were like a lodestone to certain women. Kate, however, was different. She was a first for him in many ways, not the least of which was how hard he had to work to attract her attention and keep it focused on him. In part this may have been because she was as smart and ambitious as he was, concentrating on her career almost to the exclusion of all else. She wasn’t cowed by anyone, certainly not him and his credentials. “Let me tell you about degrees,” she said shortly after they met, her eyes twinkling. “You know what B.S. stands for? Well, the next step is an M.S.—‘More of Same’. After that comes the Ph.D. ‘Piled higher and Deeper.’” Despite the irreverent attitude and bravado, there was also something skittish about her, which made her throw up barriers almost faster than he was able to tear them down. For a while it was like a game, trying to figure out how to maneuver around her objections. The rewards were obvious. When they came together, it was like a conflagration: fire so intense, so consuming, that they both went up in flames. And despite her prickliness when it came to their relationship, she was remarkably easy to be around. Unlike many women he had known in the past, she didn’t engage in senseless chatter, didn’t seem to need constant reassurance about her looks, and didn’t dissect their relationship or obsess over her role in his life. Perhaps that was because she wasn’t nearly as vested in their future together as he was. He quashed that depressing thought, and turned on the shower. But the niggling worry wouldn’t go away. Kate had been in a strange mood the last few days, almost as if she were pulling back from him, withdrawing into herself. Sometimes he caught her watching him, expression unreadable, as if she were searching for answers to some unvoiced question, and he was afraid that whatever she saw fell short of her expectations. It was an uncomfortable feeling, one he wasn’t used to, and he didn’t know how to broach the subject without appearing insecure or paranoid.
