Page 51 of Falling for a Grumpy Hero

Rodrigo had called me late yesterday afternoon in a huff about something that had happened at Heritage House over the weekend. We’d set a meeting for this morning and I figured Lila might want to go with me, so I headed out early, half to search for her and half to drive out to the house.

Hot, muggy air hit me like a wall when I left our office building, sweat immediately starting to bead on my forehead. I kept my eyes peeled for Lila on my way to my truck, but there was no sign of her pedaling down the street, perhaps just a little late for work. She also wasn’t at the bike rack, fidgeting with something in her basket.

Even so, I kept a lookout for her as I drove away from our offices, wondering where the heck she’d gotten off to. I didn’t find her, though. Resigning myself to going to the meeting alone, surprise trickled through me when I finally got to Heritage House and saw her bicycle leaning against the porch.

I frowned. She cycled all the way out here? What the fuck?

Immediately on guard, I wondered if Rodrigo had sent her an email or if maybe Eliza had called her over. Hurrying inside and hoping like hell that they weren’t taking out their frustrations about whatever happened on her, I walked smack bang into an argument between her and Rodrigo. Shocked to the core when I realized what was going on, I glanced between them and tried to get the full picture before I intervened.

“This is what Eliza wanted,” Lila was saying, hands on her hips and her chin slanted in defiance. “I’m sorry, but I can’t just change it.”

“You’re not in charge here,” he snapped, arms flying out to his sides. “I am, which means that I don’t need to take this from you.”

“Sir, Eliza has already approved the designs for the kitchen. We worked on them together and everything on there is precisely the way she wanted it to be.”

He scoffed. “Has your boss signed off on these?”

I cleared my throat to announce my presence and strode closer, still uncertain about what exactly the argument was about but ready to defend her if I had to. “Her boss is right here. If she says something has been approved, then it’s been approved. We’ll need to talk to your wife before we make any changes.”

Rodrigo spun to face me, cheeks red and ruddy as his eyes narrowed to slits. “She’s my wife. I know what she wants and I’m telling you, we’re changing those designs.”

“Sure, just get her in here and we’ll discuss it,” I said calmly, glancing at Lila and silently checking in with her.

She’d gone as white as a sheet, her eyes a little wider than they should be. I stepped closer to her, needing her to know I was on her side. Even if I still didn’t really know what any of this was about.

Clearly, however, Rodrigo had had enough. He was seeing red, his voice raising an octave or two with every word he spat at me. “There’s storm damage to the new roof, Callahan. Do you know why? It’s because it’s only half completed. It’s not even done yet and it’s already caving in.”

“Nor was it supposed to have been complete yet,” I reasoned. “We’re still on schedule and whatever damage the storm caused, we’ll fix before we continue. It shouldn’t change the timetable.”

He turned another shade redder. “That’s what everyone keeps telling me. We’re on schedule, but we’re not, and instead of focusing on the damage and how long it’s going to take to repair, this idiot of yours wants me to believe that my wife signed off on changes to the kitchen that I know nothing about.”

I was used to dealing with overbearing clients. It had happened time and time again, and it was no big deal, but having him target Lila was different. Rising to my full height, I stared him down and arched an eyebrow. I wouldn’t tolerate him treating her that way. Not if he wanted CE to continue with this project.

“Apologize,” I insisted, my voice suddenly quiet in a dangerous way that I hadn’t been intending, but didn’t mind. “You will not call her names. If you have a problem with designs that have been approved, it’s your wife you need to speak to, not my staff and we will not discuss any of it unless and until you apologize.”

He glared at me, but it seemed he wasn’t about to stand his ground. Shaking his head, he scoffed and started moving backward. “We’re talk about this later.”

Spinning around, he stormed out of the house while Lila stood beside me, wide-eyed and clutching her tablet. Her head swung toward me, but she was still pale as hell and her jaw slackened as she stared up at me.

“Are you okay?” I asked as gently as I could. “Do you want to tell me what you’re doing here all by yourself?”

“I’m…” She trailed off for a beat, swiping her tongue across her lips before she sighed. “I’m fine. Thank you for asking. I guess I just wasn’t expecting to walk into such hostility.”

I studied the vaguely guilty look in her light blue eyes and instantly knew I’d missed something. “So what were you expecting to walk into?”

“Eliza asked me to come here today. It sounds like she got caught up somewhere and asked Rodrigo to come instead. He started getting rough with me pretty much as soon as he showed up.”

“She asked him to meet with you?” I asked. “Why? He wanted to talk to me about the storm damage, but she shouldn’t have involved you. Especially not without my knowledge.”

“It wasn’t about that.” She grimaced, her eyelids sliding shut. “She asked me to be her interior designer, Ford. I haven’t told you about it yet because I haven’t felt like there’s been a right time to bring it up, but she knows I’m not done with school yet and she begged me to take the job. I told her I had to talk to you first. I said I would have to find out if you’d let me be the designer while I’m also still your assistant. Obviously, that’s more important to me.”

She kept going, opening her eyes again, but seemingly too afraid to look at me. “She and I talked a lot about her ideas for the house and I gave her some of mine, then she invited me out to lunch, which is why I was with her when you got hurt, but I haven’t given her a definite answer and⁠—”

She cut herself off, her head shaking as her gaze hit the floor. I’d never seen her look so down before, like she was genuinely scared of what I was going to say. How I was going to react.

Calmly leaning against the wall, I waited for her to finally take a glimpse at me before I responded. “I guess I should start paying you more, then. Since you’re no longer my assistant.”

She looked confused for a second. Her face fell, her mouth opening and her reddish eyebrows sliding together. “You’re firing me⁠—”