Of Body And Soul (5 page)

"I don't know, but I ho
pe you look into this," he said. Jason raised his hands. “Let’s drop the subject.”

Andrea nodded. Suddenly, she
realized her meeting Kurt wasn't by chance.
He planned everything: the plane, the limo ride, the hotel. The nerve of him,
she thought
.

Jason interrupted her
thoughts. "Are you listening to what I'm saying?"

"Oh. What? What
did you say?"

"I said
, I'm sorry about the phone conversation we had earlier. I didn't mean to act like a jerk. I knew when I left, our relationship was over.” His face tightened at the use of the past tense. "I didn't want to face the inevitable." He gazed into her eyes. “I wish things were different.” Jason paused a moment. “I still love you. I’ll always love you."

"I know
and I still love you, Jason, but I'm not in love with you.     

Jason reached across the table and touched her hand.
"Let's enjoy the rest of this evening. I have to leave the first thing in the morning. A call came in right after I talked with you earlier. Something went wrong with one of my projects in L.A. They need me back there as soon as possible.”

She nodded in acknowledgment and smiled. "It's
not the first time you've run off."

"That’s part of our problem, i
sn't it? I became an enigma."

"Y
es, you did. And the pieces of the puzzle don’t seem to fit anymore."

He smiled and held her hand. "We were terrific together once, weren't we?"

"Yes, once."

Over dinner, they reminisced and both agreed convenience
was the only solid thing in their relationship. The excitement, the rapture they once had shared, was gone. They looked at each other and felt a rush of the inevitable.

"We still can be friends, can't we?" he asked.

"Do you know, Jason, this is the first time we've agreed on something in a long time?"

Jason
nodded and paid the bill. "Come on, let's go for a walk."

"But you don't like to walk."

"I know, but you do."

They held hands as they walked through the Village. The earlier strain and tension
melted away. Relieved, Andrea felt they could stay friends forever. When they reached her hotel, he lightly pressed his lips to hers. He brushed his thumb gently across her cheekbone where the skin was soft and silky. Then he dropped his hand to his side. 

She embraced him and kissed his cheek. As he turned to go, his
phone vibrated. Andrea shook her head and smiled fondly. "Jason, that thing holds you on an electronic leash."

He shook his head in acknowledgment and pulled the
phone from his pocket. "Sorry." He blew a kiss, turned, and quickly walked away.

She watched
until he was out of sight. Jason had taken many things from her, but he had given her comfort when she needed it. She would always be grateful for that.

CHAPTER FIVE

The
unmistakable fragrance of flowers permeated the room the moment Andrea entered. She switched on the lights and noticed a magnificent bouquet of red roses perched upon the coffee table.
These must be from Jason
, she thought as she slid the card from its plastic holder. "I don't believe this!" she shouted to the empty room upon reading the card: “To A: With all my tomorrows, and tomorrows, and tomorrows . . . Forever.”

She savored the ambrosial
perfume of the blooms. Happiness welled inside her as she undressed.
Why do I feel this way?
A thrill raced through her as she thought about all the trouble Kurt had gone through to be with her. Andrea coaxed a long stemmed rose from the crystal vase and ran it under her nose. She inhaled deeply and let her clothes drop to the floor in a heap.  She glimpsed her nude body in the mirror and drew the velvety-soft petals seductively across her flesh. The sensation sent a warm tingle throughout her entire being. Exhausted from the day’s activity and confused by the sudden turn of events, she lay with the rose on her pillow by her cheek and allowed the comfortable feeling to wash over her as she drifted off to sleep—a vision of Kurt etched in her mind.

A
shrill from the alarm clock brought Andrea to a quick wake-up. She bounded out of bed and ran to the window just in time to see the sun rise and spread a magnificent burst of light across the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
I'll paint that one day
, she promised herself, as she threw on her leotard and gym shoes.  She grabbed her ski jacket and headed to the gym for her morning routine of aerobics. She knew she had to find Kurt and address the issue from the previous day . . . his manipulation of the day’s events.  Deep down she was happy he had controlled the situation and forced himself back into her life.

Andrea
noticed Kurt as she entered the gym. Undetected, she watched as he worked out. His muscles were rock-hard, well-defined and his body drenched in sweat. Her pulse raced. She’d never experienced this exhilaration before . . . not even with Jason. She forced herself to look away, but knew she had to confront Kurt with what he had pulled off the day before.

Kurt turned with a quick snap of hi
s thick shoulders and spotted her. He watched her perfectly toned ballerina body, gliding toward him as he toweled off his sweat. He never imagined he could be so overwhelmed by any woman. He'd been with many women in the last five years and enjoyed them, but he didn’t love them—not the way he loved Andrea.

As she approached
him, she watched his eyes devour her. "Kurt, we have to talk about yesterday."

He stepped toward h
er, a rueful apology forming on his lips. His silence compelled her to look past his lips and deep into his eyes. The chemistry startled her.

"W
hat do you want with me?" She anxiously asked.

How can I
tell her I  want her right here, right now?
He stood silent for a moment mesmerized by her beauty. "Let me shower and I'll meet you outside in about an hour. I'll explain everything then. Okay?"

As he spoke, she couldn’t help but notice
his pumped-up body, his tee shirt taut across his muscled torso and shorts drenched in perspiration. She breathed deeply. “Fine," she said, and slowly turned away to await words that could change her life.

An hour later, Kurt stationed himself outside the gym and blankly stared at his boots as they dug into the snow.
How can I make her understand why I did what I did?
Would she, could she, ever believe me? I have to make her realize how long I’ve loved her.
His heart ached with the reality of what could happen.                                        

Andrea studi
ed Kurt from the gym’s door windows . . . his head down, his hands shoved deep into his pockets.

His head
jerked up when he heard the gym door slam closed. His eyes locked on hers.

Andrea
walked briskly to him. She gasped at the stark sexual message in his eyes and the promise they held. She dropped her eyes in order to concentrate and keep the growing heat in her body under control. The warmth rushed to her face and she knew it was a dead giveaway.

"Why are you follo
wing me?" she asked.

He
fingers combed through his hair. Then without thinking, he reached out and held onto her arm. "I had to follow you. Please understand, I couldn't take the chance of losing you again. That night when we met at my farewell party, I knew I wanted you to be part of my life and hoped I'd become a part of yours. Unfortunately, we met when you were involved with Jason.” He kicked the snow with the tip of his boot. “I wrote to you a number of times, but I never mailed the letters. I even called you, but Jason always answered the phone."              

Andrea
took his hands and looked into his smoldering eyes. She knew he told the truth.

"I think
about you all the time, Andrea. Emily knows I love you. Always have. She wrote me about your breakup with Jason. It took me a while to clear up my commitments in Iran and fly home. To tell you the truth, I didn't think I'd have a chance with you, but I had to try."

"Kurt . . .
?" Andrea mouthed a soundless name. She felt the pull of his eyes and the power of his feelings for her. As they walked down the path, he directed her to a secluded spot. He caught her at the waist with both hands and impulsively swung her into a snow bank. She was only conscious of his nearness . . . his lips.

"I
need you to be a part of my body, a part of my soul. I have you now, and I'll never let you go, Andrea." He hovered over her and then seized her lips with his in a deep emotional commitment.

"I want to know everything about you," she whispered, stunned by the intensity of her
own voice and her feelings.

"Well, I know a
first-class journalist who loves a beautiful and talented artist,” he said. Kurt feather-kissed her eyes, her neck and her throat.

"What else do I need to
know?" She asked provocatively, barely able to breathe.

"The only thing you have to know for now is that I play for keeps."

He slipped his hands under her ski jacket. They burned a path down her back as his lips found hers with passion once again.

She gave him an intimate smile, beautiful with brightness.
"So do I.”

They held hands as they walked
back to the hotel in a comfortable silence. The sun, warm and inviting, added its enhancement to the moment. Andrea glanced at Kurt.
Here I am,
walking hand in hand with someone I really don't know, but whom I love deeply,
she thought.

"What are you thinking?" H
is voice was a warm embrace in the chilled air.

"This is so sur
real."

“
What?
”

“
Us.
”

"How can you say that? I've loved you from the minute I saw you. Didn't you wonder why my attention was totally directed to you that night? There were
a lot of beautiful women at Emily’s party, but you were the one I wanted to be with," he squeezed her hand reassuringly. "Come on," he moved with the swiftness of a great buck, "Come on," he repeated and pulled her along with him. "You're going to get pneumonia in that leotard. Let's change and go skiing. We're wasting this beautiful day."

"Wasting? You
call this wasting?" She broke free from his grasp and ran ahead, laughing and stumbling in her efforts to reach the hotel doors first.

He raced after her
and caught her before she made it to the doors. "Come here," he said in a voice brimming with lust. He kissed her in full view of the skiing crowd. "We'd better get our gear together if we plan to do any skiing today." He put his arm around her and caressed her shoulder.

Barely ab
le to speak, she nodded in agreement and followed him into the hotel.  

Four hours later when they took their final run for the day, he watched from the foot of the mountain as she skied toward him. Her rich, fawn-like beauty overwhelmed him
. She's unbelievable on the slopes and fearless.
As she skied toward him, he envisioned the great times they'd have together. "I think we'd better get back to the hotel. It's getting colder."

"I can feel it." S
he shivered, as the wind slide down the mountain and took control.

Their days were filled with morning workouts, afternoon lunches on the deck overlooking the mountain of skiers and wonderful romantic dinners. Andrea talked about her childhood and  meeting Grayson, her mother’s best friend, on the plane.

Kurt briefly discussed his childhood, but he spoke mostly about his sister, Emily. Obv
iously, he was devoted to her.             

Each day she promised herself she'd call Grayson, b
ut the days slipped into nights and now, the week was over.  

S
tanding at the door to her hotel suite, Andrea smiled up at Kurt, as she brushed back an errant strand of hair grazing her forehead. "This week has been the best week I've had in a long time," she admitted.

"Me too. All the extra snow made the slopes perfect." He smiled
, fully appreciating the woman before him. At five-foot six, she barely reached his shoulders. Her red ski outfit complimented her porcelain skin and blonde hair.

He had waited five years
to call her his own. The whole week had been like an extended Christmas morning, not knowing what each day would bring.

"It's
been an incredible week," he whispered. The smell of cold air and fresh snow that engulfed her drove him crazy.  He kissed her again.