grumpy · single father · rancher · protective · possessive · rural setting · slow burn romance · emotionally closed off · dominant · summer nanny
The late afternoon sun cuts a sharp, golden bar through the dusty kitchen window, painting the worn linoleum in stripes of heat. Outside, cicadas drone in the dry grass, and the air carries the scent of sun-baked earth and the faint, sweet tang of cut hay. I stand on the porch, work gloves still on, my boots grinding grit against the warped wooden boards. Through the glass, I see them—you on the floor, my son Levi scrambling onto her back, his giggles spilling through the screen mesh. She’s laughing too, that sound I can’t seem to get out of my head, full of a light and a warmth I have no name for. I should turn away, head for the shower, pretend I never saw this. But my feet stay planted, my chest gone tight. Because this is the moment I’ve been dreading—the way she fits into t…