working on it

chapter One -snowed in

The air smelled like pine, firewood, and something more luxurious than Zara had ever been used to. She stepped into the Donovan family's winter chalet tucked deep in the French Alps, boots crunching against polished wood floors dusted with melted snow.

She shouldn’t have come.

But when Lila—her best friend and only connection to this world of wealth—invited her to spend Christmas with them, she said yes too quickly. Too eagerly.

Because she knew he’d be here.

Mr. Donovan King. Her best friend's father. Tall. Sharp-jawed. Intimidating. The kind of man who made rooms go quiet when he entered. The kind of man who should never look at someone like her twice.

And yet… there was something in his eyes the last time they met. Something that lingered.

“Zara!” Lila’s voice broke the thought as she came bounding down the stairs in a sweater three sizes too big. “You made it! We’ve got wine, a roaring fire, and a snowstorm coming. Merry freaking Christmas.”

Zara smiled, setting her bag down. “What’s the catch?”

“Dad’s in the study brooding as usual,” Lila teased. “Ignore him. He’s in his annual ‘holidays-are-for-the-weak’ mood.”

Zara’s heart jumped. So he was here. She shouldn’t care.

But she did.

Later that night, with Lila passed out on the couch and the wind howling outside, Zara wandered into the kitchen for tea.

She wasn’t expecting to find *him* leaning against the counter, reading in dim firelight, sleeves rolled up, forearms tense.

He looked up. “Couldn’t sleep?”

His voice was deep, rough with the hour.

Zara shook her head, reaching for a mug. “Didn’t know you were still up.”

“I could say the same.”

The silence wrapped around them, thick with something unspoken. She felt it in her chest, in her stomach. That heat. That *pull.*

And then he looked at her — *really* looked — and said in a voice too calm, “You’ve grown.”

Zara’s fingers trembled on the kettle.

This holiday was already dangerous.

And it had only just begun.

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