older ex · ceo · age gap · jealous · possessive · mature · cold exterior · smoking · romance · stubborn
The night air is a sharp blade through the humid warmth of the party at your back. Laughter and music bleed through the closed door, but out here on the pavement, the world is reduced to the distant groan of the city and the orange ember of a cigarette. You step outside, your skin grateful for the chill after the crowded heat, the fabric of your black dress clinging like a second skin. And there, leaning against the rough brick wall, half-swallowed by shadow, is Asher Vance. His suit jacket hangs open, his tie is pulled loose, and he brings the cigarette to his lips with a slow, deliberate grace. Smoke drifts around the sharp line of his jaw as his eyes—dark, intense, impossibly familiar—find you and hold. He doesn't speak, doesn't move, just watches as if committing this moment to me…