Page 65 of Camilla & Dallas
Dallas shrugged. “I could be wrong. I don’t know. But it really sounds like my sister has some deep-seated issues when it comes to feeling abandoned.”
A snort escaped Camilla’s throat. “I guess we could start a club.”
He winced at her declaration. Good. He’d abandoned her for the last time.
“I’m not going to take you back, Dallas. I can’t. I don’t think my heart could take it.”
His expression crumbled. “But Cheyenne?—”
“She did some terrible things, too—if what you said is true. But that doesn’t change the fact that you broke my heart. Twice. You left and were too scared to tell me in person why. You didn’t reach out. Are you forgetting that my number never changed?”
Dallas looked away. “I know.”
“And when you came back?” Her tears were flowing freely now. “You worked so hard to win my trust back, and yet you continued to keep stuff from me. Honestly, I don’t know if you’re capable of being completely transparent with me. I don’t know who to trust anymore.”
He opened his mouth but then shut it. She watched him as he paced a few steps in front of her, and then he stopped and stared at her with the most forlorn expression known to man. “You’re right. On all of it. I really messed up.”
She continued staring, unable to say anything more without turning into a blubbering mess.
“But I’ll fix it. I swear to you, Camilla. I will fix this. Just… give me time.”
Camilla attempted to argue, but he held up a hand to cut off any words she might say.
“Time, Camilla. That’s all I’m asking for.” With that, he strode away, leaving her with more questions than answers and more pain than peace.
27
Dallas
Isabelle was right.
Dallas needed to do something to show Camilla that he was in this for the long haul. He’d always put his career ahead of everything in his life, and while he didn’t regret it, he wasn’t going to let it come between him and the woman of his dreams.
Not this time.
The second he left Camilla, he pulled out his phone and made several calls. He didn’t bother calling Mack. The guy wasn’t going to move an inch when it came to the next assignment.
Likewise, Dallas couldn’t call up Mack’s supervisor and go over his head. He needed to be smart about this. There were several organizations that would love to take on someone with his experience. He just needed to figure out a way to convince them to step into this situation on his behalf.
The afternoon dragged on with nothing to show for it.
He got up early the next morning and went through the reports he needed to submit to Mack by the end of the week. After that, he went back to work looking for another job opening.
While on the phone, Cheyenne attempted to call.
He ignored the call, sending it to voicemail. About an hour later, there were six more ignored calls and two voice messages for him to listen to.
Dallas stared at the two messages, debating about whether he should let her negativity into his life. Technically, he didn’t have to deal with her right now. He could pretend he didn’t see those notifications.
But he was done avoiding the uncomfortable. He was done ignoring everything that went wrong in his life.
Tapping her name, he exhaled, then put the phone to his ear to hear the message.
“What were you thinking?”her sharp voice rang into his ear. “I can’t believe you went to talk to Camilla! You’re a real piece of work, you know that? Now she’s not talking to me. She won’t answer my calls. She won’t even text. All she’s saying is that she needs some space! What did you say to her? Dallas! I hate you. Answer your phone.”
The second message was similar to the first, and Dallas sighed when he put the phone down on the table. Nope. He wasn’t going to talk to her. Not until Camilla spoke to her. Cheyenne could stew in her own bad decisions for once in her life.
It was getting dark, and Dallas was losing hope of finding any agency that would be willing to go head-to-head with his current company. He could feel his optimism leaking out of him like air from a slashed tire. How was he supposed to win Camilla back if he up and left like he had all those years ago?
