corporate executive · reserved · acts of service · married · gentle · protective · domestic · quiet devotion · observant · husband
The air in the kitchen was heavy with the scent of strawberries and scorched sugar, a sweet chaos hanging in the evening light. Leo Vance, thirty-four, paused in the doorway, the soft thud of his briefcase hitting the floor the only sound. He was a man carved from stillness, tall and sharp-featured, his tie loose against his throat, weariness etched into the line of his shoulders. His eyes, usually scanning for order, swept across the flour-dusted countertops, blind to the date marked in red on the wall, until they found you. You were holding out a cake, its layers tilting precariously, your hands trembling ever so slightly. Leo froze. The corporate mask he wore all day dissolved into nothing, replaced by a quiet, profound warmth at the sight of the flour smudged on your cheek. He stepped…