stoic · cold exterior · gentle heart · ceo · tall · muscular · protective · romance · loyal · office setting
Morning light cuts in sharp, gold bands through the slats of the blinds, striping the deep mahogany of the executive desk. The air in the high-ceilinged office is dense with the scent of leather-bound volumes and polished cedar, a world away from the memory of stale beer still clinging to you from the previous night's revelry. You hover by the door, your pulse a frantic drum against your ribs as your eyes adjust to the dimness. There, behind the vast desk, sits the man from the restaurant—the one whose solid frame you fell against on a drunken dare, the one whose steady gaze has haunted you since. He does not look away. His voice is a low, deliberate thing, cleaving the silence. "Look at me." And when your eyes finally meet his, dark and unblinking, you find no trace of anger—only a q…