It was Sean, the mountain rescue team leader, telling her about a call out.
Sally sat up in bed and stifled a yawn. ‘I’ll meet you at the base as soon as I can. I’ll have to cycle.’
Sean’s voice was clear and crisp down the phone. ‘Tom will pick you up. He’s already on his way.’
Remembering his promise that he was coming after her, Sally’s heart skipped a beat.
He obviously hadn’t lost any time in looking for opportunities for being alone with her.
She ended her conversation with Sean, dressed quickly and made herself a piece of toast while she waited for the sound of Tom’s car.
Then she told herself firmly that the pleasure of the kiss wasn’t worth the pain of a relationship. There was no way she’d put herself in that position again.
He’d ended it once before, he could end it again.
By the time he arrived she had herself firmly in hand. She reached for her coat, locked the door to the cottage and met him before he’d even stopped the car.
‘Thanks for the lift. It saved me some time.’ She gave him a cool smile and then gasped as he reached for her and pulled her against him.
His mouth found hers in a kiss that was as brief as it was devastating.
Her head spun and heat flared low in her pelvis.
‘Something on account for later,’ he said roughly, releasing her before she had the satisfaction of pulling away.
She sat in frozen silence, dealing with the sudden race of her heart and the spread of warmth through her body.
He glanced at her, amusement in his blue eyes. ‘You’d better put your seat belt on. The roads might be icy.’
Hating herself for responding to him and hating him even more for noticing, she did as he’d instructed, her hands shaking slightly as she fastened the seat belt.
She was going to ignore it.
She was going to pretend that both kisses had never happened.
‘Do we know what this call out is all about?’ She tugged her blonde hair into a ponytail and then wedged it neatly under a fleece hat.
‘Two kids were seen walking up on the ridge just before sunset. They haven’t returned and there have been several reports of flashing lights.’
‘Right.’ Sally was twisting this way and that, pulling on different pieces of clothing and generally getting herself ready for freezing weather. ‘Are we using a dog team?’
He nodded. ‘Ellie is bringing Max.’
Sally frowned. ‘Isn’t it a bit soon? Bryony tells me that Ellie only had her baby a couple of months ago.’
‘The baby is fine. Ben is staying with him.’
Sally glanced at him. ‘I gather you were a bit of a hero. You sectioned Ellie.’
His hands tightened on the wheel. ‘She had a car accident in the last month of her pregnancy. Her placenta came away—it was an emergency. Stop changing the subject. I’m not going to let you ignore it, Sally.’
>
Her heart skipped a beat at his swift change of subject. ‘Ignore what?’
‘The fact that the temperature rises when we’re within touching distance, the fact that when I kiss you, you still want me as much as I want you.’ He glanced across at her, his blue gaze glittering in the semi-darkness. ‘Whether you like it or not, that kiss proved something.’
‘It proved that you still know how to kiss a woman.’ She kept her tone light. ‘That’s all it proved. Glad to know you haven’t lost your touch, Tom.’