Chapter Two
C olton tapped his fingers on his steering wheel.
He’d been on the road for about an hour with thirty minutes to go before he reached Fresh Springs.
Although it wasn’t a long trip, it was a trek compared to his twenty-minute commute to Austin.
Tonight, however, the time breezed by as he tried to come up with an explanation for Seneca that wasn’t going to get the door slammed in his face.
“Sen, I just need you to understand…”
He doubted it would be that simple, but regardless of how difficult his confession was going to be, he couldn’t keep her in the dark any longer. He needed her to choose to be with him, and not the persona she’d met while he was working the Restoration Ranch case.
“Hello.” The gruff sound of his voice filled the cab as he waited for the caller to reveal themselves.
“Hey, Colt,” a familiar and friendly voice responded. “It’s Holden Eames. What’s going on, man?”
Colton smiled. Holden was a childhood friend and former colleague of his and Jackson’s. He’d left the rangers five years earlier to become an FBI agent.
“Holden, man, how you been? It’s been ages since I spoke to you.”
“I know, man, this agent thing’s been keeping me crazy busy for a while now. I only get to dip into Texas once in a blue to see my mom and then I gotta get right back to it. How’ve you been? Jackson too? How’s the rookie who replaced me on the team?”
“Everyone’s cool, man,” Colton responded. “We had a bit of a scare not too long ago on a case. Jackson got hit in the arm. Fortunately, it wasn’t too serious, though.”
“My mom told me,” Holden replied. “I spoke to him while he was in the hospital. He seemed like he was in good spirits. Is he back on the job yet?”
“Nah,” Colton answered in a laidback voice, his country accent becoming thicker as he talked to the man he’d known since he was a kid.
“He’s on leave for at least another month and a half.
I’m actually on my way out to spend some time with him.
Too bad you’re not in state, we could hang out like old times.
I’m sure that would lift Jackson’s spirits. ”
Holden chuckled, “That might not be such a bad idea. That’s part of why I was calling you. I’m gonna be near Austin for a few, maybe I will head out to y’all and we can get into something.”
“Sure thing, man,” Colton added. “I’ll text you the address when I get off the road. Hope to see you soon.”
“Is tomorrow morning soon enough?”
“Sure. I’d have to check with Jackson and his lady to make sure it’s all right, but if they say it’s okay, you should come to breakfast. chow’s at six.”
“Sounds like a plan. Get at me when you have the okay.”
Colton tapped the end button on his steering wheel just before he pulled into the Main Street diner’s parking lot.
He maneuvered his truck into a space and then took a moment to text Jackson about Holden dropping by at breakfast. When Jackson responded with Aja’s approval, he quickly forwarded the address to Holden and put his phone inside his jacket pocket.
He took a cursory look around the parking lot, spotting Seneca’s Jeep, and then stared at the entrance.
An important aspect of his job was being able to reasonably anticipate people’s actions or how situations would pan out.
But sitting in his truck, his pulse raced.
He had no idea what would happen once he told Seneca the truth, and that scared him more than any combatant could have.
Too impatient to wait another second, he stepped out of the truck and headed inside.
If this was gonna end badly, better to get it over quickly so he knew where he stood.
And then maybe, just maybe, he could stop living in this limbo where he always feared losing what he hadn’t actually had yet.
*
Seneca flipped open one of the menus and scanned its offerings.
The Main Street diner was like any other diner across the country.
Burgers and fries were its staples with a bit of Texan cuisine added to keep the locals happy.
But tonight, she read each line slowly, breathing deeply as she moved from the appetizer section to the entrees. Tonight, was about starting over.
Seneca closed her eyes and leaned her head back against her seat cushion as she thought about Colton.
Anticipation swirled at the base of her spine and branched off into every nerve she possessed.
Sitting still was difficult when all her mind could do was run varied versions of what could happen tonight.
It wasn’t just about having sex. Sure, sex was great, and she certainly couldn’t wait to test out her theory of how good she believed Colton would be at it.
This was about moving on, moving beyond her past and getting back to some semblance of normalcy again.
It was about letting herself hope for and expect good things.
And Colton was the first good thing in a long time she’d let herself hope for.
For so long, even the idea of thinking about tomorrow brought unbearable pain. After her release, the fear of being sent back to prison haunted her every waking thought, robbing her of any hope for more than the moment she was in. The sadness of it all still left a dull ache in her chest.
She smiled and took in a deep breath, shaking off the last vestiges of worry from her run-in with the sheriff. She couldn’t let Hastings steal what she’d fought so hard for. Not tonight, not ever.
Tonight, she would enjoy this budding attraction between her and Colton.
It might not lead anywhere beyond this moment, and she was fine with that.
But until Colton gave her some indication their fun was done, she would let this good feeling bubbling up on the inside, bringing warmth to the places Hastings and his threats had flash-frozen, pour over her and saturate every fiber of her being.
“Everything will be fine, Seneca. It’s gonna be all right.
You just need to talk it out with the people who care about you.
” She let a slow breath seep between her lips, releasing any tension from her interaction with Hastings that had tried to take hold.
She did have people who cared about her.
Aja and Brooklyn had held her down for so long.
And Colton had cared for her in his own way too.
“He’d have to after playing nursemaid to you while you were recovering,” she muttered to herself.
They’d become fast and flirty friends over the first month after his arrival on the ranch.
But it wasn’t until she’d woken up in the hospital after ingesting a poisonous amount of Rohypnol meant for her boss that things changed between them.
His late-evening visits after pulling grueling hours on the ranch, where he played night-shift caretaker to her, represented a definitive shift in the friendship.
It was the first hint that something was brewing between them that had nothing to do with them being buddies who flirted and everything to do with the way electricity zipped through her body whenever she was near him.
The sound of dishes clattering in the distant background pulled Seneca out of her musings. She looked up and found the diner as empty as it was when she arrived. Still just her and the lone other patron she’d found when she arrived. She pulled her phone from her back pocket and noted the time.
Her thumb hovered over her contacts icon on the screen when the familiar sound of wind chimes pulled her attention to the door.
He stepped into the diner and panned to the left and then the right. When he saw her, something akin to relief shone on his face that bled into a wide grin.
God, the sight of it made her giddy. From the moment they’d met on the ranch, he’d always looked so serious, like he was carrying a heavy load on his shoulders. But whenever he gave her one of those hard-won smiles, joy blossomed in her chest.
Tonight though, she couldn’t figure out what made her happier.
That crooked smile that promised a rough ride or that banging-ass body.
It was a work of art. Hard, draped in a plaid button-down shirt, and a pair of jeans that showcased every carved muscle in his glorious thighs.
She’d never known a man’s thighs could be sexy.
But damn if every time she’d seen that bunch of muscles flex, she hadn’t wanted to run her tongue across them.
You’re so hard up. Get it together, girl.
He took long strides in her direction and reached the booth in seconds. She was about to say hello, but before she could, he grabbed her hand and pulled her out of her seat and into his arms.
Large arms surrounded her, trapping her against his hard chest before he pressed impatient lips against hers. His mouth moved against hers, rough and desperate, like her kisses were essential to his survival.
As quickly as he snatched her out her chair and laid that hellified kiss on her, he pulled his mouth away from her with a low growl.
“God, I’ve missed you.”
*
She wiped the trace of her lip gloss from his lips and smiled. “I can tell by the show you just gave the diner staff.”
“I don’t give a damn who’s watching. All I could think about over these last two weeks I’ve been away was how good it felt to kiss you before I left.”
He stepped back, taking an eyeful of her. He’d been stuck in Austin for two weeks for the wrap-up of the Restoration Ranch case. The last time he’d seen her, she was still recuperating from her poisoning. But tonight, she was so much more.
She was average height, about five six, fitting perfectly against his six-feet three-inch frame.
He’d only seen her in heels once, and when she wore them, he could almost gaze directly into her eyes without bending down.
Well, that wasn’t really the truth. She was a tiny thing compared to him.
Yet, her heels, her assessing stare, and her giant personality gave her enough imaginary inches that she seemed much taller than she was.
It left him nowhere to hide, which should’ve made him feel cornered.
Lord knew he had so many things in his life he never wanted to be seen in the light of day.
But being unable to hide from her somehow made his burden seem lighter.
He was an ultra-private man, but everything about her made him want to step out of his protective bunker and let her in.
His reaction to her didn’t make a damn bit of sense.
Not the way her thick, almost jet-black hair—whose artfully twisted coils rested against her ample bosom—made him want to shove his fingers into its strands.
Not the way her russet-brown skin gleamed on a full, curvy frame covered in a slouch-shouldered T-shirt and fitted denims made him want to pull her against his body.
Just sitting across from her, he could feel his body tightening.
He was a grown man. He should have more control than this.
But in her presence, all he wanted to do was give her all of him.
After giving her space to slide into her seat he then slid into his own.
He pulled his Stetson off and laid it on the seat beside him while he ran his fingers through his light brown strands with streaks of natural blond.
It was still buzzed at the sides and the back, but the top was now long enough to pull into a short ponytail.
He’d have to decide if he was gonna let it grow or shave it all off soon.
Like a metaphor for his life, he always seemed to be caught in the middle, unsure of what the next move should be.
He must have gotten caught up in his thoughts, because Seneca’s eyes filled with concern and unasked questions. She slid a warm hand across the table and laid it on top of his, breaking him out of the tense fog of worries crowding his head.
“You okay, cowboy?”
He wasn’t and he wouldn’t be until he knew for certain where he stood with her.
He laced his fingers through hers and brought their joined hands to his lips to place a gentle kiss on her knuckles.
After he told her the truth, he might never get the chance to touch her like this again.
He needed to savor it for just a moment in the event she never let him this close once he revealed the truth.
“Colton, you’re scaring me. All this pensive brooding is a bit much even for your usual sourpuss self.”
He chuckled. She wasn’t lying. He was an old cuss, but his current state of quiet had less to do with his ornery nature and more to do with wanting to avoid what he knew he had to do.
“Sen, meeting you was the best surprise I never knew I wanted. But it’s also been the most inconvenient thing too.”
She lifted a brow. “I feel like you think that’s a compliment, even though it sort of feels like an insult.”
He held on to her hand a little tighter. “It’s not an insult. It’s an observation on how fucked up my luck is.”
She leaned closer, trying to figure out what the hell he was talking about. God, he’d spent so many years being a monosyllabic oaf, he was struggling to find the right words.
“Darlin’, I’m screwing this up, so I’m just gonna come on out and say what I gotta.
Otherwise, we’ll be here all night.” He swallowed and took a deep breath to fortify himself.
“Seneca, I want this beautiful, fragile thing that’s building between us.
But I don’t know if you’ll want the same once I say this last bit. ”
He expected her to pull away, but she brought her remaining hand to their joined fingers and covered him in her warmth.
God she deserves so much better than me.
“Sen, when I came to Restoration Ranch, it wasn’t just to help out as a ranch hand. It was to investigate and stop the attacks on Aja Everett and her property.”
“Investigate? What, like a private detective?”
He hated the uncertainty in her eyes. Hated that he’d been the one to put it there. He looked around to make sure no one was close enough to hear him. The waitress was at the counter chatting with the man he’d seen propped on a stool on the opposite end of the diner.
He returned his gaze to hers and quietly said, “No, like a law enforcement agent.” He squeezed her fingers tighter and took another breath. “Specifically, like a Texas Ranger.” When she didn’t respond, he said it again to make sure she’d heard him. “Seneca, I’m a Texas Ranger.”