by Sandy Loyd
“Of course you did.”
“My parents are great.”
“I didn’t mean to suggest otherwise.” She exhaled a long breath. “Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut and stick to playing Angry Birds. I promised Judith I’d be nice and I can’t do that if you’re going to find fault with everything I say.”
“I’m not finding fault.”
“Yes, you are. If you didn’t like my suggestion about playing games, you only had to say so.”
“Is that what we’re doing, Kate? Playing games?” The words just popped out of his mouth. He wished he could take them back when he looked over and saw her stunned face.
Eventually, the shock wore off, but she still didn’t respond right away. Instead, she took her time, clearly weighing her answer. Finally, her gaze pierced his and she said, with a voice full of challenge, “I don’t know, Paul. Are we?”
His bark of laughter filled the air. “Okay, the ice is broken. Now you can tell me about your game,” he parried back
“Oh, shut up.” She crossed her arms and glared out the window. “I’ve changed my mind. I’m not playing any games with you.”
Paul looked over and watched her for a moment. He always thought of her as pushy and obnoxious, never silently subdued like now. She was kind of cute when she stewed.
Figuring he’d gone a little too far, he decided to strive for amicability. “What I mean is, tell me about Twenty Questions.” He had promised Judith to behave.
The silence was deafening as she completely ignored him.
Long minutes went by before he tried again. “Come on, it just slipped out. I’m trying here, but you never make it easy.”
Her entire body stiffened and color infused her face. “Oh, now I’ve heard everything,” she huffed. Her tightened jaw jutted out. “So tell me! Why do I make it so hard?”
“God, you tempt me,” Paul replied, and shook his head, totally unprepared for the thoughts streaking through his brain that allowed the comment to just slip out. Damn his quick, twisted mind. How in the hell could he even think of saying that to someone other than Judith? The fact that it was Kate was a double whammy. Even though her words had taken him by surprise, he found he couldn’t let them go. “And here I promised to mind my manners.”
He caught the exact moment realization hit. Her face went from blushing pink to beet red. She moved to stare out the window, without saying another word.
“So I guess Twenty Questions is out?” Paul asked a little while later, risking another quick glance at her. He grinned, holding on to a chuckle. She’d crossed her arms and legs again, closing up like a hedgehog with quills, steadfastly refusing to acknowledge him any further.
Laughing at this point wouldn’t be wise. He resisted the urge to toss out a snide comment, determined to honor his word. At the same time, he couldn’t help feeling a twinge of satisfaction that, despite her barbed exterior, he was getting under her skin, digging his way in as easily as an earthworm plows through moist dirt. Why that gave him so much enjoyment, he had no idea. The thought stopped him cold and he threw her another sideways glance. Since when had he started thinking of sparring with Kate Winters as entertaining?
~
As Kate fumed, she wished Paul could fall into one of the potholes in the road and be swallowed up. Of course, her wish included him leaving his car behind so she could drive it the rest of the way.
This ride wasn’t going the way she’d planned. At all! Her reaction, not his words, was the real problem. For some idiotic reason, their limited conversation had been fun in an invigorating, almost naughty fashion, which totally threw her off-kilter. Anger was the only way to regain even a little bit of balance. He was her enemy, not someone to find exciting. She needed to remember that for the rest of the trip. She reached for her cell phone and retrieved the app for Spider Solitaire, deciding it best to ignore him from here on out.
“I need a diversion.” Paul’s voice broke into her thoughts a half hour later.
When she spared him a brief glance, he smiled. “Tell me about Twenty Questions.”
She gave a disbelieving snort, ignoring the butterfly wings flapping inside her tummy at his teasing voice. “Like I’m going to touch that remark?” His silly expression wasn’t about to lure her in either.
“Touché! You’ve won round one.” His grin spread, drawing her focus like an invisible force. It was James’ smile, but so much more infectious. “Come on,” he pleaded. “Tell me and we’ll play.” His eyebrows rose up and down several times.
Kate couldn’t withhold her laughter any longer, completely destroying her resolve of not engaging. She shouldn’t want to respond, but why deny herself when he looked so innocent, yet full of mischief.
So with her own gleam and innocent smile forming, she shot back, “Okay, but let me warn you, I’m not someone who’s easy to take down. Don’t forget, I’ve been dodging your verbal blows for years.”
“You always got in a few good punches, if my memory is correct,” he countered, still grinning like an idiot.
“You left me no choice.” Her smile died, as memories of all his jokes came back—one by one—allowing her good sense to return. Looking at him like this, she couldn’t imagine he was the same man who’d hurled so many insults her way. She couldn’t help asking, “Why do you hate me so much?”
He stiffened and his glance went from her to the road and back again. He definitely hadn’t expected the question, considering the expression that settled over his features. Remaining silent, he refocused on driving, as if he couldn’t find the words to answer her question. A drawn-out moment passed before he said quietly, “I don’t hate you.”
Confused, Kate shook her head. “Then what have I ever done to you to deserve such venom?” she blurted out, unable to halt the words because she really wanted to know.
With all of her defenses lowered, she couldn’t erase the hurt from her voice or keep pain from showing on her face.
Unfortunately, Paul chose that moment to glance over. When he swore under his breath and resumed staring at the road ahead, she groaned inwardly, dying to disappear. Why had she opened her mouth? She’d probably never hear the end of this.
He drove for several miles before offering in a contrite voice, one that was totally devoid of his usual mocking tone, “I don’t know.”
Still shaken from her initial question, she frowned. His reply, given so humbly, only irritated her. “That’s not an answer, that’s a cop-out.”
“No, it’s not,” he shot back defensively. “I really have no idea.”
The silence in the car became deafening once again, until she waved a hand. “Forget it. I don’t know why I asked.” Her words came out in a rush. “It’s not as if anything’s going to change,” Kate said, wanting the subject dropped.
More silence followed.
“Before you continue to make me feel worse,” he said in a lower, more penitent voice a moment later. “I want you to know I never thought about the effect of my words before. It’s not pleasant now to realize they may have hurt you, and for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
Mollified a little by his apology, she nodded, wishing now more than ever she’d kept her mouth shut. An annoying Paul was someone she could handle. A contrite Paul was someone she’d never seen before. His sincere regret played havoc on her senses.
“Look,” he said, a few miles further down the road. “Since we’re being honest here, I have to say I think you take too much shit from my brother. You’re better than that.”
Her jaw dropped open in disbelief. He was as bad as she in his pursuit of Judith. Since she had already said more than enough, she kept the words to herself, unwilling to open Pandora’s box.
For endless miles, the only sound came from the low hum of the radio.
“The music’s starting to get on my nerves,” Paul said, and turned off the radio after they’d driven for almost an hour without a word between them. They were on the outskirts of Sacramento, headed into t
he mountains. “I just made up my own version of Twenty Questions. I ask the questions and you answer. Then you get a turn.”
“That sounds a lot like Truth or Dare.” Crossing her arms, Kate had no intention of answering any more of his questions. “I think we’ve had enough truth for one afternoon and I’m not about to dare you to do anything. I recognize a worthy adversary when I see one.”
“Come on. What have you got to lose?” he countered, grinning. “I can’t be mean, I promised Judith—and neither can you.”
He seemed so earnest in his request…and that engaging smile, now aimed at her, was too hard to ignore. Encouraging him even the least little bit was surely asking for trouble, but she couldn’t resist. Not when sincerity spilled out of that sexy blue gaze, so similar to James’, yet strangely, nothing like his.
Besides, he was right about one thing. It would help with boredom. “Okay,” she said, and nodded.
His grin expanded, and the mischievous glint in his eyes had her returning the smile. Even though she was a risk-taker, she might regret her decision. Those crinkles around his eyes that transformed his face, giving him a devilish appearance, sucked her right in to agreeing to the game. She had to admit, the guy had an intriguing side she never expected. Time for a little defense, she thought. “I have the right to refuse to answer.”
“Same here. Let’s see…” He broke off, clearly warming to the idea. “We should make some ground rules so that it’s a fair contest.”
“Okay. What’d you have in mind?” Kate eased back into the seat.
“We each get to ask a question until we stump each other. Then the other person has the floor, so to speak. If you don’t want to answer, it’s your turn to ask. How’s that?”
“That’s silly!” She rolled her eyes. “We’ll just keep passing the questions back and forth because neither one of us will answer.”
“Hmm, you’re right,” he agreed, and after taking a few minutes to think, he added, “Okay, I got it. The winner is the person who answers the most questions.”
“Now you’re being ridiculous.” Kate smirked. “I’m sorry, but you really are pathetic when it comes to games.” Her words earned another laugh out of him. She joined in. “I’m beginning to like the way your mind works, Morrison, and that’s not a good thing. We’re much better off as enemies, so let’s just stay that way.”
“Oh, come on. Lighten up. If you don’t like my rules, let’s see if you can do better.”
She thought for a few minutes. “Okay, how about this. Any question asked is fair game. We each keep asking until the other person refuses to answer. If that happens, then whoever asked the question has to answer the other person’s next question honestly and vice versa without refusing. Does that sound fair?”
“Sounds like a good way to kill the next hour or so,” he said, and shot her another grin. “Okay, fire away.”
Kate laughed. “Oh no, you don’t, you started it. You ask first.”
“Ah! You’re on to me. I should’ve known you’d see through my ploy to get you at a disadvantage,” he teased. “Let’s see. I’ve got to think of a question to ask that won’t be a risk in case you don’t want to answer. Give me a minute, this is going to require some thought.” After much contemplation, he smiled. “Okay, I’ve got it. I’ll stay on easy stuff for a while. What’s your favorite color?”
She grinned. “This I can handle. Blue.”
“Favorite singing group or vocalist?”
“Cher!”
“You’re joking, right?” he snorted, then chuckled at her indignant look.
“No. I told you, Cher. And stop laughing at my answer,” she shot back, unable to hold on to her giggle. “I saw her in Vegas, and she puts on a hell of a show.”
“I think I can learn more about you than I thought from these innocuous questions.”
Sobering, she straightened. “This is strictly to pass time, bucko—not to get to know each other.”
“Pipe down, I know what we’re doing.” He paused a second. “Okay, favorite food?”
“Pasta.”
“Favorite animal?”
“Cats. I love cats.”
“Favorite moment in time?”
“Too easy! Christmas the year after I graduated from college.”
“Why?”
“That’s when James told me he loved me,” she blurted before realizing that her words alluded to something she didn’t necessarily want him to know about her. She wished she could take them back, especially after glimpsing his face scrunch up in condemnation. “You obviously don’t approve. So tell me why.”
“I’m still asking the questions here,” he said in a jovial manner, as if trying to move things back to smoother ground. His next words belied this. “Do you still think he loves you?”
Pain ripped through her when she thought about his question. Question of the year. If she knew the answer, she’d be one happy person. She shook her head. “I’m not answering. Now it’s my turn. Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why don’t you approve and why do you want to know if I think he still loves me? For your information, you agreed to the rules, so you need to reply honestly.”
“That’s two questions.”
“Okay, answer the second one. Why do you want to know?”
Paul was silent for a moment, then shrugged. “Okay, since you want the truth, here goes. I’m just curious how you could think he loves you when he can’t commit.”
The same question had been going through her mind too often lately. The brutal veracity of his words suddenly struck her with full force. How much longer could she wait?
She answered, even though it wasn’t her turn, as honestly as she could. “He loves me. He says he’s not ready for commitment. I can’t shut off how I feel, so I have no choice but to wait till he is.” Having said too much and not wanting to think about her relationship with James, she quickly changed gears. “But since I’m still asking the questions, and we’re being honest, answer me this. What about you and Judith?”
“What about us?” he queried, moving his attention back to the road.
“Do you think she loves you?”
“Yes.”
“But you guys have been together almost as long as James and I, so what’s the difference?”
“None. I guess.” He glanced over at her, and a sheepish smile followed his words.
Her eyebrows rose.
“Okay, I get it. She’s no more ready for commitment than James.”
“Doesn’t it hurt to know she’s not still ready?” Judith loved Paul just like James loved her. Still, it amazed her that he could talk about it so calmly.
“Yeah, it hurts like hell,” Paul blurted out. “But I’m in your boat. I’ve always loved her, from the first moment I saw her when I was ten years old. I can’t just turn it off either.”
With his outburst, the game came to a natural end. Neither spoke. They’d divulged personal information to each other, and Kate surmised he was just as uneasy with those revelations as she. It was like each had been talking to a stranger and could be more honest because he or she would never see that person again. Only this wasn’t the case.
When they were close to the turnoff, Paul glanced her way. “Are you hungry?”
“No, I had a big lunch,” Kate said distractedly, keeping her gaze on the pine trees.
“We’re making pretty good time,” he said. “We should be in Tahoe City in less than an hour.” He added, in an obvious attempt at keeping the conversation alive, “You know they’re predicting snow for tomorrow and the skiing should be great.”
“I know. I can’t wait,” she answered, only too happy to reciprocate, glad to have something in common to talk about that didn’t focus on either her or James. “Saturday should be an awesome day too—except for the lines. But if we get up early and get to the slopes right at opening time, we can get a few good runs on fresh powder before the masses invade.”
“Hey, I’m all for
fresh tracks down the mountain,” he agreed. “I’ll be ready. So will James, but somehow I doubt Judith’ll will make it now. Especially since she’s not much of a skier,” Paul said. “Even though she said it was important to you, I’m surprised she agreed to it, considering she was so clear about us just being friends.”
“Yeah,” Kate spoke up. “I’m beginning to wish I’d never planned anything.”
“Why?” Curiosity filled his eyes.
With nothing to lose, she decided to answer honestly. This was Paul, she reminded herself, who thought she was the lowest form on earth, so what difference would it make if he knew? “I was hoping a weekend away with James would help. But I can’t help thinking, if he’s not ready to commit after so many years, I’m only delaying the inevitable.” She smiled, then added, “Who knows, maybe he’ll see the light this weekend!”
At Paul’s raised eyebrows, she laughed. “You never know. Let’s talk about something else. I’m tired of obsessing over James’ lack of commitment.”
“You’re right,” Paul agreed, shrugging. “Dwelling on my relationship won’t change things.”
For the last leg of the journey, they talked about their jobs and how much energy both put into them. Kate found they had common ground, which led to other areas. Soon both were laughing and joking about how compulsive each was. He ran several times a week to stay in shape and she took Zumba classes for the same reasons. They both realized they liked finding good restaurants, but Paul preferred Italian to her Chinese obsession.
By the time they veered off the winding main road and slowed as they neared the house, the two had come to a truce of sorts.
Kate glanced at him after he’d stopped the car and turned off the motor in the driveway. While he appeared to mull over his thoughts, she was stunned at how comfortable it felt to sit next to him.
“Look,” he said a moment later. “I know we may never be BFFs, but can we at least agree to get along while we’re here together?”
“I can manage it, if you can.” His suggestion warmed her insides. More than it should have.
“Good, because I hate being alone. What do you say to going out to dinner tonight, since we’re both here and single?”