Dear Grumpy Boss: A Brother’s Best Friend Office Romance (The Harder They Fall)
Dear Grumpy Boss: Chapter 5

“MS. LEVY!”

The front desk clerk of my apartment building, Terrence, waved me over. “You have a delivery.”

“Oh! Okay.” I stopped at Terrence’s desk as he disappeared through the door behind him.

It was the end of my first week of work. All I wanted was to go upstairs, put on yoga pants, pour a glass of wine, and have a debriefing session with Saoirse. But I could slow my roll for a delivery, especially since I had no idea what it could be. Surprises were my favorite.

Terrence reappeared, carrying a sweet little bouquet of pink flowers. He placed them on the desktop in front of me.

“Here you are, Ms. Levy.”

“Oh wow, these are so pretty.”

He grinned. “They are. Enjoy them.”

I picked up my flowers, telling him to have a nice weekend. By the time I made it up to my apartment, I had checked every place I could for a card. Like the previous three weeks, there wasn’t one.

Saoirse spotted the flowers right away when I walked in. “Oooh, another bouquet from your secret admirer?”

I placed them on the kitchen island and laughed. “I’m sure Elliot had his assistant send them to me then forgot he told her to do it. It’s a ‘welcome back to Colorado, please don’t jump off a mountain’ gesture.”

She swung the spatula she was using to cook around in the air in front of her. “Isn’t it more fun to imagine they’re from someone other than Elliot?”

I shook my head. “I’m not quite ready to romanticize my life again. My feet are stuck to the ground.”

There was also the fact that I hadn’t been in this state long enough to have acquired any admirers, secret or not. And if I had one, I wouldn’t know what to do with him. The only reason I was functioning like a semi-normal human every day was out of necessity and spite. I wouldn’t let my broken heart break the rest of me. When I was ready to one day use my heart again, I needed the rest of me to be whole so I could put myself back together.

She blew out a puff of air. “Fine. Be practical.”

I laughed on my way out of the kitchen, retreating to my bedroom. Slipping into yoga pants and a purple hoodie, I mused to myself that I really should stop by the Andes company store so I’d have at least one piece in my wardrobe.

I could hike. I used to love going on hikes. My Chicago life had been a world apart from how I’d grown up. Patrick wasn’t very outdoorsy, so I became not very outdoorsy too. But I was getting back to me.

And I needed hiking apparel.

Next week, I’d buy some cute hiking gear from the shop and take myself on a hike.

I still had at least a bottle of wine to drink before I thought about that.

We were eating the dinner Saoirse had made—chicken fajitas, fresh guac, homemade tortillas—and I was on my second glass of wine in addition to the edible I’d had before dinner.

“Weston made me eat lunch with him today.”

Her eyes went wide, and she started coughing, her hands flying up to cover her mouth.

“Oh my god, don’t just blurt things out like that when I’m chewing,” she admonished. “Give a girl a chance to swallow.”

Our eyes met, and because we both had a twelve-year-old boy inside us, we snickered.

Saoirse wiped her mouth. “Okay, tell me everything.”

I shrugged. “His assistant asked me to join him for lunch, I politely declined, so he brought lunch to me.”

She sucked in a sharp breath. “You politely declined.”

“Yes. I knew it would be awkward, and he was only asking out of obligation, so I tried to pass to save us both. But, of course, he’s stubborn and egotistical, just like Elliot, so he had to have his way.”

“Or maybe he wanted to have lunch with you.”

I picked up my wineglass, swirling the amber liquid around. “I doubt it. Anyway, it was strange and uncomfortable. I’m almost certain he felt the same way too. Hopefully that will be the last time we put ourselves through that.”

She put down her loaded tortilla. “How did he look?”

I rolled my eyes.

Saoirse cackled. “That good, huh?”

Admitting defeat, I nodded. “He’s more beautiful than he ever was. It’s sick.”

Weston had the immaculately dressed, artfully scruffy tousled-hair thing down to a science. He walked the line of high-powered CEO and sexy outdoorsman. He had always been handsome. Strikingly so. But as he’d gotten older, his attractiveness had been honed to something hard to look at straight on.

Saoirse sputtered. “Sick? You’re crazy, Lise. If he insists on being in your face, enjoy the view.”

“I told you, he’s not going to be around. He did his good deed, which I can admit was very nice of him, but I’m sure I won’t see much of him anymore.”

Saoirse and I made the most of the weekend. We’d gone to a farmers’ market, loitered at a coffee shop for a few hours, then hit a pub with a few of our college friends Saturday night. Sunday, we did an easy hike and lazed about. It was perfection.

Monday started filled with optimism—until I got to the elevator bank and a familiar face was waiting there.

Not Weston.

Worse.

Miles.

The elevator came. I didn’t move. He stepped on, and when he turned and faced the doors, his eyes lit on me. With recognition? It was hard to tell. I hadn’t moved, and since there was no one else around, it was even more obvious I was resisting boarding the elevator with him.

He grinned and beckoned me with his hand. “Come on. I don’t bite.”

Oh jeez.

Trapped, I got on.

The seven was already lit up.

Oh no.

“What floor?” he asked.

“Um. Seven.”

He swiveled around, taking me in. His fingers snapped. “Are you kidding me? Ellie Levy?”

I forced a smile. “Hi, Miles.”

I barely got his name out before he was hugging me tight. My arms stayed limp at my sides, but he kept on hugging. If I wasn’t mistaken, he was sniffing my hair too. His nose was definitely firmly buried somewhere behind my ear.

Finally, he pulled back, cupping my upper arms.

“What in the world are you doing on this elevator with me, Ellie Levy?”

Miles was a less refined version of Weston. Still as handsome as the devil, but where Weston was chiseled, Miles was more roughly hewn. If he’d been born in the eighteen-hundreds, he could have easily slid into the role of a cowboy, bandanna, fancy hat and all. These days, he reminded me of an overgrown frat boy, which he probably was.

My eyes darted to the climbing numbers. “It’s Elise or Lise, please. And I work here now. On seven.”

His hands squeezed my arms. “What the hell? Does Westie know about this?”

I breathed out a laugh. “Of course he does.”

Miles let go of one of my arms to smack his forehead but quickly returned to hold me again. “What am I even saying? Westie knows all. He just forgot to mention one of my best girls was going to be working on the same floor as me. That troublemaker. He probably wanted me to return from Paris to a surprise.”

The elevator doors slid open. Miles slipped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me out with him. If he hadn’t, I probably would have stayed all day, riding up and down between the floors aimlessly.

“What brought you back to Colorado, Ellie?”

“It’s Elise or Lise,” I answered rotely.

“Oh, right. Sorry. It’ll take me some time to get that through my thick skull.”

My mouth quivered. “Please try.”

“I will. Scout’s honor. Now, answer the question. Tell me everything that’s happened to you since high school.”

When we neared my desk, I managed to duck under his arm and spin away from him, putting the desk between us. His jaw dropped. I supposed I had moved quickly.

“This is me.” I curled my fingers around the edge of the desk. “I have a lot to do, so…”

His dark-blond brow winged. “Unfortunately for both of us, my desk is all the way across the space.” He wagged a finger at me. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you dodging my questions, Elise.”

His eyes rounded on my name, making sure I noticed he’d gotten it right that time.

Sucking in a breath, I decided to answer him now rather than revisit this conversation later. Hopefully, he’d move on to someone more interesting.

“I moved back to be closer to Elliot. Plus, my job in Chicago wasn’t what I wanted to be doing. So, here I am. There isn’t much to tell about my post–high school years, honestly. College, work, that kind of thing. Probably the same as you.”

He winked at me. “I have a feeling you’re holding out on me. Let’s have lunch and catch up.”

What was it with these Aldrich men and insisting on having lunch with me? Jeez.

“Actually, I have plans. We’ll catch up another time.”

He shoveled his fingers through his overgrown hair. “I’m holding you to that, Lisie.” He cocked his head. “Actually, I like Lisie better than Ellie. It’s going to stick. I feel it.”

Miles wandered away without a goodbye, and I collapsed into my chair. So much for my Monday morning optimism. Working with one Aldrich brother had been trying. Two? I wasn’t certain it was going to be possible.