“I’m not,” she said. “But I didn’t join a convent, either. In fact, there’s a man right now who wants to marry me.”
“Who?” His guts twisted.
“None of your business. I’m not here for you, Cam. We’re not going to hook up again just because we’re in the same town now.”
His gaze dropped to her left hand. Empty. He hated that he was relieved to see it. “Well, you’re not wearing a ring. So I guess we’ll just see what happens, won’t we?”
“Nothing’s going to happen, Camden.”
“Something already did, Beth. Hell, you felt it, too, when we kissed.”
She shrugged that off. “It was just a kiss.”
“Uh-huh. And a Texas summer is just warm.”
She opened the car door and pulled it wide. “I’m not playing this game with you, Cam.”
He dropped one hand on the car door and leaned in. “Not a game, Beth.”
“Whatever it is, I’m out.”
“For now,” he said.
“Forever.”
He didn’t believe that. Not for a damn second. Cam still held on to what she’d said to him their last night together. How she’d walked away from him and everything they’d planned. She’d cut his heart out with a few well-chosen words. But he could also feel the sizzling threads still connecting them. One kiss and he wanted more. And when he had more, he knew it still wouldn’t be enough.
Hell, if he was willing to set aside the past, she would be, too. She just had to argue about it for a while.
He could wait.
“I’ll get you that donation,” he said abruptly.
“Right.” She nodded, swallowed hard and then slid into her car, the hem of her dress riding high enough on her thigh to make his mouth go dry. “Once you
do that, I’ll talk to membership at the TCC and get that ball rolling.”
“You’re going to wait until you get the money? Don’t trust me?”
She looked over her shoulder at him. “Nope.”
He laughed. “Fair enough. I don’t trust you, either.”
Beth put her sunglasses on so he couldn’t read her eyes anymore. “Then we know where we stand.”
Then she gunned the engine and peeled out of the drive, sending up a wake of dirt and gravel behind her.
The woman always had known how to make an exit.
* * *
She wasn’t a mile from Cam’s ranch when her cell phone rang. Beth glanced at the screen on her dash and sighed. When she answered, she didn’t bother to hide the sigh. “What is it, Sutton?”
One of her twin older brothers. Sutton was three minutes younger than Sebastian and way more relaxed and fun than his stoic, dutiful twin. As he constantly reminded everyone, including Sebastian.
“Well, hello to you, too,” he said, then asked, “are you driving with the top down? I can hardly hear you.”
“Yes, I am and I can hear you fine.” Not really. “What is it, Sutton?”