Page 43 of Falling for a Grumpy Hero

The therapist inclined his chin, finally tearing his gaze away from Rook to look at me. “I really am sorry about this. If I’d known you had a dog, I would’ve warned you before.”

“Yeah, I should’ve mentioned him.” I backed away from the door and Rook moved dutifully with me. “What time should I be back?”

“Make it two.” He grimaced as he watched me hobbling back a little further. “Have you got a crutch or any other kind of walking aid?”

“Nope, and I’m not going to get one either.”

He should know that going in.

The guy nodded, but I felt his gaze on me as I turned and limped back to my truck. Rook’s head cocked as he looked up at me. Those soulful brown eyes held mine, as if he was trying to ask if I was sure I didn’t just want to leave him outside, but my lips tipped into an involuntary smile and I shook my head.

“I know it’s annoying, but I’m not leaving you out here alone. Let’s head to the office for a minute to grab some paperwork and I’ll come back later.” His head cocked a little more and I groaned. “Yeah, you’re right. It’s just an excuse to see her, but she met with the Fierras for me this morning and I want to find out what happened.”

I swore I saw disapproval in his eyes before he turned his head away, and he didn’t look at me again until we got to the office. I wonder what his problem is. I admitted that I wanted to see her.

Shaking my head at the judgmental mutt, I strode out of the elevator with the heat of him against my leg. Jared stood at the reception desk, his eyes widening when he saw me. “Ford, this is a surprise! I’m happy to see you back and on your feet, bro. How’s that leg treating you?”

“I’m not back,” I said, smacking my palm into his to shake his hand. “I had to postpone PT, so I figured I’d drop by and pick up some of the stuff I need to work from home.”

“You could’ve just asked Lila to bring it over for you,” he pointed out, smirking as he fell into step beside me. “She’s become a force to be reckoned with around here when you’re not around. Seriously, man. She’s awesome.”

“You should tell her that.” He’d hired her and she’d done the work, so this didn’t really have anything to do with me. But I still felt a surge of pride hit my chest. “Is she staying on top of everything?”

He shot me an amused frown. “Dude, I just said she’s a force to be reckoned with. Obviously, she’s staying on top of things.”

“Good.”

“I heard she’s been coming over to your place to keep you in the loop.” He paused for a beat, but when I didn’t confirm or deny it, he sighed and moved on. “I’ve been thinking about that offer I made way back at the beginning when she started working here. Are you sure we can’t swap assistants?”

“They’re not Pokemon cards.” I bristled, the thought of him poaching her to the commercial, civil engineering projects so much more grating than I would’ve expected. “Just drop it.”

I knew he was trying to fish for information about my feelings for Lila, how I felt about her coming over to my place and whether I’d let her go work for him, but I was pretty good at keeping that kind of thing hidden. Jared just had no reason to know that since I hadn’t felt anything for anyone in a long time. I had kind of thought I was done having those kinds of feelings, until Lila.

He arched an eyebrow, a knowing gleam in his eyes, but he accepted that I’d brushed him off with a shrug. “Okay, well, the offer stands.”

I scowled but an excited squeal from Lila’s office drew my attention away from my friend—and made me realize that Rook had left my side. He was bounding over to her and Lila shot up from her chair, laughing as she dropped into a crouch to greet him.

“Hey, beautiful boy. What are you doing here? It’s so good to see you.” She pushed her fingers into his gleaming coat, grinning as she petted him vigorously. “What happened to PT? Did he skip out on it?”

Oh, so she didn’t completely forget that I exist. I watched her with him from the doorway, morning sunshine casting a golden hue over the both of them. Strangely, it stirred me a little, this sweet, heartfelt reunion of theirs.

It’d only been a day, but they were acting like it’d been years. Finally, she pushed to her feet, still smiling at him before she looked up at me, her hands quickly running over her ankle-length, yellow dress to smooth it out.

“Hi,” she said, eyes a little wider than usual for a beat. “I didn’t know you were there. Sorry, uh, how are you feeling? Why aren’t you working with the therapist?”

I pushed away from the frame and shrugged. “It turns out he’s allergic to dogs, so I had to postpone the appointment to this afternoon. I’ll just go drop him off at home before I go.”

“I can hang out with him,” she offered without skipping a beat. “Since you’ve taken a step back from most of our projects for the next few weeks, I don’t have that much to do. I’ll bring him home later. Once you’re done.”

Rook sat by her feet, his tongue out and tail wagging as he glanced at me like he was pleading with me to agree. I looked between them, her hand still in his fur, and nodded.

“Yeah. Sure. If you want to hang out with him, be my guest.” It was none of my concern if she wanted him to stick around the office with her. “You’d be saving me the trip home, so, uh, thanks.”

She beamed at me, blue eyes bright and happy as they dropped back to Rook. “You hear that, boy? You and I are going to be spending some quality time together today.”

“I need to grab some paperwork,” I said suddenly, my voice curt. Unless I was completely losing touch with my emotions—which was entirely possible—I’d just felt a stab of jealousy. Of my dog. For getting to spend quality time with a human Iwouldn’t have minded spending some time with myself.

“Let me know if you need any help!” she called after me, but I waved her off and shut my door behind me, more frustrated than I reasonably should’ve been about the situation that was developing within.