Page 84 of Falling for a Grumpy Hero

Satisfied this meant I hadn’t somehow missed Lila’s exit, I rested my weight on my hand and stretched my leg out ahead of me. There was still a very real pull in the muscle as I stretched, but overall, a little stiffness wasn’t the end of the world.

“Is everything okay over there?” I asked.

Dan chuckled. “We’re all good, but thank you for asking. You haven’t been around in a while, though. How are you?”

“Oh, right…” I trailed off, thinking back to that day in his office and how much he’d helped by giving me just a slightly different perspective to consider. “I’m okay, actually. I know I’ve missed a few meetings and I’m sorry for not touching base. It’s just been busy at work with several of our larger projects wrapping up and having to vet some potential new projects.”

He hummed an understanding noise at the back of his throat. “You’re a professional and an extremely successful one at that. We understand that you won’t always be able to make it. You definitely don’t have to touch base or apologize every time you can’t. I was just starting to get worried.”

“Thanks, but surprisingly, I really am okay,” I admitted. “It finally feels like things are starting to change for me, but I’m going to do my best to be there tonight so I can tell you all about it.”

“You are?” I definitely heard surprise in his voice this time. “You’ll tell us about it?”

“Yeah, I think so.” I wet my lips with my tongue and wondered if I should be making these promises when I hadn’t ever been able to keep any in this particular arena, but I’d been thinking about it a lot and it was time. I felt stronger than I had in years. Ready for the first time. “I’ll be there and I will share. You can count on me.”

“Oh, I know I can. I’m happy to hear it though, son.” He hesitated for a moment. “The other reason I was wondering whether you were going to be here tonight is because we’ve got two new guys coming in.”

“Okay,” I said slowly, my brow furrowing as I tried to work out what that had to do with me. “We’ve often got people coming and going, though.”

“Yes, but these two have both only just gotten out of the military and they could learn a thing or two from someone like you.”

They could? Like what? How not to adjust to life after war for over ten years? I’m not sure that’s a lesson they need. “Uh, sure, but I’ve never really seen myself as the mentor type.”

He chuckled. “No, but you should. You’ve had a rough time of it, but you’re still here. You still come to most of our meetings despite fighting an uphill battle and through it all, you’ve built a tremendously successful career. You’re someone these guys could look up to, Ford. They’re where you were just after you got out, clueless about how to move forward and what to do with their lives now.”

“Huh.” I frowned, so shocked that all I could do was grunt when he told me to think about it and said goodbye.

Before I could even begin to consider what he’d said, Lila walked out of the building looking completely shellshocked. Her features were completely blank, her eyes much too wide, and it didn’t look like she was even seeing where she was going.

Rook darted over to her and she reached for him absently, but I honestly wasn’t sure she even realized he was there right now. I shot to my feet and raced over to her, reaching for her bohemian skirt clad hip and wrapping my fingers around it.

“Lila?” For a second, I thought she was going to burst into tears, but then she blinked her eyes into focus and a massive grin spread on her lips as her gaze met mine.

“I didn’t fail,” she said, her voice carrying that hushed quality of someone who had been thoroughly shocked. “I got the highest grade in my class, Ford. They’re giving me a scholarship that will pay for my entire final semester and I’m getting an award for the project. Can you believe it? The professor said that I’m a real talent. They didn’t kick me out. I’m going to graduate and I’m really going to become an interior designer.”

45

LILA

Absolutely over the moon, I held on to Ford hand and I couldn’t stop smiling. Rook was trotting happily by my side, letting out a little yap every now and then that let me know he felt the infectious joy in the air.

Even Ford wasn’t scowling. His smile was small, but the corners of his mouth had been tipped up ever since he’d set me back down after sweeping me off my feet and spinning me around a few times.

He even winked as we climbed into his truck together. “I’m taking you out for ice cream to celebrate.”

I laughed. “We haven’t even had breakfast yet.”

“Yeah, but let’s take a page out of little Luke’s book, where ice cream is fair game all day.” He started the truck. “We’ve got something huge to celebrate. Ice cream is the only way to do that.”

“Is it?” I twisted to face him after buckling up. “I didn’t know you were such a fan.”

“Who isn’t?” He pumped his eyebrows at me once before backing out of our parking spot and turning his attention to easing into the traffic.

The muscles in his forearm rippled as he shifted back into Drive. Concentration etched across his features as he waited for a gap between cars. For once, Ford’s jaw wasn’t tense and neither were his shoulders.

He’d put on a blue shirt this morning instead of white, black, or gray, and although he’d slid his sunglasses over his eyes, I could see that he was more relaxed than I’d thought he was capable of when I’d met him. In fact, ever since we’d run into Melissa, every single day he’d been getting just a little bit less grumpy.

Just like I’d suspected that night after we’d seen her, something really seemed to have clicked into place deep inside him. A realization of some sort. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I didn’t ask, once again trusting that he would come to me when he was ready.