Page 20 of Falling for a Grumpy Hero

Well, I wasn’t going to take it. A lot of people in my life had underestimated me because I was a nice person. A kind, bubbly person. They thought that meant I would let them walk all over me, but that had never been true and it never would be.

Leaving Ford slack-jawed and looking a little shocked by what had just happened, I spun on my heels and stormed out of his office. I was no pushover. No one got to treat me the way he had and not get a little of their own medicine right back at them—not even my boss.

10

FORD

The door slammed and I blinked. Then I blinked again. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I had imagined the ray of sunshine exploding into a violent burst of light or if Lila really had just torn me a new one.

I was mildly impressed that she had it in her. I hadn’t expected it, but I knew I’d deserved it. Sucking in a couple of deep breaths, I released each one slowly and searched my insides for a shred of composure.

The last twenty-something hours since I’d received that letter had been rough, the darkness completely overwhelming me again, but it wasn’t right that I’d taken it out on her. Once my pulse had returned to normal, I reached for my jacket and buttoned it up, then ran a hand through my hair, feeling the tiniest touch more like me.

Ready to… well, not apologize or explain, but to say something to her, I left my office and walked the two steps to hers, but as I got to her door, I caught a glimpse of her through the glass wall between the CE office space and the elevator.

The stainless steel doors slid open in front of her and she strode in, folding her arms tightly across her chest after jabbing a button. A moment later, the doors slid shut and she was gone. I felt my stomach form a weird, writhing pit of something, maybe regret, or maybe disappointment. Maybe a mixture of both.

Either way, as I spun to head back into my own office, I caught sight of Jared and a few of the other employees sipping coffee in the break room down the hall. They were all eyeing me, but at least the rest of them had the decency to look away when I caught them in the act.

Jared didn’t have that decency. He arched a questioning eyebrow at me and I shook my head. I didn’t owe him or anyone else any explanations. Slipping back into my office, I was fuming. Not only was Lila gone, but despite our whispers, the entire office clearly knew we’d gotten into a fight—and then Jared had looked at me as if I had to answer to him.

Once I’d shut the door behind me, I slid the lock into place just in case. I needed a few minutes alone, which I realized was saying something since I’d practically only just arrived. Regardless, alone was my preferred state of being.

I sat down behind my desk, exhaling a deep breath, but instead of getting to work, I turned my chair to face the bank of windows behind me. Looking out at the city that had been my home since I’d gotten my degree, I drank in the crystalline waters of the bay in the distance and fought against the onslaught of memories that threatened to break into my mind.

Memories of a sandy desert rather than clear blue water. Memories of the acrid scent of something burning and the disorientation of spinning out of control. My breath tried stalling in my lungs, but I blew it out deliberately, inhaling slowly and repeating the process.

I swallowed hard as those memories fell back. Not far, but far enough that I could focus on the here and now—and in the here and now, I’d probably fucked up.

There were at least a dozen different ways I could’ve handled that situation with Lila better. Maybe I could’ve thanked her, for one. The office was somehow brighter, and when I really looked for what had caused the change, I realized she’d cleaned the blinds and the windows too, letting in the sunlight I’d been hiding from before.

We had cleaners that came through here at night, but I’d long since stipulated that they weren’t to spend any longer than five minutes in this office. That gave them time to do the bare minimum—empty the trash, wipe the surfaces, maybe a quick push of a vacuum cleaner over the carpet. But that was it.

Part of why I’d done that was because of the sunlight. I didn’t want it, but now that I had it, it wasn’t horrible. The sun here was different than what it had been like there, and I wasn’t a vampire. Obviously, I went outside every damn day. I’d just preferred the light in my office to be slightly more muted.

Or something like that. Sometimes, even I couldn’t explain it right. It had just been what I’d needed—or thought I’d needed—at the time.

I got up and started pacing in front of my newly cleaned windows, finding I rather enjoyed the warmth of walking in the sun. Chewing my lip as I contemplated my next move, I wondered if perhaps I had come down on her a little too hard.

Although I had been upset about walking in to find that she’d completely destroyed the thought process I’d had going on, I couldn’t really blame her for thinking she’d be helping by tidying up. Okay, so when she gets back, I’ll tell her that. I’ll say that I don’t blame her.

I didn’t know if it would be enough, but it was the best I had right now—despite a nagging feeling in my gut that the old me would’ve done so much better. That guy is gone, though. Dead and buried.

Finally going back to my computer, I fired it up and tried to get some work done while I waited for her to come back. She was probably just cooling off at the coffee shop downstairs. In the short time she’d been here, I’d noticed that she had an affinity for their lattes.

Maybe that’s it, the other thing I could do for her. Buy her a latte.

I nodded to myself, making a mental note, but an hour later, she still wasn’t back. The time jumped out at me from my computer screen and a frustrated growl lodged in my throat. This is ridiculous. It wasn’t that bad.

Planting my feet on the floor, I shoved my chair back and stood, intent on going to find her. Jared and the others must’ve gone to do some actual work because they weren’t just sitting around anymore. I stalked to the stairwell instead of the elevator, figuring that this was probably a good time to work off some of the aggravation still rolling through me.

Taking the stairs two at a time, the four flights down were just enough to coax me off the edge before I was striding in the lobby. Since it was after lunch, the cafe and coffee shop were quieter than they had been when I’d come in earlier, and I immediately realized she wasn’t there.

My next stop was going outside, but her silly little bike with that obnoxious basket wasn’t padlocked to the bike rack anymore. Holy shit. She actually left.

It was yet another thing I hadn’t expected from her, having the balls to walk out in the middle of a workday. So far, today had taught me that the girl had a larger pair on her than I ever would’ve guessed. Nice as she might be, she clearly had a problem with… me?

No, jackass, a voice from my past whispered from the back of my mind. She has a problem with being treated like shit. Take a page out of her book, grow a pair, and apologize.