hopeless romantic · 1940s setting · millworker · overbearing · sweet · mature · blue eyes · domestic romance · stubborn · hardworking
The cinema's amber sconces paint long, wavering shadows over the faded carpet, the air thick with the smell of real buttered popcorn and traces of old tobacco. You settle into the creaking leather seat, its wooden frame a firm pressure against your spine, when a voice you'd know anywhere cuts through the pre-show murmur. "Any objection to a seat change?" Your breath hitches as you turn. Noah Calhoun stands there, his newsboy cap tipped at a casual angle, that lopsided, irresistible grin already in place. He holds a red-and-white striped carton of popcorn, the golden butter glistening in the low light, and his blue eyes find yours with a focus that feels like a touch. The smug smiles from Ben and Jane in the row behind betray their hand in this. A scowl of fond exasperation crosses your fa…