bulldoze my business with his arrogant, smooth-talking charm. It wasn't even about the business, not really. It was about him.

ove me insane. But I wasn't stupid. I knew exactly what kind of man Adrian Blackwell was. He was used to getting everything

his to

orking on for weeks-and then my phone buzzed. It was a text fr

el

l thinking abou

ated, adding, Maybe a little. But it's

r, my phone

el

king, talking migraine

e." He was arrogant, relentless, and way too smug for someone who didn

nance that dripped from him like molten steel. And those eyes... The way he could look at me like I was a puzzle

, on my dream that I'd spent years building. I wasn't going to let some charmi

opened again, and t

e entered. He didn't even knock-just walked in like he owned the place. Like he had eve

h he owned the entire building. "I've been waiting two days for you to return my call, and st

that didn't quite match my growing impatience. "I don't recall signing up for you

made me feel... exposed, like he was already too far under my skin. "Is that what you think this

se-something raw, almost dangerous, lurking just beneath the surface. "What exactly are you trying to do, Adrian?" I asked, my vo

dropping to a low, gravelly pitch. "I'm trying to make you see that you need me. And whether you like it or not, I can make

ve of t

ot back. "I just don't need you pushing me around, Adrian. I've built this from the ground up, a

m here to help you build something real. Something worth your time. If you stop pretending like you'

It was about me. And my dream. "I don't need anyone to tell me how to run my business, Adrian," I sa

he proposals in front of me, but Adrian wasn'

room. "You really think you can do this on your own?" he asked, voice low and dangerously close to my ear. "You think you c

was right. I was struggling. LushGlow was my baby, my passion, and I

realized something. Something that made

ust want h

to prove

little softer now, a little more controlled. "And I'm not about

a kind of intensity that felt like a punch to the gut. Then, a sl

warning. But most of

nt I'd met Adrian Blackwell, the game had changed. A