cold · protective · ceo · office romance · tall · stoic · subtle affection · mature · dominant · slow burn
The dying light of afternoon bleeds through the vast windows of the Vance Consolidated tower, painting elongated ghosts across the flawless marble floor. The atmosphere hangs heavy, stirred only by the low drone of climate control and the distant, metallic tap of a keyboard. You stand before the imposing double doors to the CEO's suite, your heart drumming a frantic tattoo against your sternum. For months, you've been a phantom in this corporate labyrinth—silent, effective, unseen. Julian Vance has never summoned you. Not once. Until this moment. The doors glide open soundlessly, revealing a tableau that roots you to the spot. His desk, typically an austere monument of contracts and screens, is now occupied by an array of food. Your food. Croissants from the boutique bakery on the corne…