‘You did that on purpose, didn’t you?’ The wind gusted, almost blowing her over. ‘You made me angry, you—’
With a maddening smile, Dino shrugged and carried on walking.
Meg glared after him, feeling like a fool. He hadn’t wanted to kiss her. It had just been a ploy to stop her worrying about Harry. She strode after him and caught up with him at the car. ‘There are times when you really drive me mad, Dr Zinetti.’
‘I rely on it. Need any help with that backpack?’ He slid his own off his back and threw it into the boot.
‘I can handle my own backpack.’ She spat the words. ‘And I can handle myself up a mountain. I don’t need you—’ She almost said ‘messing with my head’ but just in time she decided that she didn’t want him to know that the thought of kissing him filled her with anything other than feelings of boredom.
‘You were going to cry, wolf-girl, and I didn’t want a hysterical woman on the mountain with me. I’d rather deal with ten fractured skulls than one hysterical woman.’
‘I was not hysterical and I was not going to cry.’
‘You were getting really wobbly and there’s no way I could have got you down this mountain in that feeble state.’
‘Feeble!’ Meg took a breath as the extent of his manipulation sank in. ‘You never intended us to spend the night on the mountain—’
‘I enjoy extreme mountain survival as much as the next macho guy…’ he closed the boot ‘…but I was worried about you. You don’t exactly carry much body fat. Keeping warm would have been a challenge. Talking of which, we need to get out of this wind.’
He’d goaded her and then he’d almost—and she’d almost—’I hate you.’
‘No you don’t.’ He placed an arm on either side of her so that her back was pressed against the car, with no opportunity to escape. ‘You’re afraid of what you feel for me, amore, and that’s understandable because it’s very powerful.’ He dragged his gloved hand over her cheek, a thoughtful look on his face. ‘Interesting, isn’t it? Wolf-girl, who never lets a man near her, suddenly feeling the chemistry.’
For a moment, Meg was transfixed by those nightblack eyes. ‘No, it isn’t interesting. The last thing I need in my life is a Mediterranean macho man. You’re not my type and I’m certainly not yours.’
‘You don’t know me well enough to make that judgement.’
‘Maybe I don’t want to know you.’ She shoved at his chest but he didn’t budge. ‘Dino…’
Rambo growled low in his throat and Dino smiled and released her.
‘I have more sense than to come between wolf-girl and her wolf.’ He spoke quietly to Rambo in Italian and Meg felt her stomach flip because, although she wouldn’t have admitted it in a million years, the words sounded so lyrical and sexy.
‘He’s protecting me.’
‘I know. He’s an excellent dog. But you don’t need to be protected from me. I’m not the enemy.’ Not remotely afraid of the dog, Dino stroked Rambo’s head gently. ‘He’s never growled at me before.’
‘You’ve never pinned me to the car before.’ She tried not to show how flustered she felt. It was as if his powerful body had imprinted against hers. Even though he’d moved she could still feel it, hard and heavy. ‘He growled at you because I pushed you and you didn’t move. He was giving you a warning. Which makes two of us.’
‘Will he let you give me a lift? I left my Lamborghini outside your cottage.’
‘You drove the Lamborghini in this weather?’ Meg glanced at the ice and snow covering the road and then back at him in disbelief. There was a devilish gleam in his eyes and his face was breathtakingly handsome in the moonlight. ‘The roads are lethal.’
‘Like you, I love a challenge.’
And that was why he was dangerous. Like her, he loved the adrenaline rush. ‘I’m tempted to let you walk from here to the brunette who is probably waiting for you at home. The cold air will do you good.’
‘No one is waiting for me at home, Meg. And I’m going to the hospital. They’re overstretched and I want to check on Harry.’
Feeling really stupid, Meg let out an exasperated breath. ‘You see? It’s things like that I find really infuriating! Just when I’m ready to dismiss you as shallow you do something really—really…’ She floundered and then shrugged. ‘Decent. Go on. Get in before I change my mind. Rambo, don’t eat him. He’s going to help Harry. That’s the only reason we’re letting him live.’
Trying not to think about the moment when he’d almost kissed her, she drove her four-wheel drive down the narrow roads that led towards her cottage. ‘I can’t believe you drove the Lamborghini.’
‘I was at lunch, remember? With a woman.’
‘So the Lamborghini is an essential part of the Zinetti seduction technique?’ For some reason it irritated her and she changed gears viciously. ‘Do some women really fall for that?’
‘All of them. Could you slow down before you kill us both?’
‘I’ve driven these roads since I was a teenager. You must mix with some shallow women.’
‘I do my best. You drive too fast, Meg.’
‘Coming from someone who owns a Lamborghini and a Ferrari, that’s a bit rich. Don’t tell me—you’re such a chauvinist you hate being driven by a woman.’
Dino’s fingers were gripping the seat. ‘I hate being driven by anyone.’
‘That’s because you’re a control freak.’
‘Sì, I admit that. I like being the one in charge.’ He glanced towards her, laughter in his eyes. ‘I like to be the one on top, so to speak.’
‘Well, that confirms I’m not your type, because I like to be the one on top, too.’ Meg increased her speed, taking pleasure from his sudden indrawn breath. ‘Two control freaks together is a recipe for disaster.’
‘Or a recipe for explosive passion. Shall we find out which it is?’
Just for a moment her concentration lapsed and she felt the wheels of her four-by-four lose traction as she hit ice. She resisted the impulse to hit the brakes and steered into the skid, regaining control of the car within seconds. ‘That was fun.’ Her heart was pounding and her mouth was dry. ‘At least it shut you up. Are you all right?’
‘You mean apart from my heart attack?’ His sardonic drawl made her smile and she slowed her speed.
‘Why did you leave your car outside my house?’
‘When Harry’s mother realised he was missing, she called the team. Then she called your mother because she remembered that the gully is a favourite walk of yours and Harry often watches you and Rambo training up there. She hoped
