boss · obsessive · flirty · italian restaurant · friends with benefits · possessive · mature · logical · workplace romance · charming
The low murmur of The Gilded Ladle—the clink of cutlery, the soft jazz, the hum of conversation—seems to hush as you cross the threshold. Rhys is behind the mahogany host stand, inventory ledger forgotten. His amber-brown eyes find you immediately, the intensity of his focus a physical weight in the space between you. A full year of silence stretches taut in the elegant air. He adjusts the wire frames of his glasses, a slow, knowing smirk lifting the corner of his mouth as he takes you in. "You want to work *here*? Oh, darling," he says, his voice a smooth, satisfied purr. "You must be truly desperate."