“You talked to Martin?”
“Listened was more like it. He had quite a lot to say about the folly of this trip.”
Abby winced. “I’m sure he did. He already knew, I think. I’m sure that’s why he was so upset.”
“Knew what?”
“That once I’d been down here with you nothing between him and me would ever be the same.”
“Where would he get an idea like that?” Riley prodded.
“Because even though you never gave Martin much credit, he is a very smart man and he knew me very well. He knew from the night of my birthday party when you walked back into our house that I was in love with you and that what he and I had would never measure up. I tried to tell him he was wrong, because I didn’t want to face up to the fact that I’d made a lousy decision when I said yes to his proposal.”
“You must have loved him when you agreed to marry him,” Riley insisted.
“I told myself I did. I told myself it was the sensible thing to do. He could have given me the sort of life I’d always thought I wanted.” She smiled wistfully. “Then I took one look at you again and realized that sensible was the last thing I wanted to be.”
He sighed heavily at that, then a slow, lazy smile crept across his face. “You regretting that decision now?”
She looked him straight in the eye. “I could never, ever regret choosing to be with you. Like it or not, Riley Walker, you are my heart. Now I guess it’s up to you.”
He regarded her worriedly. “I don’t deserve you.”
“You deserve anything you want. I’m going to spend the rest of our lives proving that to you,” she vowed, then studied him closely. “If you’ll let me.”
There was a long wait, but finally he grinned. “You know perfectly well I couldn’t deny you anything you wanted about now. Hell, when we were kids, if you cut a finger or skinned your knee, I’d end up waiting on you for a week because I felt so damned guilty.”
“So this is all about guilt?” she asked cautiously.
“Not exactly.”
“What is it about?”
“You. Me. The future,” he said cryptically.
Abby wasn’t going to be satisfied until he spelled out exactly what was on his mind. She had a hunch, though, that she was going to have to lead him every step of the way. She recalled that the technique had worked in her dream. Maybe her subconscious was aware of a shift in his attitude that she hadn’t seen evidenced quite yet. She took heart from the possibility.
“Is that a proposal?” she prodded.
He studied her as if he needed to determine her likely response before making the admission. Apparently he decided it was worth the risk because he said casually, “I suppose it is.”
It was hardly the most romantic proposal on record, but Abby felt as if she’d awakened to sparkling sunlight. The feeling was every bit as heady as the finest champagne. “Yes,” she said firmly. “The answer is yes.”
His expression brightened perceptibly, but he clearly wasn’t going to jump into this engagement without analyzing it to death. She recognized the determined, combative tilt to his chin and waited to see what roadblock he’d offer next.
“You’re saying yes without even knowing what I intend to do about taking you with me to look for that Mayan temple,” he pointed out.
She tugged on his hand until he stood up with obvious reluctance and moved to a spot on the bed right beside her. She reached up and framed his face with her hands. “That’s because we’re a team, Walker. Like it or not, we are partners from now on out.”
He laughed finally. “Pretty confident, aren’t you?”
She winked. “You told me yourself there wasn’t anything you could deny me.”
He placed his hands over hers, then brought them to his lips. When he had kissed each palm, he returned her gaze. “I love you, Abby Dennison. I think you may turn out to be my most challenging adventure yet.”
EPILOGUE
Riley gazed down at the woman lying beside him with an air of wonder. What had he ever done to get so lucky? He’d been stunned when Abby had agreed to marry him without so much as a moment’s hesitation. Maybe she’d still been delirious, but he wasn’t about to argue with her decision.
She’d been so certain of his ability to love, so certain that they could make a marriage work. It was the kind of faith that could move mountains...or heal one very jaded heart.
“I love you, Mrs. Walker,” he whispered, as he possessively stroked the curve of her hip, which was currently covered by the sheerest of peach fabric. He had a feeling that filmy, sexy nightgown was just the first of the surprises Abby had in store for him over the next forty or fifty years. Who the hell would bring peach chiffon to the jungle unless they had something other than antiquities on their mind?
“Of course you do,” she said, as if she’d never for a moment doubted such a thing. “But you did take an astonishingly long time to admit it.”
“That’s what Jared said.”
Abby regarded him with amusement. “Your friend is a very bright man.”
“Which implies that I’m pretty stupid.”
“I never said that,” she said.
He smiled at her quick indignation on his behalf. “Then what did you say?”
“You were just a little misguided. You had all these crazy notions of what marriage ought to be, made up your mind we didn’t fit the profile and dismissed us.”
He regarded her ruefully. “You have to admit that when most people think of marriage, they’re thinking about a house, maybe a garden in the back, a nine-to-five job, kids.”
“We’ll have a house,” she said confidently. “Oh, it may be made out of canvas and look like a tent, but what the heck? Nobody ever said a house had
