Page 3 of A Bear Ski Instructor Christmas

Sam winced. “Not the word I’d use, but yeah, that’s pretty much it. Now, I don’t knowwhyhe did it, but he did it, and that’s all that matters. My point is that he’s a jerk. A big, stupid jerk. And you’re better off without him. You’re on the path to becoming a supermodel. Do you have any idea how many guys would willingly get a vasectomy if it meant they could get a chance with you?”

Rachel couldn’t resist a laugh. “A vasectomy? Really, Sam?”

Her friend shrugged. “You get my drift, though, right?”

“Yes,” Rachel assured her. “I do.”

And she did, really. Shewasquite the knockout; she didn’t need anyone to remind her of that. Most elves simply were naturally beautiful. Even when her ears were covered, she turned heads whenever she stepped outside. All types of men had approached her, and she’d turned them down as nicely as she could. That was the problem. It didn’t matter that she could get anyone she wanted. Her heart simply didn’t beat for anyone but Michael.

Maybe next year, she should put more effort into her dating life. That would please Diane. And maybe she’d be able to fully move on from Michael and find someone better, someone who wouldn’t abandon her out of the blue and leave a gaping hole in her heart.

Next year, she told herself.

For now, she had bigger concerns. She had to ace that audition and secure that job. What was the point of worrying about some guy when she should be focusing on her career? A smile tugged at her lips, and she closed her eyes. More rest was in order. Somehow, she had a feeling that once she arrived in Chicago, she wouldn’t have much time to sleep.

The plane shuddered again as it hit a patch of turbulence. But Rachel soon found refuge from her racing mind as sleep slowly descended upon her, undisturbed by the sounds of chattering that filled the cabin. She continued to dream of sharing ice cream with Brad Pitt.

When she opened her eyes again, the plane was coming apart.

Chapter One

Present Day

Rudolph the Stalker Reindeer

“I said,stay back!” Rachel snapped, waving a stick in front of her. “Why are you following me?”

Standing less than thirty feet away at the edge of the woods, the reindeer did not respond. It simply stared back at her, its ear twitching a little. Its flank was covered in flecks of snow, and Rachel was pretty sure ice was forming on the creature’s antlers, but it didn’t seem the least bit bothered, not by the snow, not by the cold, and certainly not by her empty threats.

“Don’t make me hurt you, Rudolph,” she growled. “I’ve got a stick, and I’m not afraid to use it.”

Still no response. Rachel imagined that if reindeer could speak, this one would be laughing at her right now. The stick she’d snagged off a tree branch in the woods was short and crooked, incapable of inflicting much damage.

If truth be told, she hadn’t ever seen an actual reindeer before. Like most people, she connected them with Christmas, like Santa’s elves and the North Pole. The fact that there was a live one barely thirty feet away from her was something she’d definitely bring up during her next session with Diane, assuming she made it out of there in one piece.

She’d been trudging down the mountain through the dense, snow-shrouded woods, wondering how much farther until she reached the bottom when the creature stepped out from behind a tree and began following her. The reindeer had tailed her out of the woods and onto the wide, snowy path that stretched between the trees like a bumpy, sloping highway. Even out here in the open, Rachel couldn’t help being creeped out.

But she couldn’t let the reindeer know how unsettled she was. If there was anything she’d learned over the decades, it was toface adversity head-on.You’re a fierce young woman,Diane used to tell her.You don’t cower in the face of problems. You fight them head-on. That’s an impressive quality.

She wasn’t about to cower. Her best chance was scaring the animal off.

At least her opponent wasn’t a polar bear or something. If that had been the case, she would be roadkill by now. Still, the sight of the reindeer sent a chill to the base of her spine. Why the hell was it just watching her?

“Look,” she called, feeling fairly foolish at the realization that she was talking to an animal, “I’ve had a pretty rough couple of days, okay? I don’t need you to make things worse for me right now.”

How long had it been exactly? Two days? Something like that. Two days since she opened her eyes to see Flight 18 come apart, sending several of its passengers to their deaths. Two days since, the parts of the plane that had remained intact crash-landed, not in a city in Nebraska but on a massive, snow-covered mountain. Two days since she climbed out of the wreckage, surrounded mostly by dead or unconscious passengers, and began traveling downhill, desperate for the one thing that mattered most to her now: her survival.

The wind whistled gently in her ears, and she shuddered against the sudden gust, wrapping her jacket more tightly around her.

Crap,she thought.

Her stomach growled just then, reminding her that she hadn’t had anything to eat yet except for some berries she’d yanked off a bush this morning. They were clearly low in calories, which would’ve been great if she was back in Vegas, keeping her body in shape for her next runway event.

Only this wasn’t Vegas. On this mountain, in this darned weather, she needed all the calories she could get if she wanted to live.

Double crap.

The reindeer’s ear twitched again, drawing her attention. She could definitely use some protein, but that meant killing the creature, and Rachel wasn’t about to approach the damn thing with a tree branch, much less try to take its life.As if.

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