Page 9 of Chasing Shelter

“You shouldn’t be jumping out of cars,” Linc called, slamming the door to punctuate his point as he glared at Arden.

She just rolled her eyes. “Cowboy, the doctor gave me a clean bill of health a week ago. I can spar with Kye if I want to.”

That was the wrong thing to say. Linc’s scowl deepened, and his hazel eyes went stormy. “You still need to be careful.”

“Do I?” she challenged.

“Vicious,” he growled. “Don’t make me tie you up.”

Arden’s lips twitched. “Promises, promises.”

Linc’s expression softened as he gently pulled her into his arms, grazing her temple with his lips. “Just want you to be careful.”

A pang flared along my sternum as I crouched to give Brutus some scratches, anything to distract me from the longing taking root somewhere deep. My brother had found himself the best possible family. The Colsons were warm and accepting, the kind of people who always had each other’s backs. And Arden and Linc needed that. Especially when my father had tried to tear them apart and ruin their happiness.

Brutus laid his big cane corso head on my shoulder, and I wrapped my arms around his gray body. He always seemed to know when I needed a little extra comfort and was the best at giving it.

“You need a dog,” Arden said, cutting into my thoughts.

I looked up at her and grinned. “I do.”

“Will Mrs. Henderson let you have pets?” she asked hopefully. “She had a couple of cats.”

The woman who used to live here had moved into assisted living after she fell and broke her hip. But she wasn’t ready to sell the place quite yet, allowing me to luck into this rental.

“She said I was welcome to as long as I pay the pet deposit.”

Linc studied me carefully. As Arden fully recovered from her injuries at the hands of my father and his minion, Linc’s focus had turned to me more often than I liked. He was too astute for his own good, and I was a horrible liar. Another reason I needed some space from him and Arden.

“Maybe you should wait a little bit. You’ve had a lot of change lately,” Linc said gently.

Break up with my fiancé? Check. Leave my well-paying interior design job? Check. Move across the country? Check. Watch my dad go to prison? Check.

“Sometimes, it’s better to just rip off the Band-Aid.” At least, I hoped it was. I wasn’t rocking in a corner. Yet.

Linc frowned. “Maybe you should stay with us for a little longer. And I’m putting a guesthouse in at the new build. You can have that all to yourself.”

“Cowboy.” Arden laid a hand on his chest. “Ellie’s an adult. She wants her own space. This is good for her.”

My brother’s frown deepened. “I just?—”

“Love her. So, it’s natural for you to worry about her. But no one will mess with her in this house.”

My brows pulled together. “Why?”

“She just means Trace has you on his patrol officers’ drive-by list,” Linc said quickly.

Trace.

Arden’s brother and the most stunning man to ever see me at my worst. Those dark green eyes flashed in my mind again. So full of concern, with a healthy dose of pissed off.

“He doesn’t need to do that,” I gritted out as I pushed to my feet.

Arden looked from me to Linc and back again, then shook herhead. “I’m not getting between you two. El, we got groceries to stock your kitchen.”

I grimaced. Just another new thing I’d be tackling in this era. Cooking. Living in New York meant restaurants on every corner and some of the best cuisine the world had to offer. Sparrow Falls had some delicious spots, but certainly not enough to sustain me seven days a week.

“She’s going to burn the house down,” Linc muttered as he pulled me into his side.

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