This is a terrible mistake.
I know it, and yet I keep moving forward like I’m under some spell. He is not a friend. He is not someone I should trust. Adrian Blackwood sits on the board of the company I co-founded. We’ve met only a handful of times, and every conversation between us has been brisk, professional, and limited to a few words.
And yet… every time, something in me tightened. His presence lingers long after he’s gone, unsettling me in ways I don’t admit out loud. The truth, though I hate to admit it, even to myself is that I find him achingly attractive. The strong line of his jaw, the steadiness in his eyes, the quiet authority in the way he carries himself. It makes me nervous, makes me shy, like I’ve stepped back into a younger, more vulnerable version of myself.
Sometimes,
