Just Perfect Read Online Free PDF Page B

conquer your fear of the lift and outski your brother on the slopes. Second, reread part of Jane’s book. Not the part you told me to read, but the chapter about smart women who make dumb choices
.
    Amy:
I’ll second that advice
.
    Christine:
Thanks, you two. I really do love you. Even when you are killjoys
.
    With a sigh, Christine logged off, then looked at the stack of medical books she’d brought. She should probably study, but following Maddy’s advice, she reached past them and grabbed Jane’s book,
How to Have a Perfect Life
. As angry as she was at Jane for using the three of them as negative examples, she felt strangely drawn to the book. She found herself coming back to it over and over, searching for the little pearls of wisdom she occasionally found hidden among a lot of cliched axioms.
    Halfway through reading the chapter Maddy had suggested, she stared at the words as if seeing them for the first time. Not only had Jane used her as an example in the chapter on fear. She’d used her in this chapter too! It wasn’t as obvious, but it was there in black and white.
    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.
----
Chapter 3

     
    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