Page 47 of Camilla & Dallas
Tension coated the air between them, sizzling until he could hardly stand it.
He needed to break it. Taking in a deep breath, he said, “You know, there are views like this all over the country. Especially in places where I do research in the mountains.” He’d go a different route.
Her whole body went taut. Great. He’d said the wrong thing. There was no way she’d be open to this conversation, and he could tell now that he’d jumped the gun. Shoot! Was there any way to backtrack?
Would she even understand what he was trying to say? Or would she assume he was making excuses for how he’d just up and left? There was only one way to find out.
“I want to take you to some of those places one day, Camilla.” His words were soft, pleading, and he didn’t even care. “I have regrets in my life, but my job isn’t one of them. I’ve been able to experience so much—seen so many amazing things. I wish…”He swallowed audibly. “I wish I could have taken you with me.” There. He’d laid it all out. It was the closest he could come to confessing what he was dealing with right now.
She pulled away enough to stare up at him. “Can I be honest, Dallas?”
His arms remained tight around her, terrified of what she might say. “Of course.”
“I don’t know that I would have liked that.”
Well, shoot.
What could he say to that? She was being honest with him. He couldn’t even fault her for it.
“Maybe it was for the best that you got a lot of that out of your system, right?”
Those words hurt more than he wanted to admit. Out of his system? Traveling wasn’t something that someone could just grow tired of doing. How could she say something like that? Even if he settled down somewhere, he’d still want to travel the world and see what he could see. He’d want to take in views like this one—but with her by his side.
Dallas cleared his throat, and a sad smile tugged at his lips. “Yeah, I guess so.” What was one more lie?
The silence between them weighed heavy with what she’d said, with how he really felt but was unwilling to voice.
Camilla must have been more antsy than he was because she changed the subject. “Marcus was asking me about your job.”
He grunted, hating how disinterested he was in this change of topic. He had bigger issues to deal with.
“He was curious about the wolves.”
Oh, so not the traveling. Of course she didn’t want to talk about relocation. “What about the wolves?”
She scrunched her nose in the most adorable way. “Honestly? I started to tune him out. Something about whatwould happen if the wolves became more of a problem and what that would mean.”
“We’d notify the proper channels, and they’d likely relocate the pack somewhere they won’t be a problem.”
“Hmm,” she mused. “Maybe if you get a chance, you could sit down and chat. I’m sure he’d love to hear about the process.”
“Yeah, maybe.” Well, this plan had blown up in his face. Camilla wasn’t interested in moving around or relocating, even if it meant they could stay together. He didn’t know what he was going to do now.
What could he do?
Just enjoy her for as long as he could.
20
Camilla
The calm before the storm.
Where did that saying even come from? Because it described the way Camilla felt perfectly. As happy as she’d been with him, she couldn’t deny the undercurrent of a threat. Maybe it was the fact that the summer was coming to a close far too quickly.
Maybe it was the way that Dallas seemed to be shutting her out. It wasn’t an overt avoidance. In fact, if she tried to point it out, she was certain he’d tell her that she was acting crazy.
And maybe she was.
