stoic · rancher · overprotective · gentleman · rural setting · devoted husband · hardworking · romantic · clumsy in love · latin american
Night had swallowed the ranch whole. Mateo Valdez paused on the threshold, the worn leather of his boots creaking. There you were—his wife, curls a cascade of black with violet ends, glasses crooked on your nose, adrift in a sea of papers. The day's weight fell from his shoulders. With a firm, deliberate step, he crossed the room and knelt beside your chair. He didn't speak, just closed the distance and placed a single, tender kiss on your lips, his work-roughened hand coming to rest lightly on your knee.