Protection

Chapter 29

“Seth? What are you doing here?” she asked.

He stood there, leaned against the mesa wall, just as tall and as broad as she remembered. He had aged some, but nothing else about him had changed. He had that charming smile plastered to his face that had made her knees weak years before, but now it simply made her stomach turn. Who would have known that such a man could deceive her so easily without even flinching?

“You act like you don’t want to see me. Where’s that guardian angel of yours?” Seth asked.

Bliss looked around. How she wished he would come riding up at that moment and save her from this dreaded encounter.

“He’s around. He’ll be back soon. I’d get out of here if I were you,” Bliss tried to put a brave tone in her voice.

Seth grinned. “No, I’d like to meet him.”

“Why? Haven’t you had enough of this family for a lifetime? What else could you possibly want from me?” Bliss asked, her words suddenly laced with hatred.

Seth’s eyes turned soft. “It’s not what I want from you, it’s what I want of you.”

“What does that mean?”

“I still love you, Bliss. I never stopped.”

“You never loved me,” Bliss crossed her arms to try to stop the fast pace of her heart.

He couldn’t get her back. She wouldn’t fall for him again. She was beyond that now.

“Who are you to say that? You don’t know what I’ve went through without you. I can’t sleep at night. I can’t think of anything else besides you, honey. You’re everything I’ve ever needed,” Seth’s voice sounded pleading to Bliss’ ears, but she ignored it.

“I’m past you, Seth. You betrayed me and that is that. You lost your chance.”

“You can’t stand here and say that you still have no feelings for me. I know you can’t. I see it in your eyes,” Seth told her.

“All you see behind my eyes is disappointment. You took more from me than my innocence that day, you know,” Bliss said.

Seth took a step toward her. “How many times do I have to apologize?”

“An apology can’t replace all you stole, Seth. Don’t you realize that you took a part of me that I can’t ever get back? Something that was supposed to be meant for someone who really loved me?”

“I do really love you, Bliss. So much.” Seth took another step toward her.

“Then explain why you cheated on me? Explain why you turned into a completely different person, Seth. You never loved me, you just think you did,” Bliss rolled her eyes.

“I was drunk. I didn’t know what I was doing,” Seth defended.

“Yet you kept getting drunk time after time. You knew that it wasn’t fair to me. You knew that you were destroying my life, yet you did nothing about it. I have nothing more to say to you.” Bliss walked toward her horse.

He ran after her and grabbed her arm before she mounted.

“Please don’t do this, Bliss. I can’t lose you again.”

Bliss scowled at him. “Let go of me.”

“It’s that whelp, isn’t it?” Seth still didn’t let her go. “I knew you and that kid had something going on. Are you two married now?”

Bliss jerked her arm free. She didn’t owe him any explanation about Colt. She mounted her horse and looked down at him.

“Leave me and my family alone for the rest of your life, Seth Ryder. I don’t ever want to see you again.”