Love turns perilous in this adventurous, fan-favorite tale from New York Times bestselling author Sherryl Woods.
Sexy adventurer Riley Walker had vowed to protect Abigail Dennison with every breath in his body. And whenever Abigail got herself into trouble, Riley was right there by her side. Now she’s engaged in a perilous struggle that will determine the fate of her life…and their love.
Sherryl Woods Booklist
The Sweet Magnolias
Stealing Home
A Slice of Heaven
Feels Like Family
Welcome to Serenity
Home in Carolina
Sweet Tea at Sunrise
Honeysuckle Summer
Midnight Promises
Catching Fireflies
Where Azaleas Bloom
Swan Point
Chesapeake Shores
The Inn at Eagle Point
Flowers on Main
Harbor Lights
A Chesapeake Shores Christmas
Driftwood Cottage
Moonlight Cove
Beach Lane
An O’Brien Family Christmas
The Summer Garden
A Seaside Christmas
The Christmas Bouquet
Dogwood Hill
Willow Brook Road
The Devaney Brothers
The Devaney Brothers: Ryan & Sean
The Devaney Brothers: Michael & Patrick
The Devaney Brothers: Daniel
The Calamity Janes
The Calamity Janes: Cassie & Karen
The Calamity Janes: Gina & Emma
The Calamity Janes: Lauren
The Adams Dynasty
A Christmas Blessing
Natural Born Daddy
The Cowboy and His Baby
The Rancher and His Unexpected Daughter
The Littlest Angel
Natural Born Trouble
Unexpected Mommy
The Cowgirl and the Unexpected Wedding
Natural Born Lawman
The Unclaimed Baby
The Cowboy and His Wayward Bride
Suddenly, Annie’s Father
The Cowboy and the New Year’s Baby
Dylan and the Baby Doctor
The Pint-Sized Secret
Marrying a Delacourt
The Delacourt Scandal
Riley's Sleeping Beauty
Sherryl Woods
CONTENTS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Epilogue
CHAPTER ONE
“Riley Walker, you are without a doubt the most mule-headed, most arrogant, most opinionated, most...”
“Incredible?” the man in question queried, a dimple forming in his cheek.
“Obnoxious,” Abigail Dennison retorted, refusing to be distracted by that dimple or the glint of amusement in his wicked, green eyes. Riley had an irritating habit of winning points by default. He’d gotten away with an unbelievable array of classroom sins all through adolescence because he managed to look so deceptively innocent. That smile of his, which he used to such disgusting effect, ought to be outlawed. Abby doubted she was the first female to come to that conclusion.
Even more irritating, to Abby’s way of thinking, was the realization that once again Riley was not taking her seriously. He thought her determination to stay with him, despite the unexpected dangers in Chiapas, Mexico, was cute. He’d just declared for the hundredth time that she would be going back to Arizona on the first flight he could book in the morning. He said it was for her own good, a phrase which set her teeth on edge with its implication that she wasn’t up to the same challenges he was.
“I am not going home,” she stated emphatically. “You cannot force me to get on that plane.”
Amusement turned to grim determination, a formidable expression when matched with Riley’s wiry strength and powerful, wide-ranging persuasive skills. International terrorists had been intimidated by that look...or so he claimed. Wincing under that stubborn stare, Abby had no reason to doubt him.
“Want to bet?” he challenged as if they were in their teens again and playing some stupid game of chicken.
Abby heaved a sigh. “Why are you doing this?”
“It isn’t safe,” he explained patiently...again. “You know what happened in San Cristobal when the guerrillas took over the town.”
“That was ages ago,” she said brusquely. “Everything was settled long before you brought me along on this trip. I read all about it in those piles of clippings and research material you gave me before we left Phoenix. I read every blasted paragraph. Did you?”
He scowled at the taunt. “I’ve just had word that some of the Mayan Indians up in the hills around San Cristobal are dissatisfied with the way things have been going,” he countered. “The central government in Mexico City has not been living up to the promises made during the election campaign. Trouble is expected again.”
Abigail remained undaunted. “But you’re staying, aren’t you? You’re still planning to find that Mayan treasure, aren’t you? What makes you think you’ll be any safer than I would be?”
“I don’t. That’s the point. Come on, Abby,” he coaxed in that unwittingly low, seductive voice that turned her knees to jelly and her resolve to mush. “Be reasonable. How can I do my job, if I’m worried to death about protecting you?”
Riley’s refusal to see her as a strong, independent woman was just one of the things that grated on Abigail’s nerves. He’d known her since they were both in elementary school. He’d saved her from tumbling out of a tree when she was ten. Unfortunately that had set the tone for their relationship. Four years older than Abby, Riley had seen himself as her protector ever since he’d caught her in midair, despite the fact that she could run as fast, climb as high as he could and was every bit as daring. Or so she desperately wanted to believe.
The problem was that that backyard tree climb was just about the very last adventure Abigail had ever had. Daredevil Riley had done all the things she’d once dreamed of doing before she’d found herself taking on too much responsibility for raising her rambunctious brothers and sisters. With both of her parents working to support six children, Abigail, as the oldest, was the one who got her younger siblings off to school. Abigail put meals on the table. Abigail saw to it that the laundry was done, that homework was finished. The nurturing and levelheaded advice she doled out came as naturally to her as breathing. There was a lot of love in the Dennison household, but rarely much money and never any excitement.
There had been very few times when Abby had found herself resenting the weight of all that responsibility. For the most part, she thrived on being needed.
She’d even found herself engaged to a pleasant, well-to-do, but decidedly unimaginative attorney, who specialized in tax law. Abby couldn’t imagine a more tedious occupation, but Martin Henry seemed to love it. Her parents loved the stability he represented, loved that she would be well cared for by an established man who was more than ten years her senior. Marrying Martin seemed the sensible thing to do, but she had to admit that recently—ever since Riley’s unexpected return to Phoenix, in fact—her heart wasn’t in it.
Meanwhile Riley had turned into Indiana Jones with a touch of James Bond thrown in. He’d been traipsing around the globe, taking on whatever adventures appealed to him for the past e
ight years, while Abby stayed home in Phoenix, eaten alive with envy every time one of Riley’s postcards turned up from another exotic location.
On her twenty-fifth birthday, when Riley came home for the first time in almost a decade, every last ounce of Abby’s common sense flew out the window. In the middle of the party, surrounded by all the people who loved her and whom she loved, she faced the fact that she wanted the life Riley had. She wanted the excitement that made her pulse race and the anticipation that left her breathless.
Then, in one of those middle-of-the-night flashes of insight, she’d realized it went far deeper than that. The truth of it was that she wanted Riley, had always wanted him. He stirred more passion in her with a single glance than Martin did with all of his precise, carefully orchestrated and dutifully restrained caresses.
For the first time in her life Abigail Dennison had been totally, unabashedly selfish. Oblivious to Martin’s objections, oblivious to her parents’ words of caution, she had wheedled and cajoled until Riley had finally agreed to bring her along to Mexico.
Unfortunately, while she’d been having the time of her life trudging deeper and deeper into the rain forest, while she’d been falling deeper and deeper into love with Riley, he’d apparently been planning to ship her back home again. Back to her dull life. Back to Martin. The very prospect made her shudder.
“You promised me an adventure,” she informed Riley.
The reminder didn’t make a dent in his resolve. She could see it in his steady, determined gaze.
“And you’ve had one,” he said. “Now it’s time to go home and marry that attorney. Settle down and raise a passel of kids, Abby. That’s the life you were cut out for.”
There was an odd note in his voice when he said it, a note she couldn’t quite interpret. Jealousy? Sorrow? Wistfulness? She chided herself that that was wishful thinking on her part. Pride kept her from pointing out that she’d already raised a family to all intents and purposes. She’d been settled down since the age of twelve. As for Martin, the past ten days in Mexico with Riley had proved what she’d known all along. Martin was too tame for her. For once in her life she would not settle for less than what she wanted.
She glanced at Riley, took in the familiar stubborn set to his chin, the rakish shadow of a beard on his cheeks, the misshapen hat he’d shoved back on his head of thick, sun-streaked hair. A tremor of excitement echoed through her, followed at once by a whisper of disappointment.
She knew with every fiber of her being that Riley would never touch her the way she’d imagined ever since he’d kissed her just once, all those years ago, in a moment of taut, unexpected, shimmering sexual awareness. He would never make a commitment to her. He was too convinced that no woman deserved to play second best to his high-risk adventures. He was too damned honorable to make love to her, knowing that his mind was made up about his solitary future.
Abigail would have seduced him, if she hadn’t been so uncertain about his response and whether she was misinterpreting the spark of masculine interest that crept into his eyes when he looked at her in those unguarded moments when he thought she wasn’t aware of his presence. She was thoroughly terrified that he would laugh in her face. There were a lot of dangers she was willing to brave, but not that one. It was the kind of test that could ruin a friendship forever.
She thought she could accept the fact that in the end she would probably lose Riley, but she would not give up this time with him. She was going to find this blasted Mayan treasure by his side or die trying. This was the romantic quest of her dreams. They would share one glorious adventure before she went back to her dull existence. On that, at least, she wasn’t taking no for an answer.
“I’m staying,” she said again, meeting his gaze evenly.
There was no hesitation, no wary blink of his eyes, just “no, you’re not.”
Abigail sighed in the face of that quiet resolve. “Riley, this is important to me.”
“Keeping you safe is important to me.”
“Why?”
He shot her a puzzled look. “What kind of question is that?”
“Why should you care whether I live or die?”
“Abby...”
“I mean it, Riley, tell me what difference it makes to you whether I live or die.”
He regarded her soberly. “I would never be able to forgive myself if anything happened to you,” he said finally.
That was a start, Abby decided. Unfortunately, she could tell from the look on his face that he was going to keep on and spoil it.
“Besides, I’m responsible for you,” he said. “I promised your parents I would look out for you. Hell, I promised old Martin that I’d get you back home safe and sound, and by God that’s what I’m going to do.”
“What about your promise to me?” she demanded softly, unable to keep the hurt out of her voice.
Riley scowled at her, then sighed when he saw that she wasn’t about to back down. “Abby, be reasonable.”
“I have been reasonable my entire life. I have been ordinary and predictable and sensible for twenty-five years. I’ve been devoted to my family. I’ve made Martin a very proper fianc;aaee. I think it’s about time I did what I want to do, what will make me happy.”
“And getting killed in Mexico will make you happy?” he asked dryly.
“Don’t overdramatize. I’m not going to get killed. You won’t let that happen.”
“Damn right, which is why you’re going home,” he said, his voice climbing with each word. “Tomorrow.”
There was a finality in his tone that broke her heart. Determined not to let him see the tears that were pooling in her eyes, she turned on her heel and went into her tent. Unfortunately, there was no door she could slam behind her to emphasize her displeasure.
Riley followed hard on her heels. “Abby?”
“Go away.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, a bleak, rueful note in his voice. “That’s just the way it has to be.”
When she said nothing, he sighed and slowly moved away. She wondered whether Riley had half as many regrets about ending their adventure as she did. She doubted it. He would probably be glad to be rid of her. Maybe he’d thought of her as a nuisance all along, though that wasn’t how it had seemed as they’d stayed up late laughing, sharing old memories, building new ones.
Maybe it was simpler than that. Maybe he really was worried about her. And she knew for a fact that he liked working alone. In truth, she had never known a more self-contained man. Possibly it was because he’d lost his parents when he was still in junior high. Or because the aunt who’d taken him in had died within weeks after he’d left for college. Maybe it was because his best friend through high school and college had committed suicide. Riley had lost everyone who’d ever meant anything to him. More important, perhaps, he’d lost everyone who might care whether or not he survived.
Maybe that was why he was so willing to risk his own neck, she decided, during the long, lonely night.
Maybe because she was all he had left, that was why he was so unwilling to risk hers.
She might have taken comfort in that, if she hadn’t wanted so desperately to be a part of his life, to be a partner in the adventures he craved, rather than the dear old friend he mailed a postcard to on occasion or came home to visit every once in a while. Sitting on a rock-solid pedestal, safely above any human touch, might appeal to some women. It had never appealed to Abby. She wanted to be in the thick of things...with Riley.
If a partnership wasn’t to be, though, then she would have to find her own adventures. How handy it was that she was already deep in the Mexican rain forest, she thought, as a plan began to take shape in her mind. She could start her very first adventure right now.
Even if it meant risking Riley’s wrath.
* * *
She was gone!
When Riley awoke at dawn and went to fetch Abby from her tent to go to the airport, he found the tent ominously empty, a note in the middle of her co
t.
“Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself,” she’d written. “Sorry, though. I took the maps.”
There was more, but he was too stunned to read on. A shaft of pure, gut-deep panic shot through him. What the hell had she been thinking of? She didn’t know where she was or where she was going. She’d never gone traipsing around in a foreign country alone, much less in someplace as primitive as the rain forest. He promptly envisioned her stumbling into some remote village, being taken hostage or worse. He closed his eyes against the horror of that, but the image was immediately and indelibly burned in his brain.
Damn, he couldn’t lose her. Not Abby. She was the anchor he needed, the woman who brought not only real stability, but genuine love into a life too often caught up in the extraordinary risks he’d found desperately necessary to his emotional survival.
She had always been self-possessed and strong, even as a child. Those qualities had only been enhanced with age. When he had gone back to Arizona, he had gravitated to her at once, drawn by that self-confidence and serenity. There was a sense of the inevitable about being back with her.
He had realized then how much he had counted on Abby to be there when he went home, to remind him of who he was, to tease him, to fight with him, to challenge him. Without ever acknowledging it, he had counted on her to love him.
The discovery that she was planning to marry that boring twit of an attorney had thrown him. Perhaps that was why he’d foolishly caved in to her pleas to bring her along on this trip to Mexico. He’d wanted this one adventure with her to treasure even after she was lost to him. He’d been selfish.
He certainly hadn’t counted on a new uprising of discontent in this southern Mexican state. As soon as he’d gotten word of the dangers, though, he’d come to his senses and insisted that Abigail go back home. Clearly hurt by what she viewed as a rejection, she’d blindly refused to see that he was sending her away for her own good.
Obviously they had very different views about this trip and their relationship, he realized, as he forced himself to read the rest of the note.
“A partnership isn’t about one person being superior,” she had written. “It isn’t about one person getting to dictate to the other. It’s about making decisions together. It’s about sharing and respect.”
Riley's Sleeping Beauty Page 1