Page 29 of Falling for Her Grumpy Boss

I shift my beer from one hand to the other and look away toward the grill, toward Logan waving a pair of tongs around while Asher tells him he’s about to burn the food again. Caleb laughs somewhere behind me. Someone else opens another beer. The noise rolls through the yard in uneven waves, easy and familiar.

I should be paying attention to that.

Instead, my gaze slides back to her.

She still hasn’t looked in my direction.

Not once.

Something sharp settles under my ribs, low and irritating enough that I immediately push against it. She’s talking to Clara. Holding a conversation. That’s all. There’s no reason she should be scanning the yard looking for me like some teenager at a damn school dance.

The beer goes down colder than I expect, the sharp bite of it settling at the back of my tongue.

I keep my eyes on the grill, on Logan nearly smoking out half the yard while Asher swears at him for touching the burgers too early, but none of it really lands. The noise blurs together after a while, voices and laughter folding into the thick summer air while my attention keeps pulling somewhere else.

Back to her.

And maybe that’s the part that gets under my skin most.

Because I want her to look for me, too.

I want her to feel this same restless awareness every time I step into a room. I want her attention catching on me the way mine keeps catching on her, over and over again, no matter how many times I drag it somewhere else. Instead, she stands there talking to Clara like the fact that I’m twenty feet away means nothing at all.

The thought sits uncomfortably in my chest.

I take another swallow of beer, longer this time, but it doesn’t wash the feeling down. If anything, the taste turns bitter halfway through, sharp enough that I grimace slightly as I lower the bottle.

Fuck.

A rough laugh almost escapes me before I bite it back.

This would be funny if it were happening to someone else.

But it’s happening to me. The guy who’s spent years moving through women without stopping long enough to let any of them matter. The one everybody jokes about because another assistant quits, and another blonde leaves my bed, and life keeps moving without so much as a scratch left behind.

And now look at me.

Standing in Jeremy’s backyard like some lovesick idiot because one woman won’t glance across the damn lawn often enough.

The realization settles slowly, heavy enough that I can’t shrug it off once it lands.

I’ve done exactly what my brothers did before me.

I fell for her.

Hard.

I take a step forward, then another, cutting past Logan and Asher while they argue over the grill. Caleb glances up as I pass, his gaze flicking toward Tess before settling briefly on me. Something in his expression shifts, subtle but knowing enough that irritation flashes hot under my skin.

Apparently, I’m not hiding this nearly as well as I thought.

Before I can reach the deck, Jeremy steps into my path. He doesn’t block me outright. Just shifts enough that I either stop or walk straight into him.

“Help me grab another case from the garage.”

The words sound casual enough that nobody nearby pays attention. Clara keeps talking to Tess without even glancing our way.

I follow him around the side of the house anyway.