Page 20 of Camilla & Dallas
Dallas beamed when she set her gaze on him again. “I can’t believe you drew this.”
“Believe it,” he said, fighting the urge to fidget under her stare. She’d invited him along with her to finish up her chores, and now they were wandering down a trail that wouldn’t take them too far off the property. Soon, they’d turn back and head for dinner. His time with her would be coming to an end today.
“This is amazing,” she said, staring at the picture again. “Did you learn how to do this at college?”
He nodded. “A little here and there.”
“Do you draw other things?”
She attempted to offer the picture back, but he waved her off. “I want you to have it.” Boy, he sounded childish. Looking away, he focused on what she’d asked him. “Just the stuff I need to put in my research. But I’m really not that great. Most of the time, I take pictures. The digital age has really upped our game.” He smirked at her, and she smiled back.
“What was your college internship like?”
Geez. Wasn’t he supposed to be asking her questions? He’d wanted to get to know the real her, and lately, she’d successfully avoided speaking much about herself. He cut her a look out of the corner of his eye. “Honestly? It was… lonely.”
She frowned.
This was where he could ask her why she didn’t call. Why she didn’t write. He’d given her that letter—a peace offering of sorts. He’d practically begged her to reach out to him when she found it in her heart to do so.
But he wasn’t going to do that now. The letter and everything he’d asked of her was in the past. Besides, if he brought up the letter, she’d have every right to turn the conversation around on him and demand to know why he hadn’t told her face-to-face.
Boy, he wished he had. Maybe then he would have been able to force something from her.
“I didn’t make many friends. I was so intent on getting through the program as quickly as possible.” Mostly to come home for her. “I figured I wouldn’t be sticking around long anyway if things went the way I hoped.” His words hung in the air like a live bomb, ready to explode. Dallas blew out a breath. “I was there for one reason. To be…” He nearly saidto be a man deserving of you, but he bit his tongue and tried again. “I wanted to be better. I knew I needed to become someone I could be proud of.” That was as close to the truth as he could get—the truth of why he’d left at all.
Camilla tilted her head, a contemplative expression on her face. She didn’t say anything, and he wanted nothing more than to demand she speak her mind. When she made it clear she really wouldn’t say a word, he pushed past the growing disappointment.
“What about you? Did you end up going to some training school to help you work with dogs?”
A genuine smile filled her face. For the first time since he’d arrived, he allowed himself to take pride in the fact that he’d brought that smile out. “Yeah,” she said. “Not college in a traditional sense. Not even a school, really. There was a guy—” Camilla stumbled over her words, her eyes snagging with his, making it clear there might have been a relationship between them. Was he the reason she smiled? Had he been good to her? Dallas had to bite back the jealousy that threatened to overtake his good mood and ruin the progress he’d made with Camilla today.
She cleared her throat and shifted somewhat. “He was a dog trainer at one of the pet stores. The summer before he moved, he trained me. It was some of the most fun I ever had.”
Even with his throat thick, he wouldn’t have been able to hold back the question demanding to be asked. “Were you two…”
She blinked.
Geez, she wasn’t going to make this easy on him. “… Involved.”
Camilla looked away. “We went on a date…” Was she uncomfortable talking about it?
Wait. Did she sayadate?
Singular?
The way his heart thrashed in his chest at this confession probably indicated just how bad he was doing in his quest to befriend the girl at his side while also keeping her at arm’s length romantically.
Biting back a grin, he nodded and looked away. “And you continued to build on that talent of yours?”
She looked almost relieved that he didn’t pressure her for more information, and the guilt that came with that sentiment soured in his stomach. “Yeah. The only good thing that came outof meeting him was my love for training dogs. I can’t see myself doing anything else.”
While her confession was innocent enough, it struck a chord.
Camilla was happy here. She loved training the dogs they bred at her ranch. There might have been a time when she would have been willing to consider a different path for her future, but now? There was no way he would be able to convince her to move around with him.
He scoffed at himself for even considering that thought. She was dating someone else. There was no use in wondering “what if.” They could be friends. Nothing more. He’d lost that chance, squandering any opportunity he might have had with her when he’d made a decision alone that should have included them both.
Dallas was a glutton for punishment.That was the only way to explain why he was seated at the back of the room where all the employees were fed. It looked like a mess hall of sorts—one large room with several tables and a linoleum floor. There was a window leading to the kitchen area that could be closed off by two doors, but right now, it was open. The main cook—Mateo’s wife, Nikki—was handing trays of food through the opening so the men could place them at the buffet-style table.
