Dr. Zinetti's Snowkissed Bride by Sarah Morgan

I’d always loved it and it’s only half a mile from her house so it’s perfect. If I’m called out in the night on a rescue I just drop Jamie with her, or she comes over here. I’m lucky. How about you? How did you get involved with mountain rescue?’
    â€˜When I stopped competitive skiing, I started off working as a ski guide to earn money before I went to university. Then I did mountain rescue.’ He wanted to ask whether she’d been on her own right from the start. Whether Jamie’s father had walked out before he was born. Had she married the guy?
    â€˜How did you end up in England?’
    He’d been escaping . ‘I wanted a change. Do I smell pizza?’
    Meg gasped and grabbed a cloth. ‘Jamie will kill me if I’ve burnt them.’ She pulled them out of the oven and Dino smiled as he looked at the bubbling cheese and perfectly cooked crust.
    â€˜I thought you told me you were a lousy cook.’
    â€˜I am normally. You were the one who reminded me to get them out of the oven before they were burnt to a cinder.’ She cut the pizzas into slices. ‘Jamie! It’s ready!’
    They ate pizza together and he watched as she listened attentively to Jamie’s questions and answered them. She was interested in her child, he thought, and that gave the boy confidence. He tried to remember a time when his mother had given him that much of her time, but failed. Families were all different, but this—this was the way he would have wanted his to be.
    After the pizza had been cleared away and Jamie had gone to get ready for bed, Dino decided that this was the right time to ask the question he’d been waiting to ask. ‘I have two tickets to the Christmas ball.’
    Her shoulders tensed. ‘Good for you. I hope you have a nice time.’
    â€˜I’ll pick you up at eight o’clock.’
    It took a moment for his words to sink in, but when they did her entire face changed. The tension that had been simmering below the surface bubbled up. ‘Me? No way. I don’t go to that sort of thing.’
    â€˜Why not?’
    â€˜For a start, I don’t dance.’
    â€˜Pathetic excuse.’
    â€˜That was just one. I have loads more. I can give you a list.’
    â€˜And I’m not going to be impressed by any of them.’ Dino wondered why it was such a big deal to her. Judging from theexpression on her face, he might have just asked her to have his babies.
    Was it him? he wondered. Or men in general?
    â€˜The ball is next Saturday,’ he said calmly, ‘at the Winter Hill Hotel and Spa.’
    â€˜I know when it is and I’ve already told you I can’t make it.’ She stacked the dirty plates and took them over to the dishwasher. ‘But thanks for inviting me. That was kind.’
    â€˜Kind?’ Dino put his glass down slowly. ‘Is that what you think? That I’m being kind?’
    â€˜I’m not thinking at all.’ There was a note of panic in her voice as she clattered plates. ‘There’s no need to think and analyse because I’m not going. Take someone else. I’m sure there’s a whole queue of women just desperate to go with you.’ One of the plates slipped through her fingers and smashed on the floor. Muttering under her breath, she swept up the bits and disposed of them.
    Dino stood up to help her but she glared at him. ‘I’m fine—I can sweep up my own mess, Dino.’
    â€˜Do you always insist on doing everything by yourself, with no help?’
    â€˜Yes. I’m a grown-up. That’s what happens when you’re a grown-up. It’s called independence.’
    â€˜Doesn’t mean you can’t take help.’
    â€˜I’m fine, Dino.’
    He stood still, wondering what it was about him that had her so on edge. She wasn’t just uncomfortable around him—she was nervous. Jumpy. ‘If I’d asked you out to