A romance that starts out purely as a business arrangement, then becomes a betrayal, and then becomes a flight into the jungles of Peru for their life, as the emotionally guarded man and woman slowly fall in love with each other. Blonde, pretty journalist Diane is on assignment in Peru, where she plans to report on new discoveries in the ruins of Machu Picchu. However, not everyone wants the new dig sites photographed, including the archaeologist Pedro, who warns Diane away. Just as Diane begins to grow frustrated that she can't get the pictures and the story that she wants, she runs into tall, manly, sandy-haired Sloane, in who tells her that he can advise her on how to sneak into the dig site. Diane feels an immediate attraction to him, but doesn't trust her feelings or him - he looks too cocky, too dangerous. But she wants to get her story to report, so she agrees.
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Sloane tells her to enter the site in the early morning by the path leading into the hills, which was least likely to be watched, and tells her that the reason Pedro wants reporters out of the site is because he doesn't want Diane's stories to draw the attention of other academics to what is his dig. Diane does as she's told, and manages to creep inside - only to find flashlights trained on her and snarling dogs and a jaguar on a leash, while men shout in Spanish. She flees into the jungle, hunted by the men. She manages to evade them by jumping into the river, which carries her along and masks her scent, so that she can't be traced. Diane is angry, and scared. But she is also cold, hungry, and lost, and just when she begins to wonder what will become of her, Sloane finds her. Diane argues with him that he led her into a trap, and he refuses to answer her with explanations, instead only leading her into the jungle and warning her that they must keep themselves hidden. He has a big rucksack with him, though she does not know what is in it, and he takes very good care of her, ordering her to sit while he sets up their camps, gathers their food, and takes the first watch during the night.
They begin to bond against their will as they cooperate to escape their hunters, who are still looking for them. Sloane is tempted by Diane, and she is by him as well, though they do nothing in the jungle. They eventually hitch a ride to Lima, and Sloane gets them a motel in a dingier part of the city which allows them to clean up and rest. They almost consummate their desire, but then Diane gets Sloane to confess the truth: that Sloane used Diane to distract the men on the site so that he could get in - and recover an ancient Incan treasure of emeralds that had been hidden in the site, which Pedro was trying to find, but couldn't. Diane flies into a rage and leaves Sloane immediately, enraged and hurt because she had been starting to fall for him. As she roams through Lima looking for the American consulate, she finds that she is being hunted again. She spends days trying to dodge the murderous men pursuing her, all of whom believe she has the emeralds, and when Pedro almost has her cornered, he reveals that the dig site had actually been discovered by Sloane's sister a year before, when Sloane had been an agent of the drug-gang that Pedro headed. Pedro had had Sloane's sister killed and decided to take the emeralds for himself. Just as Pedro decides to begin torturing Diane to get her to confess where the emeralds are, Sloane bursts into the warehouse and protects Diane, and in the ensuing fight Pedro and his soldiers are killed.
Diane is full of sympathy for Sloane because she now knows the truth, and Sloane begs her forgiveness, saying he could not live with himself if he lost Diane too, and that was when he knew he loved her. She confesses that she loves him too, and they kiss. At a different hotel, they consummate their love, and return to America, with the emeralds and each other.
Best part of story, including ending:
I found the details about Peru interesting but didn't like the writing or the characters.
Best scene in story:
When Sloane and Diane almost make love near Titicaca Lake. It's a very fun scene.
Opinion about the main character:
Both of them were flat and boring even by Harlequin standards.