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

“Okay, that works.” She paused, then said, “Seems to me, you’re rushing to get back into the swing of being in Royal.”

“Yeah, you could say that.” He’d missed this place while he was in California. And the sooner he was in business and a member of the TCC, the sooner it would feel like he’d never really left.

“Well, if you want to see half of Royal, you should come to the Fire Department Open House this Saturday.”

“Is that right?”

Olivia shrugged. “They’re raffling off a new truck to raise money to fix up the station and maybe get some new equipment. But there’ll be a band and free food and, like I said, no place better for you to mingle with all the people you want to see.”

“It’s a good idea,” he agreed. And it sounded like something Beth would be attending. He wanted to cross paths with her again, and doing it while surrounded by half the town seemed like the safest way to go.

“Great. I’ll see you there. You can probably meet most of my crew, too.” Then she turned to look at his stable. “Are you wanting basically a copy of the building you already have?”

He grinned. “Basically, but on the interior, I’ve got a few ideas.”

Olivia tossed her braid back over her shoulder, took a breath and said, “Of course you do. Okay, let’s hear ’em.”

* * *

The following day, Beth stood at her office window, staring out at Royal. Her mind was whirling with the implications of her mother’s discovery. In fact, the whole family was in an uproar. Who could be stealing from them? She didn’t believe for a minute it was anyone in the family. But that meant one of their employees was a thief, and that was hard to fathom, as well.

Her brothers, cousins and mother had been talking about nothing but this situation, and while Beth couldn’t blame them, she’d happily come into work and put the worry aside for a while.

Leaving the house today had felt like she was escaping a pressure cooker. Taking care of business on her charities was practically a vacation when compared to the nonstop speculation happening at the ranch.

Since her office was at the end of Main Street, directly opposite City Hall, her view included the landscaped grounds around the 150-year-old building. Summer flowers dazzled in brilliant colors at the bases of the oaks sprinkled across the lawn. There were benches in the shade, allowing places to sit and relax, and at the moment several people were taking advantage of them.

Beth’s mind jumped from one subject to the next, as if it couldn’t find one specific thought to settle on. It was hard to admit that thinking about a thief at the family company was soothing compared to thinking about Camden Guthrie.

Ridiculous to still be focusing on that kiss. But here she was. Her dreams last night had starred Cam, that bone-melting kiss and then so much more that she’d finally awakened, her body aching with need. Being awake didn’t stop the mental torture that her mind gleefully inflicted, though.

Funny that she could remember the fire, the all-consuming heat between them and, at the same time, cruise over the pain she’d experienced when he left town with another woman. That pain had remained for a long time and had colored every relationship since. How could she open her heart to anyone when the one man she’d trusted with everything had betrayed her?

“And if I don’t stop thinking about Cam, I’m never going to finish working on the Fire Department Open House.” Saying it didn’t make her leave the window and go back to her desk. Instead, she watched people streaming down the sidewalks.

Then she spotted him. Camden Guthrie. As if her hunger had conjured him. Her stomach did a spin and dip, and a curl of heat settled low in her belly. He was wearing jeans, a white button-down shirt, black boots and a gray Stetson. What was it about a man in jeans? And what was it about this one man that could turn her inside out so easily?

Her gaze was fixed on him to the exclusion of everything else in Royal, so when he stopped and looked across the street to her office, she swore their eyes locked. Silly though. He couldn’t see her with the glare of the sun, and still she felt a rush of desire that only bristled and grew when he crossed the street, headed her way.

Why did she care? She shouldn’t. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t. Yet here she was—mouth watering, nerves rattling and her heartbeat thudding heavily in her chest. Desire mingled with regret and the last vestiges of a romance she’d once lost herself in.

He crossed the street in long strides, pushed her door open, stepped inside and swept his hat off. “Beth.”

Well, their agreement to stay clear of each other hadn’t even lasted twenty-four hours. But then she’d known at the time it was a futile bargain. Like metal shavings to a magnet, Beth had always been drawn to Cam and it looked as though the years that had separated them hadn’t done a thing to lessen that draw.

She looked into his dark brown eyes and felt the heat of his body reach across the few feet of space between them. How had she gone fifteen years without seeing him? How would she stay away from him now?

Trying to salvage the situation, not to mention her pride, she said, “Didn’t we agree to not be around each other?”

“We did.”

“And yet?”

He grinned and her heart tumbled. This was so much harder than it should have been. Couldn’t she just remind herself that he’d married someone else? Someone that Beth had once called a friend? That he’d betrayed her, left Texas for California and had never looked back? Why was her body so eager to forgive him while her mind held on to the painful memories?

“I was at City Hall checking out some building regulations—”

“Okay,” she said, interrupting him. “But why are you here?”