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Or the woman. He didn’t know what her problem was, but it was clearly something significant.
‘I happen to love it up here in the wilderness.’ He watched as she slowly stood up. ‘It’s my favourite place.’
‘Oh.’ She hugged her arms around her body to try and stop the shivering. ‘Well, lucky for me that you happened to be passing. If you’ll just point me in the right direction, I’ll make my way home. Sorry to have bothered you and eaten all your chocolate rations. I hope there are plenty more waiting for you back on your Christmas tree.’
He was torn between exasperation and admiration. He knew she was hideously cold and uncomfortable. Every other female he knew would have been moaning, hysterical or both by now. Miranda seemed remarkably calm. Too calm?
‘This isn’t a shopping centre with a hidden exit. Do you have any idea how much danger you’re in?’
‘Yes, actually,’ she said calmly, stamping her feet to clear her trainers of the snow. ‘But I assume that panicking isn’t going to help. Better to make a plan and get on with it.’
‘And that’s what you were doing, sitting on the rock, when I found you? Planning?’
‘Actually, I was trying to work out which way was up and which way was down.’ She squinted through the steady fall of snow. ‘I didn’t want to move until I was sure and everything seems to have merged. You can’t tell the difference between the sky and the ground.’
Jake gave a disbelieving shake of his head. ‘It’s called a whiteout,’ he informed her gently, wondering what would have happened to her if he hadn’t chosen to take this particular path. ‘One of the most dangerous weather conditions that exists in the mountains.’
‘I’ve never seen one before.’ She stretched out a hand and caught some of the thick snowflakes as they landed. ‘Gosh.’
‘Gosh? Gosh?’ Shaking his head with exasperation, Jake lifted the flask. ‘Here—drink some of this.’ He poured the creamy liquid into the cup and handed it to her.
‘What is it? I don’t drink alcohol.’
‘And I don’t give alcohol to victims of hypothermia. It would kill them.’
She lifted her chin and her dark eyes flashed with anger. ‘I’m not a victim.’ Her tone was chilly. ‘Don’t ever call me a victim.’
He found himself wondering why that one word seemed to trouble her more than her immediate situation. ‘You will be a victim if we don’t warm you up soon. It’s hot chocolate. It will give you energy and warm you up.’ He pushed the flask into her gloved hands. ‘Stop talking and drink.’
‘Hot chocolate? You keep pulling amazing things out of your bag.’ Her teeth were chattering again as she clutched the mug. ‘Clothes and now hot drinks. W
ho are you, Father Christmas?’
‘A well-equipped climber,’ he said pointedly, and she stared into the mug without enthusiasm.
‘We can’t all afford fancy equipment.’
‘It isn’t about fancy equipment! It’s about safety. And if you don’t have the right equipment, you shouldn’t be out here.’ He heard his voice sharpen and stopped talking. What was the matter with him? He never lectured people. On the contrary, he believed that people had the right to live their lives the way they wanted to live them. But he didn’t feel remotely relaxed about Miranda.
What if she did the same thing again and he wasn’t around to rescue her?
He shook himself, wondering why he cared so much about someone he’d known for less than an hour.
She sipped the chocolate. ‘Oh…’ She closed her eyes and gave a low moan of delight. ‘That’s delicious. I’ve never tasted anything better in my life.’
Looking at the thickness of her dark lashes and the vulnerability of her soft mouth, Jake felt a thud of lust and almost laughed at himself.
He really needed to get out more. His life was truly in a sorry state if he was lusting after a half-frozen woman whose knowledge of the mountains could have been written on a bootlace.
She drank the chocolate and he pushed the Thermos back into his rucksack and withdrew a rope and harness.
‘I’m going to put this on you because your footwear has no grip and the ground is slippery.’
She looked at the rope. ‘You’re going to lower me down the mountain?’
‘We’re going to walk down the mountain. I’m going to tie you to me,’ he explained patiently. ‘That way, if you slip, I catch you.’
‘Or I pull you over, too.’
