Page 70 of Chasing Shelter

ELLIE

The doorbell rangfor the third time, and Gremlin let out a series of high-pitched barks, running down the stairs. “Just keep your pants on,” I grumbled, rubbing sleep out of my eyes. Who rang the doorbell at seven-fifteen in the morning on aSunday?

I picked up Gremlin, tucked him under my arm, and then yanked open the door, wearing my best scowl. “What?” I grumbled.

To add insult to injury, pure hotness greeted me. Trace stood there in worn jeans, and not by a designer’s false wear and tear but from everyday use. And given that he’d paired them with honest-to-goodness cowboy boots, I was guessing they were worn from working on his family’s ranch. And the soft flannel he wore over a tee had me wishing for one of my own.

Trace’s dark green gaze swept over me, lingering on my bare legs for a moment. “What are you wearing?”

It was the first time I’d given any thought to what was on my body that morning. I glanced down at myself, taking in the bright pink shirt with a sparkly rainbow creature emblazoned on it underI’m fucking magical.“A T-shirt,”I said with a huff.

One corner of Trace’s mouth kicked up, pulling it into a slightly off-kilter smile. “I like your unicorn.”

I should’ve been embarrassed that he’d found me in nothing but a ridiculous tee, hair in what I was sure was a ginormous tangle atop my head from going to sleep with it wet, and no pants on. But I found I wasn’t. Instead, I lifted my chin. “It’s a pegacorn.”

Trace stared back at me, unblinking. “A pegacorn…”

“Yes. It’s a cross between a unicorn and a Pegasus.”

Those beautiful lips twitched. “I didn’t know those two cross-pollinated.”

“Well, they do, and it’s to create the most magical creature in all the land.”

Trace laughed then, the sound husky and a little raw. It skated over my skin like what I now knew the pads of Trace’s fingertips felt like. “Cute,” he muttered.

I pressed my thighs together. This man was going to kill me. “What are you doing here at seven in the morning? On a Sunday.”

Gremlin let out a low growl as if to punctuate my point.

Trace wasn’t deterred by my menacing dog or my clipped words; he just grinned at me. “Can you keep a secret?”

I wanted to be the keeper of all this man’s secrets, and that was a serious problem. Still, I found my mouth pulling into a smile. “I could be convinced. Might take some bribery, though.”

Trace chuckled. “I think the bribery will be contained in the secret.”

That had my brows pulling together. “Okay…”

“You’re going to need pants, though.”

I couldn’t hold in my laugh. “Now, where’s the fun in that?”

Trace raked a hand through his hair, pulling on the strands. But then he stepped into my house, backing me up and closing the door behind him. “You’re killing me, Blaze. And there’s only so much I can take before I break.”

My breaths came quicker, escaping in short pants as Gremlin growled. “And what happens if you break?”

“Neither of us will leave this house for days, and I really want toshow you something. So, do me a favor. Turn around and walk that perfect ass upstairs and cover it with some pants, okay?”

I tugged my lip between my teeth, fighting not to laugh. “Okay.”

And that’s exactly what I did. But it cost me.

Trace wasquiet as he drove, his SUV bumping down the gravel road. For a while, I’d thought he was taking me out to Nora’s house, but nothing there could’ve been the secret. Then he’d turned down another road—one called Monarch Way.

Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. “Where are we going?”

My mind had been churning since Trace showed up this morning. And it had taken us a while to get going. I’d had to change, take Gremlin out, feed him and my nameless goat friend—who was already doing a number on my back lawn—and put Grem in the little pen I’d gotten him, complete with chew toys, pee pads, and water. Plus, there’d been the required coffee. Always coffee.

So, over an hour had passed where I was trying to put together the pieces of what Trace could possibly want to show me. I’d tried a handful of questions, but he’d dodged them all.

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