The Price of Passion (Texas Cattleman's Club: Rags to Riches 1)

He laughed shortly and took the six wide steps down to the drive. She’d always loved watching him walk. It was definitely a cowboy amble, a slow, deliberate stride that made a woman think that he did everything that slowly. And Beth was here to testify that he certainly did. At least some of the time. He could also be fast and explosive. Either way, she admitted silently, was memorable.

Cam had traded his expensive suit for a black T-shirt that clung to his broad chest and a pair of jeans that hugged his long legs and stacked on the toes of his black boots.

Danger! Danger! She heard the warning shriek in her mind, but she was here now and it was too late to walk away without looking exactly like the coward she would be if she left.

“What can I do for you, Beth?”

Oh, there was a loaded question. She could think of so many things he could do for her. And that was not what she should be thinking.

She inhaled sharply, gave herself a silent, stern warning and said, “Cam, I thought we should talk, now that you’re back home.”

He came closer, stopped a foot from her, leaned against his truck and folded his arms over his chest. “Talk about what?”

“Seriously?” Beth stared at him for a long second or two. “You can ask me that?”

“What’s got you so worried, Beth? Me? Or you?”

A little of both, but he didn’t need to know that. “Please. I’m not a love-blinded teenager anymore, Cam. I’m not here to throw myself at your feet.”

“Good to know.” He pushed one hand through his hair. “Fine. You want to talk? Let’s talk about why we have to dredge up the past.”

“O

h, we don’t,” she assured him. “I’m here to talk about what happens now that you’re back.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Look,” she continued, since he was just staring at her. Damn it. “I just think we need to have some ground rules. So we both know where we stand.”

“Is that right?” He straightened up, and one corner of his mouth quirked. “And I suppose you get to decide what the rules are?”

“You bet I do,” she countered quickly. “I’m the one who’s been here. You left.”

All semblance of a smile left his face. “And you know why.”

She blinked at him, stunned. Did he honestly believe that? “No, Camden. Actually, I don’t know. And fifteen years later, I don’t want to know. What I want is to not be gossiped about. Again.”

“Bull.” One word. Clipped. Angry. “You know what the hell happened as well as I do. As for not wanting to be gossiped about? Can’t avoid that, Beth. Gossip is the blood of Royal.”

“Don’t tell me about the town you haven’t set foot in over a decade.”

“I grew up here, too. Far as I can tell, nothing much has changed.”

He had a point, but that didn’t mean she had to admit it. She spun around, took two steps, then turned back to face him. “This is my home, Camden.”

“Mine, too,” he said tightly. “I’m here and I’m not leaving. You’re going to have to get used to it. I know you prefer having everything run the way you arrange it, but some things are just out of your control.”

Again. Stunned. “Maybe I do have a little bit of a control issue, but let’s remember who it was who had our whole lives planned out. That was you, Cam.”

“Yeah. Worked out great, didn’t it?”

Beth felt as if the top of her head might just blow off. She deliberately took several deep breaths and reminded herself how far she’d come from the girl she’d been so long ago. She didn’t owe Cam anything, but she owed herself plenty.

“I didn’t come out here to fight,” she said calmly.

“And yet...”

She gritted her teeth. “We have to come to an arrangement.” Cam was insisting he was home to stay, but she wasn’t sure she believed him. He’d been in California for so long, why wouldn’t he get tired of ranching life and run right back to the beaches?