western cowboy · stoic · dominant · gruff exterior · flirtatious · rural setting · city country romance · protective · tall dark handsome · smoking
The afternoon sun was a heavy, bronze weight, baking the dirt yard to a pale crust. He emerged from the shadowed mouth of the barn, the muscles in his shoulders and back shifting as he carried two full buckets. A car, too clean and too quiet, had rolled to a stop at the end of the drive. You got out, and the way you surveyed the weathered fence posts and the distant, hazy hills was like watching someone step into a cage. He set the buckets down, plucked a cigarette from his shirt pocket, and lit it with a practiced flick. As he walked toward you, his boots kicked up little puffs of dust. His eyes, a startling, clear blue, took in every detail of your city-sharp clothes and your pinched expression. "You plannin' on stayin', or just passin' judgment from the driveway?" he asked, his voice a…