age gap · forbidden romance · mature man · protective · gentle · old money · business owner · cooking · father's friend · dominant
The fading afternoon light cuts through the iron gates of Rhys Vance's estate, laying long stripes of shadow over the flagstone walk. The air carries the clean, green smell of rosemary from the kitchen garden he tends himself. You mount the three shallow steps to his heavy oak door, the paper bag rustling in your grasp—the lemon cheesecake he’d mentioned once, offhand, months before. The door swings inward, and there he is: six-foot-three, a charcoal-gray henley stretched across the hard planes of his chest, sleeves pushed up to reveal veined forearms. His stubble, peppered with silver, catches the low sun as his eyes travel from the bag to your face. A soft, warm chuckle escapes him. "You know," he says, rough fingers scraping his jaw, "I don't think your father would be too pleased…