Page 8 of Falling for a Grumpy Hero

Still, I found him intriguing and I also really wanted to pick his brain a little, but I couldn’t do that unless we had the sort of relationship that allowed for it. We didn’t have that right now, so as I climbed into bed, bummed that my online stalking hadn’t delivered much, I decided that my only option was to make friends with my slightly scary, very grumpy boss, whether he liked it or not.

4

FORD

Another week had passed and I wasn’t any closer to landing the contract for the Heritage House. On top of that, I’d been having to dodge my bubbly assistant from all angles. She was constantly popping her head in my door, asking if I wanted coffee or needed help with anything.

Frankly, if she had so much time to bug me, she must be bored out of her mind with this job. I had been afraid that this would happen, considering the undoubtedly high-paced environment she’d come out of, but the advantage of having come out of that environment meant that she completed every task I gave her in record time.

Of course, that had me wondering if she was too overqualified for this job. I sure as hell didn’t pay her enough for her skills—and I was coming to learn that she was skilled at everything.

Sitting behind my desk, I could hear her humming along to whatever song was playing on her headphones. I’d left my office door open because it was summer and it was hot as hell, but since her office was right next to mine, that meant I could hear absolutely everything going on in there.

Her voice was sort of sweet and lyrical as she hummed, and for a moment, the sound didn’t annoy the shit out of me. In a flash, however, that moment was gone and I was back to scowling at nothing but air.

The sound of her fingers flying across the keyboard interspersed the humming, and that, at least, impressed me. She was replying to emails like it was nobody’s business, responding to every inquest from possible clients and following up with contractors.

Every so often, my phone chimed or my computer dinged with a message from her if she’d copied me into the email as well, but it was pleasant that she didn’t feel the need to do that with everything. I appreciated her ability to work independently and to take initiative when she needed to, perhaps more than anything else about her.

Since she kept bringing it up it, I even had a suspicion that she had been carrying on a thread with the historical society. She’d asked a few times if I went to their meetings and on every occasion my answer had been a gruff but firm no.

Although I had a feeling she’d been expecting an explanation, justification, or even an excuse, I hadn’t offered her any of those things. The answer wasn’t even that deep—I had a long-standing, solid relationship with the historical society, but I didn’t go to their meetings because I didn’t like... anyone.

I had a severe dislike of people in general, I supposed. Those who represented the historical society were more palatable than some others, but perhaps only because I needed them in order to effectively do my job. Or maybe because we shared a common interest.

I sighed and rolled my chair to the other side of my desk. My intention had been to get back to my computer to see if I could get any work done with all the noise she was generating in the background, but when I looked up, I realized I could see her from here.

The way her desk had been positioned to face my office meant that if she lifted her gaze right now, she’d see me looking at her, but I took the moment to check her out. Not in a sexual way, but in a safety way.

And okay, she is beautiful.

That was a fact and it hadn’t escaped my notice. While I still wasn’t convinced that she wasn’t unhinged for being so damn happy all the time, I couldn’t deny that she looked damn good while she was at it.

Sunlight streamed into her office through the window behind her, and it made that red hair glint with hints of gold and copper. She’d pulled it all up into a braid that was wrapped around her head, but strands had escaped during the morning and they’d fallen free to frame her soft, heart-shaped face.

Although focused on her computer right now, her light blue eyes were incredibly crisp and clear. I could read a lot of what she was feeling in them when she was close enough. Mostly, all I’d gotten from her so far was that she found me confusing and perhaps mildly terrifying, but she was definitely enjoying her job and the other people at the office.

Her small, athletic build was pretty appealing in itself. She didn’t have wild, pin-up girl curves, and yet, her body seemed like it would be soft and feminine under all of those ridiculously colorful clothes and busy patterns she wore.

Personally, I stuck to neutral tones and comfortable but classic styles. Gray, black, and white were my go-to, while any color that screamed appeared to be hers. Today, she wore a painfully bright yellow camisole underneath a short white jacket with jeans. Even her sandals were painfully yellow.

It was like she was trying to imitate sunshine itself. I didn’t get it.

As I looked at her, I forgot that I was staring until she suddenly brought her gaze up to mine and caught me in the act. She shot me a dazzling smile and my stomach tightened in a way I didn’t think it ever had before. It caught me off-guard.

Blissfully unaware of my suddenly raging discomfort, she got up and practically floated into my office like that stream of sunlight itself was carrying her forward. “What are you doing?”

I kept my face as straight as ever, but I felt the corners of my eyes narrowing. “Excuse me?”

“Well, it just looked like you were pretty deep in thought. I was wondering what you were thinking about. Maybe I can help.”

“I’m fine.”

Undeterred by the curtness of my response, she kept smiling and floating even further forward—closer to me. “Did you know that it’s difficult for an assistant to assist when the person they’re supposed to be assisting won’t tell them how they can assist?”

“Would you like to say assist one more time?” I asked dryly. “It seems like you need to get it out of your system.”

“My assist-em, you mean?” To my surprise, she laughed, apparently genuinely amused by my question and her response. The sounds bubbling out of her made my stomach tighten again. They were so feminine and carefree that they also sent a pang of something shooting straight through me.