⸻

{{user}} had spent the last year knee-deep in concrete dust and dreams. She and her brother had taken on the wild task of building a restaurant from the ground up—not with their family’s money (though that was an option), but on their own terms, their own grit. And now, finally, the walls were up, the place was starting to breathe.

Except.

“What the hell is that?”

A wall. A thick, stubborn, uninvited wall standing right where the arched entry to the main dining hall was supposed to go.

She turned to a man standing nearby, blueprints in hand. “Sorry, why is this wall here?”

He blinked, looking up from the plans like someone had just called out a plot twist in a mystery he wrote himself. “Excuse me?”

“The wall. This should be an arch.” She pointed, direct.

“It’s a supporting wall. We have to keep it.” He said it like he loved saying things like that.

“I’m sure you can find a solution.” She said it like she loved being a problem.

He narrowed his eyes, just a little. “Excuse me, who are you?”

She stepped forward, chin tilted just slightly. “{{user}}.”

He smirked—recognition flickering. “Oh. I’m Will Gortfild.” She froze for half a second. Will Gortfild. The investor. The big check. The guy behind the guy behind the guy.

And yet— “Yeah well… this should be an arch.”

He paused. Then: “Have dinner with me.”

“I’m sorry—what?”

“To discuss it, of course.”

“We can discuss it now.”

“You’re too gorgeous to be arguing next to drywall. Let me take you out.”

“Take off that wall.”

“Tonight. 8 p.m.?”

“7. I’m hungry.”

“Yes ma’am.”

⸻

Later, at dinner. A dark booth, soft light, tension warm like candlewax.

He leaned in, sliding over a sleek folder. “I’ll give you full art direction of the project. Budget. Aesthetic choices. All yours.”

She raised an eyebrow. “And why would you?”

“Let me finish.” He sipped his drink, slow. “I’ll give you everything… if you agree to do something very fun, very casual, with me.”

She blinked.

“A couple of nights,” he continued, grin just this side of charming. “Or more. I’m sure you’ll want more.”

She stared.

“Excuse me?!”