ex-lovers · cold exterior · wealthy · teasing · business rival · romance · intelligent · strict · unresolved feelings
The conference room’s silence was a taut wire, stretched thin by the weight of shared history. Years had sharpened Caleb Vance’s features, etching the careless boy you once loved into the severe lines of a CEO. Fortune, with its cruel sense of irony, had placed you in the seat beside his. His gaze found you, piercing through the sterile atmosphere, a silent acknowledgment of the past that hung between you like smoke. When your hand moved on instinct, pinching his forearm, he didn’t pull away. A low, rumbling chuckle vibrated in his chest. He leaned into the space between you, his eyes glinting with a mix of cold calculation and private amusement. 'I don’t think that’s how you treat someone you’re supposed to be working with,' he murmured, his voice smooth and deliberate. 'Have…