Chapter 10
Cameron
L ungs burning, Cameron lurched to a stop and hunched over as he drew in oxygen with gulps of air. He rose upward with a hand on his hip as he wiped the sweat from his brow. He used to run a lot when he was in high school. When he was younger, it was for the endorphins he gained from the exercise.
Now, it was to rid himself of the emotions that threatened to take away his control. The way Sophia let down her walls around the men who worked for her brother was eating at him. Those smiles she gave them weren’t anything like the guarded ones she offered him, and it was driving him crazy.
Yesterday, she’d hugged that cowboy—Mark was his name—and she’d laughed with him for a few minutes before she’d finally returned to their ride.
He’d refused to bring it up because he knew it would only start a fight.
He didn’t want to admit that the way she treated him was eating at him.
If she knew just how frustrated he was, she’d definitely use it against him.
The optimistic side of him wanted to believe that she was opening up to him, but after seeing her interaction with Mark, he knew that was laughable. Sophia was a different person around him, and he wasn’t getting any closer to making her see him as anything other than her enemy.
Her voice drew his attention, and his head whipped around as he watched her climb out of a truck and head for the house. There was a man closing the passenger door that she’d just vacated. He waved at her, then climbed back in the truck to drive away.
Cameron narrowed his eyes at the cowboy. The guy didn’t work for Mateo, and he wasn’t the same guy who had been dancing with Sophia’s friend at the country club.
The poisonous jealousy that urged him to go after Sophia and demand to know who she’d been with threatened to overtake his self-control. She didn’t belong to him, and he wasn’t going to push her away more than he already had.
He turned on his heel and nearly collided with a young woman.
She gasped and her lashes fluttered. Her deep blue eyes darted from him to Sophia and back, then a slow smile touched her lips.
She was Sophia’s sister, and according to the ramblings of the other cowboys, she was the beauty of the three.
But not to Cameron. No one was more striking than Sophia.
He hadn’t spoken to this sister, even after being here for several weeks, and he couldn’t recall her name.
Her arms folded across her chest, and she tilted her head. “You have something for Sophia, don’t you?”
Cameron frowned. If she’d noticed and Roman had noticed, then it was only a matter of time before Mateo figured it out. According to Roman, that was something he needed to avoid. Cameron shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She snorted. “I’ve seen the way you look at her. It’s pretty obvious.”
Man. How could everybody tell how he felt?
“Whatever you think you’ve seen, I can assure you?—”
“Whatever, dude. I don’t care. Honestly, it’s probably a good thing.”
“It is?”
She nodded. “You’re clearly a little obsessed with her.”
He stiffened. That didn’t sound good at all.
This time, she laughed. “Relax, dude. After what she’s dealt with, I think the only guy she would trust is someone who clearly only has eyes for her.”
There was so much to unload with that statement. He moved closer to Sophia’s sister. “What has she been through?”
At that point, she seemed to have realized that she had said something wrong. Her cheeks blushed, and she glanced at the house with worry before she brought her gaze back to him. “I’m not supposed to know about it.”
“What happened?” he said gently. “I’m really trying to figure out what’s going on—why she seems to hate me so much.”
She worried her lower lip. “I probably shouldn’t say anything.”
His hand reached to touch her arm before she thought to escape. “Please,” he whispered. “I do care about her. You caught me. But I can’t get close to her if she won’t open up to me, and if there’s a way for me to help her, then I want to know how.”
Sophia’s sister glanced to the house once more, then nodded.
“Fine. All I know is she was really close with her high school sweetheart. They were seeing each other for the longest time. I thought they were going to get married. I think Sophia thought so, too. But then within days of my brother’s fiancée leaving him at the altar, Sophia’s boyfriend stopped hanging around.
Sophia sorta withdrew. She didn’t act like herself.
One of my friends heard rumors that her boyfriend was cheating on Sophia with like three other girls.
Well… he was technically cheating on all of them.
They just didn’t know because they went to different schools.
I don’t know how Sophia figured it out. But… ” She shrugged her shoulders.
Cameron hadn’t realized his hands were balled into fists until the bite of his nails brought his attention to it. No wonder she didn’t go on second dates. She didn’t trust that men would stay faithful. She flirted with everyone and didn’t get attached.
Sophia had said she didn’t trust easily. It was one of her reasons for turning him down. But this didn’t answer the burning question as to why she’d agreed to a second date, only to leave him hanging.
“You okay?”
The girl’s soft voice yanked him to the present and he stared down at her with a grim expression. “Yeah. Fine. Thanks.”
She nodded, then turned to head past him, but he stopped her.
“Sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”
Turning, she flashed him a small smile. “Isabelle.”
He watched her hurry toward the house and breathed out a sigh as he turned in the direction of the wranglers’ cabin. After that interaction, he could use another run, but it was getting late. He’d have to wait until tomorrow.
Cameron risked another glance at Sophia.
She didn’t look pleased with him, and why would she be?
The last time they’d spent time together, he’d glowered at her until she left in a huff.
He really needed to work on that. He wasn’t going to draw her in if he was constantly angry.
Sophia was the light, and she drew every unsuspecting man to it, including himself.
He breathed out a sigh and forced his expression to relax. She was allowed to have a life here. There would always be competition until he finally won her over. With that in mind, he leaned against the stall door beside him and flashed her a smile.
She glanced up at him just in time for the door to creak and give beneath his weight. It hadn’t been latched, and he stumbled into the empty stall with a crash.
Sophia snickered. It was Friday, and what he really wanted to do was ask her out. To get her to open up. He scrambled out of the stall and folded his arms as he leaned against a pole instead.
“You think that’s funny, huh?” He glanced up at her with s small smile on his face. “I was thinking?—”
She eyed him momentarily, then held up her hand. “Save it, Cameron. We work together because we have to. That’s it. Let’s not pretend that we’re anything but adversaries.”
“ Adversaries —”
“Sophia! Emma is here.” Isabelle’s face materialized at the doorway to the barn.
“Tell her I’ll be right there. I just have to jump in the shower.”
Isabelle nodded, and Sophia returned the brush she had in her hand to the shelf. She gave him a parting look, then headed out before he could get another word in edgewise.
It would draw too much unwanted attention for him to chase after her, calling her name. Though there was a part of him that was willing to do just that if he didn’t think Sophia would chew him out over it.
If Emma had shown up to go out with her, then the two of them were likely going to that country club. Already, his jealousy was rearing its ugly head. He couldn’t stand the thought of her in anyone else’s arms but his own. Why couldn’t they get on the same page?
Okay, he knew why. And it had a lot to do with the unanswered questions of their past.
He scowled after her as a thought formulated in his mind. There was only one way to get past that hurdle. He’d need to confront her about it.
Cameron lay in wait for Sophia to return. It was nearing midnight, and he felt like his heart was trying to claw itself right out of his chest. It thundered with each passing hour, and he wondered how hard it would be to track her down in this small town if she wasn’t at that club.
There was already a dirt trail getting embedded into the grass near the side of her house as he continued to pace where he could see her when she returned.
His hair had become mussed and untamed. He probably looked like a wild creature, and maybe he was beginning to realize that he shouldn’t be waiting to pounce on Sophia like he currently was.
As that pinprick of logic broke through the clouds of frustration that hovered around him, he made a move to head back to his room in the wranglers’ cabin, but that plan was thwarted when a truck pulled up to the house and headlights locked him in place.
Cameron couldn’t see the faces of the individuals in the truck from where he stood. All he knew was that this wasn’t the same vehicle that Sophia had left in. His hands curled tightly at his sides when a stranger stepped from the driver’s side and gave him a wary look.
The cowboy wasn’t much taller than Sophia, which had him shorter than Cameron’s six-foot frame.
He hurried around the truck to open the door for Sophia, and she stepped into Cameron’s line of sight.
She frowned at Cameron before flashing this cowboy a smile and giving him a hug.
Then she said something to him and nodded.
The cowboy stayed by his truck, watching her head toward the front entrance of her home. Cameron stepped forward.
“Sophia—”
“What do you think you’re doing?” she hissed.
“We need to talk.”
She scoffed like she had no intention of doing any such thing, but then she waved the man off. “It’s fine, Tad. He’s a friend.”
Cameron watched the guy move back to the driver’s side. He hesitated before climbing behind the wheel, but eventually he pulled away.
“What is this about?” she said, drawing his attention to her again. “It’s late, and I?—”
“Why do you hate me so much?” The words tumbled from his lips, and he couldn’t take them back. All he could do was wait for her answer.