Burly

The narrator, a big man with a scarred reputation and a dangerous job done out of public view, has been taken in by the family of an old Navy buddy. He has no business wanting that man's daughter, and he knows it.

Angelica is young, beautiful and talented, and her pop music career is on the rise. One night she asks him to teach her some self-defense moves. The lesson ends his attempt to hide how strongly he is drawn to her.

Then an overzealous fan begins to threaten her. The narrator trusts nobody else to keep her safe, so he takes the job himself, though it puts them in close quarters.

The story is a romance told in first person from his side, with a age-gap and forbidden-attraction dynamic and a protector hero. Reading it means watching a man try to guard her from a stalker while he struggles to keep his hands off her.