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No wonder she hadn’t been able to resist him, she thought dizzily. His mouth was warm and skilled, his kiss slow and so erotically seductive that all the power drained out of her legs. Unable to stand without support, she clutched at his jacket and felt his arms slide around her as he pulled her against him.
Lost in a mysterious world of sensation that she’d never before discovered, it was only after he’d reluctantly released her that she realised his mobile phone was ringing.
Swearing fluently under his breath, Jake kept one arm around her and used the other to dig deep in his pocket for his phone. ‘Yes?’ His response was less than enthusiastic and she could understand why. She was ready to strangle the person who’d interrupted them. Or perhaps she should be grateful, she said to herself as she eased herself away from the pressure of his arm, taking advantage of the fact that all his attention was now on the phone. It seemed that it was all too easy to give in to Jake’s charms. No matter how hard her lesson, she seemed to have no willpower where he was concerned.
‘Problem, I’m afraid.’ Jake snapped the phone shut and dropped it into his pocket, his eyes narrowed as he stared down the path ahead of them.
‘You’re not
on call. Mr Hardwick is supposed to be covering this weekend.’
‘It isn’t a baby. It’s a woman who’s slipped by the lake and broken her ankle.’
‘Which lake?’
Jake was squinting into the distance. ‘This lake. You and I are the advance party, sweetheart.’
‘You want me to help you with a mountain rescue?’ It was hard to keep the irony out of her voice and he turned to her, his eyes gleaming with appreciation.
‘Actually, we’ve always thought that an extremely pregnant woman would be an asset to the team.’ He trailed a finger down her cheek in an affectionate gesture that had her heart racing. ‘We’re not up a mountain and I don’t need you to do any rescuing, but I do have to go and help and I’m not prepared to leave you here or let you walk back to the car on your own.’
Wondering what it was about him that had such a powerful effect on her, she adopted a frosty tone. ‘You think I’m helpless?’
‘No, I think you’re very pregnant and this walk probably wasn’t a sensible idea, but it becomes even less so if you go back on your own. What if something happens, Miranda?’ He frowned. ‘It isn’t about independence, it’s about common sense.’
She thought for a moment and nodded. ‘All right. I’m not going to argue with you.’
‘You’re not?’
‘No. What do you want me to do?’
‘She dialled 999 a few minutes ago and the leader of the mountain rescue team thinks that she’s not far from here. If he’s right then we should be able to stretcher her down the valley and meet the ambulance at the road.’
‘I only see one problem with that.’
He started walking along the path. ‘What’s that?’
‘We don’t have a stretcher. Or do you carry one in your magic bag, along with the hot chocolate?’
He laughed. ‘My colleagues will be bringing the stretcher, the ambulance will wait at the end of the path and our job is to administer first aid and make sure she’s comfortable.’
‘They’re going to walk along here, carrying a stretcher?’
‘It breaks into pieces.’
‘Oh, yes, I remember now. You showed me one that evening you took me around the mountain rescue centre.’
They walked for another fifteen minutes and then Jake waved a hand. ‘There she is. I see her. By that tree.’
‘She looks all huddled up.’ Miranda frowned. ‘I hope she’s all right.’
‘Let’s find out, shall we?’
They reached the woman and she gave a wan smile. ‘I didn’t think anyone else would be stupid enough to walk along here in this weather, but I see I was wrong.’
‘I’m Jake Blackwell, I’m from the mountain rescue team.’ Jake dropped down so that he could examine her ankle. ‘I’m going to make you comfortable and then we’re going to get you out of here. Some of my colleagues are coming with a stretcher and we’ll carry you back to the ambulance. What’s your name?’
‘Verity. Verity Williams. This is so embarrassing.’ The woman closed her eyes briefly. ‘I’ve always scoffed at people who need the services of the mountain rescue team—always thought they were frivolous or badly equipped.’
