Just Perfect (5 page)

Jane Redding had written Christine into every paragraph of the chapter titled “Smart Women, Dumb Choices.”

Slamming the book closed, she tossed it aside. That did it! Maddy and Amy were right. She absolutely had to stop dating men who were either too stuffy or totally irresponsible.

Surely, though, there had to be a man out there somewhere who was just right for her. And hopefully he’d be as fun as Alec.

Discipline is the foundation for self-respect.

—
How
to
Have a Perfect Life

The following day, Alec stood in the outdoor food concession line, hoping to scarf a quick meal before his second lesson with Christine.

“So how goes it with Silver Mountain’s newest ski instructor?” someone said behind him.

“Shut up.” Alec laughed as he turned to find his friend Trent grinning broadly. Apparently his buddy Bruce had blabbed the news to half the resort that Alec Hunter had lowered himself to teach ski lessons. Now all the guys were dying to join in the ribbing. Not that he blamed them. When it came to making a living on the mountain, there was a definite pecking order with Alec at the top as the county search-and-rescue coordinator, then forest rangers and emergency personnel, followed by guys like Trent in ski patrol, with lowly ski instructors coming in barely above the lift operators.

A wide grin split Trent’s face. “Will’s fiancee tells me your student is hot.”

Alec merely grinned at that obvious ploy for more data, which he had no intention of giving. He didn’t need more ribbing or the competition. Especially since Trent had the kind of dark Italian good looks women went for instantly. Although, even born with the curse of being “cute,” Alec had no problem holding his own.

Trent wiggled his brows. “Is Lacy right, or just jerking my chain?”

“Lacy. Dang, that reminds me.” Alec glanced toward St. Bernard’s Pub on the opposite end of the plaza. “Loan me twenty bucks, will ya?”

“Why?” Trent asked even as he reached for his wallet.

“Because I only have twenty on me. If I pay Lacy back for yesterday’s lunch, I won’t have enough to buy lunch today.”

“Let me guess. You lost your ATM card again.”

“Temporarily misplaced,” Alec corrected.

“I swear, you have a black hole in your brain where all thoughts about money disappear.”

“Maybe I’m just too busy thinking about more important things, like saving people from their own stupidity, to waste brain cells worrying about stuff that doesn’t matter.”

“You know, I don’t get you. You can keep track of a million pieces of rescue gear, but you can never remember where you left your wallet and keys. That’s just weird.” Trent held a twenty upright between two fingers as a bribe. “Now tell me about your ski bunny.”

“Nothing to tell.” Alec snagged the bill out of Trent’s hand.

“She as hot-looking as Lacy claims?”

“She’s not too bad.” He smiled to himself at that understatement. With the way things had gone yesterday, he couldn’t wait for today’s lesson. The memory of how she’d returned every suggestive look with a sultry one of her own made his body eager for more.

“Why, you dog.” Trent lowered his sunglasses to study Alec’s face. “You’re planning to show her some moves off the slopes, aren’t you?”

Alec fixed him with his most intimidating look, which he suspected wasn’t all that intimidating because it never worked. “Razz me about helping Bruce and I won’t let you ride the all-terrain bike I’m buying with the money I’m making off these lessons.”

“I thought you were going to stop spending your own money buying equipment for the county.”

“I was, but… have you seen the new medical unit bikes?”

“Oh yeah.” Trent patted his heart. “I read the article in
Emergency Magazine
, and drooled so much I had to change my shirt.”

Reaching the front of the line, Alec ordered a double-meat cheeseburger, jumbo fries, large cola, and chocolate milk shake, then waited as Trent placed his order. When they had their trays, they searched for an empty table in the outdoor eating area, which offered a view of the slopes. With ski season picking up, they had to settle for a table that hadn’t been bussed.

Alec shoved the clutter aside and dove into filling his empty stomach before his belly button touched his backbone. The rush of blood sugar to his brain made his eyes roll back in pleasure. God, maybe he would live after all, he decided as he swallowed a mouthful of salty French fries. “I didn’t see a report on snowmobile traffic when I stopped by the fire station this morning. Have you noticed any tracks heading into the backcountry?”

Trent scowled at him. “I thought you were taking the week off.”

“I am.”

“You know, Hunter”—Trent lowered his burger— “I’m not sure you get the concept of taking a vacation. See now, most people go somewhere to relax and have fun.”

“Yeah, they come to Silver Mountain.” He swept an arm to include the whole resort, from the shops and restaurants with their festive holiday trim to the snow-covered mountains. “Lucky me, I’m already here.”

“Well, at least refrain from going by the office every day.”

“Can’t do that. I have to drop off Buddy,” he said, referring to his golden retriever, one of the best avalanche-rescue dogs in the country. “You know how he mopes when he doesn’t get to work. The guys at the fire station offered to let him hang with them while I’m giving these lessons. Since my office is in the fire station, it’s kind of hard to avoid going by.”

“Right.” Trent nodded skeptically. “You just dropped Buddy off and didn’t stick around to do any work.”

“Define work.” At his friend’s exasperated look, he relented. “Okay, so maybe I glanced over the Forest Service advisories.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Looks like we’re getting a pretty good buildup already on Parks Peak.”

“Yep.” Trent calmly popped a French fry into his mouth.

“You gonna blast it?”

“If it snows again tonight, we’ll blast it in the morning.”

“You gonna use the new Avalauncher?”

“Yep.”

“Need any help?”

“Nope.”

“Because if you did—”

“Alec.” Trent scowled. “You’re on vacation.”

“Man,” he groused, “that’s the trouble with vacations. You don’t get to have any fun.”

Trent chuckled. “You really are crazy, you know that?”

“I like what I do. So sue me.”

“About Will’s bachelor party on Friday,” Trent said, changing the subject. “You got everything covered?”

“Hey, this isn’t my first time up as best man. I know what I’m doing.”

“If you’ll remember, last time you got stuck with a whopper of a bar tab. If you need the groomsmen to pitch in some more when it’s over, let me know. I’ll suspend all their lift passes until they ante up.”

“The only thing I need is—” He broke off when a tall blonde wearing a blue-and-white Spyder jacket stopped a few feet away. “Christine?”

She turned, holding a tray from the concession stand, and smiled when she saw him. She looked rested and glowing and somehow even more beautiful today than she had yesterday, which was saying a lot.

“Hey,” she said. “I was just going to grab a bite to eat before our lesson, but I can’t find a free table.”

“Why don’t you join us?” He eagerly cleared a place for her to set her tray.

“Thank you. That would be great.” She sat down next to him.

Trent looked from her to him and raised one brow. “ ‘Not too bad’? Friend, you need glasses.”

“What?” Christine blinked.

“Nothing.” Alec kicked Trent under the table. “Chris, meet Trent. Trent, Chris.”

“Christine,” she corrected as she shook Trent’s hand.

Alec cocked his head. “Why not Chris?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged, as if the question had never occurred to her. “It’s just always been Christine.”

“How about Christi?” he suggested with a flirtatious grin.

“Definitely not.” One of her throaty laughs spilled forth. Their eyes met and heat flared instantly, as it had yesterday. Rather than holding his gaze, though, she looked away and concentrated on unwrapping her turkey sandwich. A little frown marred her brow, as if she were trying to solve a problem. “So,” she said to Trent, “you’re with the ski patrol, I see. I’ve always thought that would be a fun job.”

“It rocks.” Trent puffed up at her attention, and Alec contemplated kicking him again. “Even if it’s not as fun as what Alec does.”

“Oh?” She turned to him with a strangely hopeful look. “What sort of work do you do?”

“Oh, Alec doesn’t
work
,” Trent was quick to put in. “He just plays all day. Isn’t that right, dude?”

“When people let me,” Alec grumbled.

“Ah.” Christine kept her face impassive as disappointment filled her. Apparently her losing streak was holding firm and she’d picked another charming user, the kind of man who mooched off family and friends while “looking for work.” She should have expected as much after the scene she’d witnessed yesterday, when he’d sweet-talked that waitress into buying his lunch. How did she let major clues like that slip past her in the beginning, when that was exactly the sort of thing that would drive her up a wall later?

Alec and his friend talked a bit more while she ate; then Trent stood to leave.

“Christine”—Trent held his hand out to her— “good meeting you. How long are you staying in Silver Mountain?”

“Three weeks.”

“Cool. Perhaps I’ll see you around.”

“Perhaps.” She looked at him more closely. He lacked Alec’s height, but he had a roguish appeal. And at least this man was gainfully employed, she thought as he continued to hold her gaze and her hand. Maybe her friends would approve of him. Too bad the thought didn’t give her the same zing as thinking about kissing Alec.

“Excuse me,” Alec interrupted them with a pointed look at his friend. “Don’t you have work to do? I heard a rumor about a poacher in the area.”

“That’s the forest ranger’s job.”

“As in the immediate area,” Alec stressed.

“Oh.” Trent turned sheepish as he dropped her hand. “Sorry. I’ll um, just be going. And, Alec, I was serious about that bar tab. If you need help paying it, just let me know.”

“Consider that twenty you just lent me a donation to the cause.”

“Great. See ya at the party Friday night, then.”

Christine turned to Alec as his friend walked away. He needed help paying his bar tab? Good grief, she really was a “user magnet,” just like Maddy always said. At least he wasn’t hitting her up for money, or a place to flop while he dried out, or help finding a job, or a million other things she had trouble refusing. And he wouldn’t, because she wasn’t getting involved with him. Absolutely not.-

“You done?” He nodded toward the remains of the sandwich she’d left on her tray.

“Yes.” She wiped her hands on a napkin.

“Great.” He flashed a smile, and despite all the stern warnings from her brain, her heart fluttered. “I’ve been thinking about today’s lesson. Since you did so well yesterday, what would you say to hitting the terrain park and catching some air?”

“Are you kidding?” Her mood instantly brightened. Alec Hunter might be a loser in the potential boyfriend department, but as a ski instructor, he was a definite winner. “I’d love that.”