Listen to Your Heart (8 page)

“We can do that.” She’d thought about it
several times since last night. “See you later.”

* * *

“Hi!”

Morgan looked up from the desk. Adrian
was with Klaus and they appeared to be studying a manual. She looked around,
puzzled.

“It’s me!” The small voice was coming
from the other side of the desk. “Brandon.”

She stretched over the desk and looked
down. “Well hello there, Brandon.” The child appeared to be alone. “How did you
get down here? I didn’t see you come out of the elevator.”

“The stairs.” He looked pleased with
himself. “My Mom’s out skiing and Jacinta is watching television.” He looked at
her hopefully. “Do you have any toys?”

“I’m afraid not.” She looked up to see
Adrian crossing the lobby.

Adrian dropped down until he was at eye
level with the child. “Hello there. What’s your name?”

“I’m Brandon. Do you have any toys?”

Adrian looked at Morgan, then back to
the child. “Sorry, I don’t.”

The young boy sighed dramatically, and
Morgan hid a smile. “My nanny forgot to bring my toys.”

Morgan spoke up. “Young Mr. Glasser is
staying in 326/328 with his family. And his nanny,” she added, raising her
eyebrows slightly.

“Glasser?” He stood up. “Is that Peter
Glasser?” He leaned on the counter while Morgan checked.

“Yes, but he hasn’t arrived yet.”

Adrian looked down at the child. “The
Glassers are regular customers, but I haven’t met this young man before.”  He
held out a hand “Well, Brandon. I’m sure your nanny is going to be looking for
you. Shall I take you back to your room?”

The boy hid his hand behind his back.
“Don’t want to go back,” he said.

Morgan motioned to Adrian.

“Wait here,” he said to the child. “I’ll
be right back.”

“I was about to take a short break,” she
said quickly. “I could take him with me and get him some ice cream or
something. We could call the nanny and see if it’s okay.”

He hesitated, but only for a moment.
“Okay.” He picked up the phone. “I’ll do it.”

* * *

“Really? I can have ice cream?” Brandon
was wide-eyed as Morgan settled him at the staff table in the restaurant.

“Just a small dish.” She couldn’t help
but smile at his enthusiasm. “We don’t want to ruin your dinner.”

Morgan ordered coffee for herself and a
small sundae for the child. He chattered away as he dug in. She was looking
outside, wondering if she’d spot Rob, when his words registered.

“What was that you said?” she asked.
“About the towels?”

He looked guilty. “I went exploring. There’s
a really cool room where they keep the towels and sheets and stuff. It smells
all nice in there and it’s cosy.”

She smiled. “You really shouldn’t be
going in there, Brandon. What if you got locked in or something?”

He gave her what could only be described
as a sly look. “I’m careful.” He finished his sundae, and then sat back,
looking pleased with himself. Something caught his eye outside and he jumped up
and ran between the tables to the window. “Mommy!” he cried, waving
frantically. “Mommy!”

His mother turned, saw him in the
window, and her expression turned thunderous. “Brandon!” Morgan could see her
mouth the words. “What are you doing there?”

He ran back to the table as she flung
open the door to the restaurant. “What are you doing with my child?” She
grabbed his hand and led him toward the hallway. “Wait until the manager hears
about this!”

Morgan pressed her fingers to her
temple; she was getting a headache. Might as well go and face the music.

The doors of the elevator had scarcely
closed on Mrs. Glasser and Brandon before the manager turned on her. “Whatever
gave you the idea you could take that young boy to the restaurant?” He was
almost shouting.

“I’m sorry, Sir. It’s just that...”

“Excuse me, Mr. Wynn-Jones, but I’m to
blame as well.” Adrian had been standing aside, but he came forward now. “I called
the nanny and she said he was allowed to go and that he had no allergies.”

“I can take care of this.” Morgan
refused to let Adrian take the blame. “It was my idea.” She frowned at him,
trying to signal him to back off.

“Stop it.” The manager looked from one
to the other. “The fact remains that Mrs. Glasser is extremely upset.” He
turned to Morgan. “This will go on your personnel record.”

“But, Sir...” Adrian stepped forward
again and Morgan glared at him.

“I don’t want to hear about it!” The
manager turned abruptly. “Back to work, the both of you.”

Morgan bristled, but knew better than to
talk back. “Yes, Sir. I’m sorry.” The front door slid open and the lobby was
suddenly alive with a group of new arrivals.

Adrian turned and greeted them, his
smile warm and welcoming. She watched him for a moment. He may seem uncertain
in social situations, but when it came to handling guests, he was quietly
confident. He looked as though he’d been dealing with guests all his life, and
she supposed that he had, in some capacity or another. For the next couple of
hours she forgot the incident with Brandon as she and Adrian handled the rush
of afternoon check-ins.

“Hey, we made a pretty good team this
afternoon.” Adrian was scrolling through the day’s check-ins. “Only two more
parties to arrive tonight.”

“I don’t know where the time went.” She
smiled at him. He was right, they had made a good team; people seemed to
respond to him.

“Would you like to go for a drink after
work?” He removed his glasses and put them in his pocket. “I could use one.”

She shot him a curious look. “Is this a
date?”

He looked down at her. “Would you like
it to be?”

Was he flirting with her? “Not tonight,
no.”

“You mean no drink or no date?” His eyes
sparkled with amusement.

“I mean no date, but I would like a
drink. Do you know somewhere we can go?”

He led her down a narrow passageway
between two buildings and into a busy bar. He managed to snag a table near the
fireplace and they sank down into low armchairs.

“What did Dale say when you called her?”

“Chance is taking her over to the
Chateau for a drink. She was looking forward to it.”

“I don’t know him all that well, but he
seems like a nice guy. They’ve sure hit it off quickly.”

She raised her eyebrows.

“What?” he said. “You seem unsure.”

Grateful for a chance to gather her
thoughts, she sat back as their wine was delivered, then took a small sip
before answering. “Dale hasn’t had a lot of success with relationships, but I
have a good feeling about her and Chance. As you said, he’s a nice guy.”

When she said no more, he nodded
thoughtfully. “I guess the reason is something personal.”

She smiled at him. “You’re very
sensitive, you know that?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know.” The light
from the fireplace cast his face into shadows, but the small scar high up on
his cheek stood out starkly. “I should apologize for butting in this afternoon,
but it seemed only fair to tell Colin that I’d called and spoken with the
nanny.”

“Colin?” She raised an eyebrow. “You
mean Mr. Wynn-Jones.”

He rubbed his face with both hands. “I
have something to tell you, Morgan.” He shot her a quick look. “I tried to tell
you before, but we always seem to get interrupted.”

He didn’t continue, and she prodded him.
“What?”

“Promise you won’t hate me.”

“For crying out loud, Adrian. Will you
just tell me and get it over with?”

He stared into his wine glass. “My full
name is Adrian Zimmerman.”

“Sounds like the name of the hotel
chain.” She sat up and her back stiffened as the name sank in. “Are you...” For
a moment she couldn’t speak. “Are you related to the owners?”

He looked at her levelly. “The owner is
my father.”

“Your father.” She picked up her wine
glass, then put it down without drinking. “That explains a lot. Why haven’t you
told anyone?”

He leaned forward. “My dad didn’t want
me to. I told him we should be up front about it...that people would figure it
out eventually. Somebody’s going to show up at the hotel who knows me. Peter
Glasser, for example. He’s a friend of our family.”

She was only half listening to him. “But
you’re from Switzerland. I thought the hotel chain was headquartered in Italy.”

He nodded. “The first hotel was in the
Italian Alps. That was my grandfather. But we live in Davos, like I told you,
and my father wanted the main office there.” He waited for the information to
sink in. “I’m sorry, Morgan. I hope we can remain friends.”

She looked up sharply. “Is that what we
are? Friends?” She gave a short, mirthless laugh and looked at him. “You took
my dream job, you lied to me, and you expect us to be friends?”

“I didn’t lie to you. I just didn’t tell
you...” He looked miserable and his voice trailed off.

She sat back and studied him. The truth
was that from the first night she’d found him charming and attractive. More
importantly, she’d lived in a family of men long enough to recognize that he
was a gentle soul. Gentle and kind. Too bad he was the owner’s son. That would
put their friendship in an entirely different light.

“I tried to be mad at you,” she said,
almost to herself. “But it’s not easy.”

His head came up. “You mean you don’t
hate me?”

“I didn’t say that.” His face fell and
she touched his arm. “Just kidding, Adrian. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Of
course I don’t hate you.”

“Good.” He leaned toward her and for a
moment she thought she saw desire in his eyes. “Could we keep things as they
are?”

“You mean don’t tell anyone who you are?”
A sudden thought struck her. “Does Wynn-Jones know?”

“Yes. I think that’s why he came down
hard on you this afternoon...because he didn’t want to say anything to me, even
though I deserved it. But I’d sure like to keep the status quo for a while.” He
raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. “If someone shows up who knows me,
we’ll just play it by ear.”

“Okay, but I’ll have to tell Dale. We
share everything.” She nodded to herself. “She’s the sister I never had.”

Something shifted behind his eyes. “Do
you have any siblings?”

She edged forward on her seat. “Three
brothers. Ken is the eldest and Grant and Gareth – the twins – are closer to me
in age. A couple of clowns, let me tell you.” Her face softened. “You know, I
think they scared off just about every boy who came to the house when I was in
high school. It’s no wonder I’m still single.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“I can’t promise I’ll answer, but sure,
go ahead.”

He set down his glass. “Are you and Rob
an item?”

Dammit, why did the mere mention of his
name make her heart race?

“Rob?” She pretended not to understand.

“I guess that means yes.”

“No it doesn’t.” She hated talking about
this. Especially when she wasn’t quite sure how she felt about him.

“I’ve seen the way he looks at you.” He
hesitated. “And I heard him say something about you being up top together.”

“Are you jealous, Adrian Zimmerman?” She
emphasized his last name.

She was instantly sorry that she’d goaded
him. But he leveled a look at her, and she was impressed by the way he held his
own.

“We weren’t together.” She took a quick
sip of wine. “Not in that way, anyway. I went up there on my first day to look
around and he was there to meet someone for a lesson.”

“Okay.” A faint smile touched his lips.
“I just want to know where I stand, that’s all.”

“What about you?” She tilted her head,
challenging him. “Do you have someone at home?”

He hesitated for a moment before
answering. “Not really.”

She deliberated about letting him off
the hook, but to her surprise she found that she wanted to know. “That’s not
much of an answer.”

He toyed with his wine glass and she regretted
pushing him; he looked miserable. “It’s complicated,” he said finally, then
drained his wine. “Shall we go and find something to eat? Just a hamburger,
then I’ll drive us both home.”

“Sure, I’d enjoy that.” She took the
hand he offered and got to her feet. He looked into her eyes for a moment, and
then released her hand. She was tempted to slip her hand back into his. It had
felt safe there.

The mountain rose above them as they
walked back to the hotel. Illuminated for night skiing, it seemed to come
alive.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Morgan
paused to look up.

“Ya.”

She was beginning to know him well
enough to be aware that when his accent thickened, something was bothering him.
He wasn’t looking up. She decided not to press him; they’d shared enough
revelations tonight.