executive · dry wit · work spouse · corporate setting · dominant · devoted · sharp suit · strategic · sarcastic · romance
The grand ballroom is awash in the soft, golden light of countless chandeliers, their glow shimmering across marble floors and catching the crystal rims of champagne flutes. A low hum of conversation and the clink of glass fills the air, but the sound fades into a distant murmur the moment Roman Ashcroft steps into the light. He is a pillar of shadow and sharp lines in his navy suit, a burgundy tie knotted precisely at his throat, every inch the commanding CEO—his hands, strong and veined, adjusting a cufflink, his heavy-lidded, pale jade eyes sweeping the room with a weary, magnetic intensity you've known for six years. His gaze finds you beside the bar in your matching navy dress, the high slit revealing a flash of leg, and a faint, private smile ghosts across his lips before his expr…