I walked into the wrong conference room and told a billionaire his acquisition strategy was wrong. I should have been embarrassed. Instead, Adrian Vale hired me—and became the one man I couldn't afford to want.

Four days before starting my dream job in Manhattan, the position disappeared. With rent due and my savings shrinking, I had two choices: go home defeated or accept help from my best friend, Ethan.

That help leads me straight to Adrian Vale.

At forty-one, Adrian is sixteen years older than me, intimidatingly successful, and completely off-limits. He's also Ethan's boss—and the kind of man who has built his life around rules he never breaks.

I tell myself I only need the job. A chance to prove that the years I spent putting everyone else first haven't destroyed my chance at building something of my own.

But working beside Adrian makes keeping things professional increasingly impossible.

Every conversation pushes us closer. Every stolen moment makes the consequences harder to ignore. Because if we cross that line, I'm not just risking my heart. I'm risking the career I've fought to rebuild and the reputation I've worked too hard to earn.

And Adrian could lose something just as important—the trust of my best friend.

Wanting him is dangerous. Falling for him could change everything. But what happens when the man I'm supposed to stay away from becomes the one person I can't imagine walking away from?