She batted her eyelashes in a parody of a dumb blonde. ‘If I really concentrate hard I can even read and write.’
He grinned. ‘OK, OK. So maybe I jumped to conclusions—’
‘No, you?’ Ally gave him a pert look, picked up the rope and slammed it against his chest. ‘I know these mountains inside out and that ghyll is a death trap in weather like this. You need to be higher up. There are some flat rocks to the right of the falls. It’s safer there and your rope is less likely to get snagged. And for your information, I’m five feet five, not five feet—above average for a woman, actually. I just seem smaller because you’re tall. I weigh nine stone, and I may not have your volume of muscle but I’m extremely fit and more than capable of getting down this mountain in one piece and contacting the rescue services.’
Without waiting for his reply, she picked up his rucksack and trudged up the path, aware that he was close behind her.
‘Do it from here.’ She dumped his rucksack as far away from the edge as possible. ‘There’s a good place to anchor up there.’
He followed her gaze to a spiky rock above the path. ‘Are you an only child?’
Ally blinked, totally thrown by his question. ‘Sorry?’
‘You must be,’ he muttered under his breath, shaking his head and pulling a tape sling out of his rucksack.
‘Why?’ What was he talking about?
‘Because, having had you, no mother would have the nerve to put herself through the worry again,’ he said dryly. ‘Your exploits must have given her heart failure. So you must be an only child. Or the youngest.’
Ally grinned in spite of herself. ‘The youngest, actually. Shall I follow you down?’
‘Have you got a helmet?’
‘No.’
‘Then you’re staying here.’ His eyes gleamed. ‘Although, if you’ve spent your life being reckless, I don’t suppose this is exactly the time to reform you. But as you rightly said, one of us needs to go for help. If you’re sure you can do it without getting lost then that’s the best solution.’
‘Lost? Why should I get lost?’ Ally held onto her temper. Just. ‘Your opinion of women is appalling. Who on earth have you spent your life mixing with?’
‘You want a list?’ He gave her a wolfish grin and she could have bitten her tongue off. What a stupid thing to say. A man like him would have had women clawing each other to get at him since he could walk.
She changed the subject quickly, her voice crisp and businesslike. ‘You do know not to move a casualty unless it’s absolutely necessary?’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘You’d like to add a first-aid lesson to your abseiling lesson?’
She flushed. ‘I wasn’t being rude. It’s just that I’m a doctor and I thought that—’
‘A doctor?’ His eyes narrowed and she rolled her eyes.
‘Don’t tell me—you don’t think women should be doctors.’
‘Did I say that?’
He hadn’t, of course, and, judging from the strange light in his eyes, she had a nasty feeling that he was overplaying the chauvinism just to wind her up. And she was falling for it every time…
‘Just go and fetch the mountain rescue team and stop worrying.’ This time his tone was gentle. ‘I’m a doctor, too, so you can relax.’
Relax? He had to be kidding! She’d never be able to relax in his company in a million years! And he didn’t look like any doctor she’d ever met. He looked more like someone from the SAS.
She watched while he checked the anchor point once more and adjusted his helmet, before looping a rope around his body in classic abseiling style.
‘Ouch.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘Not the most comfortable way of doing it.’
‘You can say that again.’ He gave her a rueful smile. ‘Unfortunately, I didn’t come out fully equipped for abseiling.’
‘Will you be OK?’
‘Oh, yes.’ He gave a short laugh. ‘My youth was as misspent as yours.’
‘Well, be careful,’ she mumbled. ‘It’s a difficult abseil.’
‘I’ll manage.’ His eyes locked with hers. ‘Are you sure you can get down the mountain safely? It goes against my better judgement to let you go alone…’
She smiled sweetly. ‘Do us both a favour and leave your better judgement down there in the gully, will you?’
Why on earth did she find him so attractive? All he needed was a loincloth and he’d be the original Stone-Age man!
‘Are you this prejudiced against all women or is it just blondes?’
He gave her a slow, sexy grin that melted her irritation faster than ice cream in a microwave. ‘Don’t misunderstand me, I’ve always been a sucker for blondes. In the right place.’