'Ellie, your dad climbed virtually everything.' He gave a soft laugh and she nodded proudly.
'Yes, he did.' She looked contemplative, 'So when did you come back?'
'A week ago.'
'You were working there as a doctor?'
Ben nodded. 'After I climbed K2 I was offered the chance to help set up a medical centre in one of the remote villages. I was involved in a research project on AMS—acute mountain sickness—and I helped out by staffing the clinic.'
'Right.' She looked at him steadily. 'Two years. That seems like a long time to be away from home.'
She sensed immediately that they were back to forbidden territory.
He was suddenly very still and she sensed the tension in his muscles. 'That's enough, Ellie.'
Ouch. Whatever was wrong, he really, really didn't want to talk about it.
'I'm sorry. I know I talk too much, but I only want to help.' She sprang to her feet and gave him a dazzling smile. 'Max and I need a walk so we'll be off. If you need anything, don't forget we're just next door.'
It wasn't just the dog that needed some fresh air, she reflected as she walked briskly along the footpath that led away from the cabins. She did, too. Either fresh air or a cold shower. Ben MacAllister was the most stunningly attractive man she'd ever laid eyes on and she was thinking thoughts she'd never even believed she was capable of.
And she was worried about him.
Ben paced around his cabin like a caged predator.
She was afraid he might forget she was next door?
He wished it was that easy.
The way he was feeling at the moment, he would have given quite a lot to forget Ellie.
Every time he turned round she seemed to be there, warm, smiley and incredibly sensitive to his every mood.
Was she a mind-reader?
He'd always prided himself on the ability to mask his feelings from others, and yet she seemed to see right through his armour of self-control to the pain he kept so tightly within himself.
Ben raked long fingers through his newly cropped hair and felt the tension ache in his shoulders.
He'd never met anyone quite like Ellie before. She was the total opposite of him.
Open, straightforward and very, very trusting.
And he clearly needed to work harder at hiding his feelings when he was near her. If he was on the receiving end of any more of her sweet sympathy he just might be tempted to forget all his resolutions about not becoming involved with a woman.
CHAPTER FOUR
'Ellie are you listening to a word I'm saying?'
Ellie jumped and looked at her cousin. 'Sorry, Linny. What?'
'You're miles away!' Lindsay looked at her with amusement. 'Why bother visiting me if you're in cloud-cuckoo-land. What's happened? Have you won the lottery?'
No. She was thinking about Ben and wondering what he was hiding.
'Sorry. I was dreaming.'
'I noticed.' Lindsay gave her a wry look. 'Well, wake up and pay me some attention, please. Visiting is over in another half an hour and you've been cuddling those chocolates since you arrived. They'll all have melted if you don't give them to me soon.'