Page 68 of Engaging with Her Enemy

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“No, Jules. This is not a good idea.” Cameron's plea brought Becky upright in her bed. She'd slept horribly. Again. And although she felt better during the days, the nights were bad. Horrible. Tossing and turning. Waking up, reaching out for Hudson only to find his side empty and reality slamming her back into her nightmare.

“You deserve Becky at her finest since you hit Hudson at the worse possible moment.”

“How was I to know the guy had a ring?”

Becky blinked. What the hell? They hadn’t said he had a ring. She snatched open her door. “What about Hudson having a ring?”

Juliana popped Cameron on the back of the head. “Way to ruin absolutely everything possible in life. How the hell are we even related?”

“Why? What else did you ruin?” Becky looked at her alarm clock. “Why are you here at six-thirty?”

“Do you want some coffee?” He asked. God, had Juliana pulled him out of bed too? He stood in gym shorts and a sweatshirt wearing flip-flops. “I know coffee puts you in a better mood.”

“My mood is fine. I've hardly slept for the past few days. I’d need to chew the coffee bean at this point for it to have any effect.” She crossed her arms. “Why are you creeping down my hallway, anyway.” She narrowed her eyes at Cameron. “And what ring were you talking about?” No way Hudson had gotten an engagement ring and just let her walk away. Was it like a promise ring? Or maybe just a gift for finishing her degree.

Juliana motioned Becky toward the front of the house. “Let's go somewhere other than the hallway to have this discussion. Close quarters might not be the best place.”

Becky locked eyes with Cameron as she passed by, her irritation with the man growing by the second. “What the hell did you do now?”

He held up his hands. “It was an innocent mistake, believe me.”

Since the coffee was on, she poured herself a cup. Cameron stepped away. “After that fiasco at the hospital, maybe you shouldn't have coffee.”

“I'm not going to throw coffee at you. I like this mug.” She blew on it and took a sip. Good. Juliana had made it the way she liked it and not Cameron's tar.

Juliana stood near the open front door. A quick escape route.

“Spill it,” Becky said, her focus sliding to Cameron since he seemed to be the reason for the early wake-up call. “Or leave.”

“Hudson didn't tell me about your disability.”

Her coffee hovered mid-air. Hudson hadn't told him?

“Becky,” Cameron started and slowly took the cup from her hand. Good thinking on his part. “There. Wait.” He moved her by the shoulders away from the pot of coffee. “Okay.”

“Who told you?”

“No one. When I came to your house that day, I saw the flowers. I read the note.”

“You...you read the note?” Her voice had turned cold. Hot ice shot through her veins. She'd railed against Hudson, ended her relationship, and all because of Cameron's nosy ass.

“Yeah,” he squeaked out. He cleared his throat. “I'm really sorry, Becky, to have caused all this.”

Sorry. Cameron was sorry. Well, wasn’t that nice? She’d trashed a relationship, threw every bit of hatred she could muster toward Hudson, and Cameron wassorry. What the hell? How was she supposed to move on from that? Shrug it off and offer him a pastry? Tell him it was okay? Because it wasn’t. Nothing was okay.

She focused on Juliana, unable to process her world flipping around her. “How long have you known about this?”

“Since right after it happened.”

“Oh. My. God. And you let me do nothing? I let Hudson walk away.” Yelling was good. It made her feel better. Not as good as throwing that pot of coffee at Cameron, but he'd shifted his body in front of it.

“Hudson knows, too,” Juliana added.

“He knows it was Cameron's fault and he didn't come here. He must hate me. I'd hate me. I didn't believe him, and now he's gone.”

Cameron took a step backward. Now the boy wanted to retreat. “He left to give us time to make this right.”

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