Rescuing Dr. MacAllister

'We're not.' Jack's mouth twitched. 'That's the reason we bring Ellie. She looks small, but underneath all those waterproofs she's built like a weightlifter.'

Everyone laughed and they made the final preparations until Ben gave Jack a nod to indicate that they should start the descent.

'We'll take the stretcher.' Jack raised his voice to make himself heard above the wind. 'You walk with Ellie to make sure she's OK.'

As Ellie stood up a gust of wind punched her in the back, throwing her forward into Ben who was standing in front.

Instantly he clamped her against him, bracing himself to keep them both upright in the wind. He was all hard muscle and solid male strength and her sudden shiver had nothing to do with the cold. Her insides turned to liquid and she tipped her face up to his and stared hungrily at the firm outline of his mouth. The longing for him to kiss her was overwhelming. Her body was flooded with sensations that she'd never experienced before. She felt as though she was on the verge of something momentous. Something that would change her life.

For a moment they stared at each other, the tension between them heating the freezing air around them.

And then she saw Ben's mouth tighten and he released her so suddenly that she almost fell again.

'We need to get down,' he said roughly. 'You can barely stay upright in this wind. You go first. I'll stay behind you.' He avoided looking at her as he gathered up the equipment, shrugged his broad shoulders into the rucksack and started off down the path.

Struggling to contain her disappointment, Ellie zipped her jacket up firmly to keep out the wind and prepared herself for a difficult walk back down the mountain.

As they started the long trudge down the narrow path, Ellie was aware of Ben's reassuring bulk behind her.

What was he thinking?

Was he wishing that he'd kissed her?

Probably not, she thought miserably, or he would have done it. She scrambled over a rocky outcrop that blocked the path, her mind drifting. Maybe he didn't want to kiss her. Maybe she was reading the signals all wrong. After all, it was hardly her area of expertise. She could count the number of men she'd kissed in her life on one hand, and as for anything else...

She frowned as she picked her way over a particularly narrow bit of the path. She was sure that he had wanted to kiss her.

She had one of her feelings...

Trying to make sense of her tangled thoughts, she battled to stay upright in the wind, and when they finally reached the car park of the Drunken Fox she was exhausted.

They took the injured man across to the Mountain Rescue Team ambulance and two of the team transferred to hospital. The rest of them made for the warm log in the pub.

'Not a bad rescue for a puny girl,' Jack teased as he ordered a round of drinks and some bacon rolls. 'And what the hell happened to you anyway?' He stared at the mud all over her jacket. 'You look as though you fell in a bog and as for the smell...!'

Ellie put her hands on her hips. 'I do not smell and I did not fall in a bog! Max was excited that he'd found the climbers and he threw himself at me.' Ellie's tone was indignant and then she saw subdued smiles all around and realised that she was being teased. 'You were great, too, Jack,' she said sweetly, her tone suddenly light 'No one would ever suspect that you're a grandfather now.'

There was a chorus of whoops from the burly men gathered around the bar and Ellie pinned a concerned look on her face.

'Maybe you're getting a bit old to be climbing in the mountains.'

Jack glowered at her over his shoulder as he passed the drinks around. 'Watch yourself. You're not too old to put you over my knee, young lady.'

Ellie smiled. 'I love you, Uncle Jack.'

Jack glared. 'Don't you

"Uncle Jack" me.'

'You've got to develop a sense of humour now you're a grandfather,' she said primly, and Jack looked helplessly at Ben.

'What would you do with her?'

Ben's firm mouth moved slightly. 'You don't want to know.'

Ellie's heart missed a beat as her eyes met his and she looked away quickly, hoping that he couldn't read her mind. She knew what she wanted him to do with her, but it was too much to hope for that he'd want the same thing. She didn't get that lucky.

He could read her like a book.