“Pirates,” he said softly. “Quite a vicious band of them, in fact.”
Abby’s blood pounded through her veins. “Pirates,” she repeated breathlessly. “Oh, my lord, it is even more exciting than I dared to think.”
“We shall see if you feel the same after coming face-to-face with them, my lady,” he said in a way that made her pulse run wild.
She knew he was saying such things just to disconcert her, but Abby was having none of it. Pirates, indeed! She could hardly wait.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The monitors at Abby’s bedside suddenly went crazy. Riley took one frantic look at the erratic blips on the screen and raced to the door, yelling for help.
Nurses, technicians and the doctor on call responded within seconds, pushing him out of the way, insisting this time that Riley wait outside. He obeyed for a moment, maybe longer, then slowly crept back inside the room, his heart thundering as he watched the activity from just inside the door.
He couldn’t recall a time when he’d felt so helpless, so frightened, not even when an armed terrorist had him trapped in a twisting, dead-end alley in the Middle East. He’d known then that his own skills had been equal to those of his enemy’s. Now he was dependent on this doctor and his team to save Abby. He didn’t like relying on others to do what he should be doing—keeping Abby safe.
The frenzied activity seemed to go on forever, but eventually the noise and commotion stopped and the doctor turned with a smile.
“No problem,” he told Riley as if he’d merely been checking her pulse. “Her heartbeat went a little loco there for a minute. She must have been having a most exciting dream.”
“A dream?” Riley repeated, willing his own pulse to slow down. “That was all caused by a dream?”
“A nightmare, perhaps. The monitor is very sensitive. I see no evidence that it was anything more than a temporary thing, something like the little burst of adrenaline when a person finds himself in danger.”
The doctor, whose gray hair and calm manner tended to be reassuring, gestured to the monitors. “See for yourself. Everything is quite normal now. Talk to her. I think it will soothe her.”
After the room had been cleared, Riley drew in a deep, calming breath and returned to Abby’s bedside. He realized as he reached for her hand that his own hands were shaking.
“Abigail Dennison, you just took ten years off my life,” he accused in something less than the soothing tone the doctor had ordered. “What on earth were you dreaming about? I think it’s about time you woke up and told me straight out what’s been going on in that head of yours. And I’m not just talking about a few minutes ago, either. I want to know what you were thinking when you made this trip.”
He waited, as if for her answer, then went on more quietly. “Were you hoping I’d finally wake up and realize how much I care about you? Is that why you left your engagement ring at home, hoping that by the time this trip ended a different ring would be on your finger?”
Riley sighed. “I wish I could give you what you want, Abby. I really do. You deserve so much. You deserve to be happy. It’s like your mother said the other day. You’ve been giving to all of us, your family, me, everyone, for so long now. It’s time you got what you wanted.”
He studied her face for some clue as to what that might be. “You have to tell me if it’s Martin you still want. I’ll hog-tie him and drag him down here if necessary, if you believe he’s the right man for you. I have to admit, though, I can’t see it. He’s a...well, never mind. My opinion isn’t the one that counts here.”
He smiled at her. “I suppose it’s pretty arrogant of me to assume I know what you’re looking for in a man. I just feel like I’ve known you longer and better than anyone. Maybe even better than your own family does, since you used to tell me all your deepest, darkest secrets. Up until the past week or so I would have said I could read your mind, but you’ve done quite a few things lately that have me questioning that. You’ve changed. I’m not quite sure I can keep up with all the changes.”
He reached over and gently brushed a curling strand of black hair away from her pale cheek. “If it is over for you and old Martin, does that have anything to do with me? Is that why you pleaded to come to Mexico on this trip? Was it just to get away from the pressure of doing what you think is right? Or was it more?”
Her silence left him to draw his own conclusions. “A part of me wants you to say that I’m the man you love,” he admitted, accepting the truth for the first time. Maybe he’d always wanted Abby to say those words to him.
He couldn’t lie to her, though, and make promises he couldn’t keep. “A part of me is terrified that I might be responsible for breaking up a relationship that would have been good for you.”
He practically choked on the nobly spoken words. The last thing he wanted was to send Abby racing back to old Martin’s arms, but the truth was she might be better off with the attorney and the stable life he could give her than she would be with a dedicated wanderer who didn’t know the first thing about commitment. He tried to explain that to her.
“I’m a bad bet, Abby. I’ve been on my own so long, answering only to my own desires, going wherever my whims take me and doing it all solo.”
He drew in a deep breath, then went doggedly on with the rest even
