Page 11 of Falling for a Grumpy Hero

In front of the house, an expansive area that was also covered in gravel seemed to be a parking lot of sorts, and Ford rolled to a stop in the space closest to the steps leading up to the front door. I heard him inhale a deep breath, and when I glanced at him, I found him staring up at the building with the softest expression on his face I’d ever seen there.

It only lasted a moment, though. The next thing I knew, that stony mask was back and he was opening his door. He climbed out of the truck, his suit jacket stretching effortlessly across his broad shoulders, yet those slight lines it formed as it pulled were so sexy. They drew my eyes to the sharp planes of his body and the bulge of his bicep under his sleeve.

I swallowed in an attempt to bring some moisture back to my suddenly dry mouth, but before I could completely compose myself and follow him out of the car, the front door opened. I recognized the older couple who appeared in the doorway instantly. Eliza and Rodrigo Fierra, the owners of Heritage House.

After speaking to Eliza so extensively, I’d looked her up, and unlike my boss, these two had a huge presence online. I’d seen dozens of pictures of them.

Stuffing my desire for the surly man I worked for into the cage inside where it belonged, I mentally locked it up before I jumped out of the car. Eliza spotted me immediately, a wide grin spreading on her lips as she swept over to me with her arms open wide.

“Lila, darling! It’s so wonderful to finally meet you.”

I returned the woman’s smile, finding it hard to process this was a world-renowned artist who seemed so freaking happy to be meeting me. “It’s an honor, Ms. Fierra.”

“Oh, stop it with that. Call me Eliza, please.” She didn’t stop walking until she reached me, pulling me into a quick but loose hug. “I was delighted when I received your email that you would be joining us today.”

“I was delighted to send it.” I grinned as I stepped out of her arms and turned toward her husband. Both of them had aged gracefully, their faces a little crinkled and their black hair streaked through with silver, but their eyes were so alive and happy that I instantly knew they belonged to my tribe.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Mr. Rodrigo.”

The man waved me off when I tried to shake his hand and he pulled me into a hug too. “Any friend of Eliza’s is a friend of mine. She’s told me all about you. Welcome to our humble abode, Lila.”

As he let go of me, Ford cleared his throat and stepped forward to shake hands with them both, and I practically saw the apprehension bubbling to the surface behind their eyes. Rodrigo managed a tight smile though, sticking his hand out to shake with Ford even though it seemed like the gesture made him a little bit uncomfortable.

“Come take a look inside, Mr. Callahan,” Eliza said, sweeping a hand toward their front door. “You said it was just a walkthrough to get a better feel for the place, right?”

“That’s right,” he confirmed and fell into step behind her when she moved back into the house. “I managed to find the original blueprints and those should help us determine the structural weaknesses, but I wanted to see the house for myself.”

“Structural weaknesses?” Rodrigo scoffed as he followed them in. “All the place needs is some spit and polish. A few walls knocked down to open it up, and⁠—”

“You can’t just go knocking walls until you know which ones to knock down.” Ford glanced at Rodrigo over his shoulder and paused in the grand, high-ceilinged foyer to take a look around. “The last thing you want is to knock out a support beam and bring the rest of the roof down on top of you.”

I brought up the rear into the house, but sensing they were about to start bickering professionally over the scope of work that needed to be done, I decided to cut in. “You should listen to him, Rodrigo. Ford knows what it’s going to take to make this house a home again. Think of the parties thrown here, the art that used to hang on the walls. You have a piece of history and now you have a chance to put your stamp on it.”

Rodrigo seemed skeptical. Ford’s cheeks flushed. His jaw was so tight that I knew he was about to tell the man exactly what the consequences would be if he didn’t listen to what he was saying, but before he could turn around, fire me for interrupting, and go to war with a potential client, Eliza chimed in. Moving to her husband’s side, she laid a hand on his shoulder and peered up at him.

“Give the bid to Mr. Callahan. I’m in love with Lila. I trust her and she’d be on the job as well. Before she gets started on the interior design, he’ll make sure we’re safe here and that we’re not making changes that will endanger us or the house. That’s what we need.”

I froze. She thinks I’m Ford’s interior designer? Shit.

While we’d been emailing, I had given her some of my ideas, but I’d never said I was a designer. Ford watched the exchange, too close to not have heard what she’d said, but he didn’t correct her.

My eyes widened. This might mean that I’d be working on the project as the interior designer when the time came, and it took everything I had inside not to shriek for joy at the realization.

Meanwhile, Rodrigo took a moment to think it over before he nodded and extended a hand toward my boss. “You can have the job, Ford. Everything you want to do, you run it by us first?”

“Of course.” He shook on it and shifted back on his heels, eyes already lifting back to the frame of the house. “Can we take that tour now?”

How is he so completely expressionless about this? I thought he really wanted this contract, but I wouldn’t say it, looking at him now.

“Follow me,” Eliza said happily, and at least she seemed excited that the men had shaken on it. Winding her arm around mine, she pulled me with them and grinned. “I’m eager to hear more of your ideas, darling. Talk to me. What do you think about orange?”

I think you shouldn’t care what I think. Not yet, anyway. But I didn’t say that out loud. I spent the tour prodding her to tell me what she thought instead, and in the car on the way back, the first thing I did was to make sure Ford knew I hadn’t lied to them.

“I never told her I was a designer. All I said was that I have a degree in fine art and we exchanged a few ideas for the house while we were talking, but I never said that I would be the interior designer on the project if they went with CE. I am going to school for it, but I don’t even think I mentioned that.”

To my surprise, he didn’t seem upset, but then again, he was impossible to read. Frankly, I had no idea if he was mad or not, but on the other hand, how could he be? He just got the contract because of me.

He simply shrugged and kept driving without saying a word. It was a quiet ride until he spoke up once we neared the city. “Do you know what kind of art Eliza does? Especially to be well off enough to afford a house like that, and one that needs to be redone from the studs up.”