Page 50 of Chasing Shelter

I tried not to let the shock of his words annoy me. Keely had been begging for a pet for as long as she could speak, primarily a dog or a horse. But with how much I worked, it wasn’t fair for us to get a dog, and we didn’t exactly have space for a horse right now. But she had plenty of access to them at Colson Ranch and Arden’s place. Only that didn’t stop her from dragging me into the feed store every other week to look at the bunnies and chickens and God knew what else.

“It’s hers,” I ground out.

Ellie patted me on the shoulder. “Mr. Grumpy Pants isn’t the dog dad, fear not.”

Curtis chuckled. “Good to know. I’ll get you set up. Looks like his fur could use a little help. We’ve got some naturally soothing oatmeal products I’d recommend.”

“That’d be great,” Ellie said. “Thank you so much.”

“No problem. Here’s your stall with some towels, and this is the shampoo and conditioner.”

“Since when do dogs need conditioner?” I asked, raising a brow.

“Hey,” Ellie clipped. “Gremlin deserves a spa day after all he’s been through.”

I lifted both hands in surrender. “Okay. Want me to get some cucumbers for his eyes?”

Ellie stuck out her tongue at me before lowering Gremlin into the tub. “Okay, pal. I’m not sure how you feel about water, but I’ll try to make this quick.”

Gremlin looked up at her with baleful eyes, but Ellie moved swiftly and gently, warming the water before shampooing and conditioning. She had the kind of tenderness you couldn’t teach, and it had the contents of my chest cavity shifting uncomfortably.

“Watch him while I grab a towel,” Ellie ordered, already shifting to grab one from the stack Curtis had left.

The tub was deep enough that I doubted the tiny dog could escape, but I still stepped forward. And that was a mistake.

Gremlin shook his body like he was trying to get rid of every water droplet that had ever come into contact with him. You wouldn’t think so much could cling to his patchy fur, but you’d be wrong. Water flew at me like a firehose unleashed, soaking my uniform and making it cling to my chest.

Ellie let out a strangled sound of surprise, her hand flying to her mouth.

I slowly turned toward her. “What were you saying about him not being a mongrel?”

She laughed silently and lifted the item in her hands to me. “Towel?”

I took it from her, wiping my face and then my chest. “I don’t even want to think about what diseases I could be contracting at this moment.”

“Hey, I washed him really well.” Ellie grabbed another towel, wrapping the pup in it and lifting him into her arms.

Curtis rushed over, concern written all over his face. “Sorry about that, Sheriff. Those pups can get you. But don’t you worry, we’ve got emergency shirts for just this situation.”

“Emergency shirts?” I parroted.

Curtis nodded far too enthusiastically. “Yup. Here you go. I think this is the only one in your size.”

In my size, and so bright it hurt my eyeballs. It was a pink Hawaiian print with floofy dog heads where the center of the flower blooms should’ve been.

“No,” I bit out.

Curtis’s face fell. “You don’t like it?”

I opened my mouth to agree, but Ellie moved right in. “Helovesit. He’s just not sure about how he’ll look in pink. But you don’t need to worry, Chief. It’s going to do amazing things for your eyes.”

Ellie pressed her lips together to keep from bursting out laughing, and I glared at her. “Seriously?”

“Buck up, buttercup. We don’t want you catching a cold.”

I kept right on glaring at her as I unbuttoned my uniform shirt and slid it off. My white tee beneath was completely soaked, too. I grabbed the back of the collar and pulled it off in one swift tug, but it was only to find Ellie staring at me. Not at my face, but at my chest. Her gaze roamed over my pecs and down my abs.

Oh, hell no.

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