Page 22 of Falling for a Grumpy Hero

FORD

F ashionably 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.

As the sun set, the scent of grilling hamburgers filled the air and the night dragged on, the barbecue turning into a huge party that was as loud as it was overwhelming.

While I’d never attended one of Jared’s annual soirees, I knew from having heard the stories around the office that they usually went pretty late.

Since I figured I needed to stick around at least until the burgers were done, I looked around for someplace to take a quick break.

I was starting to feel like the walls were closing in on me, and from experience, I knew that meant I should remove myself from the situation.

Strolling away from the house to a quiet corner of the yard, I wasn’t surprised when Rook suddenly appeared, knowing that he’d been trained to sense when I was in distress, but I was surprised when Lila materialized right behind him.

“Hey.” She offered me a soft smile, concern in her eyes as she watched me sit down on a bench under a tree I’d helped Jared plant a couple years ago. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Just needed a minute.” I stretched my legs out ahead of me and motioned to Rook as he trotted closer. “I thought you’d run away, boy. Welcome back.”

He let out a whine that I chose to believe was apologetic, coming over to rest his head on my leg. I brushed my fingers through his hair and inhaled deeply, my heartbeat evening out a little now that I was somewhat away from the action.

“Not one for big parties, are you?”

Lila didn’t seem judgmental or pitying. It was more like she was simply stating a fact as she walked around Rook and came to sit beside me on the bench.

It was long enough that we weren’t pressed up against each other, but I could still feel her presence at my side.

It helped almost as much as Rook’s to diffuse the tension that had been coiling in my blood.

A little taken aback by it, I shrugged and lifted my gaze to the festivities happening on the deck. “I don’t mind parties. It’s, uh, just the crowds. I’ve learned to give myself some distance when I need it.”

“Sometimes, I need some distance too, and I love people,” she volunteered, her voice sweet, soft, and lyrical.

“I think it’s great that you know how to look after yourself that way.

Too many people don’t know what self-regulation is, let alone how to practice it.

Personally, I think it’s pretty important to know yourself that well. ”

As she settled down on the bench, Rook moved over to sit at her feet, immediately on guard. I frowned at him. “What are you doing? You don’t have to protect her from me and you’re supposed to be blocking for me right now.”

Lila chuckled, glancing at him before she brought her gaze to mine.

In the darkness out here, I had to rely on ambient light from the deck to see her, and while I could make out her expression, I couldn’t quite see what was going on in her eyes.

They were pretty expressive, so it was disconcerting having a conversation like this with her without being able to see them.

“What are you talking about?” she asked gently. “Why should he be protecting you and what exactly is blocking ?”

I sighed. “You already know he’s a PTSD service animal. Positioning himself horizontally in front of you like that is to protect or guard you, but it also serves as a buffer to protect your personal space. Blocking.”

“Oh.” A smile spread on her lips as she reached out to stroke his neck. “Thanks, Rook.” She looked back at me. “Is this what he does for you?”

“It’s part of it,” I explained. This was the first time I’d ever really spoken to someone about PTSD, especially because people tended to treat me like a headcase when I did mention it, but Lila didn’t interrupt, just listening intently as I told her about Rook’s part in my so-called recovery.

“He’s also trained to interrupt or alert me when I’m feeling anxious and he wakes me up from nightmares. ”

“Wow.” She was silent for a beat. “That sounds like a tough job, Rook. Rather you than me.”

I felt my brow furrowing. “Are you… teasing me right now?”

She shrugged and to my surprise, I burst out laughing, relieved that she’d broken the ice a bit. At least she wasn’t treating me any differently now that she knew, which was a welcome change.

“Gee, thanks,” I said, words coming a lot easier than usual. Again. “So that’s what a guy gets for confiding in you, huh?”

“And what’s that?” she joked. “It’s called the truth, Ford. Would you want to wake you up when you’re having a nightmare?”

I chuckled. “No, I guess not.”

She grew quiet for a short beat. “Do you mind me asking what happened to cause your PTSD? If you don’t want to talk about it, then just tell me to butt out.”

“Do you really want to know?” I asked. “Why?”

“Well, I care about you.” Her brow puckered like she was uncertain if she should’ve said that, but my insides were suddenly feeling a whole hell of a lot warmer than they had in a long time.

“Plus, we work together. I’m your assistant and I feel like I’d be able to assist you better if I understood you better. ”

“I don’t know if this will help you understand me better.” God knows, I don’t understand myself much. “I was in a helicopter that got shot out of the sky.”

I didn’t mention Luke or waking up in a hospital in Germany, alone, and finding out that I’d been the only survivor. Barely. One day, I hoped I’d be able to tell someone the whole story of what had happened that day, but for now, I was wholly unable to.

Lila flinched and instinctively leaned in a little. “You got shot out of the sky? Oh, my god. That’s horrible. I’m so sorry, Ford. That must’ve been scary as hell.”

“Thanks, and it was.” I nodded at Rook. “That’s why I’ve got him now. I’m still not right again.”

“I don’t see how anyone could be. Scars are more than just physical. I know that better than anyone.”

You do? I was burning to ask what she meant, but I knew that I had some making up to do before earning any of her story. “Maybe that’s true, but I’ve got plenty of physical scars too.”

Bending over, I lifted my jeans to show her the scars on my leg. In the low light, she wouldn’t be able to see the detail of how gruesome it was, but she’d know it was there. That was more than I could say about most people.

Lila moved closer, grimacing. Her gaze ran up and down my shin, from the bottom of my knee to where the thick, shiny welts disappeared into my sock. “Shit, how many surgeries did you have?”

“Eight. At least I can walk again. They weren’t sure that was going to be possible.” I glanced over at her, startled by how safe I felt having this conversation. “How did you know to ask how many?”

She smiled and it was definitely a knowing one, which I hadn’t expected. “I’ve spent my fair share of time in hospitals. I got pretty used to comparing battle scars, even when the scars being compared were sometimes the invisible ones.”

Before I could ask why she’d spent so much in hospitals, she got up. “I should get going. I’ve got homework I need to work on tomorrow, but I liked talking to you. We should do it more often.”

My eyebrows swept up. No one had ever said anything like that to me before. “You got it. Good luck with your homework.”

“Thanks.” She gave me a lingering smile before she turned around and walked away. Rook whined as he watched her go.

My hand shot toward his neck and I petted him, watching her silhouette disappear onto the deck and into the house. “I get it, boy. I don’t want her to leave either.”