Page 8 of Camilla & Dallas
The flings he’d had in high school didn’t hold a candle to the feelings he’d had for Camilla. Dallas rubbed at the spot where his heart rested in his chest. It had been nearly a decade without a word from her. He’d been surprised at his own ability to restrain himself from reaching out to her—something he’d promised in his letter.
If Camilla wanted to keep the lines of communication open, he’d leave the ball in her court.
It was embarrassing, to say the least, how often he’d checked his phone after he’d left. He knew she wouldn’t have been happy with his deception, which was why he’d expected her to reach out, if only to put him in his place.
But she hadn’t.
Radio silence.
Dallas breathed in deeply, closing his eyes as he attempted to force his nerves to settle. He hadn’t planned on taking this assignment. In fact, after not hearing from Camilla after the first year, he’d been content never to return.
But then, life never turned out as expected.
He dragged a hand down his face as he attempted to dredge up what little courage he had to head over to Winding Creek Ranch. He didn’t have a vehicle, which meant staying on-site would be a necessity. The department didn’t have the funds to give him one, and he’d assured his supervisor it wouldn’t be a problem.
Unfortunately, he must not have been thinking clearly. His brain must have been in a complete fog—not realizing he’d be bumping into the first love of his life.
Dallas muttered under his breath. At this point he wasn’t certain he would survive this assignment. Cheyenne had been more than generous with her information on Camilla. She hated him. No one had betrayed her quite like Dallas had.
He’d wanted to blame Cheyenne—for insisting he make something of himself. He’d wanted to put her in her place for the advice she’d given him. But then he couldn’t deny that she might have still been right about the whole thing.
Camilla deserved everything. She deserved more than he’d been able to offer her back then. And he wasn’t going to be the man to tie her down to someone who couldn’t give her what she deserved.
The fact that she was unattached was what caused him the most turmoil. She was here, in Copper Creek, and she was single—a fact he had to drag from his sister’s own lips.
“Ready,” Cheyenne snapped.
He tossed a glance over his shoulder, seeing his sister in all her furious glory behind him. Her hands were on her hips, and she was making it perfectly clear how she felt about his decision to ask Mateo for this favor.
“I don’t understand why you couldn’t ask someone else. I heard that both the Bakers and the Callahans have had wolf sightings. Why not ask them?”
Dallas rolled his eyes. “We’ve been through this. Their properties aren’t close enough to the national forest for my research.”
His sister scoffed. “Whatever. You’re just doing this so you can be close to Camilla. But it’s a lost cause. You’ve been gone too long. You broke her heart and… she’s moved on.”
He scowled but refused to argue with her on this topic again. The second she’d heard he was coming to town, that’s all she wanted to talk about. There was nothing she could do to change his plans. He’d gotten them approved by his supervisor and Mateo. At this point, he didn’t have the energy to request any changes. There was far too much red tape for him to go through when he wanted to make changes.
Blowing out a breath, he got to his feet and picked up his duffle bag. “Mateo says there’s a hunting cabin they recently built on the outskirts of his property. He’s offering it to me for free, and I doubt Camilla and I will cross paths at all. It’s a long ride on horseback to the cabin.”
“But you won’t be riding a horse.”
“No,” he drawled. “I’ll be borrowing one of their ATVs.”
She rolled her eyes. “You know what? It doesn’t even matter if you do bump into her. She’s dating.”
He stiffened, his blood running cold. “I thought you said?—”
“Ilied, okay? I didn’t want you to be in a bad space when you got here.”
Did he hear a degree of pity in her voice? No, that couldn’t be right. His eyes narrowed as he studied her in search of any amount of deception, seeing none. He swallowed, wanting to ask who Camilla could be dating but not daring to.
Like Cheyenne had said, it didn’t matter. Whether she was involved with someone or not,it didn’t matter. Camilla was supposed to move on. It had been years. She was allowed to find her happiness.
At his silence, his sister must have sensed the unvoiced question. “Some cowboy working for Mateo. He helps out in the kitchens too.”
Numbly, Dallas nodded. Okay, so Camilla was taken—all the more reason to keep his distance.
The second that thought crossed his mind, Dallas dismissed it.
