Dr Zinetti's Snowkissed Bride. Sarah Morgan

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 you might already be out, which you were. I dropped by to get your route from your mother.’

      Meg tightened her grip on the wheel. ‘So this is all my fault because he followed me?’

      ‘No. It’s Harry’s fault. He went for a walk in the winter without the right equipment.’

      ‘He was unlucky.’

      ‘No, he was lucky.’ Dino pulled off a glove and flexed his fingers. ‘You found him. Could have been worse.’

      She was concentrating on the road but she could feel him looking at her. ‘It was Rambo who picked up the scent. I didn’t even know he was missing.’

      ‘We were about to call you when you called us.’

      ‘So how come you got to us so quickly and the others didn’t?’

      ‘I was about to head into the mountains myself. I guess we spend our free time the same way.’

      ‘So your date didn’t end the way you wanted it to.’

      He smiled. ‘It ended exactly the way I wanted it to.’

      Which meant what, exactly? He’d already said the brunette wasn’t waiting for him at home. Trying not to think about it, Meg pulled up outside her cottage. ‘Home, sweet home. And you’re still in one piece.’

      ‘Miracles do happen. Thanks for the lift. Are you working tomorrow?’

      ‘Yes. Look, Dino…’ She hesitated, torn between getting away from him as fast as possible and doing the right thing for Harry. ‘Don’t take the Lamborghini. We’ve had so much snow in the past few hours and your car isn’t good in bad weather. I’ll drive you to the hospital. If they’re as busy as you say, they could probably use my help as well as yours. Just give me time to explain to Mum and see Jamie.’

      Meg slid out of the car and crunched her way through layers of snow to the front door of her cottage. She stood for a moment, looking at the lights burning in the windows and the rose bush groaning under the weight of snow by the front door. In a few more months it would be frothy with white blooms, turning her home into something from a picture postcard. The summer tourists who overran the Lake District like a million invading ants had been known to stop and take photographs of her house because it was so quintessentially English. To her it was home and she loved it. Now, with Christmas only two weeks away, there was a wreath on the door and scarlet berries on the holly bush. And mistletoe.

      Meg frowned.

      Who had added the mistletoe?

      The door opened before she even started to delve for her key and her mother stood there, an apron tied round her slim waist, a mug in her hand. ‘I’ve made you hot soup, Dr Zinetti. You need something to warm you before you go back to the hospital.’

      ‘Molto grazie. You are truly a life saver, Mrs Miller.’ Dino emerged from behind her and took the mug in his gloved hand, the steam from the soup forming clouds in the freezing air. ‘I’m grateful.’

      ‘I’m the one who is grateful. You brought my girl safely home.’

      ‘I brought myself home, Mum. Do I get soup, too?’ Irritated, Meg dragged the hat off her head and immediately saw Dino’s expression change as he followed the crazy tumble of her hair with narrowed eyes.

      She tensed, thinking that he was probably comparing her messy, tangled hair to the smooth, blow-dried version he’d stared at across the lunch table a few hours earlier. For a moment she wished she’d left her hat on and that thought annoyed her because she’d long ago come to terms with who she was. When other girls in her school had been learning about lipstick and moisturiser, she’d been learning to map read and use a