Page 5 of Chasing Shelter (Sparrow Falls #5)

TRACE

I didn’t know where the hell to look. Everywhere my eyes darted was skin. Too much damn beauty.

And she had ridiculous, sparkly rainbows on her panties.

Cute on top of gorgeous was not a good combination. Especially when it came to Ellie Pierce. She was all sunshine and goofiness. But the woman had secrets. And secrets weren’t something I handled well.

“What the hell are you doing?” I growled.

Her mouth dropped open. “Trying to make a pizza?”

“You could’ve burned this house down. What are you doing in Mrs. Henderson’s house anyway?” I wanted to ask what she was doing here half-naked, but my dick didn’t need to be thinking about that any more than it already was.

“I, uh, live here.”

Oh, hell no.

I paced to the window, opening it so the smoke could escape.

The last thing I needed was Ellie living next door.

She was walking temptation, and a mess all rolled into one.

And that was something I needed to stay far away from when I had a daughter to think about.

I needed safe, stable, and predictable. And Ellie was rainbow fireworks.

Fireworks and secrets.

Turning back around, I wanted to jab an ice pick into my eyes. Tan skin, pale green eyes, hair that couldn’t quite decide what color it wanted to be, and curves for days. My dick twitched.

That was it. I was going to hell.

“For the love of God, put this on.” I tugged off my tee and handed it to her.

Ellie flushed, the color deepening the apples of her cheeks and only making her look more beautiful. “Sorry, I, uh, just got out of the shower.”

“You’re making it worse,” I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose.

She tugged the shirt over her head. “Better?” Her gaze dipped to my chest, tracing lines I couldn’t see. Information I didn’t need.

“Not really,” I grumbled.

Annoyance took over some of the embarrassment. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a grouch?”

“You’re the one who almost set the neighborhood on fire.”

“ You’re the one who broke into my house.”

Heat flared because she had a point. “I have a key.”

Ellie’s eyes narrowed, a hint of fire slipping into her pale green irises. “Why do you have a key to my house?”

“Because I live next door.”

Ellie’s jaw went slack, and her eyes widened. “No, you don’t.”

Amusement replaced a little of my frustration. “Want me to show you the title?”

She let out a huff of air. “My damn interfering brother,” she grumbled, moving around the kitchen in search of something.

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Linc insisted on touring every rental with me. He found something that wouldn’t do for his little sister everywhere we went.

Then he happened to hear about this one.

But he just wanted me living next door to the sheriff.

” She snatched a set of oven mitts and a garbage bag, moving toward the fire zone.

“So-called drive-by route. You drive by it all right. On your way home.”

My eyes narrowed on her. “Why would he want you living next door to me?”

Ellie slid out the burned-to-a-crisp pizza and tossed it into the trash bag. “That’s a damn good question. You’ll have to ask him.”

Linc and Ellie’s father had recently proven he was the worst of the worst, but he was in prison now, and they were out of his reach.

Unless there was something else. I knew it wasn’t the first secret Ellie was keeping.

Just like I knew she’d lied when she arrived in town a few weeks ago with a black eye, saying she’d hit herself with a suitcase by accident.

My hands fisted on instinct, anger surging in hot waves. Everything about the faint purple beneath expertly applied makeup had reminded me of another time. One I’d do anything to forget.

“There something you’re not telling me?”

Her mask fell into place so fast it nearly gave me whiplash. Gone were the frustration and hints of humor, and in their place was a nothingness I hated with every fiber of my being.

“Linc is overprotective. You should know that by now since your sister can’t sneeze without him calling three doctors to give her a checkup.”

That much was true. I’d had my concerns when Linc and Arden got together, unsure if she’d ever be ready for a relationship like that. But he’d turned out to be everything she needed.

“You in trouble?” I asked, watching for any flickers of a lie on that beautiful face. I might’ve been blind to that sort of thing in my past, but I wasn’t now.

Ellie lifted her chin, the movement slight but telling. “What I am is exhausted.”

A non-answer. Not a lie, but not the truth either. And that ground at me—the idea that someone might be messing with her. It wasn’t any of my business, but I couldn’t stop the urge to step in, help, and shield her from whatever was headed her way.

I opened my mouth to speak, but the smoke detector cut out, finally signaling that the smoke had abated somewhat. But it didn’t leave us in silence. Instead, it left us with some god-awful pop ballad about promises and lifetimes. “What in the actual—?” I stopped myself from cursing. “What is that?”

A little of the fatigue left Ellie’s expression, and her lips trembled as if fighting a smile. “What do you have against the classic vocal stylings of *NSYNC?”

My face screwed up. “I think I’d take Arden’s ear-bleeding metal over this.”

“You can’t tell me you’ve never jammed out to It’s Gonna Be Me .”

One corner of my mouth kicked up as I winced at an especially high note. “I’m more of a Bye Bye Bye man.”

“You missed that one earlier. I did some epic shower singing to that bop.”

Ellie. Singing. In the shower.

I’d be needing one of those soon. A very cold one.

Ellie turned, surveying the room and sighing. “I just wanted a veggie lover’s pizza on my first night in a house that’s all mine.”

The sorrow in her voice hit me square in the solar plexus, and I wanted to fix that, too. “It’s the oven. Mrs. Henderson hasn’t used it in years. The local church brought most of her meals. Otherwise, she ate with Keely and me. The oven needs to be cleaned out before it’s used.”

Ellie stared at the appliance like it was her archnemesis. “I should’ve thought of that. It looked…well-loved.”

I barked out a laugh. “That’s the kind way of saying it.”

“I’ll get some oven cleaner tomorrow. And a whole bunch of rubber gloves.”

“You should have someone come out and look at it. Make sure it’s safe to use.

” I stared at her. Noticing how her hair soaked through the cotton of my tee, making the fabric cling to her.

How the strands appeared so much darker than before.

The urge to touch them, to know if they were as soft as they looked nearly took me out at the knees.

“I will.” Ellie turned then, the sorrow from her earlier words now in her eyes. “Thanks for riding to the rescue. ”

“Just glad I was home.” I wasn’t always. The nights Keely was with her mom, Leah, I usually stayed late at the station to catch up on paperwork. The thought of Ellie getting caught in a blaze while alone had a sick feeling taking root in my gut.

She started for the door. “Tell Keely hi for me.”

That was my cue. It shouldn’t have been hard to leave. The kitchen reeked of smoke, and I was freezing without a shirt and the window open. But my feet felt like lead as I headed for the door.

“I will. She’ll be excited you’re her new neighbor.”

Ellie winced, and I knew she wasn’t sure about having me next door. My kid, on the other hand? Ellie and Keely got on like two peas in a pod and had since Ellie braided Keely’s hair at a Colson family dinner. That would only make things harder.

“Goodnight, Trace,” Ellie said, hovering in the entryway as she waited for me to leave.

Hearing her say my name was beauty and pain all at once. “‘Night, Blaze. Try not to start any more fires.”

I stepped out onto the front porch but waited until Ellie shut the door, and then I waited a little longer until I heard her turn the deadbolt. When I forced myself to start walking, I pulled my phone out of my pocket. Tapping the contact I needed, I listened as the line rang.

“Hello, you’ve reached Firehouse Pizza. How can I help ya?”

I recognized the teenager’s voice instantly. “Hey, Steve.”

“Sheriff Colson, how’s it hangin’? Looking for another meat lover’s or a cheesy delight?”

I kept walking, even though a twitchy feeling had taken root in my limbs. “I’m actually calling in an order for my neighbor. You can put it on my tab, along with a twenty-percent tip. Veggie lover’s to 365 Lavender.”

“Someone finally rent Mrs. Henderson’s house?” he asked over the din in the restaurant.

“They did.” I knew he wanted more information, but I wasn’t about to give it to him. The last thing I needed getting around town was that I’d ordered pizza for the new woman in the house next door .

“Well, I’ll get that right in for you. Probably about thirty minutes or so.”

“Thanks, Steve.”

“No probs, boss man. I got your back.”

I chuckled as I hung up but couldn’t help glancing back at the purple house. I was an idiot for looking for flickers of movement in the windows. There weren’t any.

As I walked up my front walkway, the door flew open, and Keely stood there in pajamas with brightly colored hearts. I fought back my scowl. “Keels, what’s the rule about opening the door if you don’t know who it is?”

“I knew it was you, Daaaaaad . I looked out the window.” She giggled. “But you’re nakey. What happened to your shirt?”

Wasn’t that the million-dollar question?