Colton (Restoration Ranch #2)

Chapter One

T exas Ranger Colton Adams packed up his bag quickly. He’d just signed off on most of the report for the Mat Ryan case and as soon as his colleague Storm Cordero walked himself into Colton’s office with the wrap-up from the cyber department, Colton could officially stamp this case closed.

Three weeks of sifting through an entire parole officer’s documents to try to figure out why the hell Ryan had contributed to the aggravated harassment and assault of Aja Everett pushed well beyond his nonexistent patience for paperwork.

As far as they could see, there was no rhyme or reason behind it, and Ryan’s partner, Eli Bennett, didn’t seem to be in the sharing mood to help lift the fog.

The twinge of a familiar pinch in his gut made Colton stiffen.

That was his overactive brain trying to tell him there was something more.

He’d felt it since the start of this case to the finish when Colton’s supervisor, Jackson, put a bullet in Mat Ryan, ending the man’s life.

But with no supporting evidence, all he could do was pack his shit and get his happy hips on the road back to Restoration Ranch.

Persistent vibrating in his back pocket had him pulling out his cell and grinning like a fool when he saw Seneca Daniels’s name flash across the screen.

He accepted the call and quickly placed the phone next to his ear. “Evening, pretty lady. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Pleasure. I like that word.” The sultry tone of her voice climbed through the phone and spilled inside his brain, spreading throughout the rest of his body like a wildfire. “How ’bout you get yourself on over here and we examine it more closely?”

Tension tightened every part of his body, including his flesh pressing uncomfortably behind the metal zipper of his jeans. He groaned in response. “Seneca. You can’t talk to me like that when I’m this far away from you and in public.”

Her devilish giggle revealed her lack of concern about his current predicament. In fact, he’d say it was a safe bet she was enjoying herself.

“You still in Austin, cowboy? That’s too far away for what I have planned for you. What are you doing all the way out there anyway?”

He groaned again. Not just because his need for her had his skin feeling tight with desire. Nope, guilt was running a close second. “I promise, I’ll be there as soon as I can. But Sen, as much as I’d like everything the sound of your voice has me wanting, we need to talk.”

“I thought only women said that. Are you trying to let me down easy or something?”

“Never,” he growled more than spoke. From the day he’d met her, he’d wanted nothing more than to press his body against hers and find out what his name on her lips sounded like while he slid inside of her.

But there was only one thing standing in the way of that.

He was a Texas Ranger, and she didn’t know it.

Thinking about revealing this truth to her caused some of his internal heat to dissipate into the air. How do you tell the woman you’ve been lusting after for the last eight weeks that everything she knows about you was a lie concocted to help you investigate her?

“Colt? You still there?”

The sound of his name snapped him out of his thoughts and made him take a deep breath. He was a son of a bitch for a lot of reasons, but hurting Seneca couldn’t be one of them.

“Darlin’, the one thing you can count on is my desire to get closer to you. There was a lot going on at Restoration that made that difficult. But now, that’s all behind us.”

“But?”

He chuckled. He could picture the raised eyebrow and the no-bullshit slant of her mouth as she said that.

“I just want to be real with you about who I am, Sen. You’ve been through hell and I never want to add to that.

So, as much as I wanna leave here and head straight for your place.

How about we meet at the diner on Main Street for dinner, instead?

Once we get everything out in the open, I promise I’ll take you back home and gladly let you have your way with me, if that’s what you want. ”

Her sweet giggle jumped through the phone, lifting his mouth into the broadest grin. “Now, that sounds like a plan, cowboy. Hurry up. I’m hungry for dinner and you.”

A tap on the door, followed by Storm leaning his head into the office, made him mute his phone. “Hargrove wants to see you.”

The bottom in his stomach fell. “He say what for?” Storm’s usual easygoing face was pulled into tight lines as he shook his head. Whatever this was about, Colton was certain it would do two things: piss him off and fuck up his plans with Seneca.

Colton nodded and Storm closed the door.

He unmuted the phone and tried to keep his tone light.

“Hey, Sen, I gotta take care of one last thing before I can head out to you.” He glanced at his watch quickly before he continued throwing things in his beat-up leather satchel—because he was a cowboy and he refused to carry a briefcase.

“I’ll meet you at the diner in two hours. That work for you?”

“Sure does. See you then, sweetness.”

She disconnected the line and all he could do was shake his head. Whatever Major Hargrove wanted, Colton promised himself one thing: he wasn’t about to disappoint that sexy-as-all-hell woman by getting bogged down with ranger work.

He threw his bag on his shoulder and thanked God in heaven he was only temporary supervisor for his team. Jackson would be back from medical leave in five weeks and it would no longer be Colton’s job to report directly to Major Hargrove.

*

“You wanted to see me, Major?” Colton could tell shit was about to go sideways when his supervisor smiled and waved him in.

Major Hargrove was a hard-ass of the highest caliber.

He was fair, a man who led by example, and Colton respected his leadership greatly.

But even though Hargrove was a tough but fair boss, the man didn’t often find reasons to welcome his rangers into his office with a smile. What the fuck did I do now?

“Colton, I know you’re about to head out on leave, so thank you for dropping in on your way out.”

Colton nodded as he sat slowly, waiting for Hargrove to get to the point. “No problem, sir. What can I do for you?”

“How long have you been under my command?”

Colton swallowed as he tried to figure out what could have brought all of this on. After his army career, Colton always followed Ranger regulations to a tee.

“Ten years now.” Colton’s eyes narrowed into slits as he tried to decipher Hargrove’s angle. “Is there something wrong, sir?”

Hargrove shook his head and walked around to the front of his desk, sitting in front of Colton.

“Colton, relax. There’s nothing wrong. You haven’t done anything wrong—you never do.

You’re one of my best field rangers. You complete every stitch of paperwork you’re supposed to.

You follow all the rules and regulations that go along with the job.

If more of my rangers followed the rules as well as you, my job would be a breeze. ”

Colton cocked his head to the side, giving it a brief nod as he continued to assess Major Hargrove’s motives.

“Thank you for the compliment, Major. But something tells me you’re holding back.

If you wanted to know how long I’ve been working here, you could’ve just looked it up on my personnel file. What’s going on?”

Hargrove nodded, one corner of his mouth hitched in a halfway smile. “Fair enough, I’ll cut to the chase. You’ve been a field ranger for ten years and have never sought to move up in the ranks. Why is that?”

Colton’s skin suddenly felt tight and uncomfortable on his large, bulky frame.

This was not the conversation he wanted to have right now.

That was especially true when all he wanted to do was spend his next two weeks off with Seneca.

Seneca was fun, and light, and tempting as the day was long.

But thinking about leadership, about his past life, that was as far from fun as ice was from a flame.

“Sir, I’m happy doing my job in the field. Not everyone needs a title to feel fulfilled. Sometimes you just want to do your work and go home.”

Hargrove chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re preaching to the choir on that one, son.

There are days I’d go back to the field in a heartbeat.

But every time I think about that, I think about how many lives I’ve impacted by being a leader in the rangers.

You are a born leader, Colton. You may not like it, but you can’t run from it.

I’d really like to see you move up in the ranks, take on more responsibility. ”

He took a deep breath and slid his hands down his muscled thighs, trying to dry his palms. “What do you have in mind, Major?”

“Captain Johnston is gonna be retiring in the next six to eight weeks.”

“Retiring?” Colton did some mental math and put Johnston somewhere about ten to twelve years older than himself. “He loves this job. He’s really considering retiring?”

Hargrove nodded. “Yeah, his daughter just gave birth to his first grandbaby and, since then, nothing’s more important than spending time with that little one.

The problem is, he’s currently heading up the new office we’re opening up in Spicewood.

It’s a small, remote town in Hill Country, pretty similar to Fresh Springs.

It’s about halfway between Austin and Fresh Springs.

I need someone to temporarily head it up until Johnston’s permanent replacement is able to take command.

Whoever I choose as interim lead needs to be someone I’m sure will follow the rules. I think that’s you.”

Colton wasn’t sure what to say. He’d worked hard to gain the confidence of his superior over the decade he’d been here.

One, because he’d desperately needed the job, and two, because he prided himself on always giving one hundred percent to the job.

Too bad his dedication hadn’t paid off during his service in the military.