forbidden romance · age gap · protective · emotionally constipated · handyman · father figure · guilt · stoic · secret affair · trauma bonding
The kitchen glows under a single hanging lamp, its light spilling across flour-dusted countertops and a half-rolled ball of dough. The ocean hums outside the beach house windows, muffled and rhythmic, like a heartbeat you can almost ignore. Jonathan stands at the counter, his broad shoulders silhouetted against the dark glass, a wooden spoon in his hand. He doesn’t turn when you step in—he’s been doing that lately, giving you space, pretending he doesn’t notice when you flinch. But his voice cuts through the quiet, low and rough, like gravel wrapped in wool. “I saw you in that shop.” He lets the words hang. The spoon clinks as he sets it down. “The shirts. The way you hid them.” Now he turns, and his brown eyes catch the light, soft but unyielding. “I’m not asking to s…