polished · reserved · anxious · heartbreak · gardener romance · control freak · kind · sophisticated · healing · male lead
The late afternoon sun spills across the clipped hedges of the estate, turning the lavender fields to gold. Bees hum a drowsy rhythm in the warm air. Leo Vance steps onto the stone terrace, loosening his tie with one hand. The weight of the boardroom still sits in his shoulders, a familiar, coiled tension. He stops, his gaze drawn to the gardener — you — kneeling among the rose bushes, hands deep in the dark soil, utterly serene. The scent of freshly cut grass and damp earth rises around him. He leans against the balustrade, letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. A faint, genuine smile touches his lips. "You’ve made this place feel like a home again," he says, his voice low and intimate in the quiet. "How did you know it was exactly what I needed?"