Of Body And Soul (4 page)

"No, five,
" he said, holding her luggage and staring directly into her eyes.

"I never would have expected to see you here. Emily told me you may be coming home, but she didn't say when. When did you get back?"

He combed his blonde hair back with his fingers. "Would you believe late last night?” He studied the enormous banks of snow. “I haven't seen this much snow in years. It's more beautiful than I remembered, and so are you," he whispered.

"What did you say?"

"Oh, I just commented on the beautiful snow."

She watched him. His moves were
forceful, yet precise.

He took her by the arm and directed her into the limo. The gesture contained
an intimacy she hadn't expected, along with a quickening from deep down within.

"I'm staying at the
Sebastian Vail Resort," she said, and took a deep breath.

Kurt slouched comfortably against the soft comfort of the limo. He watched as Andrea stared out at the snow
-filled mountains. She crossed and uncrossed her legs at least four times and glanced at her watch just as many times. His practiced masculine eye took in every detail of her in the fifteen minutes they'd been driving. "Is something bothering you, Andrea? You keep staring at your watch. Do you have an appointment with someone?" he asked casually.

She breathed an exasperated sigh and wrinkled her nose. "Well, I do have to meet someone for dinner in about two hours."

"Business or pleasure?"

"Business," she responded, threatened by the strangeness of the whole situation.

"Me too," he said and checked his watch. "Don't worry; you'll be there in plenty of time." Uneasiness coupled with irritation dripped from his voice as he told the driver to speed it up.

"Now, is something bothering you?
” She asked.

"What did I say?"
he asked, raising his hands in frustration.

"It's not what you
said. It's how you said it." Andrea waved her hand. “Whatever!” Again she stared out the window. The two hours drive to the Village seemed forever.

When they
reached the Sebastian Vail Resort, he jumped out of the limo.  “I'll run in and make sure they have your reservation." He smiled. “With these crowds, one never knows.”

"That won't be necessa
ry, I . .  . ."  He was out of the limo and rushed toward the hotel before she could finish her sentence. Within a few minutes, he was back.

"There's been a
mix-up. The hotel doesn't have a reservation in your name."

"That's impossible." She gave him a questioning look and wondered if the rest of the wee
kend would be the same . . . Kurt interfering with her plans.

"I'm staying at the
Sonnenalp. It's right there," he said, as he gestured toward it on the opposite side of the street. "See! You can walk to it from here. Maybe they'll have a vacancy available."

She studied his face
, then sighed and slumped back into the seat. “Whatever.”

Kurt instructed th
e driver to go to the Sonnenalp. Once there, he helped Andrea out of the limo and waited for the driver to get her luggage from the trunk.

"Where’s your luggage?
" She asked.

"I didn't bring any
.

S
he was shocked. "It must be an extremely important business meeting."

"
Yes, it is," he nodded. “It could mean my future.”

An
drea shook her head. She didn’t know what to make of the situation.
At least tonight at dinner she'd have something to talk to Jason about.

"Andrea?"

"What?"

"
I’m going to check in. Do you need help checking in?" he asked.

"That won't be necessary, thank you.
” 
What the hell does he think he’s doing,
she thought.

"See you later, then?"

"No, I don't think so. Remember? I have a dinner engagement."

The tension between them h
ad become supercharged. "Oh, that's right . . . a business dinner."

She nodded.
"Yes.
”

Clearly d
isturbed, he combed his blonde hair with his fingers. "I'm sorry to have been a bother." After he had checked in, he walked toward the elevators, turned and met her eyes.

She paused  a moment, hesitant about saying anything.
"Maybe lunch tomorrow?" she shouted across the lobby.

He smiled—s
atisfaction written across his handsome face. He waved as the elevator doors closed.

CHAPTER FOUR

After her luggage was brought to
her room, she phoned Jason at the Four Seasons.

"Where in the hell are you?" he shouted.
             

"I'm
at the Sebastian Vail. I'm looking at your hotel as we speak."             

"What are you doing there?" an edge of desperation in his voice.

"I'll explain when I see you."

"No, damn it. Explain now!" He shouted so loud
that Andrea held the phone away from her ear.

"Don't yell at me. Who the hell do you think you are?
” Andrea controlled her voice. “You know, Jason, I don't need this."

"Wait, don’t hang up."

"This is
your
problem. You seem to forget I'm a person too. For the last five years I’ve put up with your childish behavior. I’d hoped our relationship would improve with time. Learning each other's needs would have made things easier, but that didn't happen. Did it?"

"Andrea, wait, let me
. . . .”

"Apologize!
It's a little too late for that. All you ever wanted was someone always available and ready to carry out your wishes. I loved being there for you. I really did. But I realized our relationship was one-sided. You may not even be aware of your selfishness, however it’s always there.” She paused and fiddled with the pen on the desk. “You know, a relationship is a give-and-take proposition. We’ve discussed this before.”

“I know we did, but . . . .”

“But what! You said you’d try to change and things would be different. Yes, things did go well for awhile, and then, you went right back to your same old ways."

“
I didn't mean to come on so strong. I'm, . . . I'm just disappointed we're not at the same hotel."

"
I'm glad we're at different hotels. I planned to wait until I saw you tonight to tell you it's over between us. I should have done this a long ago.”

"Please, Andrea, don't hang up. Meet me at LaTour at eight. Please."

"Why? What's the point?"

"
We can't let it end over the phone. You'll meet me, won't you?"

Andrea hesitated.
"Yes,” she frowned. “One last time.”

As she unpacked, she thought about
Kurt and the ride from the airport. His touch was magical and his smile suggestive.
This is how it should be, and should have been with Jason.
The solid reality of it hit her.

Andrea
took a deep breath and thought of the last few hours. It felt right being with Kurt even though he was somewhat of a stranger. She reminisced about their first meeting. It was his going away party at Emily’s and they had a wonderful evening.

She understood
why Emily bragged about her younger brother. Andrea never dreamed that Kurt had such charisma and was so knowledgeable in the arts, not to mention his football- player physique and movie star looks.

The introduction had been brief, but later in the evening, while Jason
networked the party for new clients, Kurt approached her with two glasses of champagne. She even recalled the Barbara Streisand song,
My Favorite Things,
playing in the background. When Kurt leaned toward her and whispered, "You look beautiful," her heart had skipped a beat. She shook her head in disbelief.
I remember that night as if it were yesterday,
she thought as she finished unpacking. She couldn't get Kurt out of her mind.
Why didn’t I think of him sooner?
She shivered and goose bumps ran over her arms at the memory.

T
he only time he’d left her side that evening was to refill their champagne glasses. The buffet looked delightful, but neither had touched the food. Instead, they moved to a love seat in front of the fireplace and talked about everything, from her artwork to his assignments in the Middle East and Europe. They shared a love of skiing, swimming, dancing and she learned that he adored fishing. They were comfortable together—like an old sweater. The only thing wrong with that evening had been their timing.

How could I
have forgotten him?
With pulse-pounding certainty, she knew she had to get to know Kurt better. She’d take this opportunity to do so.

S
urprised and thrilled by her behavior, she looked into the mirror and noticed a glow that had been missing for a long time. She finished putting on the last touches of lipstick, gave her hair a quick brushing, and left the hotel.

The snow crunched beneath
her boots as she walked through the village to the restaurant. The night filled her lungs with crisp, wintry air. A full moon illuminated the mounds of snow and brightened the night to match her mood. Even though it was only mid-November, the streets and shops were dressed for Christmas. People, bundled in hats and scarves, wandered through the streets—some shopped while others admired the decorated windows. She paused a moment and took in the Currier and Ives scene that emerged before her. Andrea walked into the restaurant, hair bouncing, eyes dancing, with the confidence of a woman who knew who she was and what she wanted.

Jason sat at a table facing
the door. He spotted her the instant she walked into the restaurant. He followed her every step as she strolled to his table.

"Sorry about the reservati
on mix-up," she said. She leaned over and kissed his cheek, but stayed away from his lips, not wanting to suggest anything more. As she sat across from him, she saw in his dark brown eyes something she had never seen before. His sensuous face, usually direct and challenging, seemed troubled.

"So, tell me about the problem with your reservation," he said, as he unfolded and
refolded the white linen napkin.

Andrea looked at him in disbelief. "Hi Andrea, glad to see you. Hope the trip wasn't too i
nconvenient for you?" she said sarcastically.

"How was the flight
?" Jason raised his hands in surrender.

"It was wonderful
. Remember when I told you about my parents best friends, Aunt Grayson and Uncle Charles? Well, Grayson sat right next to me on the plane.” Andrea picked up her napkin and placed it on her lap. “She has a place in Taos and we plan to get together in a few weeks."

"I'm happy for you.
  I know they were important to you."

"Yes,
Andrea paused. “I feel a missing part of my childhood is back."

"Not to ch
ange the subject, but what was the problem with your reservation?"

“I don’t know.
They just didn’t have one and no rooms were available.” She shrugged. “Guess what else?”

“What?” asked Jason.

"Well, while I was waiting for the limo, I met Emily's brother, Kurt. You remember him, don't you?”

Jason nodded his he
ad. "Yes, how can I forget?" he said sarcastically. "Wasn't he the guy who was all over you at Emily's party?"

"Oh, Jason, please." She held up her hand for him to stop.

At that moment the waiter approached the table with a bottle of champagne that Jason had ordered. She noticed it was her favorite, Veuve Clicquot.

“Did you also order my dinner?”

He took a quaff
of champagne. "Yes. I hope you don’t mind?”

Andrea smiled. “You’ll
never change.”

“I know your favorites,” he said as the waiter arrived with bowls of Lobster bisque.

Andrea finished her bowl of soup and gently wiped her mouth.
"Do you want to know what happened or not?"

Jason nodded.

"Well, Kurt and I ended up sharing the limo."

"You mean to tell me
he
rode in the limo that I paid for?" He slammed his glass down so hard that the wine spilled onto the tablecloth and down the front of his shirt and slacks. He looked down at himself and proceeded to mop his pants. He looked at Andrea who tried to check her laughter. "Here." He threw the napkin in her direction. "You may want to clean up this mess," he joked.              

They looke
d at each other. Their eyes declared a truce . . .
friends.

"T
o continue with my story before I was so rudely interrupted," she smiled. "When we arrived at The Sebastian Vail, Kurt went in to check on my reservation and found none in my name. Since he knew the owners of the Sonnenalp, he was able to get me a room.”

"Kurt said this, Kurt said that. Andrea be real. I chec
ked with the desk clerk at the resort. He said a bearded gentleman canceled your reservation."

"What!
That's impossible. Why would Kurt do such a thing?" She winced slightly, as if she had been pinched.