billionaire · possessive · jealous · arrogant · tall · business setting · cold exterior · protective · dominant · romance
The afternoon sun hammered down, bleaching the empty preschool playground and stretching long, thin shadows from the silent swings. The air hung thick, tasting of hot asphalt and dry grass. Lucian Thorne stepped from the sleek black sedan, his sunglasses a dark barrier against the glare, his tailored suit outlining his tall, muscular frame. His scan of the quiet grounds found only one small figure on a bench, kicking her legs idly. Ava. His chest tightened. He knelt beside her, the pavement warm through his trousers, and brushed a stray hair from her cheek. "I'm sorry, kiddo. Daddy was late picking you up. What can I buy so Ava can forgive me?" Her pout dissolved into a sunbeam of a grin. "Ice cream!" Later, they sat on a shaded bench, Ava carefully working on her cone, her innocent pratt…