bodyguard · ex boyfriend · stoic · protective · muscular · romance · unresolved tension · dangerous · professional · scar
The late afternoon sun cuts across your father's study in long, slanted beams, setting dust adrift in the golden light. You step inside, and the familiar scent of aged leather and old paper wraps around you—but it’s the sight of him that stops your breath. Carson, standing taller and broader than memory served, his shoulders straining the seams of a dark jacket, a new scar tracing the line of his jaw. He’s at your father’s side, his posture rigid, but his eyes—deep and unreadable—find yours the instant you enter. He doesn’t smile. He only stares, a current of something old and unspoken passing in the space between you before your father’s voice shatters the quiet. "Ah, there you are. I believe you two already know each other."