Chapter Ten #2
Aja went back to the stovetop and began stirring the pot once more.
“He had no choice. You get that, don’t you?
He was trying to save my life and keep this ranch safe.
The only way he could do that was to keep his identity a secret.
But, Seneca, I saw that man in the hospital with you and when you came home to recuperate.
It hit him hard. He’s been invested in you for a while now.
Do you really want to throw that away because of a technicality? ”
Seneca was about to answer when the back door opened and the subject of their conversation walked in big and bold as day.
A fitted black T-shirt stretched across his pecs and her fingers remembered how delightful they felt pressed against her sensitive nipples.
Her eyes traveled downward just in time to see the distressed denim of his jeans stretch across the carved muscles of his thighs.
She closed her eyes and tried her damnedest to stave off the heated moan she could feel floating in her throat just waiting for an opportunity to burst onto the air.
“Morning, ladies.” He gave Aja a nod then pulled his Stetson off his head, hanging it on the nearby coat/hat rack in the corner. When he turned around, he was running his finger through his sun-streaked light brown hair, the gold flecks making the honeyed tone of his skin that much more noticeable.
He stepped in front of Seneca, giving her a long languid look that made her burn beneath searing blue fire in his eyes. “Seneca, you mind if I have a word?”
She certainly wanted to give him more than a word, but climbing his thick, muscled body on the kitchen counter while Aja was cooking probably wouldn’t go over well, so she nodded, and followed him toward the great room in the front of the house.
When they were alone, his eyes took his fill of her again before he spoke and the silent slide of his gaze over her body made heat suffuse through her vessels until it was warming her very skin.
“I know I upset you last night. I just wanted to apologize.” He shook his head, but never let the link between his gaze and hers break.
“I shouldn’t’ve pushed you. I know you’re doing the best you can in all of this.
I should’ve just given you my support instead of making things worse by yelling at you. ”
She tilted her head, watching him to see where the punchline was in all of this.
But when her gaze connected with his again, she could see regret and honesty there.
She wasn’t quite sure what the hell was happening, but slowly she stepped closer to him, drawn in by the indescribable need to comfort him.
He was apologizing to her, rightfully so.
But all she wanted to do was wipe the contrite look from his serious face and kiss him until he smiled that special smile he only seemed to have for her.
“You weren’t wrong. I realize you’re only trying to help me. I just don’t know that there’s a way you or anyone else can.”
He grabbed her hand, linking their fingers, rubbing his thumb over the sensitive skin between her thumb and her pointer finger. “Actually, I think I can. I can’t interfere with Holden’s investigation. That doesn’t mean I can’t unofficially start one of my own.”
“Colton—” She didn’t have the opportunity to finish her sentence because his lips were on hers, stealing her breath on a heated moan as she instinctively plastered her body against his.
He gentled the kiss too soon for her liking, but again, humping in Aja’s house was a no-go, so she did her best to collect herself and looked up into his face, marveling at his lips that looked more red than pink after she’d finished tasting them.
“I promised you I’d help you, Seneca, and I will. I know I haven’t given you reason to trust me, but I’m a man of my word. I will help you. I just need you to spare a little grace my way. Can you do that for me?”
She could hear Aja’s words playing over and over again in her head.
The woman was right—there was something that kept Colton coming back and it was hanging right between them in the barely there space between their mouths.
It was need. Hers and his mixed together, burning bright whenever they were near each other.
Whether she liked it or not, whether the time was convenient or not, they were bonded, and she didn’t think either of them could walk away from it on their own.
She raised her hand and slowly cupped his cheek, loving the rough tickle of his beard against her palm. “Yes, I can.” The words slipped off her tongue and into the air, tugging her closer to him as she ached to reclaim that tempting mouth once again.
But just as he was about to press his lips against hers, she heard Aja’s familiar voice yell, “Breakfast is ready, y’all.”
He pressed his mouth against her forehead instead and chuckled. “Don’t worry, darlin’. There will be plenty of time to pick up where we left off when I get back.”
“Where you headed?”
“To set a trap for a no-good lawman. I’ll be back late tonight. I’d love to drop by and say good night if you’re up to it.”
“Are you actually trying to schedule a booty call with me? Cowboy, I didn’t know you had it in you.”
He raised an eyebrow, silently reprimanding her. “Is your mind always in the gutter?”
“Pretty much.”
“One of your best qualities, in my opinion.”
“Not even close.”
*
“So, what was all that about?”
Seneca stopped scrubbing the pot she’d been tousling with for the last five minutes.
Those savory maple sausages Aja made for breakfast were heaven, but scrubbing their remnants out of the skillet she’d cooked them in was a new kind of torture.
She dropped the scouring sponge in the soapy water and turned to Brooklyn who sidled up to the sink next to Seneca.
“If you’re not going to share what you’re talking about, I’m gonna get back to busting these suds before Aja comes back in here and starts raising Cain. You know she don’t ’llow no dirty kitchen.”
Brooklyn nodded in agreement. One thing their benefactor couldn’t tolerate was a dirty kitchen. She’d forgive just about anything but leave a dirty dish in the sink and you’d see a side of her that would make the devil shake in his boots.
“I’m talking about you and the cowboy. Y’all seemed mighty chummy at breakfast this morning. I guess last night must’ve been better than you’d thought.”
“It’s always better than I can imagine.” Even though Seneca knew she was misleading Brooklyn, she wasn’t exactly lying either. Every time that man touched her, her body acted as if it was the first, last, and only touch her senses had ever known.
“Please, do tell.”
Seneca dipped her fingertips in the sudsy water of the sink and then flicked them in Brooklyn’s direction. “Stop being so nosy. If you’re so concerned about my sex life, it can only mean you need to pay more attention to yours.”
Brooklyn bumped a playful shoulder into Seneca’s. “Girl, you ain’t ever lied. Too bad everyone in this little town is as old as my daddy.”
“I hear silver foxes are all the rage.”
Brooklyn shook her head as her shoulders moved with her laughter.
“If I’m going back to jail, it won’t be for causing some old-timer to go into cardiac arrest. Besides, too many people in this town know everybody’s business.
I couldn’t mess with anyone in Fresh Springs, no matter how worn out the batteries are in my vibrator.
But enough about me,” Brooklyn quipped. “What’s going on with you and Bo Duke? He treating you right?”
Seneca could see Brooklyn’s protective nature rising with her arched brow.
She’d always taken care of Seneca from the day they’d become cellmates.
Everyone, except that damn Hastings had known she was off-limits.
Because both then and now, everyone who came near her knew pissing off Brooklyn could be bad for your health.
“He treats me fine,” Seneca answered as she picked up the scouring pad again and resumed her battle against the grease stain at the bottom of the skillet.
“There have been a couple of bumps in the road as we try to figure out what’s going on with us.
I don’t think either of us can or wants to put a label on anything. It’s just so new, ya know?”
She could feel the heat of Brooklyn’s gaze boring into her. Smart and observant, if the dark-skinned beauty sniffed even the slightest whiff of bullshit, she’d instantly know Seneca was lying.
“You scared it’s gonna end bad or that things will work out?”
Seneca looked up at Brooklyn, trying to figure out what she’d meant.
“Seneca, when you’ve been locked away as long as we both have, it can sometimes feel uncomfortable to hope for good stuff.
Relationships aren’t my thing. I enjoy my own company too much.
But you really like this guy, and since I haven’t had to kill him yet for trying to fuck you over, I assume the feeling is mutual. ”
Seneca shrugged her shoulders. “Dude has been here for two and half days. You’ve seen him probably twice in that short amount of time. How could you possibly know things are going well between us?”
“I don’t,” Brooklyn answered as she placed a light hand on Seneca’s shoulder.
“But when I walked up to Aja’s front porch this morning, I did get a glimpse of the two of you making out like two teenagers.
By the looks of the way his face was plastered against yours, either y’all are getting along pretty well, or he was practicing a new technique for mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. ”
“God you’re so nosy,” Seneca exhaled while she tried to hide the budding smile on her lips.
“Observant, not nosy,” Brooklyn joked. “But seriously, Sen. I know I told you to be careful with this guy. I still stand by that. But from the way you two were looking at each other in that great room, even from my view on the opposite side of that window, I could tell you two are feeling each other.”
Seneca finally won the battle with the greasy skillet, turning on the faucet to rinse the suds out into the sink before placing the cookware into the drying rack.
She dried her hands and turned toward her friend.
There was a haunting look that spoke of past or present pain—Seneca couldn’t tell which.
She narrowed her gaze, wondering what she was seeing in her friend’s eyes.
But before Seneca could voice her concern, Brooklyn blinked and the cloud that dulled her brown eyes cleared.
“You don’t have to rush in, Seneca. But if you like him and he feels the same, don’t be afraid to grab a little happiness.
We both know that for people like us, happiness doesn’t come around too often.
” Brooklyn looked down at her Timberland work boots, the nubuck material considerably clean since they worked in the dirt and grass.
“If smashing his sexy ass makes you smile, keep at it.”
Seneca couldn’t help but laugh, partly because of Brooklyn’s reckless mouth, but mostly because she was telling the truth. “Girl, you don’t even understand how accurate your statement is.”
Brooklyn held up a hand. “Uh, I don’t need the details.” But when Seneca showed her a smile she was certain displayed every tooth Seneca had in her damn head, Brooklyn said, “Well damn, if he’s got you looking like the Cheshire cat, maybe I need to reconsider the details thing. He that good?”
“Girl!” was all Seneca could get out of her mouth. Her cheeks so high from the persistent, uncontrollable smile she had on her face, Seneca could feel the muscles in her face begging for relief.
She and Brooklyn bent over into a fit of giggles and all Seneca could think was how much she treasured her friend and her brazen way of speaking.
Brooklyn had a habit of cutting to the chase that could sometimes rub folks the wrong way.
But standing in the kitchen ki-ki-ing like the old gossips they were turning into, Seneca realized two things: smashing Colton really did make her happy and having a good friend who would call it as it was, was probably one of the greatest blessings of Seneca’s life.
Because whatever happened with Colton or Hastings, Seneca was sure the bond between her and Brooklyn would be more than enough to get her through whatever her future held.