One Sweet Day Read Online Free PDF Page A

bottom. “We’re about to go for another practice run.”
    She gave a thumbs up and took off at a dead sprint. Her boots sank into the snow and slowed her pace, but still she ran. She took the lift to the top, burrowing her face into her coat the whole way, and leaped into the snow when she reached the top. She fell, rolled, but got to her feet and took off to the right of the slope.
    “Watch out!” a guy hollered behind her as he sped by, a torch held his hand.
    She screamed, ducking and covering as a hoard of skiers with torches blew past her. Totally something from her worst nightmare. Not magical. Not beautiful. Seriously freaking scary, especially since the clothes she’d chosen were black. They couldn’t see her out here.
    “Charlie!”
    Another skier whizzed by.
    She ran down the mountain, her momentum propelling her faster and faster.
    “Charlie!” she yelled, cupping her hands against her mouth. “Charlie Vonn!”
    A figure standing against the tree line spun at her scream.
    Thank God.
    She sprinted, breathing hard, her legs wobbling. “Charlie!”
    “Laney?” He trudged uphill, spreading his arms wide. “What the hell are you doing up here?”
    “I had to see you!”
    Almost there. Almost to his side.
    A skier whizzed by, missing her by inches. She yelped, throwing her hands in the air as her feet pedaled faster than she could keep up with them. Charlie reached out to stop her. She clutched at his parka and collapsed, her legs finally giving out. He caught her, but the momentum spun them to the ground. When the world stopped spinning, she was lying on top of him, her heart beating out of her chest.
    “What the hell are you doing?” He frowned. “Is everything okay?”
    “I got your present,” she breathed. “I had to thank you.”
    “Oh,” he said, the air whooshing out of him. His head dropped back into the snow. “You could’ve waited until I got back down to the lodge so you didn’t freeze to death.”
    She shook her head. “I’m not cold.”
    Skiers zipped by, their skis carving in the snow.
    He eyed her curiously. “Not that I’m complaining, but why are you still on top of me?”
    “I don’t know what I’m doing.” Her breath hiccupped in her chest. “I thought I did. I had it all worked out. I was putting Blue Lake in my rearview mirror and moving in with my cousin. I guess that’s still the plan, but…can you think of any reason why I shouldn’t do that?”
    He stared at her, his back teeth clenching. “Can you?”
    “I’m not sure.” She studied the features of his face, the rugged lines and the curved edges. “But I know a way to find out.”
    Before he could ask what that meant, Laney speared her fingers into his hair and drew his mouth to hers. He groaned at the contact—a hum that set fire to the blood in her veins. The kiss was smoldering and tender, and as his arms coiled around her waist, her body melted against his. His lips parted, and Laney slipped her tongue inside. Heat shifted to gripping need as the taste of him sparked something deep in her belly.
    She wanted him, hungered for him.
    “Laney,” he whispered against her lips. “This is the best ‘thank you’ I’ve ever received.”
    She giggled into another kiss. “The necklace is beautiful. It reminds me of that plaque we saw today.”
    He brought her head down to lie on his chest, to where she could hear the muffled drumming of his heart. “I got that a long time ago,” he said. “I think I fell in love with you that weekend when we were chasing each other over the sand…I think I might love you still.”
    “That’s sweet of you to say.”
    Although she cared for him—she’d known that from the moment she met him—she didn’t know how deep those feelings went. Something told her it wouldn’t be long before they’d have a chance to explore them.
    He tipped her chin with his fingers and planted the softest of kisses on her lips. She unwound, forgot about everything and everyone but