Playboy Under the Mistletoe

He shook his head. ‘The powers that be planned this as a one-man rescue…for places where there is restricted access. So I’m on my own. But, no matter…I’ll splint the broken leg and lift you into the cradle as gently as I can.’ He gave a half-smile. ‘It shouldn’t be too difficult. If I remember correctly, you were always a slip of a girl. It doesn’t look as if things have changed very much.’

She frowned. How could he tell? She was wearing a waterproof jacket over a warm woollen sweater and snug-fitting denim jeans. For extra warmth she had added an Angora scarf. She wished she could pull it up over her face so that she could hide away from him, very much like an infant who imagined that with her eyes covered she could not be seen. She didn’t want him reading her thoughts and dragging her vulnerabilities out into the open after all this time.

‘Are you still living at the cottage?’ he asked, deftly strapping splints into place. For extra security, he bound both of her legs together.

‘Yes, I am. I never left Woodsley Bridge. I suppose I was fortunate in that I was able to do most of my medical training at the local hospital.’ That had been the perfect option for her, but it hadn’t done for Ben, had it? He’d started his medical tuition at a prestigious teaching hospital in Carlisle, some eighty miles away from Woodsley, coming home whenever he’d had a few days off just to make sure that his grandmother was all right. Even after she’d died, he’d come back to Mill House once in a while to keep an eye on things, but in the end, when other opportunities had beckoned, he couldn’t wait to leave the village behind once and for all.

He glanced at her briefly. ‘You always did love being home and having your family close by, didn’t you?’ His mouth made a bleak downward turn, but it was there only for an instant, so fleeting that she might have imagined it. His good humour was restored almost at once. ‘Let’s get you onto the stretcher, shall we?’

‘All right.’

He knelt down beside her and leaned closer. ‘I’m going to put my arms around you and lift you onto it. You don’t need to do anything except keep very still. Let me do all the work, okay? We have to do this for real, just in case anyone down there has a long-range camera lens zoomed in on us.’

She made a face. That possibility was more than likely. The press were out in force, along with a team from the regional TV studios, keen to film the day’s activities. It wasn’t just the people on the course who were interested in what was going on—visitors from all around had come to see the events being staged by the rescue services. The hotel was doing a roaring trade.

He slid his arms around her, cradling her for a moment as he tested her weight, and that was almost her undoing. How many times had she wondered how it would feel to have him hold her this way, only to shy away from that thought? But now it was happening for real, so that she felt the strength of those arms closing around her and became aware of his innate gentleness, and above all she absorbed the warmth of his body next to hers.

‘Ready?’ His cheek brushed hers as he moved to get a better grip, sending a ripple of flame to run through her veins. In the next moment she was being lifted and very carefully placed on the stretcher. ‘Okay, now we need to swing your legs into position. Easy now…Let me take the weight…Remember you have a nasty fracture. As soon as we have you settled, I’ll fasten the harness.’

She was glad when the manoeuvre was finished. Every time his hands touched her, to position her or adjust a strap, her body went into meltdown. She wasn’t at all sure how much more of this she could handle before she ended up giving herself away. It wouldn’t do to have him know how her fickle, treacherous body responded to having him near.

He was the man who’d had the girls back home burning up in a fever of excitement. He’d only had to look in their direction and they had queued up, vying for his attention, and she had vowed she wouldn’t be one of them. Ben was never going to stay around long enough to have a long-lasting relationship with anyone, was he? He couldn’t even manage to make a go of things with his father.

‘Are you all set?’ He gave her a fleeting glance. ‘I’m going to climb back over the tower and give the signal to the men on the ground so that they can begin hauling on the ropes to lower you down.’

She nodded warily. ‘Are you quite sure they’re going to hold?’ The stretcher rocked from side to side as he tugged on the ropes and raised it up a fraction. Perhaps if she just closed her eyes and imagined she was swinging in a hammock in her mother’s garden, this whole nightmare would end.

Her unease must have shown in her expression, because he chuckled softly. ‘I’ll be with you all the way to steady the stretcher as you make the descent. My harness is attached to the line so that I’ll be alongside you. My feet will be on the base rail of the stretcher. Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll take care of you. Trust me.’

She closed her eyes fleetingly. She had long ago given up on any idea that he would be there to take care of her, or that he would be by her side whenever she needed him. Those were dreams from fantasy-land, weren’t they? As her brother’s friend, he had always been around, coming to the house, teasing her playfully until warm colour had filled her cheeks…but that was where it had ended. She had always been stranded on the fringes of his circle, looking on from afar, watching him struggle with his own demons and being unable to do anything to help.

He gave the signal to the waiting rescue team and then supported the basket stretcher as it was lifted over the rail. Then he followed, true to his word, accompanying her every bit of the way, his feet resting on the base of the stretcher, his long body leaning over her, his hands guiding the rope that lowered them to the ground. It was strangely comforting having him watch over her that way.

It was all over in a matter of minutes. ‘You’re safe now,’ Ben said, giving her a reassuring look as they reached ground level. ‘Home and dry. No worries.’

The people assembled in the courtyard were clearly impressed with the smoothness of the operation, and there were smiles all around. Ben supervised Jasmine’s transfer into the waiting ambulance, and then Mike appeared with steaming mugs of coffee. Once she was out of range of the onlookers, the patient miraculously recovered.

Freed from the restraints of the harness, she sat up and looked around at the interior of the ambulance. The windows were darkened and with the doors closed they were spared from prying eyes.

‘That was a great show,’ Mike said, looking from one to the other. ‘A very smooth rescue mission…so you’ll be able to go home now and relax.’ He paused. ‘Until next time.’ He grinned at Jasmine’s pained expression.

‘I don’t think you should be having any ideas on that score,’ she told him, giving him a look from under her lashes and clasping her coffee mug with both hands so that the warmth seeped into her. ‘I’m not likely to be volunteering again any time soon.’

Mike feigned disappointment. ‘Are you quite sure about that? I had you pencilled in for at least ten more meetings.’

She frowned. There was no way.

Sitting across from her on the opposite stretcher bed, Ben gave a wry smile. ‘Jassie copes well enough on mountain slopes where she can fend for herself,’ he said, ‘but this is not quite the same. She’s never been one to rely on others, so putting herself in someone else’s hands must have been quite an ordeal. She’s always been an independent soul.’

Jasmine sipped her coffee. His comment startled her. He seemed very sure of himself, as though he knew these things for a fact, so could it be that in the past he had actually been aware of her presence when she had thought him oblivious? It was true they had belonged to a group that regularly climbed the fells, but she had always teamed up with a friend on those occasions, whilst he had been accompanied by his fellow medical students. She frowned. Had he really taken note of what she was doing back then?

‘Well, she did a great job today…you both did,’ Mike said. He stood up. ‘I’ll say goodbye, then. Drink up and get warm. I should go and see what the rest of the team are up to…so thanks for your help this afternoon, both of you. I’ll look forward to meeting up with you again.’

They nodded and murmured their goodbyes, and Mike left the ambulance, closing the door behind him to keep out the cold wind.

‘What will you be doing now?’ Ben asked, looking at Jasmine. ‘I’m guessing this is your last day, isn’t it? Are you planning on going straight back to the hotel?’

She nodded. ‘I need to pack up my things and start heading back to the Lake District. It’s been a good week, but I’m looking forward to going home. I’m supposed to be helping my mother put up Christmas decorations this weekend, and once that’s done I’ll make a start on my own place.’

‘Are you sure that it’s wise to travel that distance in this weather? It’s over sixty miles away, isn’t it?’ Ben was frowning. ‘The snow doesn’t seem to be clearing up, and if it thickens and starts to settle, the roads could soon be covered. Wouldn’t you do better to stay overnight at the hotel?’

‘And risk being stranded here?’ She shook her head. ‘The main roads should stay fairly clear, I imagine, if the gritters have been at work. My room is booked for the night, but I think I’d prefer to set off as soon as possible and take my chances.’

‘Hmm.’ He studied her thoughtfully. ‘So you won’t be staying to have dinner at the hotel before you leave? It had occurred to me that perhaps we might have a meal together and talk over old times.’

She hesitated a moment before answering. From the way he was talking, he must believe that everything that had gone before was simply water under the bridge. The fact that his thoughtless actions had ruined her brother’s life hadn’t made so much as a dent in his confidence, had it? Or perhaps he felt that enough time had passed, the situation had changed, and they could all go on as if nothing had happened. For her own part, she couldn’t make up her mind whether he was entirely to blame for what had gone on. She was fiercely loyal to her brother, but sometimes life didn’t turn out quite the way people wanted.

‘That would have been something to look forward to,’ she answered softly, ‘but I daren’t risk any delay. I just have to stop by the hotel to pick up a suitcase and some packages—I managed to do quite a bit of Christmas shopping while I’ve been staying here. It seemed like too good an opportunity to miss, looking around the shops in a different town.’

Still, the thought of sitting down to eat a hot meal before she set off was very tempting right now—she wasn’t even going to think about how it would be to stay with Ben for a little while longer.

As an afterthought, she added, ‘But perhaps I could ask room service to send up a light meal and we could talk while I do my packing? After all, it probably wouldn’t be wise to start the journey on an empty stomach, would it?’

As soon as the words slipped out, she was regretting them. What had possessed her to suggest such a thing? Was she mad? He was her brother’s sworn enemy, a heartbreaker with no conscience, and here she was, actively encouraging him to spend time with her…and in her hotel room, at that. Had she taken leave of her senses?

‘I’d like that,’ Ben said, a look of satisfaction settling on his features. ‘I’ll follow you back there, just as soon as you’re ready to leave.’

‘I’m ready now.’ She’d already burnt her boats, so she may as well go where the tide led her. ‘As you say, the weather’s not good, so it would be as well not to delay too long.’ She stood up, taking time to adjust her scarf before picking up her empty cup and heading towards the door of the vehicle. Ben responded swiftly, unfurling his long body from the seat and going after her.

They went to the car park, and from there they started the journey to the Royal Pennant Hotel. Ben followed her for some two miles along the Yorkshire roads until at last they turned into the hotel’s wide forecourt. He drove carefully, she noticed, all the time mindful of the road conditions. The snow had turned to sleet, making the lanes slippery and treacherous.

She wasn’t looking forward to the long drive home. Her small car was reliable, but it wasn’t built for good manoeuvrability in snow and ice. His car, on the other hand, was an executive-style, midnight-blue saloon, built for power and road-holding capability.

It was a relief to arrive at the hotel, and the grand entrance hall was more than welcoming. It positively enveloped Jasmine with its warmth, reflected in the glow of polished mahogany timber, the sweep of luxurious carpet, and the orange and gold flames of the fire that crackled in the huge fireplace.

‘My room’s up on the first floor,’ she told Ben. ‘I’m lucky in that I have a small sitting room set apart from the sleeping area, so we’ll be able to eat in comfort.’

‘That sounds ideal.’

Once they were in the room, Jasmine waved him to a seat by the table, and then took off her scarf and jacket and laid them over the back of a chair to dry.

‘This is a lovely room,’ he commented, looking around. ‘It’s all very tastefully decorated.’

She nodded. The curtains and upholstery gave it an elegant but homely feel, and everything was pleasing on the eye.

Ben glanced beyond the sitting room to where part of the large double bed was visible, its counterpane matching the fabric of the curtains. ‘It’s good that they’ve separated the sleeping area from the living area with a narrow wall partition—it tends to give a notion that they are individual rooms and yet keeps the general feeling of spaciousness.’

‘Yes, it does. I was really pleased when I first saw the room. I wouldn’t have chosen to be away from home, but I’ve been comfortable here, and I have everything I might need, like a phone, desk and writing materials. I also brought my laptop with me so I’ve been able to sit here of an evening and type up my notes from the course.’