Just Perfect Read Free Page A

chairlift so you can ski is your challenge?”
    “Not just so I can ski. So I can outski my big brother on the black runs. That’s where you come in.”
    He lifted a brow. “How long has it been since you skied?”
    “Fourteen years.”
    “How good is your brother?”
    “Don’t ask.”
    “That good, huh?”
    “Yes, dang it! And I hate it.” Color returned to her cheeks. “He beats me at everything. skiing is the only thing I think I might be able to best him at. I know it sounds childish, but this means a lot to me. And I only have one week to get in shape before the rest of my family arrives for Christmas.”
    “The rest of your family?” he prompted to keep her talking.
    “My parents, my brother and his wife and their two little boys. They spend every Christmas at my parents’ condo in Central Village. Since I don’t want them to know how much the chairlift frightens me, I haven’t had Christmas with the family in years.”
    “Really?” He cocked a brow. “Me either. Although I’m sure for entirely different reasons. See, I’ve always thought family get-togethers are overrated. Especially during the holidays when everyone’s even crazier than normal.”
    “Yes, but do you know how hard my brother, Robbie, would laugh if he knew why I never come for Christmas?”
    The lift started moving again with a clanging of cables and a jolt of motion. She slammed her eyes closed.
    “No, don’t do that. Look at me.” He waited for her to open her eyes. “Good. Just breathe and keep your eyes right here on mine.” Man, she had great-looking eyes. A pale silver with only a hint of blue. The rest of her face was… classy. No other word for it. None of that “she wasn’t classically beautiful, but there was something about her…” This woman
was
classically beautiful in every way, including the slender nose, high cheekbones, and the smooth line of her jaw. And then there was all that pale blond hair falling nearly to her waist, begging for a man’s fingers to run through it.
    His body stirred at the thought.
    “So, um”—he cleared his throat—“tell me more about this challenge. Why did you and your friends come up with it?”
    “Hmm?” She seemed to have lost the thread of their conversation while staring back into his eyes.
    “The challenge.” He moved the hand he had resting on the back of the bench to her wrist and worked his bare fingers under the cuff of her jacket to monitor her pulse. It was racing like a scared rabbit. If she passed out, would he be able to stop her from falling? “Tell me how it came about.”
    “Oh…” She relaxed a bit while he massaged her wrist. “The three of us were suitemates at UT. Actually, there were four of us back then. Three of us remained really close. Maddy, Amy, and me. The fourth was Jane Redding.”
    “From the morning show?” He raised a brow.
    “Yes. Jane moved off to New York and became a hotshot news anchor, then went into motivational speaking.”
    “Didn’t she write some book?”
    “A self-help book for women titled
How to Have a Perfect Life
.”
    “That’s the one.” He nodded. “I saw it at East Village Books and had to laugh. No offense to your friend, but nobody has a perfect life.”
    “I couldn’t agree more, but that book is what started the whole thing. We all bought copies of it at Jane’s book signing in Austin to be supportive of an old friend. But then we discovered that she’d used us as negative examples of women who let fear stand in the way of pursuing their dreams. Can you believe that?” Her pulse picked up again. “The bitch!”
    “Excuse me?” Alec choked back a laugh at hearing profanity from someone who looked so refined.
    “How dare she use us as examples in her book!”
    “So what’d she say about you? That you let your fear of heights interfere with your dream of becoming an Olympic skier?”
    “No.” She gave a dignified snort, as if what she was about to say was ludicrous. “She said I was