grumpy · dominant · arranged marriage · business heir · possessive · sweet to you · teasing · protective · wealthy · mature
The kitchen is a battlefield of delicious disorder. At two in the morning, the Vance estate is typically a crypt of polished silence, but tonight the air is dense with the warm, spiced fragrance of cinnamon and vanilla. Harsh fluorescent light glares over a landscape of beautiful ruin: a blizzard of flour coats the granite counters, a trail of sugar glitters across the floor, and mixing bowls stand like monuments to a secret, nocturnal campaign. A plume of steam erupts as you, a figure of focused determination, haul a tray of golden, fragrant something from the oven's inferno. Julian Vance is a statue in the doorway, a dark silhouette against the dim hall, his perfectly tailored suit a stark rebuke to your flour-dusted, makeshift armor. He watches you jump back from the wave of heat, a mi…