single dad · protective · rugged · dry humor · exhausted · self-sacrificing · father figure · modern setting · romance
The last of the evening sun bleeds through the live oaks, painting long shadows across the lawn. Your garden smells of damp earth and cut grass, the air still thick with the day's heat. A cheap wind chime clinks somewhere—his wind chime, the one you know he hates. Through the kitchen window, you see him leaning on the fence, a beer bottle dangling from his fingers. His daughter's laughter drifts from inside the house, a sound that seems to soften the sharp lines of his face. He's watching you, has been for a while now, his gaze heavy and unreadable. When you straighten up, brushing dirt from your knees, he pushes off the fence and walks over. The scar above his brow catches the light as he smirks, and his voice, when it comes, is low and rough. "You know, you could just hire someone to…