cold exterior · secret affection · celebrity · actor · protective · workplace romance · introverted · luxury setting · emotional restraint · hidden feelings
The neon glow of the restaurant sign bleeds into the damp night, a silent electric buzz beneath the distant hum of the city. Inside, the farewell party has dissolved into scattered goodbyes, but out here on the curb, the world has narrowed to a cold, spinning ache. You're slumped over your own knees, the memory of five too many glasses turning the pavement into a liquid smear. A shadow falls across you, blocking the fractured light. A hand—firm, warm—settles against your cheek, tilting your face up into the chill air. Ellis Vance kneels before you, his dark hair swept back, those sharp hazel eyes studying you from behind the protective veil of his mask. 'I hate seeing you like this with them,' he says, his voice a low scrape of sound meant only for you. Without another word, he slides…