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

“That I won’t tell you,” he said firmly with a shake of his head. “It was Julie’s secret to share or not.”

She huffed out an exasperated breath. “You just expect me to take your word for it?”

“I told you. Believe it or not, that’s up to you.” He locked his gaze with hers. “But ask yourself. Why the hell would I lie?”

Beth glared at him. “I’ve got better questions. Why would you leave me and marry her, knowing she was carrying someone else’s baby?”

He felt the scowl on his face and worked to ease it. Hadn’t he just told her that this was all fifteen years gone? Wasn’t it time to get it out there?

“After you and I split up—” When she opened her mouth to argue the point, he held up one hand. “Just let me tell it.”

“Fine.” She folded her arms over her chest, and he saw the defensive gleam in her eyes.

“I found Julie crying the next day.” He closed his eyes briefly, remembering. “Sobbing like her heart was broken, and I guess it was. Anyway, I knew how she felt.”

Beth’s mouth worked as if she were biting back words clamoring to get out.

“She was pregnant and terrified to tell her father. Hell,” he said grimly. “You know Burt. Can you imagine how he’d have taken that news?”

She nodded. “About as well as my father would have.”

“Exactly. She said the baby’s father was pushing her to marry him. He had plans for his own future, and that included getting a rich girl pregnant so he could worm his way into her family and bank accounts. Julie wouldn’t marry him once she found that out. And she couldn’t bear the thought of an abortion. Giving the baby up wasn’t an option, either, because she had nowhere to go until she had the baby. She didn’t know what to do. Asked me to help her. So I did.”

“And getting married was your big solution?”

“Got me out of Royal,” he said bluntly. “Away from you.”

Beth choked out a laugh, slid off the bed and grabbed his white shirt off the floor. Pulling it on, the hem of the thing hit her midthigh, and rather than making her look more covered, Cam thought it only made her sexier.

“You had to get away from me.”

“Yeah.” He got up, too, and didn’t bother to grab clothes. What was the point? “We were over and I couldn’t stay here to watch you hook up with someone new.”

“We weren’t done.”

“As far as I was concerned we were.”

She shook her hair back from her face, and that long, blond tangle made him want to thread his fingers through it. He wanted her again. Always. And that was damned lowering.

“Then Julie lost the baby.”

“Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you divorce, then? The reason for the marriage was over. You could have come back. Come home.”

To me was left unsaid, but it felt like those two words were hanging in the air like a neon sign.

“Because we were married. I promised to stay with her.” He rubbed one hand against the back of his neck. “And I did. But there were...complications with the miscarriage and Julie needed an emergency hysterectomy.”

“Oh, God...”

Nodding, he just looked at her as he finished, “I couldn’t leave her then. And by that time, I knew I couldn’t come back here. You weren’t mine anymore, and I knew you’d never understand what I did anyway...”

“You were right about that,” she said. “I still don’t.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I get that. But you wanted the truth and now you have it. What’re we going to do with it?”

“I don’t know,” Beth admitted hoarsely. She held the edges of his shirt together with a fist in the center of her chest.