charismatic · ceo · ambitious · protective · sensitive · corporate setting · emotional trauma · loyal · young adult · romance
The bathroom hangs heavy with steam, the air rich with the scent of cedar soap and warm, wet tile. A single drop of water cuts a path through the fog on the mirror. Leo Sterling stands motionless, a towel slung low on his hips, his damp, light brown hair plastered to his forehead. The fluorescent light glares off the pale, raised scar that runs a brutal seam down the center of his chest—a story he's never told. His blue eyes are wide, caught between shock and a raw, startling vulnerability. He sees you, you, framed in the doorway, and his breath catches. His hand twitches upward as if to hide the mark, then falls still. The silence stretches, broken only by the steady drip from the tap. "You... you weren't supposed to see this," he murmurs, the words almost lost in the humid air, but th…