They stomped up the path, continuing to talk, and Ally gasped with shock when Sean suddenly stopped and she cannoned into him.
‘Sorry—you need brake lights! What’s the matter?’
‘The weather. Damn. I should have trusted my instincts.’ Sean stared at the blackening sky and braced himself against the wind.
Ally blinked with shock. She hadn’t even noticed the weather. All she’d been thinking of had been Sean, Sean, and Sean. But as she stopped walking the wind suddenly buffeted her, making her stumble into him. ‘We’d better get down fast.’
Sean hesitated and then gave a brief nod. ‘Yes, OK. We’ll give it a try.’
Give it a try? What did he mean by that?
Walking as close to him as she could, she dipped her head to give herself some protection from the wind, her eyes narrowing against the sharp raindrops which started to pelt against her face.
‘Don’t you just love Lake District weather?’ Sean’s voice was barely audible above the wind as they exchanged a wry look of understanding.
They struggled on for another half-hour, Ally forcing her tired limbs forward despite the force of the wind which pushed her back again.
When Sean finally stopped walking she fought to stay upright against the pressure of the howling wind, and only Sean’s firm grip on her hand stopped her from dropping to the ground with exhaustion. Why on earth hadn’t they noticed the change in the weather and how late it was? She bit her lip. Because they’d been too busy enjoying each other’s company, that was why. Neither of them had paid too much attention to the weather.
The wind threw all its force at her again and she stumbled against Sean who clamped her against him with a strong arm. For once she was glad of his protection.
He steadied them both and frowned down into her white face. ‘Are you OK?’
She nodded, not wanting to show how scared she was. She knew better than anyone how totally unforgiving these mountains were when you made a mistake. And they’d made a mistake. A big one. And it was winter.
Sean’s eyes swept her strained features and then he glanced at his watch. ‘It’s getting late. We’d better set up camp.’
‘Camp?’
Her gloved hand fastened itself to the front of his jacket. He represented the only solid security around here and she wasn’t letting go, principles or no principles!
Sean grimaced and his fingers closed reassuringly over hers. ‘We’re not going to make it down before dark. I’m sorry. I misjudged it really badly.’
‘It wasn’t your fault.’ She was almost shouting to be heard above the noise of the wind. ‘You weren’t responsible for me.’
He gave a wry smile and flicked the end of her chilled nose with his gloved finger. ‘Miss Independent.’
She managed to return the smile—just. ‘Can’t we just push on and make it down? We’ve got torches…’
Sean shook his head. ‘No way. The wind’s rising. We’ve loused up badly, sweetheart, so we either make the team drag themselves out to rescue us or we camp and sit it out until morning.’
Ally stared at him. ‘We haven’t got the equipment.’
Sean gave her a saucy grin. ‘You keep refusing to let me show you my equipment.’
How could he flirt and be so relaxed when they were in danger? ‘Sean, please…’
Something in her voice must have penetrated because his smile faded and his eyes were gentle. ‘We’ll be fine, angel. Trust me.’ Gently disentangling her hand from his jacket, he checked the map and the compass. ‘OK, let’s set up the tent on the lee slope. Can you walk just a bit farther?’
She nodded dumbly, staring at him in amazement. Tent? He had a tent? They walked on for another ten minutes and then he stopped abruptly and swung the rucksack off his massive shoulders. In a remarkably short time—and with no help from her—he’d set up a dome tent.
‘Right. All wet clothes off quickly and into that polythene bag, and then get inside fast.’ Sean helped drag off her dripping wet jacket and over-trousers and left her to undo her boots while he sorted himself out. She stuffed her wet clothes into the polythene bag so that they wouldn’t get the inside of the tent wet, and crawled inside.
Seconds later he joined her, his dark hair glistening with a mixture of rain and snow.
‘OK?’ He paused as he tugged some more gear out of his rucksack, a frown touching his dark features. ‘You’re shivering.’
‘I’