“Too bad your brothers don’t get to see them.”
Ethan shrugs. “Well, it can’t be helped that Ryker has work. And Asher wanted to see a different Swiss mountain.”
I know. Asher went to see the Matterhorn and Ryker had another meeting with some executives from Odermatt Corp. after the one that he and Ethan attended this morning.
“Why?” Ethan asks. “Do you miss them? You and Asher seem to have grown close.”
My eyes grow wide. Me and Asher? Well, he did talk to me a lot yesterday. Flirted, even.
Wait a second. Is Ethan jealous?
It’s an absurd idea and yet I feel like smiling again. After all, if Ethan’s jealous of another man, his brother no less, that means he cares about me, right? Maybe there’s a chance he even… loves me, too?
I know I said I wasn’t hoping for anything from Ethan, but his words just lit a spark inside of me and now I can’t help but feel hope. I guess if you really love someone, you want them to love you back.
“If you don’t want to be alone with me, we can just turn back,” Ethan says.
“After walking all this way? No.” I shake my head. “And I don’t mind being here with you.”
To be honest, even though it may sound awful, I’m not sorry Asher and Ryker aren’t here. In fact, I’m glad. I get to visit a romantic restaurant atop a Swiss mountain with just Ethan. It’s almost like a date.
I wonder if it’s alright to think of it as one.
“Good,” Ethan says. “Because to be honest, I don’t think I can walk back to the car before getting some food in me first. What about you? Hungry?”
“A little,” I answer. “I hope the food is good.”
~
It is.
A sausage and cheese salad. Salt-crusted rack of lamb. And now, a raspberry and spiced rose meringue parfait with whipped cream, a drizzle of chocolate syrup and thin honey biscuits on top. I pick one up and marvel at the design on it. It looks like a bouquet of flowers.
“It’s called a tirggel,” Ethan informs me. “Traditionally, they’re baked during Christmas with designs of old buildings, knights and horse-drawn carriages.”
Interesting.
I take a bite out of it and get a loud crunch. It’s a little too hard for my liking, but it does taste good.
“You should see Zurich at Christmas,” Ethan says. “It’s beautiful.”
“I can imagine.” I gather some of the whipped cream with the rest of the biscuit and pop it into my mouth. “I’ve never been anywhere but home for Christmas.”
For the past two years, I spent the holidays alone at my apartment, which I don’t want to think about.
“In fact, I’ve hardly been anywhere.”
“Oh, you’ll get around,” Ethan tells me before taking a sip from his glass of wine. “Because I’ll be bringing you along on all my business trips from now on.”
My eyes grow wide. “You’re kidding.”
He looks at me. “Do I look like I’m kidding?”
No. Even so, what he just said sounds too good to be true.
“I’d be a fool not to bring you after how helpful you’ve proven to be during this trip,” he adds. “Besides, it’s more fun traveling with you.”
I stare at my parfait. I still can’t believe it. More trips like this? More meals like this? More…?
I pause. He said it’s more fun traveling with me, right?
Did he say that because of all the sex we’ve been having? Is he saying there’s going to be more, that this is going to be a thing – us having sex on the side whenever he’s doing business out of town?
“I can even bring you along the next time I go on vacation,” Ethan says. “Maybe on Christmas? You and I can come back here to Zurich. Or we can try Vienna or Prague or one of the German cities. They’re all beautiful at that time of year.”
Christmas with Ethan? It sounds like a dream come true.
“Don’t you usually spend Christmas with your father and brothers?” I ask him.
“Usually,” he answers. “But it doesn’t always have to be that way.”
I pause in the middle of lifting my spoon. My heart sinks because I remember what he said about his father wanting him to get married.
Should I ask him about it again? But last time, he didn’t want to talk about it. He looked annoyed, even. I don’t want that to happen. I don’t want to ruin the mood.
But it seems mine has already cracked, weighed down by the image of Ethan spending future Christmases with his own family, with his wife and children. If only they could be mine.
Wait. I’m dreaming of having his kids now?
“Is something wrong?” Ethan asks.
He must have noticed the shadow hanging over me.
I try to shake it off as I dig into my parfait. “What do you usually do during the holidays?”