‘Campion!’
She stared up at Guy. He hadn’t left her, after all. He was leaning over the edge of the cliff. He must by lying flat on the ground, she recognised.
‘I’m going to pass my jeans down to you. I want you to hold on to them as tightly as you can. I’m going to use them to pull you back up the cliff.’
Her mouth went dry. She wanted to refuse; what he was suggesting was madness! He was a very fit man, but she was no lightweight, and what he was suggesting could mean them both plummeting down on to those viciously sharp rocks and that icy-cold sea.
‘Stand up slowly and carefully.’
Incredibly, she found she was doing as he told her and, even more incredibly, beneath her fear she felt a calmness, a sense of trust so new to her that she paused for a moment to marvel at it. Fear obviously bred strange emotions. Very strange emotions.
‘Now, get hold of my jeans. Hold the fabric tightly, wrap it round your wrists. Yes, that’s it.’
Panic flared inside her, but she fought it down.
‘Now, I want you to put your feet as flat as you can against the cliff-face…’
He wanted her to what? She felt sick at the thought of what he was suggesting. She couldn’t do it. If she even tried, she would fall.
‘You’ve got to do it, Campion.’
Was that desperation she heard in his voice? She looked up at him, and then gasped as she felt her small island of security tilt a little further.
‘Now! You’ve got to do it now.’
She heard the skitter of rocks as they fell away beneath her, and perhaps it was that that gave her the courage to move, or perhaps it was the sheer stre
ngth of Guy’s voice, she didn’t know, but suddenly she was stepping off her perch, placing her feet as he had told her, leaning out slightly, gripping the denim fabric until her arms ached, as Guy slowly pulled her up the cliff-face.
All she could do to help him was to gain a little extra leverage by using her feet. Her fear for herself vanished as, slowly, inched by inch, he pulled her to safety, and all she could think was that, if she didn’t do all she could to help him, she could fall, and take Guy himself with her. And then, unbelievably, her eyes were on a level with the top of the cliff.
‘Hold on,’ Guy instructed her tersely.
It was bliss to feel the cold, wet grass against her skin as Guy pulled her the last few feet to safety, before grabbing hold of her and dragging them both well back from the cliff edge.
‘You saved my life!’
He was kneeling on the ground beside her, breathing harshly as his body reacted to the strain.
She wanted to reach out to him and hold him, to tell him that he was right and that she was a coward, but even as she moved she saw his face close up and an icy coldness filled her. She had been right, after all. She hadn’t missed that brief but unmistakable movement away from her just then. He had lied to her. He didn’t desire her, and she was a fool for ever letting herself think he might.
She started to stand up. Her whole body threatened to buckle under the efforts, but she was too proud to let Guy see how she felt. He had just shown her how he felt about the thought of any physical contact between them.
‘Come on, let’s get back to the cottage. It’s going to start pouring down.’
They should have looked idiotic. A woman almost plastered in mud all down her front, and a man wearing a thick shirt, a heavy sweater, briefs and socks, but Campion didn’t care how they looked. Guy had saved her life, but for… Reaction started to set in. She was shivering… She looked instinctively at Guy, but he turned away, his face bleak.
CHAPTER SIX
‘WE COULD both do with a bath,’ Guy announced, grimacing in self-disgust once they were safely inside the kitchen.
He hadn’t said a word during the cold, wet walk back to the cottage. How had he known where to find her? Campion wondered as she stood and shivered. How had he known she even needed help?
‘You go first,’ she offered awkwardly.
‘I can manage down here.’
Again that harsh tone. Her muscles tensed as she recognised that he was avoiding looking directly at her. Why? Was it because of their discussion earlier, or because of the way she had reached out towards him? Had it suddenly struck him that she might take his words seriously, that she might think he was actually attracted to her? Did he really think she was so stupid?