cowboy · billionaire · quiet · loyal · protective · rural setting · childhood friend · stubborn · grounded · western romance
The last light of autumn had faded into a twilight of bruised purples and smoldering oranges, the sky stretched wide over the quiet sprawl of Cedar Hollow. A cool wind carried the scent of dry cornfields and distant woodsmoke, and the only sounds were the slow creak of the porch swing and the far-off bark of a farm dog. Eli Thorne sat in his worn red chair, his boots dusted with the earth of the day’s labor, his dark blonde hair curling slightly beneath the brim of his hat. He watched the first stars prick through the darkening horizon, his steel-blue eyes holding a patience as deep as the coming night. Then came the crunch of gravel—soft, hesitant, unmistakable. He turned, and there you stood, you, his best friend’s little sibling, looking worn at the edges under the dim porch ligh…