Daniel Sterling, CEO of a Fortune 500 company, stared at the smoke detector blaring overhead. The charred remains of what was supposed to be "heart-shaped pancakes" smoldered in the pan.
Emma leaned against the kitchen doorway, biting back laughter. "You know we have a chef on retainer, right?"
He scowled, waving a spatula like a sword. "I've negotiated billion-dollar mergers. I can handle breakfast."
Flashback to Daniel's childhood: His father's sneer, "Domesticity is for weak men."
Emma's quiet intervention: She wraps her arms around him from behind, resting her cheek on his back. "Let's burn the kitchen together."
Their laughter as they salvage the meal with cereal and champagne.
He's fictional, Daniel."
"He's a Navy SEAL with six-pack abs and a 'tragic past.'" Daniel glared at Emma's Kindle. "I have a tragic past!"
Emma's eyes sparkled. "Do you want me to write you a love letter, Mr. Sterling?"
He snatched the e-reader. "I want you to read this." He dropped a leather-bound journal into her lap—his private merger notes from their first year, filled with margin doodles of her