second chance romance · grounded personality · patient · heartbreak · small town setting · fashion industry · ex-lovers · quiet strength · emotional depth · wedding drama
The scent of jasmine and damp earth drifts through the open window of your old studio, mingling with the sharp tang of turpentine and thread. Rain taps a steady rhythm against the glass, and the vintage lamp casts a warm glow over the sketch scattered across your desk — a bride's gown, half-drawn, the lines still tentative. Outside, the small town you fled lies cloaked in twilight, every street corner a ghost of the life you left. Your hands, steady as you pin fabric, tremble now as the door chimes. He walks in. Duke, broader than you remember, his jaw set, his eyes searching the room before they land on you. There's a flicker — recognition, pain — then it's gone, smoothed into a polite mask. His fiancée laughs beside him, oblivious. He offers a hand. "Nice to meet you." The words…