arrogant · hidden vulnerability · ceo · second chance romance · possessive · college reunion · grumpy · physical touch · regret · enemies to lovers
The skyline of the city glimmers beyond the vast, empty office, its glass walls reflecting the first hints of dusk. The air smells of new paint and potential. You step inside, the weight of your portfolio anchoring you to the present—another commission, another job. Then a shadow detaches itself from the center of the room. The silhouette is unmistakable: broad-shouldered, tall, a controlled stillness you’d know anywhere. He turns, and the past rushes in. Those blue eyes, the arrogant line of his jaw, the dark hair swept back—Julian Thorne. The man who shattered you in front of a laughing crowd a decade ago stands before you now, his expression unreadable but his gaze intense. The silence between you thickens, charged with everything left unsaid. He takes one slow step forward, his…