Living Arrangements: bwwm romance

Joan
Cedar Grove was supposed to be a quick in-and-out. A project to breathe new life into an old library. I expected quiet nights, long hours with blueprints, and maybe a decent cup of coffee. What I didn't picture was him. Dr. Ethan Harper. All tall, brooding intensity and gentle hands that make me wonder how they'd feel on more than just animals. When a housing mishap leaves me and Max, my golden retriever, stranded, he reluctantly offers his spare room-a temporary fix that quickly becomes anything but simple. Sharing his apartment is an exercise in exquisite torture. Every accidental brush of hands, the way my body reacts when he walks into a room, or how domestic bliss looks suspiciously like morning coffee and stolen glances across the kitchen ignites a fire within me. The air between us crackles with unspoken desire. Beneath his gruff exterior, I sense a raw hunger that mirrors my own. I came to Cedar Grove for a job, but now I'm questioning everything.

Ethan
I live a quiet life. My clinic, my animals, my solitude. People are...complicated. I prefer the straightforward honesty of a wagging tail. Then Joan arrives, a burst of sunshine and golden fur, disrupting my carefully constructed routine. She's here for a job, a temporary intrusion. When she and her dog find themselves without a place to stay, I offer my spare room. But from the moment she steps inside, the air in my small apartment thickens with a tension I haven't felt in years. The scent of her perfume clings to the air, a constant reminder of her presence, a subtle provocation. Her laughter echoes in the quiet spaces, a sound that stirs something deep within me. I try to maintain my distance, to ignore the way her gaze lingers, the unexpected heat that flares between us. But as the days bleed into weeks, the tension becomes a living, breathing thing, a constant hum beneath the surface. She's a complication I never anticipated, a temptation I'm not sure I can, or want to resist.