Page 16 of Falling for a Grumpy Hero

Finally moving away from my boss as our main subject for the evening, we talked about her and Taylor, about how things were going at the school, and we reminisced about our days together at college. Eventually, we decided to go out for one last drink and walked to a bar overlooking the water.

Nineties rock music blasted from the speakers and from the outside as we approached. I saw a deck outside and massive glass sliding doors leading from the main area out. It wasn’t packed inside, but it was busy enough that there was a nice vibe.

No sooner had we walked in than I was surprised as someone called my name. I spun to see Jared Rexton, who I’d interviewed with for my job at CE, cutting through the crowd toward us. Dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, he looked a lot younger than he had at my interview, and I realized he was probably around Ford’s age.

With dark blond hair and beautiful green eyes, he smiled a lot more often than the man he’d conducted the interview for. On the day we’d met, I’d thought I’d be seeing a lot more of him, but I realized now that I hadn’t really seen him around the office much at all.

“Jared, hey!” I grinned when he reached us. “How are you? Where have you been?”

He chuckled. “I’m working on a big commercial project near Richmond, so I’ve been out of town a little more often than usual. I hear you’ve been busy since I left, though. The Heritage House project? That’s huge, Lila. You saved our asses with that one.”

The friend he had been with joined us, and Jared smiled again as he made the introductions. “Henry, this is Lila, Ford’s new shining star at the firm. She just landed that big residential contract I was telling you about earlier.”

The guy looked me over slowly and obviously before he extended his hand. “Henry. I’m a real estate broker. If your clients ever want to sell, give me a call.”

I was still flushed at Jared’s praise, but I shook with his friend and nodded. “Sure. We’ll do that, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. The couple who currently owns the house seems quite comfortable there.”

“Alright, well, it was worth a try.”

I smiled. “Always. Guys, this is Addy. Addy, I told you about Jared Rexton. I work with him.”

“Of course.” Addy gave both of them a friendly grin before she turned toward the restrooms off one side of the bar. “I’ll be back. I just need to pop into the ladies’.”

I inclined my chin. When I returned my attention to Henry, I was surprised when he was a little closer than he had been before. The guy was about my own height, which was five-foot nothing, and he had burnt copper hair and playful green eyes. He seemed nice, but for some reason, he also gave me the creeps.

“Buy you a drink?” he asked once Addy was gone. “We’ll get one for your friend too, if that’ll make you feel better.”

If it’ll make me feel better? Wow. “You know, we’re actually having a girls’ night, but you’re welcome to walk with me if you wanted to get a refill anyway.”

Jared smiled and squeezed his friend’s shoulder. “I’ll meet you back at the table. I’m good with my drink though, so don’t worry about me.”

Henry nodded, following me through the crowd to the sleek, glass-topped bar. “Jared told me all about that house you guys are going to be working on. He’s been gushing about your role in it all night. I’m impressed, Lila. It sounds like you’re going to be a big deal over there at CE.”

I blushed but not because I was feeling a vibe with him. I just wasn’t used to this much praise or attention. “Thanks. It was nice meeting you, Henry.”

“Oh, hey.” He made no move to back away from me, scooting a little closer instead. His eyes hooked on mine and he smiled. “We’re getting drinks, right? No need to run me off just yet. We can use this time to get to know each other a little better.”

I leaned back slightly, just trying to put some distance between us in a polite way. “Thanks, but I really should go find my friend. I just realized I don’t even know what she’d like to drink.”

“She’ll find us.” Henry seemed completely undeterred, and while he hadn’t done anything inappropriate, I was finding myself getting a little anxious.

Just as I was about to drop my usual sunny disposition in order to get him to back off a bit, a strong, firmly muscled arm cut between us. I twisted to see what the heck was going on, surprised to find myself once again looking up, up, and up into Ford’s stormy blue eyes.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” he said dramatically, holding my gaze as if he was begging for forgiveness. “I’ll buy you that drink I owe you now to make up for it.”

Henry’s features tightened into a scowl. “Hey, Ford. I guess I’ll just see you later, then.”

He aimed that last part at me, then spun around and marched away, clearly realizing that he’d been defeated. I glanced back up at my boss, wondering why my heart was racing so much at the sight of his sharp, chiseled face.

“What makes you think you owe me a drink?” I asked. “I’m also not sure how you can be late when I didn’t even know you’d be here tonight.”

He shrugged. “I could tell you were feeling uncomfortable. Henry tends to make women feel that way. He’s not bad when it’s just the guys, but he doesn’t seem to have a knack with girls.”

I smiled up at him, but he just looked miserable. As usual. He’d saved me from attention that had definitely been unwanted, but he didn’t even seem to be satisfied at having chased off this perceived threat.

But he was, in fact, here, and I was happy to see him. Happier than I should’ve been, but there was nothing to be done about that.

“How’s Rook doing?” I asked, figuring that was probably one topic he wouldn’t mind talking about, but he frowned.