guys later.”

“Oh
,
come on, man
.
You can’t desert us
.
Not with all this powder
.
We’re just getting started.”

Paul smiled good-naturedly and shook his head. “I know, but I want to get on the road before traffic hits.”

He walked away amidst more razzing about leaving early
, not caring how they jeered. H
e just wanted to get home
.

T
hen what
?
What’s there to rush off to
?
The questions stopped him for a second but
, without a decent answer,
he continued with purpose
.
He only knew he didn’t want to be here skiing any more
.
Every run he’d taken in the past hour brought back memories of the last time he’d been there with
Kate
.

When Paul
reached the locker room, he couldn’t resist doing one last quick search for her
.
Just in case she’d come to her senses or couldn’t find a ride home
.
But it was a wasted effort.

After changing, he gathered his gear and walked to his car
.

The entire drive home was filled with thoughts of
Kate
and their time together
.

When he finally
arrived at
his apartment, he unloaded everything, including
Kate
’s bag
.
Possessing
her bag
gave
him an excuse to see her in the near future
.
Maybe by then, he’d cool off enough
to hear
her explanation
as to why she
deserted
him
.
But not tonight
—
tonight he’d do what he did every night when he had nothing to do
—
immerse himself in work.

~

I
n the lift line to Red Dog,
Kate
caught a glimpse of Paul walking toward his car carrying his skis and boots
.
He was obviously leaving
.
She expelled a sigh of relief
.
Earlier, she’d waited until he’d gone skiing with several guys before meeting up with Andrea Delano, a fellow skier
.

As luck would have it,
Kate
had provided Andrea a ride back to the city several times this season, so asking had been no big deal
.
The only drawback was she’d be sharing the SUV with three friends
.
One of them, Mike Smith, was someone she’d met bri
efly two years
e
arlier
.

After ending up on the lift with him several times, she was pretty sure they were orchestrated opportunities rather than pure happenstances
.
He was a decent skier and she found his company fun, which kept her mind off Paul, except when she was comparing the two
.

T
he day
still
dragged
.
Kate
was never so glad to finally pile into the Lexus four
-
by
-
four
.
Unfortunately, Mike maneuvered his way into the spot next to her
.

For the next three and a half hours
,
she worked at being cordial and friendly when all she wanted to do was bury her head in a pillow and cry.