Page 62 of Sophia & Cameron

He hadn’t cut in to any of her dances with other men. He hadn’t lost his temper. He hadn’t put her down for letting another guy hold her during a slow song.

Sophia sat up in bed and leaned against the headboard. His behavior was so different from what she was familiar with. While he hadn’t gone out and found a therapist, he was still working to better himself. She knew from experience how hard it must have been for him to simply stand back and watch as she attempted to move on.

Guilt coursed through her veins. She didn’t owe him anything. She shouldn’t be experiencing these feelings. Cameron had dug his hole. She’d given him the tools to get himself out, and he was still refusing.

And yet, there was a trickle of hope in the despair that she felt over losing what she’d had.

She groaned, placing her head in her hands. She couldn’t falter. She couldn’t show weakness. This was for the best. Cameron needed to want to make the change in order for it to stick.

She just hoped that when he found that better part of himself, he wouldn’t hold this against her.

26

Cameron

Cameron hadn’t planned on spending any additional time with Sophia’s brothers. After the night at the country club, he decided that he wasn’t going to push Sophia anymore. He’d lost. That much was clear.

He’d resigned himself to finishing out his contract with Mateo and then he’d get out of Copper Creek and disappear. She wouldn’t have to see him anymore. She wouldn’t have to look at him like the monster he was.

And yet, here he sat in the coffee shop across from Roman.

He must be a glutton for punishment because this was the last place in the world Cameron wanted to be. He stared hard at his coffee cup. He’d been caught off guard enough to accept Roman’s offer when they bumped into each other in town.

What had he been thinking? Roman probably hated him. Why was he insisting that they have a chat? They could have talked a hundred times over since the last time he’d refused to grant access to his sister.

Why now?

What had changed in the last two weeks?

“Are you going to talk or just stare daggers at your coffee?” Roman quipped.

Cameron lifted his sour gaze to the man seated in front of him. “I’m not the one who issued the invitation to coffee.”

“No, but I know you want something.”

Eyes narrowing, Cameron scoffed. “You can’t be serious. What is this? Some sort of carrot you’re dangling in front of me? I might still want Sophia more than breath itself, but that doesn’t mean I get to have her. She made her choice.” He reached for his cup and moved to stand, but Roman’s words cut through him like a sharpened blade.

“She’s not happy.”

Cameron’s eyes flitted back to Roman’s face, half-expecting to see fury there. Glee perhaps? Anything but the concern and pain that was currently shining in his eyes. He shifted back into a more comfortable position and waited expectantly for Roman to continue.

The man sighed and rubbed at the back of his neck. “She’s miserable, honestly. She misses you.”

Straightening slightly, Cameron allowed himself the smallest glimmer of hope. “Does she want me back?—”

“No.”

His expression faltered, and Cameron scowled at the man. “Then what in heaven’s name are we here to talk about?”

Roman waved a finger in Cameron’s direction. “She doesn’t want this version.”

Cameron scoffed.

“She was right, you know. There are a few things you need to work on before you try to win her back. She’s made that perfectly clear. You can’t keep behaving like you did when you knocked your brother to the ground.”

It was hard to meet Roman’s eyes. Hot, mortifying disgust ripped through his body as he recalled the way his brother had looked at him from the ground. That had been rock bottom, and Cameron had known it. Since then, he’d focused all his energies on remaining calm—no easy feat when all he saw was the woman he loved in the arms of others.

“There’s nothing I can do about that, Roman,” he said quietly.

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