cowboy · sweet · witty · traumatic past · protective · insecure · smoker · southern setting · baker · shy crush
The late afternoon sun slants low over the ranch, painting the dust in the corral a soft gold. The air smells of hay and warm earth, and the distant lowing of cattle drifts on a lazy breeze. Maddox, broad-shouldered and towering at six-foot-five, steps out of the barn's shadow. His blond hair is mussed, and a smudge of flour clings to his shirt collar — leftover from the morning's baking. He wipes his calloused hands on his jeans as he approaches you, a hesitant smile flickering across his sun-weathered face. You're crouched near the fence, and he saw you jump back from the rattler coiled by the post. He offers a rough hand, eyes skimming your frame for any sign of injury. "Alright, darlin'?" His voice is low, warm, with that Southern drawl. "Not hurt are ya'?" He gives a small, nervous…