Page 50 of Chasing Shelter (Sparrow Falls #5)

TRACE

Ellie hopped up onto the counter and popped a raspberry into her mouth. “Those look amazing.”

“You look amazing.”

Her hair had that tousled look that only came from one thing, and it just so happened that the disarray made the different colors and shades spring to life.

She wore one of my old Seattle Sparks tees and a pair of my boxer briefs she’d had to knot with a hair band from her purse.

But she was the most beautiful creature I’d ever seen.

Ellie’s mouth quirked in an uneven smile. “You’re making me breakfast. You’re already going to get lucky for that. You don’t have to sweet-talk me, too.”

I leaned over, pulling her to me for a kiss. “Maybe I want to sweet-talk you. ”

“I could get spoiled with this sort of treatment.”

“Good,” I muttered, just as the doorbell rang, making Gremlin leap from his dog bed and charge to the entryway. “I’ll get it.” I turned off the heat on the griddle and handed Ellie the spatula. “Put these on the platter, would you?”

“Only bachelor I know who has a platter that actually matches his other dishware,” she called as she jumped down from the counter.

I chuckled as I headed for the door. “You admire my design taste, don’t lie.”

I opened the door to a tense Leah, and a Keely who was already running past me and inside. Gremlin’s barks turned happy at his favorite person’s return, but Leah seemed less so.

“Le,” I greeted, a little surprised.

The tense expression on her face deepened to what could almost be classified as a scowl. “I texted you.”

“Shit,” I muttered. “I’m sorry. My phone’s upstairs.”

Leah’s brows lifted at that, and I understood why. The curse slipping free, the phone not being on me at all times…neither was exactly characteristic of me.

“Ellie, why are you wearing Daddy’s T-shirt?” Keely called from inside.

Ellie’s response was muted, but I could still make out her words. “I, uh, got pancake mix on mine, so your dad let me borrow one of his.”

“It’s way too big on you,” Keely said with a giggle.

Storm clouds rolled in on Leah’s expression, and the bent of her lips was definitely in scowl territory now.

“So, this was just about you getting laid? I turned my schedule upside down to take Keely yesterday when I had a huge presentation to prepare for at work, all because you made up some dramatic excuse to bang your neighbor?”

Anger surged, and I stepped out onto the front porch, forcing Leah to take a few steps back.

“Lower your damn voice,” I growled. “Ellie isn’t just some random woman you can classify as my neighbor and nothing more.

She’s a woman I care about, and she’s been through hell lately.

Some creep is stalking her, most likely the ex who gave her a black eye, and he sent her a photo of himself or someone he paid standing over her with a knife while she slept. So, it’s not some dramatic excuse.”

Leah’s face went pale, but it wasn’t her voice I heard. It was Ellie’s.

“You care about me, Chief?”

I froze and then slowly turned around. “Yeah, Blaze. And if you didn’t already know that, you haven’t been paying attention.”

Ellie’s pale green eyes glittered like dew-covered moss. “I care about you, too.”

“I know.”

She let out a huff. “Your ego.”

I just grinned at her and opened my arms. She walked right into them, not caring that she was only wearing an oversized tee and my boxers on my front porch in front of my ex-wife. I pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

Ellie looked up at Leah, her cheeks pinking. “I’m sorry. I would’ve changed if we knew you were coming over.”

Leah swallowed, her face still that shade of pale. “It’s okay. I’m really sorry for what you’ve been going through. If I can help in any way, just let me know.”

I blinked a few times, trying to read beneath Leah’s words to see if there was inauthenticity there. But I couldn’t find any.

“Thank you,” Ellie said quietly.

Leah’s gaze lifted to mine. “We were never right for each other. Too similar and too stubborn.”

A surprised chuckle left my lips. “You’re right there.”

Her expression turned a little wistful. “But we did make one hell of a daughter.”

“Never gonna regret that,” I told her honestly.

Leah nodded, a hint of sadness creeping into her eyes. “I’m sorry. For what I put you through. It wasn’t about you. I had some stuff going on, and I didn’t deal with it well. I should’ve talked to you. Ended things before…”

I knew what she meant. Before she messed around with someone else. But I understood, too. “I wasn’t giving you what you needed because I couldn’t. Because we weren’t… ”

I struggled for the right words, but it was Leah who spoke them. “We weren’t what we should’ve been.”

“No,” I admitted.

“I can take her tonight if you need,” Leah offered.

“What about your presentation at work?” I asked.

“I’ll deal.” Leah sent Ellie a small smile. “Plus, we’re working on a fishtail braid from that site you sent. Might not hurt to get a little practice in.”

“You two are going to look killer,” Ellie said with a grin.

My arm tightened around Ellie. “Might be a good idea until we get this thing sorted out.” The last thing I wanted was Bradley or whoever was responsible showing up when Keely was here.

“I’ve got her. Just text if you need anything else.” Leah didn’t linger, just gave us both a wave and headed for her car.

“That was…good, right?” Ellie asked, still staring after Leah.

“It was good. I think we’re finding our way.” My hand slid along Ellie’s jaw, bringing her focus back to me. “You make everything better. Make me realize how everything can be more.”

“You do, too,” she whispered.

My mouth dropped to hers, taking it in a deep kiss that lived out those words.

“Eeeewwwwww,” Keely screeched from the doorway.

Ellie and I pulled apart, and I had the urge to let another curse free.

This was not how I’d imagined Keely finding out about Ellie and me.

I’d wanted to sit her down, explain things.

Give her a chance to express anything she was feeling.

But, apparently, my kid didn’t have any issues doing that here and now.

Keely’s hands went to her hips. “I hope you know you both have cooties now. Don’t even try to share my drink.” And with that, she took off for the kitchen, Grem on her heels.

A laugh bubbled out of Ellie. “Did we just get burned by a six-year-old?”

“She’s brutal. Gets it from Auntie Arden,” I admitted.

Ellie stretched up on her toes, her lips hovering just over mine. “Worth it.”