Page 137 of Chasing Shelter

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 someonehe 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.

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