A/N: [Mostly for those who know my crazy writing schedule] My writing schedule is a bit crazy right now because I'm taking 2 graduate level courses this summer and it's a little... well it's intense. I can't do one chapter a day like normal but I'm aiming for 2-3 a week until the story is done. This story is going to be between 10-15 chapters, maybe less if I write super long chapters. This is an adult AU so there will be sexy times! Also this story has Joshaya, but no Smarkle (Sorry to my Smarkle shippers), but the next story [the superhero AU] has Smarkle but no Joshaya so it works out in the end. Everything I write for GMW is Rucas regardless.

Chapter One

Everything was going according to plan, that is if the plan was to run away from home because life had become too complicated to actually stay there and work. For Riley this was her life all of a sudden, she needed to leave New York after her life took a turn for the boring. She couldn't understand it, her family was great her life had been great, but she didn't feel like she was ever going to be happy with everything. So she talked to her mother about what she was feeling and her mother suggested to go to her great-grandmother's house in Texas, and since her Uncle Josh lived down there with his wife Riley would have family nearby to talk to while she figured out what she wanted from her life.

The complicated part of her life, was the easiest to handle, her now ex-boyfriend, who had saw fit to cheat on her and then tried to use it against her. She remembered him saying that it was her fault, that she didn't do enough in their relationship. Except they lived in her apartment, on her paycheck, as he did nothing day after day but blamed her constantly for everything. She couldn't take it anymore and walked out, but he didn't move out and she didn't want to deal with any of it anymore. She put her place up for sale and asked her mother to pack everything up, as well as making sure that he was out of the place before Riley came back from Texas.

Now she was sitting in a convertible that she rented driving into a small Texas town that looked like something out of a card catalogue. She wondered if she could get any work done while she was there, if she could find her muse again after all of the bullshit she had endured over the last month. The center of town was about the size of grapefruit compared to living in New York, but somehow the smallness of it all made her feel peaceful. There was no way her ex would find her there unless someone read her work and knew who she was.

Following the directions her mother had given her she drove pass the center of town towards where there was long strips of land and no one around. She almost missed the turn onto her grandmother's house, an old farm that had seen better days. The grass was overgrown, the house sorely needed a paint job, and the barn looked like it was missing a wall on the side. She pulled up to the front of the house and saw someone she hadn't seen in years smiling back at her.

"Riley," her Uncle Josh said as he walked down the steps towards her. His dark hair was cut shorter than she remembered growing up, and he was dressed in a police uniform. He was the young sheriff in town, she remembered because he was so happy when he got the promotion at such a young age.

"Josh," she said rushing out of the car to meet him, hugging him close even though the summer heat was making itself known. "How's your life going? Any baby news?"

"No and don't bring it up with Maya, she's still convinced that the baby is going to pop out like the alien movies, even though she's only five months along."

Riley remembered that the two of them wanted to be surprised when it came to the baby's sex, and they refused to talk about it, but since it was their first child they were also afraid that everything that could go wrong would.

"No worries," she said smiling. "Is everything set up?"

"Mostly, I got the water, and electricity running, and most of the rooms were aired out, since we rent out the place during the winter months, but the a/c is busted," he said trying to smile and failing miserably.

"I'll pick one up, I can afford it anyway," she said hoping that she could do it before she died from the summer heat. "Do you work today?"

"Yeah, but Maya wanted you over for dinner later."

"Don't worry I'll be there, let me get settled in and I'll come over around five, just send me some directions so I don't get lost."

"That's physically impossible, this town is the size of a walnut compared to New York."

"And do you remember who you're talking to? I still get lost the minute I get off the subway."

Josh laughed before pulling out a piece of paper, "Yeah I remember." He handed her directions before walking off to his patrol car which had been parked around the side of the house and she had never even seen it. "Call me when you're on your way."

"Will do Josh, now get out of here before you're late for work."

"Riley I'm the Sheriff if I'm late for work it's not really frowned upon."

Josh left soon after leaving Riley to wander around the front yard of the house, seeing for the first time a place where her great grandmother had once lived. Josh had said that it was rented out over the years but all of the furniture was the same as it had been when Rosie McGee had once lived there. It was rustic, and different from what Riley was used to but it was perfect in its own way. The living room was just off the side of the entrance, with an open floor plan, the kitchen and dining area was towards the back, there was an office next to the staircase which only held a desk and pictures of the country.

"Maybe I should get central air installed," she said to herself as the heat slowly creeped its way through the place, but she settled on just getting an a/c unit for the bedroom for now, as well as the office so that she could work without sweating to death.

Riley drove into town looking around as she searched for an electronics store, or any store that would sell an air conditioner. When she reached the strip just off main street she saw the store and automatically put on her blinker to turn onto the parking lot. The light changed but before she could make the turn someone slammed into the back of her rental sending Riley into the wheel of the car.

"Shit," she said grabbing her head, feeling the start of the throbbing pain from the hit to the steering wheel. Riley looked back to see a little old lady driving the car behind her, getting out of the car she rushed towards the old lady who looked flustered.

"Are you alright dearie," the old woman said looking up at Riley with her hazel eyes.

"I'm fine, how are you?" Riley asked checking to see if the woman had injured herself.

"Yes, I'm stronger than you, I'll live forever."

"Okay," Riley laughed. "Let me get my insurance information and we can get the report filed as soon as possible."

As soon as she walked back towards the car to get the insurance papers, she heard the tell-tale sound of a car pulling away. When Riley looked back the innocent looking old lady who had rear ended her was driving away.

"Damn it," Riley said slamming the door to the car. Her first day in a new town and of course she gets into a car accident and the person responsible runs away.

The sound of a siren drew Riley's attention away from the direction the old lady had driven off, a cop was getting out of the car. His eyes looked at her as if he were sizing her up for a moment before he broke out a smile and walked over to her.

"Hi sugar," the officer said walking towards her with a million watt smile on his face.

"The name's Riley," she said trying to keep him from giving her another compliment. She wasn't in the mood for some small town cop to flirt with her when all she wanted to do was go after the little old lady who just hit her and ran off.

"Riley," he smiled. "Well hello, you must be Sheriff Matthews' niece."

"Yes, and I was just rear ended by a little old lady, who took off the moment I mentioned getting my insurance papers, so I don't have time to deal with your flirting right now."

The officer cleared his throat and made a serious face. "Sorry ma'am, my name is Officer Babineaux. I'll take your statement and relay it back to the office, so you can be on your way."

Riley sighed, she hadn't meant to be rude but she was tired and so much had happened that she just wanted a moment of peace, and instead lashed out at the first person who had come to help her.

"Sorry Officer, I didn't mean to be rude, it's just that it's my first day in town and I needed an air conditioner, and some sweet looking woman hit me with her car and ran off."

"It's alright, I sometimes can't turn the charm off, my girlfriend thinks I'm crazy because I flirt with everyone without thinking even though she's the only one I love."

"Maybe you should stop flirting," Riley said out loud without thinking about it, she knew her mouth was going to get her in trouble one day.

"You're talking like my best friend now," he said as he wrote down something on his pad. "Don't worry I'll find out what happened here and get back to you."

"Thank you officer."

"You can call me Zay, everyone else does," he said before walking back to his car and calling in the accident. "I'll stop by your house and drop off the police report so you have a copy for the insurance company."

The paper work was processed in less than ten minutes, before the officer had left the scene. Riley couldn't help but feel like everyone was watching her the entire time, she was an outsider in there. Even though Josh was related to her she couldn't help but get the feeling that she wasn't wanted in the small town. She went into the store as fast as she could and picked up two window a/c units and rushed off as soon as she could, forgetting to ask for help to get them into her car. Once outside she struggled to put the first one into the back seat when she lost her footing and fell backwards. All she felt was the strength of a man's hands grab a hold of her and the feeling of a solid chest at her back.

"Woah there," a deep voice said sending shivers up her spine. A moment later the unit in her hands had been picked up as she came face to face with green eyes, and sandy hair. "Let me help you out here."

"Uh," she stuttered for a moment before she could find her words. "Yeah that would be great thank you."

"Anything for a lady," he said making her smile. The gentleman put both boxes in her backseat before turning to face her giving her a smile she couldn't believe existed.

"I'm Riley," she said smiling at him, as her heart tried to pry itself out of her chest. "I'm staying at the old McGee farm."

"Ah you must be Josh's niece, although I thought when he mentioned his niece coming that you would be a lot younger."

"No, we're only two years apart, and it's a long story," she said smiling at him as though her face was stuck like that.

"Well if you need any help, don't hesitate to ask," he said before climbing into his car and driving away.

Riley waved as though it were the most normal thing in the world, until she realized that she hadn't asked him for his name. She sighed as she got into her car realizing that she had been so enamored by his eyes that she forgot to get his name.

"Well that was stupid," she said as she drove off.

Instead of going to the house she drove to Josh and Maya's place, between the accident and the air conditioners she had lost track of time. Maya was sitting out on the porch, her blonde hair flowing in the wind, while she rubbed her pregnant belly. Riley remembers the first time she met Maya, it felt like ages ago, best friends since childhood. Now her best friend was her Aunt and she was happily married and Riley couldn't fault her for it, not when she was glowing like the halo of blonde locks on her head.

"Maya," Riley screamed as she got out of the car. "My Peaches."

"Thank god Riley," Maya said wobbling down the stairs. "Someone normal."

"What you don't like small town life?"

Maya smiled at her before wrapping her arms around Riley. "I actually love it, and I can paint all I want, plus I teach art to the kiddies."

"Who would have thought that all Maya Hart needed in life was Josh Matthews and a small town to make herself happy. I wouldn't have, and I grew up with you, you were a wild thing."

"Well Josh made an honest woman out of me," she said smiling.

Riley had forgotten how much she missed her best friend, they hadn't seen each other in what felt like years, the last time being Christmas a few months before but it had been a short visit for Riley who ended up having to go overseas for work.

"God I missed you," Riley said as the two of them walked into the house hand in hand, like they had when they were kids. Almost skipping, until Maya told her to stop because the baby didn't like it.

Lucas Friar was the son of a big ranching family, although you wouldn't know it from the way he looked, or unless you were from his small Texas town. Those who did business with his family knew him as the face of Friar Ranching, after he took over the business when his father had passed away. Lucas had been twenty at the time, and in the nine years since he had died, Lucas had made the business a success. But for the first time in what felt like years since he had a woman on his mind.

The warm feeling of Riley Matthews in his arms had sent a feeling through his body that he hadn't had in years. He knew he didn't have the time for any kind of relationship but it was nice to think about the feel of a woman against his body for a while.

"Daddy," his daughter squealed from the door as she barreled her way to him. Her long blonde hair was as bright as the sun, his little sun, with big brown eyes, that he knew came from her mother. Lucas didn't want to think about his ex-wife, the woman had left him with a newborn child before running off.

"How's my baby girl," he said pulling his daughter into his arms. "Were you good for your grandmother?"

"She was a shining example of a Friar," his mother said from the door. "Weren't you Liliana?"

"Yes I was grandma," Lily said but Lucas was the only one to see her roll her eyes. He kept his daughter's sarcastic nature hidden from his mother, mainly because he didn't want her to lose it because of his family's principals. Being a Friar kid wasn't easy, that was something he knew first hand especially since he was still living that life.

"I'll pick her up tomorrow morning to take her to ballet, and then her piano lesson," his mother said before walking out of the room as if it were the final word.

"Thank you momma," he said absently even though he knew she wouldn't hear, but he wanted Liliana to have some curtesy towards her grandmother.

"Gamma is such a killjoy daddy," Liliana said after the sound of his mother's car was far away. He wouldn't fault the seven-year-old for saying what was on her mind but he also needed to make sure that she didn't say anything like that in front of his mother.

"Lil," he said his voice firm. "What have I said about saying things like that about your grandmother."

"That it's not her fault for being how she is, especially because of how grandpa Joe had died."

"That's my girl," he said smiling. "Now let's go and get some dinner."

They barbecued their dinner that night, since it was a warm day, sitting down in the yard afterwards to watch the stars while his little girl fell asleep in his arms. He couldn't understand his ex-wife, it bothered him for the seven years of his daughter's life, how the woman up and left filing for divorce soon afterwards. Liliana was the light of his life, but in the end he realized that the woman he had married hadn't been who he thought she was and even after trying to get in contact with her years later she swore that she would never come back to the life she had once had.

He carried Liliana to bed and kissed her good night before going back to the yard and cleaning up, only to sit there and think about Riley, he couldn't figure out why the woman had had such an effect on him after just a few minutes in his arms. But the softness of her skin and the feel of her hair was enough to drive any man mad.

"You know someone could rob you blind," the familiar voice of his best friend said from behind him. "Why did you leave the door unlocked?"

"Because regardless of what you believe, I feel safe in this silly little town," Lucas said standing up and turning to face Zay. "Plus I knew you would stop by considering Josh's niece came into town and you're the biggest gossip in the world."

"I am not," Zay said trying to act offended which only made Lucas punch his arm before walking back into the house.

"You are, but you already knew that," he reached into the fridge and pulled out a beer and handing it to Zay before grabbing one for himself and walking back to the yard and sitting in one of the chairs. "Say what you need to say so that I can move on with my life."

"Well," Zay said sitting down next to him. "She's one hundred percent perfect for you, and little old lady Jones rammed the back of her car and ran away so now I have to deal with a hit and run situation."

Lucas looked over at Zay stunned, he hadn't known that Riley had been in an accident, and all he did was help her with her air conditioner. "Wait, isn't Mrs. Jones not allowed to drive, her son is supposed to drive her around."

"Apparently nobody told her that, and the only reason I found out is because Mr. Lowell had a camera installed outside his store because he still swears that the pigeons are stealing from his store."

"Good thing for senile old men," Lucas sighed not knowing why it was exhausting to just think about living in this town. He loved it but he also hated it at times. "Have you followed up with our new resident?" He said truly curious about her even though he didn't want to show it.

"No I went over to her place and she wasn't there," he sighed before drinking his beer. "I have to go back tomorrow after I talk to Josh about it."

"I should go with you," Lucas tried to sound like he was just being neighborly but in reality he really wanted to know if she smelled like the strawberry fields that grew just north of town. "You know for the sake of meeting her."

Zay laughed at him as he finished the sentence, "Dude I already know you met her, this town is full of gossiping old ninnies so a few of them already told me about your run in at the hardware store."

Lucas sighed looking down at the empty bottle in his hand. "Seriously this town."

"You can say that all you want but you know you love this place or else you would have left years ago."

"I did leave but city life just isn't for me," he said remembering the few years he had at college, it had been a miracle that he finished because he had hated it so much that he took on an extra work load just to finish faster and get back home.

When Zay left Lucas finished cleaning up before heading off to bed, checking in on Liliana on his way to his room just to make sure she was sleeping. His daughter had been the only constant in his life and he loved her but he hadn't gone out on a date in years and he was starting to feel lonely from it. He wondered if that had been the reason for his reaction to the town's newest resident, but he remembered that he had danced with woman, and had tried getting together with a few of them but the dates never worked out and he had given up.

Maybe it was time for him to try dating again, but he wasn't sure if Riley Matthews was the person that he should go after when he tried to date again, but as much as he tried to push the thought aside he kept thinking about her throughout the night.

When Riley woke up she automatically regretted not installing the air conditioner in her bedroom, the sheets were sticking to her skin and her hair was weighed down in her sweat. She rolled over with a groan and slowly got up, she knew she needed a shower but it was so hot that her body felt like a dead weight.

"I hate this," she said to herself as she peeled off of the sheets and made her way towards the bathroom. Her first thought as she stepped into the cold shower was that she needed to install those air conditioners, and possibly find a way to do so without hurting herself. Her neck was stiff from the accident the day before, and the cold water wasn't helping but it helped with cooling her down. Even in New York she wasn't very fond of the heat mainly because she liked to dress in layers and make her outfits look cute but in the summer she would always have to figure out ways to keep herself dry and always failing.

When it came to work she had to wear suits, until she got high enough in order to work from home, now she was taking a break from her magazine job to work on her novels, as well as getting her life together after her break-up. She knew that life wasn't always easy, the break-up wasn't easy, and after a long conversation with Maya the night before, the blonde had convinced her that what she needed was a rebound guy while she was in town. Although Riley had protested to the idea, she remembered the blonde haired green eyed cowboy who had helped her the day before.

"Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea after all," she murmured thinking of his strong hands on her. She still regretted not getting his name even though she talked like she was an idiot the moment she saw him. She walked into the kitchen and started making coffee when she heard a car door slam outside of the house. Soon afterwards there was a knock on her door right before it opened. She could have sworn that she had locked the door the night before and grabbed the nearest thing she could use as a weapon before her Uncle's head popped in through the door.

"Damn it Josh," she said feeling her heart racing in her chest. "You scared the crap out of me."

"Sorry," he said walking inside. "I only stopped by the give you the spare keys, and to drop off these pastries that Maya baked this morning, because she had been craving them and when she craves something she tends to wake up and make tons of it only to not want it an hour later."

Riley felt her stomach cramp from hunger when she took the bag from his hand to see muffins and several different kinds of Danishes. "Geez, she must have really wanted something to eat."

"Well she passed out before I left so when she gets up later she'll have enough food to feed the army she believes is growing in her stomach."

"Well you love her," Riley smiled. "Just give her a foot rub later, because judging from the weight in this bag she's going to need it."

"I will," he said smiling as he grabbed some coffee for the both of them and sat down at the table. "I didn't say anything to Maya and judging from how she wasn't freaking out I guess you didn't tell her about the accident yesterday."

Riley groaned from the thought of the accident and the old woman who ran away from the scene of her crime. "Yeah I didn't think that your very pregnant wife should be burdened with how some old woman rear ended me yesterday."

"It's alright. One of my officers should be here later to follow up," he said standing up. "Just let him take some pictures of your car and tell him if you have any injuries that you were trying to hide yesterday," he finished giving her a very knowing look.

"Fine," she said rolling her eyes. "You win, my neck feels a little off, but it's not too bad."

"Go see a doctor."

"I will… um… do you know any that make house calls because I don't want to go out there today."

"The heat is getting to you already, New York summers are worse the minute the humidity hits."

"Yeah but I didn't get the chance to put the a/c's up yesterday, since I ended up at your house and didn't leave until it was close to midnight."

The two of them talked for a little while longer before Josh left to go to work, she waved him off and then walked down to her car to stare at the two units she had brought thinking of how she was going to bring them into the house and install them when she could barely get them into the car the day before. Instead of dwelling on it she walked back into the house and grabbed another cup of coffee before settling down on the porch steps and staring at her car.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and when she looked down she saw a message from her agent telling her that she needed the draft of the novel by the end of the month. Riley used a pen name when writing novels versus her real name which she used when she wrote for the magazine, no one knew that she wrote erotica and romance novels. It was her little secret and even when she went on press tours for the books she wore a disguise because she was used to hiding it. She had written two novels under her own name but they were heavier than she liked and she wrote them so far apart that people made her out to be a prolific writer when in fact she would rather write dirty books because they were more interesting.

The sound of a car coming towards her pulled her from her thoughts on her next novel, looking up to see the officer from the day before pulling into the driveway, behind him another car pulled in behind the police car.

"Hey sugar," the officer said and Riley tried hard to bite back a groan.

"You really shouldn't flirt with women if you're in a relationship," she said to him hoping that the guy would stop if she kept telling him to stop he would.

"Right," he said walking towards her. "I just wanted to tell you that we know who hit your car and we're going to pursue this if you want to. I also need a few pictures of your car and we should be done."

"As weird as it is to go after a little old lady, I don't want to deal with the insurance premiums that are going to happen from this."

He nodded at her and smiled. "Well I'll get started."

As the officer walked away she noticed that the other car was still in the drive, only to see a blonde head of hair walking around her car. He didn't look like an officer, but he looked familiar. She saw him talking to the officer for a moment before he turned around and she saw the face of the guy she had embarrassed herself in front of. Her only thought was how hot he was, and of course the fact that she wasn't dressed to impress.

When Lucas had woken up that morning he knew he was going to follow Zay to the house where Riley Matthews lived, he was intrigued by her and he wanted to get to know her better. He couldn't get the feel of her body against his out of her mind. He took his daughter to his mother's house after breakfast and drove off to follow Zay before he had to be at work around noon. His mornings are usually reserved for his daughter before she goes to school and making sure that the chores are done before he went off to work.

Since he was the boss he only worked from noon until five in the afternoon, his mother took care of Liliana in the afternoons and he worked on dinner before she got home. That had been his life for the last seven years, he hadn't thought it was so much he had always worked hard but sometimes he wished that there was someone there to share his life with. Liliana had begun asking about her mother and although he told her about the woman that had once been his wife, his daughter wants him to be happy. That's how he came to date her kindergarten teacher, and one of the mothers of her classmates. Neither relationship had gone too far, because he hadn't been attracted to either woman.

Now he didn't know what to think about Riley Matthews, who literally fell into his arms out of nowhere. He couldn't help but laugh at the face she was making at Zay who for some reason would flirt with a tree if he could. He watched as she rolled his eyes at all of his advances until her eyes landed on him as he had gotten out of the car.

"Hello Ms. Matthews," Lucas said as he walked towards her. "How are you feeling today?" He could tell when her face blushed and it only made her even more adorable in his eyes, but he also knew that he couldn't trust many people because he didn't want Liliana to get hurt but he couldn't help but flirt with this woman.

"I'm find, sweating to death but fine," she said smiling at him. "I didn't get your name yesterday and I'm embarrassed that I hadn't asked for it when we met."

"I'm Lucas, Lucas Friar, I live up the road right on the other side of the river behind your house," he said as he walked towards her to shake her hand. Once wrapped in his he couldn't help but rub his thumb over her skin.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," she said smiling. "If it wouldn't be a bother, while the kind officer is inspecting the car, can you help me bring the air conditioners into the house… um… I don't know if I can carry it all the way upstairs."

"It would be my pleasure to help you especially after your accident yesterday," he didn't understand why he was turning the charm on so high with her, he barely knew her but for some reason she brought it out in him.

He had helped her not only bring them in but also install them into the windows while talking to her about nonsensical things like the heat wave and the drought that was happening in the area. But neither talked about anything personal, he left when Zay had finished knowing that he wanted to come back, and at least get to know her better.