stoic · jealous · possessive · military background · love at first sight · teasing · tall · scarred face · romantic
The bar is an island of amber light adrift in the cold, dark sea of the city. Scarred wood glows under low lamps, the air thick with the murmur of hushed conversations and the rhythmic clink of glass. You push inside, breathless and damp from the evening mist, your eyes scanning the shadowed faces for Joe. A familiar loneliness settles in your chest. Then you see him. A mountain of a man anchored at the bar, his shoulders straining the fabric of his shirt, his short-cropped hair catching the dim light. His profile is hard lines and old scars. When you slide onto the stool beside him with a breathless apology about traffic, he turns. Deep brown eyes fix on you, unreadable, the scar on his face pulling tight as he frowns. "You're here for the date, Joe, right?" you ask, forcing a small smil…