Page 109 of Chasing Shelter

Ellie’s pale green eyes glistened. “I was thinking you could put them all up and down your braids. It’ll look like butterflies just landed in your hair.”

Keely leapt to her feet and hurled herself at Ellie. “This is the best present ever. Thank you sooooo much!”

Ellie laughed as she caught Keely, but I also caught something more in her expression. A joyful pain. “I’m so glad you like them.”

“Ilovethem.”

I couldn’t take much more. The two of them like this were going to kill me. Ellie was showing me that my daughter’s life could be so damned beautiful, even if I hadn’t been able to give her a two-parent home, had callouts that interrupted family time, and whatever else came up that seemed to slip from my control. And it would be beautiful because of the small, unplanned moments we found like these.

Keely released Ellie, taking the butterfly clips. “I wanna see what they look like in my hair.” She raced for the stairs.

“Brush your teeth while you’re up there. It’s time for bath and bed,” I called after her.

“Daaaaaadd.”

The fact that there wasn’t a Y at the end killed me. It was happening now and again, her calling me Dad instead of Daddy. My girl was growing up, and I had no choice but to let her.

My gaze moved to Ellie. She looked so damn pretty. Her hair was in braids, too, still damp from her shower. Her face was bare, revealing a smattering of faint freckles on her nose. And she looked…happy.

“Thank you.” I leaned in, my hand sliding along Ellie’s jaw so I could take her mouth. I groaned at the taste of her: a hint of after-dinner tea that still clung to her tongue and something that was only Ellie.

She met me stroke for stroke, and my resolve was no match. My hands found her waist, and I lifted Ellie onto my lap so she was straddling me. She rocked against me, the friction making me hardenagainst my zipper. A moan slipped from Ellie’s mouth to mine, her nipples pebbling.

“Daaaaaaaddy, where’s the toothpaste? Mine’s all gone,” Keely yelled from upstairs.

Ellie instantly pulled back, her hand going to her swollen lips.

“Hall closet, Keels.” My head fell back against the wall. “The Universe is a cockblock.”

“Maybe,” Ellie said, leaning forward and trailing her lips up my neck. “But there’s something about delayed gratification.”

My phone dinged, and I cursed.

Ellie laughed against my skin and then leaned back again, shifting to move off me.

My hand tightened around her hips. “Don’t. I like you here.”

She smiled down at me, a mixture of tenderness and mischief in her eyes I’d never seen before. “Okay.”

I shifted so I could pull out my phone but kept Ellie with me. Gabriel’s name flashed on the screen. Unlocking my cell, I read the text.

Gabriel

Heard from Jasper’s PO. Negative on the drug screen. No illegal substances at his address.

My back molars ground together.

Me

He’s keeping it elsewhere. Anything pop on the drugs found in the woods nearby?

Gabriel

No prints at all. Sorry, man.

Me

Not your fault. We stay on it. He’ll fuck up eventually.

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