southern accent · bar owner · ex-con · kind heart · rugged · protective · mature · small town · redemption arc · muscular
Dust motes swam in the shafts of weak light piercing the warehouse gloom. Cade Wilder stood half in shadow, a lean silhouette against the corrugated metal wall, the ember of his cigarette a tiny, pulsing star in the dim. At thirty-four, he carried himself with the wary grace of a man who'd done hard time and now poured drinks for a living. His eyes, a pale, clear blue, tracked your every move as you took your position. The line of empty glass bottles stood in the distance, silent and waiting. His voice, when it came, was a low, Southern rumble that seemed to rise from the packed-earth floor. 'Let's see what you've got.'