Page 29 of Falling for a Grumpy Hero

FORD

E arly the next morning, I woke up to dark skies but no storm. Heavy gray clouds hung overhead though, gathering in an ominous way that made me certain we were going to be getting more rain later.

Rolling out of bed, I stretched out and gingerly put my foot down, groaning when pain stabbed through my leg. I gave it a moment, slowly standing so I’d be adding weight to it gradually.

It still hurt like a bitch, but I’d been careful not to overdo it and it seemed to be working. Mornings were the worst now, but as the day went on, the pain would steadily become less. As soon as I could manage it, I limped out of my room to check on Lila.

She’d left the guest room door open and she was still fast asleep, that red hair bright against the plain white bedding.

Totally tangled in the sheets, her lips were parted and one of her legs was hooked around the comforter, a smooth expanse of pale skin up to her mid-thigh where it disappeared under the fabric.

For a minute, I forgot why I shouldn’t be doing it and just stood in the doorway, drinking her in.

The gentle swell of her breasts under my shirt.

The way I could dwarf her tiny body under my own.

A memory of that kiss we’d had back at Heritage House flashed through my mind, and need built deep inside.

My cock was pressing against the front of my sweats as I remembered what it’d felt like to have her soft body against me.

I pushed down on the erection with my palm, shaking my head at myself and turning just as Rook carefully jumped onto the bed and snuggled up beside her. Once again, I wished I could be that mutt.

I gave him a look, challenging him to get the hell down, but when he dropped his chin and burrowed in, I shrugged.

He wasn’t going anywhere and I wasn’t going to risk waking her by trying to convince him, so I headed to the kitchen to make some coffee.

At least the power was on again and I wouldn’t have to go digging out an old camping stove to get some caffeine into my veins.

As I waited for the machine to start, I stared out the kitchen window, surveying the storm damage in my backyard.

It was a complete mess, with leaves, twigs, and branches scattered across the lawn.

In my neighbor’s yard, furniture had tipped over, tossed around in the wind, and kids’ toys were scattered around like an invisible giant had kicked over a box in a playroom.

Grateful it wasn’t my problem to deal with, I fixed my coffee. When it was ready, I carried it with me to my front yard. I stood on the porch with my mug, my eyes widening at the havoc the wind had wreaked on my street.

An entire tree had come down and several others were broken. The stump of the downed tree was blocking the cul-de-sac and the rooftop of the gazebo was gone. My neighbors’ pristine yards were covered in water and debris, the street quite flooded too.

I sighed around my coffee, noticing some of the other men in the neighborhood doing the same thing. Drinking their coffee and looking grouchily upon the mess we had to clean today.

Later , I thought. Lila had a late lunch, but no dinner. She’s probably going to be starving when she wakes up.

Why I cared, I didn’t know, but she had been doing her best to look after me ever since I’d been hurt. The least I could do was feed her after she’d gotten stuck here against her will. Okay, and I appreciate that she let me talk yesterday, so there’s that.

It had been the first time that I’d told the story and it’d torn me open on the inside, and while I’d felt like I’d been bleeding all over her, she’d offered silent support.

She hadn’t peppered me with questions or tried to minimize what had happened by saying that it was in the past and I should move on.

Strangely, she hadn’t said much at all. When I’d really needed her to shut up, that was exactly what she’d done.

She hadn’t pressured me to go to the memorial, nor had she offered meaningless platitudes. The way she’d kept quiet and just let me speak had made it easier to get the words out. How she’d handled it after had made me realize that perhaps talking about it wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

Maybe, if I talk to the guys in the support group, I could actually really help some of them.

That thought stuck in my head as I made breakfast for us both, and it was like the glue it used to stick itself to my brain was simultaneously itchy, painful, and soothing.

Lila didn’t wake up while I was cooking and I wasn’t about to go yank her out of bed, so I ate, left her plate, and headed back to my bedroom.

Standing under the warm spray of the shower, images of her lying in the bed in the room right next to mine constantly played through my head.

She was so close, wearing so little, and my dick was reacting in all the ways it hadn’t done for a long time.

I ignored the urges, biting my teeth to suppress a groan as I washed up and climbed out once I was done.

Hard as a rock, every brush of even the towel against my skin seemed like torture, sending sparks of pleasure through me and creating an undeniable need for friction, but I wasn’t the type to jerk off to thoughts of my assistant, sleeping peacefully only a wall away.

Focused on getting dressed for the drizzly, cool weather outside and deliberately turning my thoughts to the task ahead, I finally managed to get rid of the erection and headed to the garage.

Being so damn attracted to her was becoming really fucking frustrating, but no matter how hard I fought it, it didn’t seem to be going away. The only thing I could do was to keep ignoring it and hope that it faded over time.

Once I was in the garage, I grabbed some of the tools I’d need to help with the cleanup outside and hit the button to open the doors, not sure why I was crossing the street to talk to neighbors I’d known for years but had never said a word to.

I also wasn’t sure why I ended up in Mike’s garage next door, fixing a chainsaw while talking about the last football season over the whirring sound of other people’s chainsaws and axes outside.

The neighborhood was banding together to help cut up and move the tree blocking the road and here I was, unexpectedly making friends.

Mike grinned at me after I’d tightened the loose bar nuts that had been making the saw unusable. “I didn’t know you were so handy, Callahan. I might just come knocking on your door every time I’ve got a problem from now on.”

I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, but he was pleasant enough that I shrugged instead of barking at him. “I’m happy to help if it’s something I can fix.”

“We should get out there,” he said, offering me a hand to pull me up from the short stool I’d been sitting on.

As much as I hated to accept it, I slapped my palm into his and allowed him to do it. Since the alternative was exacerbating my injury or risking falling flat on my face, it seemed like the best option. He let go of my hand when I was up. Grimacing, I limped after him.

“Are you sure you shouldn’t rest that leg for a minute?” he asked. “It looks like you’re struggling a little.”

I was, but mostly, I just wanted to see if Lila was up yet. “Yeah, maybe I will. I’ll see you out there in a bit.”

He nodded and jogged off, and I went back into the house to find her scarfing down her breakfast in the kitchen.

She was back in her own clothes from yesterday and her hair was damp, indicating that she’d grabbed a quick shower, but she seemed relaxed and her blue eyes were as bright and happy as ever.

I’d been wondering if I’d see a trace of pity there today after everything I’d told her yesterday, but nope.

“Good morning,” she said cheerfully when I walked in. “Thank you for breakfast. You didn’t have to.”

“If I didn’t cook it, you would’ve and you’ve done enough of that around here. I’m not a complete caveman.” I hesitated for a moment. “How did you sleep?”

“So well.” She let out a soft moan that didn’t help my attraction to her fade at all. “That bed is amazing. That’s all I’ll say. Thanks for letting me sleep in.”

“No problem. Do you want me to take you home when you’re done?”

Her eyes drifted toward the window. “Well, it’s Saturday and I don’t have any plans, so I’d rather stay and help if there’s anything I can do. I took a peek out the window earlier and it’s looking rough out there.”

“Yeah, they’re cutting up that downed tree as we speak. I told my neighbor we can load it into my truck when they’re done. I’ll drive it away since I won’t be of much help out there with my leg the way it is right now.”

She smiled. “I’ll help with that, then. Keep you company.”

I didn’t hate the offer, and since she really didn’t seem to be in a rush to get home, I didn’t turn it down.

The two of us headed out together when she was done eating, with Rook trotting happily behind us, and we spent the rest of the day meeting my neighbors, making connections, and cleaning up the neighborhood just in time for another thunderstorm to roll in.

We hadn’t even driven the tree away yet, but when huge raindrops started pelting down, everyone scattered, resigned to continuing tomorrow—if it had cleared up by then. After a day on my feet, I winced as I sat down at the kitchen table, a searing pain shooting through me.

Shit, I really should’ve taken it easier than that.

Worry clouded Lila’s eyes as she watched me stretch the leg out slowly. I’d hoped the pain would subside when I sat down, but it didn’t, the searing simply turning into a dull throb. She sighed and pushed her hair behind her ears as she came closer.

“Can I take a look at your stitches to make sure they’re okay?” she asked quietly.

I nodded, watching without saying a word.

She knelt at my feet. Her touch was gentle as she rolled up my sweats, her gaze concerned.

After spending an entire day with her—again—working as a team and getting some serious good done for my neighborhood, I’d seen her cracking the tension after the storm and bringing smiles to everyone she interacted with.

She really was just pure sunshine—no matter what the weather looked like outside—and now she was tending to me as carefully and thoughtfully as if she wasn’t exhausted after the day we’d had.

Something shifted deep within me as she held my sweats lightly above my knee, her gaze sweeping up and down before she lifted her eyes to mine and smiled.

“Well, the good news is that the stitches are dissolving and the cut looks okay. There doesn’t seem to be any swelling either, but it’s a little bit redder than I’d like. You should probably stay off it as much as you can for the rest of the weekend. Just to be on the safe side.”

Not even glancing at the ugly scars from the crash, she started lowering my sweats, her hand brushing the inside of my other thigh by accident.

The light touch, even through the fabric, sent a jolt through me and Lila flushed.

Her gaze flew up to mine, uncertainty in her eyes as her eyebrows tugged together.

“Sorry. Did I hurt you?”

“Nope, but you are killing me,” I muttered, rising at the same time she did.

Her head cocked, a pink blush warming those cheeks. I wasn’t sure if it was because she was wondering what I meant or if she just didn’t notice how close we were, but her face was only inches away from mine and she didn’t take a step back.

We were so close that the faint, sweet scent of her drifted up to me when I inhaled.

I heard her swift intake of breath when she looked up and realized that I was right there.

That strange electricity I’d always felt when we were this close together hummed between us again, and this time, I couldn’t fight it.

My restraint snapped. After over twenty-four hours of forced proximity, of having her in my space, wearing my clothes, and having to walk away whenever the attraction rose up, I couldn’t take it anymore. Didn’t want to.

“Fuck it,” I murmured under my breath, catching her face in my hands and bringing my mouth down on hers.

Lila gasped a second before her lips parted under mine, but she didn’t push me away.

She stepped into me instead, her arms winding around my neck and pulling me closer.

I kissed her like I should’ve done the first time, a real, deep kiss burning with every ounce of the raw need I’d been feeling for her for weeks.

Her softness melted me in real time, her fingers in my hair fueling the kind of fire within I hadn’t felt for years. Desperation poured out of me as the kiss turned into something deeper and I sat down, pulling her into my lap.

I knew I had to stop. If we ever crossed that line, I needed to mean it, but I couldn’t bring myself to break it off just yet. It felt too good to finally have her heat so close to my touch-starved body, to hear her heavy breathing in my ears, and to feel her grinding against me.

I had to stop, and I would. Just maybe… not quite yet.