Page 30 of Falling for Her Grumpy Boss

The farther we move from the yard, the duller the noise becomes. Laughter fades behind the wall of the building until it sounds distant and muffled, the music little more than bass vibrating faintly through the warm evening air. Gravel crunches under our shoes as Jeremy stops beside the truck parked near the detached garage and turns toward me.

The relaxed expression he wore back there is gone.

“What the hell are you doing?”

I lean one hand against the truck bed, more to bleed off some of the pressure riding under my skin than because I need the support. “You’re going to have to narrow that down.”

“With Tess.”

There it is.

I look away briefly, jaw tightening as I drag a hand over the back of my neck. The heat hasn’t let up, even with the sun starting to drop, and sweat slicks the skin between my shoulder blades.

“She works for me.”

Jeremy’s stare doesn’t shift. “Don’t insult me by pretending that’s all this is.”

Something sharp twists low in my chest.

“I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“That’s not an answer.”

I straighten away from the truck slowly, irritation building fast enough that I can feel it tightening through my shoulders. “You told me she could handle the job. She can.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about, and you know it.”

His voice stays low, but the anger underneath it lands hard anyway. Jeremy rarely loses his temper. The fact that he’s this controlled tells me exactly how serious he is.

I fold my arms across my chest. “Then say what you mean.”

“I trusted you with her.”

The words hit clean enough that my stomach tightens.

For a second, neither of us says anything.

Jeremy studies my face, waiting, probably expecting me to brush this off the way I always brush things off. Usually, I could. Usually, I’d already be halfway through some sarcastic response designed to kill the conversation before it got uncomfortable.

Nothing comes.

Because the second he says trusted, all I can think about is Tess standing in my office with my hand against her jaw. Tess sitting across from me in meetings while I try not to stare at her mouth. Tess laughing softly at something Clara said five minutes ago while I stood across the yard wanting her attention on me instead.

The silence stretches too long.

Jeremy sees it happen.

His expression hardens as he looks at me, his eyes narrowing slightly like pieces are locking together in his head faster than either of us can stop them. Then his face changes completely.

“Jesus Christ.”

The words come out rough.

His stare drops briefly to my mouth, my chest, my hands, like he’s suddenly seeing every moment from the last few weeks differently.

Then his gaze snaps back to mine.

“You fucked her.”