Page 33 of Elsie's Strong Shelter

“Have you spoken with him this morning?”

She shook her head and took a sip of coffee. The bitter, black liquid scalded her tongue before sliding down her throat. “Not yet. Since my mom is keeping him home from school, he’ll want to sleep in a little. Not like it’ll be that late, 8:00 am max, if he was able to sleep at all.”

“I’m sure your parents kept him pretty busy yesterday. Probably tuckered the little man out.”

“I hope so, although not much would make him forget he hasn’t spoken to his mom, and nobody knows where she is.” A familiar stab of pain echoed inside her. She didn’t want to dwell on all the negative possibilities of where Mila was, only on how to bring her home. “I had fun last night. I can’t think of anythingelse that would have distracted me as much as grilling you over a friendly game of UNO.”

“You took it easy on me,” he said with a grin.

Lifting her shoulder, she leaned back in her chair and kept her gaze on the glow of the sun hovering around the mountain peaks. Birds chirped and the colorful explosion of leaves in the woods around them shimmered in the early morning air.

She considered playing coy but didn’t want to. Didn’t want to pretend like Dean meant nothing to her. Didn’t want to sit here and act like she didn’t want to strip him down and know the real him. “I want you to tell me things because you want to, not because you feel obligated—even if by a game. These last couple of days have been absolute hell but spending time with you has been a bright light. I want to get to know you outside of this craziness. When we can take time to be two normal people, opening up to someone we care about. Someone we want toknow,because it feels right.”

He stared at her with wide eyes, mouth slightly agape.

Shit.

She should have kept her mouth shut. Now she’d gone and made everything awkward as hell. Humiliation scorched the back of her neck and crept around to her face, probably shining like a beacon.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything. Just forget it.” She shot to her feet and took a step toward the door when a warm hand stopped her in her tacks. She turned and was so close to Dean, the scent of sandalwood and citrus wafted over her. She stared up at him and swallowed hard at the fire in his eyes.

“I don’t want to forget it, don’t want to ignore whatever’s happening between us. I won’t lie, the idea of getting close to you has scared me for a while. I’ve tried to keep my distance. Tried to tell myself we’re only friends.” Erasing the space between them,he smoothed his palm against her jawline. “But honestly, I don’t want to be just friends.”

Her throat went dry. Before she could talk herself out of acting on her feelings, before logic and sense stormed back to take center stage in her brain, she lifted onto her toes and pressed her lips to his. Electricity shot through her veins and stole her breath. Stars burst behind her closed eyelids. Her core tingled, and she pressed her body closer to his.

His arm went around her waist, and his tongue pressed into her mouth. His lips moved in a steady rhythm with hers.

She moaned, her entire being wanting more of him. More of his touch, his taste, his tongue. In this moment, she wanted to escape the fear and worry and growing doubt that her friend was still alive.

She simply wanted Dean.

The sound of the doorbell broke them apart.

Dean rested his forehead on hers and pulled in a long breath. “Whoever that is has the worst timing ever.”

She chuckled and found his hand with hers. “Come on. Let’s see who it is. If it’s nothing important, we’ll ask them to leave and continue this somewhere a little more comfortable.”

A low growl hummed from his throat before he led her inside and marched for the front door. He yanked open the door and his body went rigid. “Gina? What the hell are you doing here?”

Dean’sentire world tilted on its axis. Cold hard anger settled like a rock in the pit of his stomach. He hadn’t laid eyes on his ex-wife since she’d thrown his clothes on the lawn and told him their marriage was over.

And now she was here. In his house. With the same smile on her face that he fell in love with so many years ago.

Gina’s gaze landed on his and Elsie’s joined hands and her smile faltered for an instant. “Hi, Dean. I hoped to find you home, but I didn’t mean to…interrupt.”

Dean released Elsie’s hand and wiped his palm on the soft material of his gym shorts. “You didn’t answer my question. Why are you here?”

Gina ran her hands through her thick, black hair—a nervous habit she’d never been able to break. Her blue eyes were wide, her tall, slim frame showcased in a fitted long-sleeved shirt and leggings. “Can we talk?”

Elsie shifted at his side then wrapped her arms around her middle. “I have some things to take care of. I’ll just step out on the back deck.”

“You don’t have to go,” he said, kicking himself for not being more considerate of her. “Gina, this is my friend Elsie.”

Gina tucked in her lips and gave Elsie a little nod. “Nice to meet you.”

“You, too.” She lifted her gaze to Dean’s. “I’ll give you some privacy.”

The flash of hurt in Elsie’s eyes cut him at the knees. He wanted to reach for her, to tell her to stay, to tuck her hand back in his, but shock paralyzed him. Before he could respond, she lifted her hand in a hip-high wave and hurried out the back door.

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