Winter Interlude (61 page)

If only
she could find the
O
ff
switch.

K
ate
stalked to the door and flipped the dead
bolt, not caring that she was closing two hours early
.
After
reliving
Jame
s’
parting shot in her mind for the thousandth time,
she
was ready to scream
.
She had to get out of here
.
She darn
ed
sure couldn’t contin
ue pacing
,
going back and forth and round and round
,
while trying to rationalize her actions
.

James had been
on
target with
his assessment and it chafed
.
Who would have guessed James
—
the guy she least expected it from
—
could have such insight
?

Her lips curled in
bitter
amusement
.
It was better than crying over the truth
.
She was
a
coward
.
And
scared
.
Of facing her emotions and living up to Paul’s expectations
.
He’
d been so
adamant about what he wanted
.
So
sure of himself
and his purpose
.
She
hadn’t believed him when he tried to explain about Judith
.
She should have listened, not turn
her back on his certainty or his love
.
She should have grabbed on
to the chance at love and never let go.

The thought of life without Paul galvanized her into action. S
he headed for her car
.
It was time to apologize and
beg for
his forgiveness
.

At her street
,
she rounded the corner.
A
man
sat
on the ground
in front of her apartment building
with his back against the
brick
wall
. He
watched
her approach
.
It took a few
moments
before she recognized Paul’s lithe form.
Joy rose up in her heart and
her
steps
quickened
.

H
e
stood and brushed
off his pants
.
Their
eyes caught
.

S
he
ran the rest of the way and
slipp
ed
into his open arms
.
“I’m so sorry
.
I love you
.
Please
give me another chance
.”
Tears
slipped from her eyes
.

“Shush
.
It’s okay
.”
Paul wrapped his arms around her, hugged her fiercely
,
and covered her face with
feathery-
light
kisses. In between them,
h
e murmured
, “
I love you, too.”

Happiness burst inside her heart. Returning his kiss, she focused on one thought.
He came
back
.

Paul lifted his head and whispered, “
We
’re giving the neighbors a show
.
Can we go inside and talk?”

Letting
go o
f him, she
smiled, realizing how close to the truth he was about getting off the street before they created a scene.

Like two kids on Christmas morning
rushing to open packages
, they raced upstairs to her apartment
.

On
ce inside, Paul reached for her
as he
kicked
the door shut behind him.

H
eat flashed
the moment the
ir lips
connected
. This was surely heaven,
Kate
thought. Despite the excitement racing through her body, she felt more than that. A
sense of
peace
enveloped her. A
sense of urgency
spurred her on,
and a sense of
his
total acceptance
had her trusting him completely. How had she lived so long without Paul’s love?

“
Can you feel how much I want you?” he murmured into her mouth.

Kate
moaned in response
when he stepped closer
.
How could she not feel what
grew
between them
?
T
his was Paul
.
H
e was hers, just as she was his
.
She was right where she belonged
.
In his arms.

As if sensing her
overwhelming
need,
Paul
picked her up and headed
behind the screen.

He gently placed her
on the bed and
knelt
down
so that he was
above
her
.

Her half laugh of glee erupted
.
He caught
her
smiling
lips in his own
.
The
tender
kiss
was
full of love and
teasing
, but soon
changed to something deeper
.
More
vital
.

H
e broke their connection,
then
met her gaze and
said
, “
Kate
, I need to know you’re mine
.
”
As th
os
e words faded to silence, h
e
held
her eyes captive
for what seemed like forever
. Si
ncerity
shone
in those intense pools of blue
.
“If you make love with me now, I’ll consider it a commitment between us and will expect nothing less than one hundred percent of you
.
Do you understand?”

Her heart soared
.
Sh
e nodded
.
“Oh
,
Paul, I love you
.”
A lump of emotion
lodged
in her throat
and
barely let her get the words out
.
“I have no intention
of
ever
allowing
anyone
to
come be
tween us again
.”
She reached up and pulled him closer
, sealing her promise with
a kiss. Sensations of well-being and longing
set of
f
sparks of pleasure
.
She kissed her way to his ear.
“I’m glad you came back
,” she said, nuzzling
.
“
I needed to know you cared enou
gh,” she admitted, in between kisses
.
“
I needed
t
o know that I was worth the effort
.”

He chuckled
and
recaptured her mouth
.
His slow and thorough kiss wiped away
her earlier doubts
.
He nipped at her chin
.
“
Kate
…
Kate
…
Kate
,” he said, adding a nip in between each
word
.
“
Until our weekend together, I had no idea what true love was.
Now
that
I do, I’ll love you forever
.”
I
f he hadn’t already owned her heart,
those words
would
ha
ve cinched the deal.

Then, his lips
cov
ered hers again
.
H
is kiss left her spinning with need and want
.
She felt a sense of loss when he bent
to
take
off
her
shoes and socks
.
H
e methodically
spent long seconds
rubbing and massaging each bare foo
t before
reaching for
the snap on
her jeans
.
His touch was soothing
.
Erotic.