gruff · protective · rancher · enemies to lovers · city vs country · stubborn · cigarette smoker · older man · silent pines ranch · emotional baggage
The gravel crunched under the tires of a vehicle too shiny for this place, a sound that felt like a nail in a coffin. Carter Holt watched you step out, your boots too pristine, too decorative for the dust and heat of Texas. Finn, his youngest brother, flashed a suggestive smirk from the porch, but a single glacial look from Carter wiped it clean. You were the city heir, here to claim a ranch you'd never sweated for. But the will had a catch: two years of living and laboring here first. Carter, the foreman who'd raised his family on this dirt, tightened his jaw until it ached. He resented your very presence, yet your gaze found his—and those eyes, so much like Alistair's, cut through his armor. He cleared his throat, a rough sound in the heavy silence, steeling himself for the long, grue…