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sarcasm and wit.”
    “Yeah ?” The edges of his lips curled as he let out a long, slow breath . “Well , don’t let anyone in on the secret . It’ll spoil the effect .” Knowing he’d lost, he surrendered good-naturedly. “Okay, tell her to be ready by two . I’ll pick you up fifteen minutes later . I want to get out of the city before traffic hits . I’ll be in my office at five thirty and working up until then to get in a full day.”
    “Thanks . I knew I could count on you.”
    Paul said good-bye and hung up , not at all happy about the turn of events . Being in love with that particular woman sucked at times . Judith expected people to be better than they were , i t was something he’d always admired about her . She demanded his best and he usually rose to meet those expectations . He couldn’t stomach the idea of disappointing her and truly appreciated being considered worthy of her esteem . But the fact that he now had to endure a n extended car ride with Kate along because she required it of him, chafed .
    At least she hadn’t canceled . Paul chose to focus on the one bright spot in this whole mess, rather than dwell on her insistence of their maintaining a friendly relationship .
    He sighed, fought to push the memories aside , and grabbed the remote . T he TV burst to life, as his thoughts strayed back to the woman he’d spent a lifetime loving, rather than on the show in front of him.
    In college, Paul decided to make his feelings known and steadfastly pursued Judith . Over time , their friendship grew and he came to love the real Judith, not just the idea of her in his mind . Yet, she continually resisted his every attempt at intimacy, saying she loved him as a friend . At that point, he’d backed off and dated others . Hell, he had to because Judith expected it of him . But no one really interested him enough to change his mind about her, especially since she’d never shown interest in dating anyone and always made time for him .
    All this time he’d respected her wishes, figuring she just wasn’t ready for a committed relationship . He could wait a little longer . Why give up now when she’d finally relocated to the c ity ? Judith was the one who made the comment about settling down and having kids, even warming to the idea of a stronger relationship …he had simply followed up on it . But he realized too late he’d moved too fast . He should ha ve held off a bit before mentioning marriage .
    He prayed this weekend would bring him closer to his goal of having Judith realize they were meant to be more than friends.
    The only damper was spending time with Kate . Paul’s thoughts then shifted to the irritating woman . He snorted ! How in the world had he gotten himself into this mess ? He needed a drink .
    “God help me, I need the whole damned bottle to deal with her,” he muttered . Why did relationships have to be so difficult?
    He padded to the kitchen to pour himself a glass of wine and wondered why his aversion to the woman was so intense . She always rubbed him the wrong way, like sandpaper over an open blister, right from the first moment he met her . H e usually ignored people like that , but Paul found he could never ignore Kate , especially when he saw her with James . At those times, he always had a sarcastic comment for her, which was also something Judith gave him a hard time about .
    He sighed and took a hefty swig of wine , working to drown his misery . Nothing about the weekend was going as expected . He grabbed the bottle , retraced his steps to the living room , and plopped onto the sofa.
    His gaze circled the living room, a room that cost a month’s salary to redo after he’d hired a decorator in hopes of impressing the woman he loved …and she hadn’t even seen it yet .
    He shot back another large mouthful of Murphy Goode without tasting the u nu sual nuances in his favorite c hardonnay . His expensive surroundings felt empty without someone to share it with