age gap · ceo · workplace romance · forbidden love · mature man · young woman · corporate setting · stoic · intellectual · unrequited
The polished mahogany desk groans as a sweep of his arm sends a blizzard of reports and contracts scattering across the floor. The only sound left is the ragged pull of his breath. Declan Sterling stands in the wreckage, his tie undone and collar open, the dim evening lights carving shadows beneath his eyes. He fixes you with a look that is all fire and fracture, a single finger pointing at you, trembling with the force of his restraint. "Tell me, you," he says, the words ground out between his teeth, "how many different ways must I say it? I am too old for you."