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‘To buy my Christmas present. I’m not supposed to know. So, Dr Hot…’ Her heart jerked. ‘Do you want to go out tonight? Dinner? Movie?’
‘Neither.’ He smiled, the stroke of his thumb against her cheek a sensual prelude to the night ahead. ‘If I have you all to myself then I want to stay in. All the entertainment I need is right here.’ His eyes told her exactly the form the entertainment was going to take and her insides turned to liquid.
‘I assumed you’d want to do fancy restaurants and candles and all that sort of thing.’
‘If we’re only going to have a few hours alone, I don’t want to be in the company of others.’
Her protective antennae twitched. ‘You find it hard having Jamie around.’
‘No. I love having Jamie around.’ He lowered his forehead to hers. ‘But I also want to rip your clothes off and I don’t want to do that in front of your child.’ His mouth hovered close to hers and Meg felt suddenly dizzy.
‘Right, well, that’s…good, because I don’t want to shock him.’ She leaned in for his kiss but he released her and took a step backwards.
‘Better not.’
‘No.’ She cleared her throat. ‘Because it’s unprofessional.’
‘Actually, it’s more that I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop. Which I suppose could amount to the same thing. I’ll see you tonight, Meg. Don’t bother cooking. I’ll do something about replenishing the calories we use.’
In the end they didn’t bother replenishing calories. Instead, they feasted on each other, making love until the cold winter light slid across the room and sheer exhaustion had her snuggling against him. She tumbled into clouds of warmth, cocooned by the delicious feeling of being close to another human being, and slept deeply.
This time when they woke, there was no rush to move. No subterfuge.
Meg made fresh coffee and plates of scrambled eggs with toast and they ate in bed, talking about everything and nothing.
‘What time will Jamie be home?’ Dino leaned back against the tangled bedding. ‘Should we get dressed?’
‘I’m picking him up from my mother’s so that there is no repeat of last time.’ Meg put the tray on the floor. It came as a shock to realise she could get used to seeing him in her bed. ‘We have another hour, at least.’
‘A whole hour?’ His eyes gleamed with humour. ‘How are we going to fill the time?’
It was fun to tease. ‘We could go for a run.’
‘If it’s exercise you want, I have a better idea…’ He rolled her underneath him and his mouth came down on hers just as both their pagers went off.
Cursing in Italian, Dino leaned across and dug his pager out of the pocket of his trousers. ‘This had better be something really, really important.’ Hair tousled, eyes sexy, he squinted at it. ‘A climber has fallen in Devil’s Gully. We’re closest and they want us to make a start. For the first time in my life I’m thinking of resigning from the team.’
Meg laughed, but she was already out of bed and pulling on her clothes. ‘Do we have exact co-ordinates?’
‘Yes.’ His eyes skimming her body, Dino sighed. ‘The guy had better not have taken a stupid risk or I’m going to give him a lecture for ruining my Sunday. I’m not giving this up for anything less than a life-threatening situation.’
‘You’re not allowed to lecture.’ Meg pulled layers over her head and hopped around as she pulled on her socks. ‘Don’t just lie there staring. Get dressed!’
‘If one of us has to abseil into Devil’s Gully, it’s going to be me. I just want to get that straight right now.’ He dressed quickly and she stole a glance, admiring the curves and definition of his muscles.
‘Just because you’re sleeping with me doesn’t mean you can suddenly get ridiculously protective. I can abseil as well as you can. We’ll do what needs to be done.’
He fisted his hand in the front of her fleece and pulled her against him. ‘I’m protective,’ he said huskily, ‘that’s just the way it is. Get used to it because it isn’t going to change.’
‘I don’t need protecting.’
‘Yes, you do.’ He claimed her mouth in a brief but devastating kiss. ‘Mostly from yourself. You seem to have a talent for smashing anything that comes too close. Come on. We need to move.’
In under three minutes they were in the mountain rescue vehicle. Rambo was in the back, ears pricked, alert.
‘What do you mean, I need protecting from myself?’ Meg drove and took the fastest route to the car park that was closest to Devil’s Gully. ‘I don’t smash things.’
‘Tell me you’re not thinking of a thousand reasons why our relationship is never going to work.’
