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‘Meg—’
‘I’m sorry I messed up tonight. I’m sorry I embarrassed you,’ she croaked. ‘When it comes to social stuff, I’m a coward. And that is why this is never going to work between us and why you should just turn right around and walk back out of that door. Because if we carry on with this relationship, I’ll just do it to you again. And then you’ll hate me.’
‘When we carry on with this relationship, I’ll make sure you don’t do it to me again and I’m certainly not going to hate you.’
His words terrified her. ‘You need a woman who isn’t afraid to dress up and stand by your side. The truth is, we’re colleagues. You’re a fantastic doctor and you’ve got a killer smile and you just happen to kiss like a sex god, but none of that is going to make this work.’
‘Colleagues? A few days ago we almost had sex in the snow. Call me old-fashioned, but I don’t normally behave like that with a “colleague”.’
‘That was a one-off, probably triggered by the intense adrenaline rush of the avalanche threat.’
‘If it was a “one off”, how do you explain the kiss in your kitchen? We have a relationship, Meg.’ He closed his hands over her shoulders, his grip firm and possessive. ‘No matter how determined you are to fight it. Answer me one more question—despite the way you felt, you obviously did intend to come to the ball tonight. Why did you change your mind?’
‘Because I got it wrong again.’
‘What did you get wrong?’ Dino frowned. ‘You mean the way you dressed?’ His eyes narrowed and he turned his head to look through the open door into the bathroom. Muttering under his breath in Italian, he strode into the room she’d just vacated and picked up the dress from the floor. ‘You were wearing this tonight? This was the dress you chose for the ball?’
Knowing exactly what he was thinking, Meg felt her face turn scarlet. ‘Yes. Sorry. I didn’t know.’
‘Didn’t know what?’
‘That we were supposed to wear short dresses,’ she blurted out. ‘That’s why I don’t go to these things, Dino. I avoid them for exactly that reason. Hayden was completely right that I don’t have a clue! I never know what to wear, or what bag to carry, or w-what height of heel I’m supposed to pick—I don’t know anything.’ Her voice rose. ‘I’m rubbish at that sort of thing. Completely, totally useless. Always have been. When other girls were playing with Barbie dolls, I was learning to fit crampons to my boots. You heard Mike. He told me I had bigger balls than a man! He told me that Sue was delicate, whereas I’m not. No one worries about me ploughing through snow because I’m as strong as a horse.’
‘I wouldn’t want to be with a woman like Sue,’ Dino gritted. ‘She would drive me mad and I would very probably want to kill her within two minutes, which isn’t a good basis for a long-term partnership.’
‘Stop being nice to me. It’s making me feel even more guilty.’ Meg rubbed the palm of her hand over her face and noticed black on her fingers. ‘You see? This is why I don’t wear make-up—now I have mascara everywhere and I probably look like a panda.’
He grabbed a towel from the bathroom and gently wiped her face. ‘You don’t look like a panda.’ His gentleness was the final straw and the last of her control crumbled.
‘I’m sorry I left you standing there. I never should have said I’d go with you. I’m a truly horrible person and I feel really bad. I wish you’d just shout and rant.’ She gave a hiccough. ‘And now I’d be really grateful if you’d go away and leave me alone. I need to hide under the duvet.’
But he didn’t let her go. Instead, he folded her into his arms and hugged her tightly. ‘You saw me talking to Melissa, didn’t you? She caught me just as I was about to come and get you. You saw Melissa and that’s when you turned and ran.’
Crushed against hard male muscle, Meg felt her limbs melt. ‘You should have taken her.’ He smelt so good. He felt so good.
‘I didn’t want to take her. And your dress was perfect, tesoro.’ His voice was husky. ‘I just wish I’d seen you wearing it. You should have walked out of that room with your head held high and I would have been proud to have you as my date.’
‘Not when you saw how I stacked up against everyone else. Everyone would h
ave been staring at me. And feeling sorry for you.’
‘If they stared it would have been because you are beautiful, not because you were dressed inappropriately. And if they felt anything for me, it would have been envy. You shouldn’t be insecure about the way you look.’
‘I’m not insecure. I like the way I look.’ Meg sniffed and pulled away, noticing black smudges on his shirt. ‘It’s just that the way I look doesn’t suit all that social stuff. I like wearing walking boots and tramping through the mountains, I just don’t like wearing dresses and putting on make-up. I haven’t got the right sort of face or body for that.’
‘You have a beautiful face and a woman’s body,’ Dino drawled, ‘and even though I think you look seriously cute in your walking gear, it would be a novelty to see your legs once in a while.’
‘Why? Honestly, why are you bothering?’ Her throat was clogged with tears. ‘All right—yes, I saw Melissa this evening. I thought she looked gorgeous. She looked sexy and feminine—everything I’m not. I’m wolf-girl, Dino, and putting a dress on me doesn’t change that. Even if I’d worn Melissa’s dress, I still wouldn’t have looked as good as she did. I’m just not a girly girl. I’m the person who can manoeuvre a car out of a snowdrift, but I can’t apply mascara. You heard what Jamie said—I’m just not that feminine.’
‘Really?’ His eyes glittering dark, he slid the robe off her shoulders and Meg gasped and made an abortive grab for it.
‘What are you doing?’
‘You told me you’re not that feminine. I prefer to make my own decisions about these things.’ He trailed a leisurely hand over the curve of her hip. ‘Sorry, but I’m going to have to disagree with you.’
Meg made another grab for her robe. ‘Dino, please…’ Scarlet with embarrassment, she tried to cover herself but he dropped it on the floor behind him.
‘You think I care what dress you’re wearing? You think that’s why I want you? So how do you explain the fact that I wanted to strip you naked when you were wrapped up in layers of thermal insulation on the mountain?’ The heat of his mouth was a breath away from hers and she could feel hard muscle through the thin fabric of his shirt. ‘You think I’m interested in the way you wear your hair?’
