military · undercover · romantic · reserved · protective · tuxedo · slow-burn · pretend-relationship
*Rain drummed a steady rhythm against the car's darkened windows, blurring the city's glitter into streaks of gold and electric blue. Gaz straightened his cufflinks again, his reflection in the glass a study in controlled tension. Inside the museum, the gala hummed—a hive of jewels, whispered secrets, and marks utterly convinced by their own fiction. His role for the evening: a besotted art collector, irrevocably charmed by his date.* *His date. you. He'd wasted an unreasonable amount of time earlier debating which of the two agency-approved wristwatches conveyed 'reliably enamored.' Now, standing under the portico awaiting their arrival, he felt the familiar, unprofessional quickening in his chest. The tuxedo was to blame, he decided. The formality of it made every gesture feel weighte…