Chapter Three
C old spilled down Seneca’s spine as she turned Colton’s words over in her head.
She shook her head, scanning his face for anything that would confirm this was nothing more than a bad joke.
A smirk, amusement dancing in his blue eyes, a chuckle, anything that would stop her heart from racing and quell her building need to run.
“Seneca, darlin’. Say something.”
The sound of her name spilling so sweetly from his lips tasted like bitter betrayal in her mouth. She snatched her hands back with quick force, making it impossible for even his strong fingers to keep hold of them.
“Don’t,” she spat quietly through clenched teeth. “Don’t you dare say my name like that. Like it’s supposed to soften what you just said to me. Are you serious, or is this a bad joke?”
He slunk back against the cushion of the booth seat and shook his head, torching the tiny bit of hope she was holding on to that there was no truth to his confession.
“I wish I could. But what I’m telling you is true. Aja’s uncle sent us in to figure out who was vandalizing the ranch. It was supposed to be a quick in and out. I shouldn’t’ve been there long enough to…”
Her chest heaved in anger. Because she already knew what he’d left unsaid. “What, long enough to get involved with me?”
To his credit, he didn’t drop his eyes. He didn’t try to hide. He sat there. His face open with his blue eyes shining with regret.
“I don’t regret getting to know you, Seneca. I regret not being able to tell you before now.”
If his goal was to push her to the edge of her restraint, he was certainly doing a good job. There were few things in life that made Seneca mad enough to become more than annoyed. But this, this was so far beyond annoyance.
“What do you mean, before now? You were on that ranch for weeks, left and came back when I was poisoned, and stayed at my side while I recovered. Every night you cozied up next to me under the guise of taking care of me was an opportunity for you to tell me. So, the only thing I’m wondering is what’s changed to make you tell me now. ”
He paused one beat too long. Instead of waiting for his answer, she said, “You know what? Never mind. I don’t even care.
Whatever reason you have is utter bullshit, and we both know it.
” She stood up and blew out of the door, her boots eating up the ground beneath her feet as she headed to her vehicle.
She could hear his boots hitting the pavement of the parking lot behind her. Before she could open the door, he placed a hand on it, blocking her entry.
“Let go, Colton.”
“I can’t let you get in a car when you’re this upset. Please, sit with me and talk first. Then let me drive you home. Whether you decide to forgive me or not, I can’t let anything happen to you.”
Her lungs were struggling to draw in air.
She wasn’t sure if it was due to her brief sprint out of the diner and across the parking lot or her need to smack fire out of the man with his hand on her car door.
But somewhere between his words and her looking into his face to see concern, she lost some of the fire blazing in her chest.
“Please, Seneca. I care too much about you to let you risk your life or someone else’s.”
It felt right and truthful when he spoke those words. But in her heart, that space where her trust for him lay was broken.
“I want to believe that, Colton. But finding out you’ve been lying to me since the day I met you makes that pretty damn hard. The last time I trusted a man, he lied to me and sent me to prison for seven years. I’m not really looking to repeat that scenario again.”
*
She let out a weary sigh, her shoulders dropping in defeat, making him want to encircle her in his arms to keep her upright.
“I hate this feeling.” She shook her head as she looked up into the clear sky. “This thing slithering around in my head that’s making me question every word you’ve ever said to me, it makes me feel dirty and unmoored.”
Damn if that didn’t hit him square in the gut.
Once again, his job was costing him something precious.
If he didn’t do something about this, things wouldn’t end well this time either.
“Please, get in the car. We can talk on the way to Restoration Ranch, and Jackson and I will come back and pick up your ride tomorrow. Just let me explain.”
*
It was funny how men thought those four little words would magically erase the shit they’d gotten busted doing. But damn if her curiosity didn’t want to hear the tale he undoubtedly had planned for her. Tired of fighting with him, she finally nodded.
“Fine, take me back home and tell me your sob story. But I promise you, it won’t change a thing. I trusted you, Colton. My reward for that trust was you fucking me over, and not in the good way I’d hoped.”
*
Colton had stared down the wrong end of a barrel of a gun before and he’d never felt more anxious or scared than he did every time Seneca cut her eyes at him while he drove the short distance from Main Street to Restoration.
He’d asked her if she was ready to hear him and she told him no, she needed to be able to look him in the eye and see if he was lying when he explained it all.
He couldn’t pretend that shit didn’t hurt.
If there was anyone in the world he wanted to trust him completely, it was Seneca.
There was something about the way she brought fresh joy to every situation that made him feel renewed every time she graced him with a smile.
But now, even though he’d played a significant role in bringing this situation about, all he wanted was to fix this and get back to where they were when he’d held her in his arms and kissed her in that diner.
He parked the truck and she hopped out, which grated against his sensibilities.
In his presence, she’d never walked through a door he hadn’t opened for her.
It was a small thing, and probably didn’t matter in the grand scheme of it all.
But it didn’t feel good to know she wouldn’t even allow him this small courtesy.
She walked up the porch steps and entered the cabin, not stopping to welcome him in. He followed close behind her, closing the door as soon as he stepped inside.
The cabin was exactly like he remembered it, a large open space framed in wood paneling that served as both the living room and dining room. A large eat-in kitchen in the back of the room adjacent to a long hallway that led to a guest bathroom and the two bedrooms.
The cabin he’d shared with Storm the last time he was here was set up the exact same way. But Seneca’s cabin was warm with pictures and artwork and a bookcase filled with books that looked well read and loved.
“You wanted to take me home and talk. So, talk. Explain this bullshit to me so you can go on about your night and I can stay the hell away from you.”
How had he never known her tongue was so sharp?
Because you were too busy worrying about tasting it to consider it anything but a tool of your pleasure.
“Can we sit?”
She turned and dropped down in the armchair, forcing him to sit on the large sofa by himself.
“Fine, we’re sitting. Spit it out.”
He took off his Stetson and placed it on his knee before turning to her. Her shoulders were level, and her face was pulled in hard, straight lines. If her body language was any indication, she wasn’t about to make this easy on him.
Can you blame her?
No, he couldn’t. But that didn’t mean he still couldn’t hope for a miracle.
“After the scaffold was tampered with and nearly fell on Aja, her uncle, Judge Henry, signed a dispensation order for the rangers to come out to the ranch and investigate. He had concerns about local law enforcement and wanted us to check it out. We had no clue who was responsible, and things were escalating fast. We had no choice but to tackle the investigation from two sides: a visible investigation by our colleagues, and an undercover operation and protection detail on the ranch.”
She shifted in her chest and crossed her arms while squinting at him. “So, you came here to protect us, is that what you’re saying?”
The devil on his shoulder prompted him to accept that easy out. But he couldn’t.
“No. Our orders were to protect Aja and investigate you and Brooklyn.”
She raised an eyebrow while she hitched one side of her mouth up in a half smile. “Can’t say I’m surprised. Judge Henry was never happy about us being here. Makes sense he’d want us investigated when shit got crazy.”
Colton let out a cautious breath. At least she believed him so far. He sent a silent prayer up she’d continue to.
“When Aja was attacked in her bedroom, we figured it wasn’t you and Brooklyn. By that time, our covers had been secured and I couldn’t risk them by telling you who I was.”
She rubbed an agitated hand against her temple before leaning forward and bracing her forearms on her thighs.
“Colton, I don’t have a problem with anything you’ve told me. My issue is that I’m finding out about this now. When did this investigation end?”
“It’s not as linear as you think. There were false stops that complicated things.
When we caught Eli Bennett, we thought the investigation was over.
It wasn’t until then I believed I was free to pursue my feelings for you.
And when I tried, you ended up poisoned and in the hospital.
That event reopened the investigation. So again, I couldn’t tell you who I was. No matter how much I wanted to.”
She nodded. Her body slightly less tense than when they’d arrived. “So, what now? You expect me to forgive and forget and we pick up where we left off when you entered the diner?”
He laid his Stetson on the couch beside him then stood and walked the few steps to where she sat. She sat up as he inched closer. Afraid she’d bolt again, he knelt in front of her and slowly extended his hand until it was pressed against her soft cheek.