Worth The Risk

‘Scrambling?’ Ally’s voice rang with disbelief. ‘But we’ve had ten inches of rain in these fells since Monday. That ghyll is a difficult scramble at the best of times, but when it’s been raining it’s lethal. Were they roped up?’

He unclipped the top of his rucksack with gloved fingers, tugging the collar of his jacket higher to keep out the wind. ‘They’re just kids. I doubt they’ve even got a waterproof between them.’

‘Oh, no!’ Ally bit her lip and glanced anxiously towards the edge. ‘We need to get help for them fast.’

‘We do indeed.’ He glanced up from the rucksack and studied her, those dark eyes sweeping every inch of her face and body before lingering on the logo of her quality weatherproof jacket.

She shifted uncomfortably. Something about those eyes made her feel suddenly gauche and tongue-tied. Like an eighteen-year-old student instead of a twenty-eight-year-old doctor with responsibilities. He had gorgeous eyes. Male eyes. Eyes you could stare into and lose yourself.

She blinked. ‘We need to contact the mountain rescue team. I didn’t bring a mobile phone.’

‘I did, but there’s no signal. I already tried.’ He straightened and wiped a hand across his forehead. ‘You and your party need to go down to the bottom and use a land-line.’

‘And what will you do?’

He turned his attention back to the rucksack. ‘Get down into that ravine and do what I can for them until help arrives.’

Ally stared at him. ‘On your own?’

‘You want me to take the sheep, too?’

Ally gritted her teeth. ‘I’m suggesting that it might be wiser to wait for the mountain rescue team.’

‘They’ll take too long.’ He delved into the rucksack and dragged out a coiled rope. ‘The way those boys were equipped they’ll die of hypothermia before you even make the phone call.’

Ally rubbed a hand over her numbed cheeks. The temperature was dropping fast. ‘It’s too dangerous. You can’t climb down there on your own.’

‘You have a better idea?’

She hadn’t, not that he was exactly interested in her opinion anyway. He was too busy preparing for the descent into the ghyll, seemingly indifferent to the physical challenge it presented. Her heart missed a beat as he tugged off his hat and stuffed it into the top of his rucksack. He was heart-stoppingly handsome. Jet black hair cropped short and a firm mouth and jaw that was overwhelmingly male. For a moment Ally just stared. Then she shook herself and frowned instead. Why was she staring? She never stared at men. Never. Especially not handsome ones. They were bad news.

‘I think what you’re planning is really dangerous. How can you be so calm?’

‘You’d prefer me to panic?’

The dry amusement in his tone made her flush slightly and she wrapped her arms around her body and looked at the threatening profile of the mountains. The weather was getting worse. Much worse.

‘You’re taking a huge risk.’

He rammed a helmet onto his head and glanced at the sky, assessing the weather. ‘As long as the wind doesn’t get any stronger it should be fine, although there’s no way the RAF will be able to scramble a helicopter. If necessary we’ll have to stretcher him off.’

Ally nodded. ‘OK. Well, I’ll wait until I know you’re safely down—that way you can give me an idea of their condition before I contact the mountain rescue team.’

He gave a brief nod. ‘That makes sense. Where are the rest of your party?’

Ally shifted slightly. ‘I’m not in a party…’

There was an ominous silence. ‘You’re walking alone? In this weather?’

Her eyes avoided his. ‘Yes, but I—’

‘You crazy, irresponsible woman!’ His gloved hand captured her chin and forced her to meet his incredulous gaze. ‘You’re walking on your own in the mountains in the middle of winter? You must be nuts!’

Her eyes flashed angrily and she jerked her chin away from his hand. ‘Don’t be a hypocrite! You’re walking on your own, too, remember? And you’re about to abseil down a rock on your own, so don’t lecture me about safety!’

His jaw tightened. ‘That’s entirely different.’

Ally’s chin lifted and her eyes clashed with his. ‘Because you’re a man and I’m a woman, I suppose?’

Anger blazed in his eyes and then suddenly faded and he gave her a sheepish smile that did strange things to her insides. ‘Something like that.’

Ally swallowed hard. If he was handsome when he was angry then he was devastating when he smiled. The rapid transformation from macho condemnation to self-deprecating humour was as surprising as it was attractive.

She pulled herself together and glared at him. ‘Has anyone ever told you you’re a chauvinist?’

‘Repeatedly.’ His soft laugh warmed her insides. ‘I just happen to think it isn’t safe for a woman to be up in these mountains on her own. The weather is unpredictable and the world is full of perverts.’

‘I’m equipped for bad weather and I have a dog to take care of perverts.’ Ally stamped her feet to keep warm and met his gaze squarely. ‘So when you’ve finished indulging your prejudices perhaps we can finish working out a rescue plan.’

‘I have worked out a rescue plan.’ He hefted a rope, his mind obviously back on the job in hand. ‘But I hadn’t banked on you being on your own.’

‘Why does that make a difference?’

‘Because I was hoping for reinforcements, and one woman on her own is not reinforcements.’

Ally bristled defensively. ‘What am I, then?’

‘Frankly?’ His mouth twisted into a wry smile. ‘A liability.’

‘A liability?’ She gaped at him and he shrugged without a trace of apology.

‘I don’t need a dizzy blonde distracting me when I’m supposed to be concentrating. It’s the same reason I don’t believe women should be in the army. Men always have protective feelings towards them and that affects the job.’

Dizzy? Stunned into silence, Ally opened her mouth and closed it again. Her voice seemed to have given up the ghost. She tried again. ‘Feel free to stifle your protective feelings. I don’t need them.’

He shrugged. ‘Well, like it or not, you’ve got them. And you’re not going down this mountain on your own.’

She couldn’t believe she was hearing this. ‘I’ve been walking in these mountains on my own since my teens and I’ve never come to any harm.’

He glanced up, his eyes hard. ‘Then you’ve been lucky. If you want to walk, join the Ramblers Association.’

‘The Ramblers…’ She broke off and her small chin lifted angrily. ‘How dare you make judgements when you don’t know anything about me? Dammit, you don’t even know I’m blonde!’

His gaze lifted briefly to the wool hat, which successfully hid all traces of her hair colour and then rested on her face.

‘I do know you’re blonde.’ His eyes smiled into hers for a brief moment. ‘I’m a connoisseur of blondes. Only true blondes have eyes the colour of violets.’

A connoisseur of blondes?