Page 1 of Camilla & Dallas
1
Seven Years Ago
Camilla Palmer
“Come on, Camilla. You’re twenty-one! We have to celebrate.”
Camilla eyed the woman seated across from her at the coffee shop. They’d only just met when they reached for the same romance novel in the bookstore. Camilla was so excited to meet someone in Copper Creek who loved romance novels as much as she did. Finding friends when you’re the new girl in a small town could be challenging.
Was it any wonder that they’d hit it off so perfectly? They both loved reading. They both worked with animals. Where Camilla helped train the ranch dogs they raised at her family’s ranch, Cheyenne worked at the animal shelter part-time while she finished up her English degree.
One difference between them was their looks. Cheyenne had golden brown hair and blue eyes, with a smattering of freckles across her nose and dimples when she smiled. Camilla felt like the opposite with her unruly dark hair, brown eyes and golden skin. Another difference was that Cheyenne was way more outgoing and talkative, more everything really.
“Believe me,” Cheyenne insisted, “I had my twenty-first birthday last year and we didnothing.” The last word was said with a groan. “It’s the one biggest mistake of my life I wish I could take back.”
Camilla laughed despite herself. Already she could tell this girl was going to mean so much to her. They’d only met an hour ago, and it felt like they’d known each other in another lifetime. Releasing a groan, Camilla shook her head. “Okay, okay. I get it. We need to go out and do something fun and crazy.”
Cheyenne’s eyes lit up. “We could go to that new country club. I hear that’s the place to be. We could go dancing, hit on some hot guys…” She wagged her eyebrows suggestively.
“Fine. You can stop twisting my arm. I’ll go.”
Her new friend rose to her feet with a huge smile on her face. “Meet me there at seven. Then we can celebrate and find you a cute guy to dance with.”
With another shake of her head, Camilla waved Cheyenne off. Sixty minutes. That was all it took for someone to break down her walls and make a friend. Her oldest brother had moved all his siblings to Copper Creek. Mateo had insisted this was the place they could carve out a name for themselves—one that was all their own.
Sometimes she wondered if her parents were more upset than they let on that all six of their children moved away. It had been a little scary putting all her trust in her oldest brother. But they were all in this together and were going to make something big from their small start. Word was getting out about how goodthey were with cattle dogs. One day, the Palmers would be the top name associated with raising working dogs. And she’d have a hand in that.
The music pumpedthrough the country club. It wasn’t dark and seedy like most dance clubs were. This place practically begged its patrons to mingle and get to know each other in a way that felt wholesome. This was community, through and through.
Camilla stood on her toes in search of her new best friend. Cheyenne had said she was here in the text message she’d sent. But she hadn’t said where to find her in the vast space where bodies moved to the music.
Someone bumped into her and a deep voice seemed to seep right into her skin, being absorbed by her very being. “Sorry, ma’am.”
She snorted as she turned toward the intrusion, only to have her world tilt on its axis. He was tall—at least six-three to her five-six frame. His brown hair seemed to glow with strands of blond or maybe from the light of the setting sun through the floor-to-ceiling windows on the far side of the room. His blue eyes were the color of cobalt. When he smiled, flashing his perfectly white teeth, she thought her knees might buckle right there.
This man wasn’t a man at all. He couldn’t be. Whatever he was, he wasn’t human. An angel, maybe? She’d been reading a lot of vampire romance books lately… He could have come straight out of one of those novels.
He tilted his head as his eyes swept over her, and immediately, she blushed. While she’d been told she was pretty most of her life, she had always managed to find something shedidn’t like about her appearance. Her hair was too coarse. It would never stay straight or curled no matter how much product she put in it. Instead, it always managed to find its way back to the uneven waves she despised so much. Tonight, Camilla wore a pair of tattered jeans with a form-fitted T-shirt. But the ethereal being before her had slacks and a white button-down with sleeves rolled to his elbows.
From the looks of it, he wasn’t a cowboy. But then that didn’t say much because sometimes her brothers didn’t fit the bill, either.
He chuckled. “Are you okay?” He reached forward, and with the tip of his finger, he lifted her chin to assist in closing her mouth.
Which only made her blush deepen.
Camilla let out a strangled laugh, but it might have sounded more like a dying animal. “Fine. I’m… fine.” Then, so she didn’t embarrass herself further, she thumbed over her shoulder. “I better get going. I’m meeting someone.” Before he could say anything more to her, she darted into a crowd of people who had just finished line dancing.
She rushed through the room, and as luck would have it, she collided with someone else. Only this person was prepared and her hands reached out to wrap around Camilla’s upper arms. “Camilla? There you are!” Cheyenne grinned. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
Camilla looked over her shoulder, half hoping she’d see the man again and half praying she’d never come in contact with him as well. No contact meant no more embarrassing moments.
“Camilla? You okay?” Cheyenne ducked her face closer to Camilla’s. “You look like you saw a ghost.”
“I might have,” Camilla muttered.
“What?” Her friend barked with laughter.
“Nothing,” Camilla insisted. “Come on. I’m here. Let’s have some fun.”
