Page 35 of Falling for a Grumpy Hero

FORD

Fashionably late to Jared’s barbecue, I got some grief from him as soon as he opened the door and saw what I had on. “You’re wearing jeans in ninety-degree weather. What the hell, man?”

I shrugged, offering up a six-pack before I brushed past him into the house. “I’m here, aren’t I? I thought you’d throw a parade in my honor when I showed up, not give me shit about my clothes.”

He chuckled, clapping me on the shoulder after he shut the door. “Nah, the parade only happens later. If you actually stay long enough.”

“I won’t.” That much, I was sure of, but Jared laughed and led me through his home to the backyard, where almost every single member of my staff was gathered.

Some were on the deck under a covered patio, sitting around a table, drinking and laughing while playing some kind of card game. Others were standing around the grill—which hadn’t been fired up yet, but they seemed to be pretending their presence was already required.

The remainder of my people were down in the garden, sitting on lounge chairs around the pool while some splashed around inside it. That was where I finally spotted Lila and my mouth dried up at the sight of her.

Her hair was much darker now, wet and slicked back as if she’d just broken the surface from underwater. She was laughing and tossing a ball to Judith, an older woman in our HR department who was wearing a hat almost as big as the pool.

Lila’s body was mostly submerged, but from what I could see, her skin was creamy and smooth, her shoulders carrying the tiniest hint of red. Almost immediately, I had the urge to hunt down a gallon of sunscreen and bring it to her. And put it on her.

I breathed through those protective urges and focused on Jared. He was watching me closely, looking amused as hell when he realized who I’d zeroed in on.

“See something you like?” he asked, smirking.

“Relax. I was just wondering if that’s a sunburn on her shoulders.”

“She’s fine, Ford.” He clapped a steadying hand on my arm, which I immediately shook off. “The sun will be setting soon. It’s still hot, but it’s too late to get sunburned. I’ve been keeping an eye on her.”

“It might be too late now, sure, but it looks like it’s already happened.” I squinted like it might help me see a red tinge on her skin. “Thank you for letting me know that you kept an eye on her, but she’s my assistant. No more of that.”

He chuckled in an annoying way. “If you insist.”

Meanwhile, Rook was stuck to my side, but he seemed agitated and tense. I glanced down, noticing Jared’s annoying pooch begging for his attention. Rook didn’t seem the least bit interested, though something seemed to be going on with him.

Quietly giving him the release command, I expected that he wouldn’t leave my side, but I wanted him to know he was free to run around the yard if he needed to take a leak. To my complete surprise, he took off like a bat out of hell as soon as the word left my mouth, but it wasn’t the lawn he aimed for.

It was the pool.

I frowned, watching as he paced for a moment and even yelped, drawing Lila’s attention to him. A radiant smile broke out across her face when she saw him and she instantly started moving closer to the side of the pool.

A moment later, he’d paced a bit more and then he jumped right into Lila’s waiting arms. Jared laughed. “Just your assistant. Right. Well, it looks like Rook’s got a real thing for her. Are you gonna growl at him too?”

Disbelief rendered me immobile. I couldn’t even come up with a retort. I was way too shocked by Rook’s behavior. Again.

Clearly, he adored this woman. He normally hated both people and swimming, but now, he was happily paddling around her, following her to Judith and then joining in their game with the ball.

Utterly and unashamedly confounded, I blinked hard before I finally tore my gaze away from them to look at Jared again. “You might just be right about that. I don’t know why, but he seems to trust her just as much as he trusts me. It’s odd.”

“It’s not odd, dude. Lila is a good person all the way through. Rook feels that.” He tilted his head a little. “Don’t you?”

I shrugged him off. “Sure. Why not? I should go mingle, right?”

“Right.” He waved me toward a table on the far side of the deck with drinks and glasses set up on it. “There are coolers there with ice and some more beers. I’ll go add these. Thanks for bringing them.”

He lifted the six-pack and strode to the table with me, breaking it open and burying each bottle under a foot of ice in the cooler. I grabbed one of the beers that was already cold and went from group to group, greeting everyone and mingling—against my will.

Occasionally, I glanced at Lila, who was doing the same thing I was. Except that she actually seemed to be enjoying talking to people.

She’d put on denim shorts over her swimsuit, a yellow, orange, pink one-piece that was modest, but gave me my first real glimpse of her cleavage. It wasn’t an image I’d needed in my brain, but Lord is it there now.

Lila’s breasts weren’t huge, but the mounds were perfectly round and pressed together just enough to form a little valley I’d give anything to stick my face into. Shit, and just like that, I’m a teenager again. Whoop-dee-doo.