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In the confines of the tent, their faces were close. She could see the thickness of his eyelashes and the beginnings of stubble on his jaw. It was a face so handsome that no woman passed him without taking a long, covetous look. Except her. Resolutely, she looked the other way. The day she started noticing that he was handsome was the day she was in trouble. So he had sexy eyes. So what? ‘So you’re not going in the helicopter?’
‘No. I’m staying with you, wolf-girl.’ Suddenly those sexy eyes were deadly serious. ‘What were you doing up here, Meg? Hardly the weather for an evening stroll. Blizzard, drifting snow, wind chill…’
‘Perfect evening for a walk.’ Meg didn’t bother telling him that was how she liked the weather. Wild and crazy. She’d given up explaining herself to people years before. ‘Anyway, you should be thanking me. If I hadn’t decided to walk, I wouldn’t have found Harry. I didn’t plan to come up this far but Rambo picked up the scent.’
‘You should be at home, baking cookies or painting your nails.’
Even though she knew he was intentionally trying to wind her up she was still shocked by the emotion that rushed through her body. Why did comments like that still bother her so much? Reminding herself that it had been nothing more than a flippant remark on his part, Meg pulled a face. ‘I’d rather be blown off a ridge in a force-nine gale than paint my nails. Not that I expect you to understand that. The women you date can’t walk and blink at the same time. The one today—could she talk and eat her lunch?’
‘Jealous, amore?’
‘No. I’d rather poke myself in the eye with a fork than have a romantic lunch with you.’
‘Is that so? You have strange aspirations, Meg Miller.’ Humour in his eyes, Dino watched her for a moment and then turned back to Harry, checking his temperature and other vital signs again. ‘His GCS is dropping.’
‘Perhaps we should—’ Meg broke off as Dino put a hand on her arm.
‘Listen. No wind. Must be the eye of the storm.’
All she could hear was the throb of blood in her ears. She told herself it had absolutely nothing to do with the touch of his hand on her arm and the fact that they couldn’t move without brushing past each other. Forcing herself to focus, she realised that the tent was no longer flapping so violently. ‘I can hear the helicopter.’ She stuck her head out of the opening and saw lights approaching high above them. ‘They’ll have to hover above the gully.’
‘I’ll make sure everything is strapped down.’ Dino crawled out of the tent to help the helicopter crew and Meg’s gaze lingered on his shoulders. She was an athlete, she told herself. It was natural that she’d admire honed muscle and a powerful physique.
He stood on the narrow, snow-covered path, ready to assist the winchman. As the helicopter hovered above the narrow gully, the downdraft caused the sides of the tent to flap and whip up the new snow. Given the potential hazards, there was no wasted time. The winchman was lowered out of the helicopter and together the three of them strapped Harry securely to the stretcher, protecting his back and his neck. As he was winched back up into the helicopter, Dino held the guide rope to help prevent the potentially lethal swing of the winch rope into the sides of the gully. Once Harry was safely inside the helicopter, the crew released the guide rope and disappeared into the darkness.
Meg felt the adrenaline drain away and relief take its place. It was almost weakness, this response after the event, and she slid back inside the tent and sat for a moment, breathing slowly, trying not to think of all the alternative scenarios that tried to destabilise her sense of calm.
What if she hadn’t found him?
What if Dino hadn’t come?
She covered her face with her hands, dimly aware that Dino had gathered up the guide rope and was now back in the tent with her. ‘I’ve known Harry since he was born. My mum knows his mum. I used to go round and help bath him when I was a kid.’
‘Lucky Harry.’ Dino stowed the guide rope in his backpack and then gently removed her hands from her face. ‘You did well, wolf-girl. You probably saved his life.’
‘Well, I don’t paint my nails or bake cookies, but I have some skills.’ But maybe her skills weren’t enough in this case. What if he had a depressed skull fracture? What if they didn’t get him to hospital fast enough? Now that the immediate crisis was over, the fear that had been pressing against her threatened to overwhelm her. Suddenly she wanted to lean against that broad chest and just sob. She didn’t care that he was a notorious heart-breaker and that she’d been resisting his advances for months. She just wanted to feel those strong arms close around her. ‘Dino—’
‘It’s a good job I am here, no? A weak, feeble girl like you is going to need a big strong guy like me to help you out of this mess.’
Her traitorous desire to lean on him vanished instantly. ‘Do you honestly think I need your help?’ Anger stoked the fire inside her that had burned down to no more than a few glowing embers. ‘I don’t need any help from you.’
‘Sì, of course you need my help.’ He started piling the equipment back inside his bag. ‘You are too small and delicate to walk down this mountain without assistance. The wind has dropped, but not for long. You wouldn’t be fit enough to walk as fast as you’d need to. We will stay the night here, and I will protect you.’ His mouth curved into a slow, sexy smile. ‘It’s just you, me and this little private room. This isn’t quite how I pictured our first night together, but I can be flexible. Do you have any mistletoe?’
Anger flushed away the worry about Harry. ‘If I had any mistletoe all I’d do with it is force-feed you the berries. I’m not in the mood, Dino—’
Without warning, he leaned towards her and for one breathless, heart-stopping moment she thought he was going to kiss her. His eyes glittered dark with sexual promise and Meg felt something she never let herself feel. She felt strangely disconnected, as if she were being controlled by some invisible force outside herself. Then she came to her senses and gave him a hard shove.
‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’
‘You said you weren’t in the mood,’ he purred. ‘I was going to put you in the mood.’
‘I meant that I wasn’t in the mood for your flirting,’ she croaked, ‘not—anything else.’ It was disconcerting to realise that her hands were shaking. She knew that if she’d been standing up, her knees would have been shaking, too.
‘That’s what you meant?’ Those sexy eyes teased her. ‘Then you need to be more specific when you communicate.’
Her lips were tingling and the blood was rushing around her body. ‘Don’t ever do that again, Zinetti!’
‘Do what?’ Dino smiled and trailed a finger over her cheek. ‘I haven’t done anything yet. Maybe this is a good moment to teach you all the practical applications of the use of body warmth in the prevention of hypothermia.’
Meg skidded to the furthest point of the tent, too aggravated by her own response to notice his brief, satisfied smile. ‘I wouldn’t spend a night cosied up with you if we were the only two people left on the planet. I’d rather die of hypothermia.’
‘Beautiful Megan.’ His voice was soft. ‘A woman like you should have a man in her life, but you do everything alone.’
‘That’s the way I like it.’
‘Because you are afraid?’
It was like dropping a lighted match into a haystack. ‘Dino.’ Meg hauled the anger back inside herself. ‘You’re the one who should be afraid. Get out of my tent. I want to go down, now. I can’t stand another five minutes stuck on this rock face with a smooth-talking Italian. You’re more lethal than the weather.’
To her surprise he didn’t argue with her. Instead, he helped her pack up the equipment with his usual ruthless efficiency and then switched on the headlamp on his helmet.
Meg was so furious, so tumbled up inside that she barely noticed the steep descent. Dino stayed a metre in front of her all the way down, which gave her plenty of time to glare at his shoulders and plan various methods of revenge. Maybe she’d do something really embarrassing when he was surrounded by a bunch of nurse groupies. Maybe she’d even give him that kiss he’d been teasing her with. She could fry his brain and teach him a lesson. Just because she didn’t paint her nails, it didn’t mean she didn’t know how to kiss, did it?
They trudged and stumbled through the deep snow and the inky darkness until they reached low ground and all the time Rambo panted alongside her, his shape a reassuring presence in the vicious weather.
It was only as they were striding across the safety of the valley floor that the adrenaline ceased to pump round her body and her brain started to work properly. And then she realised what Dino had done.
She stopped for a moment, cursing herself for being dense and slow.
Dino turned with a frown. ‘Not a good place to stop, wolf-girl. Something wrong?’
‘You did that on purpose, didn’t you?’ The wind gusted, almost blowing her over. ‘You made me angry, you—’
With a maddening smile, Dino shrugged and carried on walking.
Meg glared after him, feeling like a fool. He hadn’t wanted to kiss her. It had just been a ploy to stop her worrying about Harry. She strode after him and caught up with him at the car. ‘There are times when you really drive me mad, Dr Zinetti.’
‘I rely on it. Need any help with that backpack?’ He slid his own off his back and threw it into the boot.
‘I can handle my own backpack.’ She spat the words. ‘And I can handle myself up a mountain. I don’t need you—’ She almost said ‘messing with my head’ but just in time she decided that she didn’t want him to know that the thought of kissing him filled her with anything other than feelings of boredom.
‘You were going to cry, wolf-girl, and I didn’t want a hysterical woman on the mountain with me. I’d rather deal with ten fractured skulls than one hysterical woman.’
‘I was not hysterical and I was not going to cry.’
‘You were getting really wobbly and there’s no way I could have got you down this mountain in that feeble state.’
‘Feeble!’ Meg took a breath as the extent of his manipulation sank in. ‘You never intended us to spend the night on the mountain—’
‘I enjoy extreme mountain survival as much as the next macho guy…’ he closed the boot ‘…but I was worried about you. You don’t exactly carry much body fat. Keeping warm would have been a challenge. Talking of which, we need to get out of this wind.’
He’d goaded her and then he’d almost—and she’d almost—’I hate you.’
‘No you don’t.’ He placed an arm on either side of her so that her back was pressed against the car, with no opportunity to escape. ‘You’re afraid of what you feel for me, amore, and that’s understandable because it’s very powerful.’ He dragged his gloved hand over her cheek, a thoughtful look on his face. ‘Interesting, isn’t it? Wolf-girl, who never lets a man near her, suddenly feeling the chemistry.’
For a moment, Meg was transfixed by those nightblack eyes. ‘No, it isn’t interesting. The last thing I need in my life is a Mediterranean macho man. You’re not my type and I’m certainly not yours.’
‘You don’t know me well enough to make that judgement.’
‘Maybe I don’t want to know you.’ She shoved at his chest but he didn’t budge. ‘Dino…’
Rambo growled low in his throat and Dino smiled and released her.
‘I have more sense than to come between wolf-girl and her wolf.’ He spoke quietly to Rambo in Italian and Meg felt her stomach flip because, although she wouldn’t have admitted it in a million years, the words sounded so lyrical and sexy.
‘He’s protecting me.’
‘I know. He’s an excellent dog. But you don’t need to be protected from me. I’m not the enemy.’ Not remotely afraid of the dog, Dino stroked Rambo’s head gently. ‘He’s never growled at me before.’
‘You’ve never pinned me to the car before.’ She tried not to show how flustered she felt. It was as if his powerful body had imprinted against hers. Even though he’d moved she could still feel it, hard and heavy. ‘He growled at you because I pushed you and you didn’t move. He was giving you a warning. Which makes two of us.’
‘Will he let you give me a lift? I left my Lamborghini outside your cottage.’
‘You drove the Lamborghini in this weather?’ Meg glanced at the ice and snow covering the road and then back at him in disbelief. There was a devilish gleam in his eyes and his face was breathtakingly handsome in the moonlight. ‘The roads are lethal.’
‘Like you, I love a challenge.’
And that was why he was dangerous. Like her, he loved the adrenaline rush. ‘I’m tempted to let you walk from here to the brunette who is probably waiting for you at home. The cold air will do you good.’
‘No one is waiting for me at home, Meg. And I’m going to the hospital. They’re overstretched and I want to check on Harry.’
Feeling really stupid, Meg let out an exasperated breath. ‘You see? It’s things like that I find really infuriating! Just when I’m ready to dismiss you as shallow you do something really—really…’ She floundered and then shrugged. ‘Decent. Go on. Get in before I change my mind. Rambo, don’t eat him. He’s going to help Harry. That’s the only reason we’re letting him live.’
Trying not to think about the moment when he’d almost kissed her, she drove her four-wheel drive down the narrow roads that led towards her cottage. ‘I can’t believe you drove the Lamborghini.’
‘I was at lunch, remember? With a woman.’
‘So the Lamborghini is an essential part of the Zinetti seduction technique?’ For some reason it irritated her and she changed gears viciously. ‘Do some women really fall for that?’
‘All of them. Could you slow down before you kill us both?’
‘I’ve driven these roads since I was a teenager. You must mix with some shallow women.’
‘I do my best. You drive too fast, Meg.’
‘Coming from someone who owns a Lamborghini and a Ferrari, that’s a bit rich. Don’t tell me—you’re such a chauvinist you hate being driven by a woman.’
Dino’s fingers were gripping the seat. ‘I hate being driven by anyone.’
‘That’s because you’re a control freak.’
‘Sì, I admit that. I like being the one in charge.’ He glanced towards her, laughter in his eyes. ‘I like to be the one on top, so to speak.’
‘Well, that confirms I’m not your type, because I like to be the one on top, too.’ Meg increased her speed, taking pleasure from his sudden indrawn breath. ‘Two control freaks together is a recipe for disaster.’
‘Or a recipe for explosive passion. Shall we find out which it is?’
Just for a moment her concentration lapsed and she felt the wheels of her four-by-four lose traction as she hit ice. She resisted the impulse to hit the brakes and steered into the skid, regaining control of the car within seconds. ‘That was fun.’ Her heart was pounding and her mouth was dry. ‘At least it shut you up. Are you all right?’
‘You mean apart from my heart attack?’ His sardonic drawl made her smile and she slowed her speed.
‘Why did you leave your car outside my house?’
‘When Harry’s mother realised he was missing, she called the team. Then she called your mother because she remembered that the gully is a favourite walk of yours and Harry often watches you and Rambo training up there. She hoped you might already be out, which you were. I dropped by to get your route from your mother.’
Meg tightened her grip on the wheel. ‘So this is all my fault because he followed me?’
‘No. It’s Harry’s fault. He went for a walk in the winter without the right equipment.’
‘He was unlucky.’
‘No, he was lucky.’ Dino pulled off a glove and flexed his fingers. ‘You found him. Could have been worse.’
She was concentrating on the road but she could feel him looking at her. ‘It was Rambo who picked up the scent. I didn’t even know he was missing.’
‘We were about to call you when you called us.’
‘So how come you got to us so quickly and the others didn’t?’
‘I was about to head into the mountains myself. I guess we spend our free time the same way.’
‘So your date didn’t end the way you wanted it to.’
He smiled. ‘It ended exactly the way I wanted it to.’
Which meant what, exactly? He’d already said the brunette wasn’t waiting for him at home. Trying not to think about it, Meg pulled up outside her cottage. ‘Home, sweet home. And you’re still in one piece.’
‘Miracles do happen. Thanks for the lift. Are you working tomorrow?’
‘Yes. Look, Dino…’ She hesitated, torn between getting away from him as fast as possible and doing the right thing for Harry. ‘Don’t take the Lamborghini. We’ve had so much snow in the past few hours and your car isn’t good in bad weather. I’ll drive you to the hospital. If they’re as busy as you say, they could probably use my help as well as yours. Just give me time to explain to Mum and see Jamie.’
Meg slid out of the car and crunched her way through layers of snow to the front door of her cottage. She stood for a moment, looking at the lights burning in the windows and the rose bush groaning under the weight of snow by the front door. In a few more months it would be frothy with white blooms, turning her home into something from a picture postcard. The summer tourists who overran the Lake District like a million invading ants had been known to stop and take photographs of her house because it was so quintessentially English. To her it was home and she loved it. Now, with Christmas only two weeks away, there was a wreath on the door and scarlet berries on the holly bush. And mistletoe.
Meg frowned.
Who had added the mistletoe?
The door opened before she even started to delve for her key and her mother stood there, an apron tied round her slim waist, a mug in her hand. ‘I’ve made you hot soup, Dr Zinetti. You need something to warm you before you go back to the hospital.’
