Page 13

I didn’t miss the way Ellie’s cheeks turned pink as I took my shirt off.

I needed to know if I had cuts on my back from falling into the bushes when she’d punched me, but I could have used a mirror if I really wanted to.

After Nurse Ellie determined my back was fine, I put my shirt back on.

As I did, Jace and Cassie joined us in the kitchen.

“What were you girls up to before we scared the shit out of you anyway?” Jace asked as he took a seat on the barstool next to me. “Spilling all your dirty little secrets while sipping on margaritas?” He pointed at Ellie and Cassie’s unfinished drinks, smirking.

“As a matter of fact, we were, so get out,” Cassie said, pointing towards the door.

“I’m not leaving until someone gives me one of those cinnamon rolls,” Jace declared, looking around for the dessert. “I can smell them. Where are they?” he asked .

“Here, I’ll pack you one to go if it’ll get you out of this house quicker,” Cassie said as she placed a single cinnamon roll into a Tupperware container and handed it to him.

As soon as Jace received it, he removed the lid, grabbed the roll, and took a big bite.

“No need to waste a bowl, darlin’,” he said. “That isn’t making it out of this house before it’s in my belly.”

He wasn’t joking. He ate it in two bites.

“This is the best thing I have ever eaten,” he said. “Can I have another one, pretty please?” he begged as he winked at Cassie.

She was not amused.

“One more, then you’re gone. I mean it,” she said as she scooped another cinnamon roll from the tray.

Jace took it from her, scarfing it down as fast as he’d gobbled the first one.

A sudden pain shot through my face, and I grabbed my eye, wincing.

Ellie moved from her spot next to the counter and stood between my legs, examining my face again.

I sat there, hoping she wouldn’t move her hand from my face to my chest, because if she did, she might feel how fast my heart was racing.

Having Ellie this close made my heart pound like I just got done running a marathon.

Her perfume settled around me, the scent sending me back to last night when I lay next to her, helping her fall back asleep.

Leaving Ellie this morning was harder than I thought it would be. Lying next to her felt so… natural .

My mind returned to what my mom had told me earlier. “ Ellie kept going on about how sometimes she wished you guys were more. What do you think she meant by that, Colt? ”

That one statement followed by a simple question kept playing over and over again in my head as I worked through the day. Now that she was just inches from me, my mind wandered even more.

“Look who needs taking care of now,” she joked, pointing at my eye. “You should probably take some pain medicine before you go to bed or you won’t sleep well,” she suggested.

I nodded, leaning my face down and resting my head against her shoulder.

I wasn’t sure why I did it, truthfully. It just seemed right in the moment. Being next to Ellie brought me comfort. A comfort I hadn’t felt since she left.

She placed her hand on the back of my neck, rubbing away the tension that lingered there.

Jace would probably give me hell for this later, but I didn’t care.

After a few minutes, I lifted my head.

“Jace tells me you got a new job,” I said.

“It’s true. I got a job at Cassie’s coffee shop downtown. I start on Monday,” Ellie said excitedly.

“Now that I have some income, I can start looking for my own place soon.” She held up a copy of the local newspaper, open to the rentals section with some ads already circled.

Hell no.

There was no way Ellie was staying anywhere but this ranch until Liam got more information about this Jason guy .

“You know you can stay here as long as you want to Ellie, there’s no rush,” I said, trying to convince her to stay a little longer.

“I know, but I don’t want to be a burden. Your family has already helped me so much over the years,” she said, looking down at her feet.

“You are not a burden, Ellie. If anything, my mom seems happier that you’re back. She was just talking to me today about you,” I said, tilting her face back up with my hand.

“Really? What did she say?” Ellie asked eagerly.

I hesitated, wondering how truthful I wanted to be in the moment.

“Just how much fun you and Molly had on the ranch as little girls. She said you guys always loved sitting on the back porch, swapping secrets with each other,” I said, settling on a vague version of the truth.

Ellie laughed, nodding her head in agreement.

“We were like each other’s living diaries,” she explained. “Molly and I pinky promised one night to never tell each other’s secrets, and now, the rest is history.”

What Ellie didn’t know was that I knew one of those secrets, thanks to my mom’s expert hearing abilities.

If Jace and Cassie weren’t standing just a few steps away, I probably would have told Ellie what I knew, but that conversation would be better at a different time.

So I changed the subject.

“I better get Jace out of here before he eats the entire pan of cinnamon rolls and Cassie kicks his ass,” I joked .

“He doesn’t seem to be her favorite person,” Ellie whispered, although Jace and Cassie could still easily hear our conversation.

I hopped down from the barstool, accidentally bumping into Ellie on my way down, almost knocking her over.

I grabbed her before she could lose her balance, pulling her into me.

Not even a piece of paper could fit between our bodies now.

She sucked in a quick breath, her eyes wide, studying mine, our lips just a few inches apart.

There was no way she could miss how fast my heart was racing now.

The angel on my shoulder said to gently let her go. The devil on the other side said to kiss her.

In the end, the angel won.

I let her go slowly, making sure she recovered her full balance.

She stood there for a few seconds longer, clearly taken aback by the moment we just shared.

Jace coughed, as if to remind us there were other people still in the room.

“We should probably take off,” he said, his eyes darting between Ellie and me as if he wondered what the hell he just witnessed.

I nodded in agreement, heading towards the door.

“Well ladies, it’s been fun, but Colt and I have to be up early. Enjoy the rest of your night,” Jace said tipping his hat at each of the girls. “But if you get bored and decide to play seven minutes in heaven, just give me a holler,” he said winking at Cassie as I pushed him out the door .

On our short drive back to the main house, Jace gave me hell about the moment Ellie and I had in the kitchen, as I suspected he would.

Instead of antagonizing me with his words though, he connected his phone to my Bluetooth radio and started playing “Kiss the Girl” from The Little Mermaid .

“Seriously?” I said, looking at him in the passenger seat. “You’re ridiculous,” I muttered, but I didn’t turn the song off.

He had a huge grin on his face, on the verge of busting out laughing.

“Is this supposed to be some kind of subliminal message?” I asked.

He didn’t answer. He just started singing along dramatically.

I shook my head, fighting a smile as he continued his over-the-top performance the entire way home.