Under Construction: A Blue Collar Alpha Romance Read online

  Under Construction

  Aria Cole

  Aria Cole

  Contents

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  First Epilogue

  Second Epilogue

  Also By Aria Cole

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Under Construction

  BY

  ARIA COLE

  Copyright © 2016 by Aria Cole

  Cover Design: Sybil at PopKitty Reviews

  Editing: Aquila Editing

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Created with Vellum

  Find the extraordinary in the ordinary, you won’t regret it.

  Introduction

  When Paige Brennan moves into her new apartment she doesn't expect it to come with the neighbor from hell. His late night antics keep her up all hours, with every knock and bang made worse by their shared bedroom wall. When Paige finally bumps into the noisy night owl, she's determined to give him a piece of her mind, even if his broad shoulders and rogue grin leave her hot under the collar.

  Stone Garrett is obsessed by the beauty next door, her smart mouth and dangerous curves driving him to distraction. She's way out of his league but he's hellbent on proving he can be everything she needs and more. Passions boil over after another late night exchange ends with Stone's hand down his pretty new neighbor's impossibly short sleep shorts. But does love exist beyond their shared bedroom wall? Or are they destined to only be an unforgettable one-night stand?

  Warning: Heavy duty pickup trucks, chiseled, sun-kissed abs, and dusty jeans that hang just perfectly off the hips...Under Construction is a panty-melting ride through a sexy construction zone. You'll never look at a man in a hard hat the same again!

  Chapter 1

  Paige

  A soft grunt sounded through the wall of the neighboring apartment.

  I crushed the pillow over my head, trying desperately to block out the stifled sounds of sex echoing through the wall.

  Another one of those faint groans.

  “God, I need to move,” I groaned and rolled over, throwing another blanket over my head. The constant thud of a headboard kissing the wall my only reply.

  “Please God, kill me now,” I prayed.

  The sound of fucking subsided, muted groans fading until it was silent altogether.

  Thank God.

  I sighed, throwing the pillow off my head, my hair snarled in a mess around my shoulders. The clock read one o’clock in the morning.

  It was the second time this week this had happened. When I’d walked through this apartment six months ago, the apartment next door was empty. I hadn’t even thought to ask about how the sound carried between the walls.

  How could I?

  This was my first apartment, my first time on my own. I’d lived with sorority sisters at the Kappa Alpha house off campus. But this…this was something else.

  Despite all the fun I’d had in my college years, I was actually a pretty focused and responsible girl. I’d moved to the suburbs in the hopes of getting some quiet time, time to focus on case files, and get a full night’s rest every night. Six thirty a.m. came quickly.

  If this kept up for much longer, I’d have to look at moving. Could I break my lease?

  I heard the pad of footsteps in the other apartment, gone for a few minutes, then back in the bedroom again. The sound of the shower running started next, and I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing this was the normal routine.

  So predictable.

  I tucked myself into my blanket, curling up with my pillow, and wondered not for the first time what my new neighbor looked like. Short? Fat? Tall? Dark hair? Blond? I’d hoped to catch a glimpse of him, but in the short week he’d been here, I’d been working late and he’d been working even later. I didn’t hear his bootsteps down our shared hallway until after eleven p.m. Some nights long after I was in my pajamas, glasses perched on my nose, with a book in my hands.

  The shower turned off a moment later, and I instantly chastised myself for not forcing myself into a deep sleep before he was out again. A few times after his shower, instead of falling right asleep he listened to ESPN highlights. Loudly. He did everything loudly.

  I prayed tonight wasn’t one of those nights.

  I had an important case tomorrow, a surgery on a poodle that was something new and cutting edge. I was anxious to use some of the new equipment at the clinic. I’d spent hours, until my eyes were blurry, reading all the latest literature written by the other clinicians that were practicing these new methods.

  I had to be well rested and awake tomorrow.

  As my eyes finally shuttered closed, I hazily made a mental note that if Mr. Sex Machine next door kept me up another night, maybe I’d give him a taste of his own medicine.

  Sure, it would be only me and my old and trusty vibrator, but I could give him a run for his money. If nothing else, at least I’d get an orgasm out of my revenge, and then I’d fall into a peaceful, sated sleep. Just like my dirty neighbor did

  Chapter 2

  Stone

  “Shit.” I grunted, twisting the mailbox key in the damn impossibly small lock. I knocked one knuckle on the little metal door, hoping for a miracle to shake the key into the right position to open it. I’d been having a helluva time with it all week. I’d have to put a call in to the super about getting it fixed. I didn’t have time for this shit. I worked long enough hours as it was.

  “Son of a bi—”

  “Just wiggle it,” an amused voice chimed over my shoulder. “Here, let me.”

  Long, dark chocolate waves fell over one shoulder. High cheekbones and a beautiful heart-shaped face peered up at me. And then my eyes landed on her lips. Soft, plump lips that looked a little bit swollen, but not in that Hollywood overdone way. Nothing about her was overdone, she was all-natural and fucking gorgeous. I sucked in a quick breath, feeling a heat split deep in my stomach and radiate down through my balls.

  Her little hand took the key from mine, jiggling it quickly, then like magic, the door popped open and revealed my mail—a sales flyer and a credit card offer.

  “All that for junk mail.” My lips curved up as her eyes landed on mine for the first time.

  The deepest shade of green I’d ever seen peered up at me.

  Fuck, who was this girl?

  “I’m Stone. And you are?” I leaned a little closer, craving another whiff of her scent.

  “Oh…” She paused, her eyes narrowing quickly. “You’re the new neighbor!”

  The irritation in her words was more amusing than anything. She was a livewire.

  “You could call me that. I prefer Stone, though.” I crossed my arms, leaning against the wall as my lips turned up at one corner.

  She arched one eyebrow, shoving her own key in the lock, jiggling like she’d refined it to an art form, shoving her own stack of mail into the crook of her arm then slamming the little tin door, grumbling more to herself than me. “What kind of name is
Stone anyway?”

  I laughed. She was adorable, sexy as hell, and had a fire under her ass. And I liked asses. “Family name,” I answered.

  Her eyes nailed mine, narrowing into a dirty look. “Well, Stone, I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”

  “Oh?” I smiled, even more interested.

  “Yeah.” She paused, eyes darting down to my dirty, scuffed work boots, taking in the dust caked into my jeans, definitely lingering an extra-long moment when her eyes trailed up my torso.

  I was a good-looking guy, I knew that, no cockiness about it. The thing was, I didn’t have to work out. I worked hard and long in a job I loved doing physical labor. Fuck treadmills and weights. I shoveled, lifted, hauled cords of wood. I loved every second of it, but it wasn’t until now that I wondered if this little firecracker in her cute little parrot scrubs was judging me.

  “So what’s on your mind, little bird?” She pursed her lips, clearly irritated with me. “Looks like you had a bad day. Wanna wind down with a drink with me?”

  “What?!” She seethed. “No. No I don’t. And I didn’t have a bad day, I had a bad night, actually. Your…our walls are…”

  Christ, she looked beautiful when she squirmed. “Thin?”

  “Yes!” Her eyes shot up to mine. “Exactly. And I have to be to work early in the morning, so maybe if we could just be a little more aware of that…”

  “Sure thing.” I took another step closer, coming within inches of the soft, sweet curve of her neck. “Just as soon as you stop having wet dreams in the middle of the night. You wake me up with your moans. It’s sexy as hell. So fucking sexy I can’t get back to sleep after, and I have to fuck my hand to get you off my mind. I have to say, it was a bit hard conjuring a visual but now that the real deal is standing in front of me...”

  I moved closer, fingers itching to touch, kiss, bruise, and claim every inch of her.

  Her mouth rounded in an O, her eyes larger than the tires on my truck.

  “Close your mouth, little bird. I’m a dirty man with an even dirtier mind.” I tipped her chin up, pressing the seam of her dark red lips together. “It’s going to be hard for me to get those lips out of my head tonight.”

  “You’re…you’ve got to be…” She shook her head, finally giving up on putting words to exactly what I was.

  “Not the last time you’ll be at a loss of words around me.” I moved an inch closer to her ear, making sure my breath washed across her skin. “I’ll take it as a compliment from you.”

  I winked, then passed her, pushing through the heavy doors and heading up the stairs to my apartment. I didn’t even look back for her reaction.

  Let her think on that one for a while.

  Chapter 3

  Paige

  Him.

  Him.

  Stone. The fucking neighbor from hell with the overactive sex life, had kept me up all night.

  I slammed the door of my apartment, not giving two shits if it rattled the walls in his damn place. I’d give him a run for his money. I’d show him how torturous it can be to live next to a sex maniac freak.

  I threw my mail down on the kitchen table, then tore into my room, pulling the top of my uniform over my head and throwing it in the corner. I peeled down my pants, catching a glimpse of the stupid little parrots that decorated the fabric and remembering the way he’d called me little bird.

  What a bastard.

  I crawled into bed, making sure I bounced on it extra hard, enough so the headboard clattered against the wall a few times.

  Fuck you, Stone.

  I flipped over, yanking open the drawer on my side table and pulling out the tiny black bullet that I’d received at a bachelorette party. It was the only sex toy I owned, rarely used, but I was bound and determined to make good use of it tonight.

  I flipped on the little motor, smiling when I heard it hum to life. I cranked the dial further, wishing the buzzing was loud enough to reach through the walls. Sliding the toy down my body, I hovered just above the crest of my pussy, dancing the little buzzing devil over my panties, and I hesitated.

  This was immature, wasn’t it?

  Yes. But he was so damn arrogant. How could he move in and have no respect for the neighbors when I’d politely asked him to tone the fuck down?

  A door slammed closed in the apartment behind my head.

  Stone.

  I fumed, wondering if replacing the batteries on my little pocket-sized boyfriend would make it buzz any louder.

  No, that’s your job.

  Shit. I snuggled deeper into the fluffy blanket, spreading my thighs a little farther apart and touching the bullet to my pussy again.

  I heard the bed squeak and shake just like it always did when he crawled into bed. But this was early. He definitely wasn’t going to bed yet…was he?

  I adjusted myself again, nerves eating up my stomach as I thought of his dark brown eyes, rimmed with thick eyelashes that cast shadows across his cheeks when his eyes squinted in laughter.

  Yes, I’d noticed all that.

  I’d also noticed that Stone was much sexier than any man ought to be. The broad biceps bulging through the thin white t-shirt he wore. The sharp cut of sexy muscle that stretched below his hips peeking out from his waistband when he’d shifted toward me. That glimpse of sun-kissed, golden flesh that promised so much more chiseled perfection hidden under a layer of cotton. The way the bold asshole had leaned in, whispering across my neck and leaving my panties damp for action they hadn’t seen in far too long.

  Vulgar groans emanated through the paper-thin walls, the creaking sound of a bed in movement shattering the bubble of desire that’d bloomed in my stomach.

  “Dammit,” I seethed, shaking my ass on the bed so the headboard would knock against the wall again.

  The groans only grew louder.

  I gritted my teeth, sitting up on my knees and placing the vibrator right against the goddamn wall, exactly where I imagined his big arrogant head would be. The vibrating head bumped and rattled against the wall, my grin growing wider as I imagined him fuming, his night surely ruined now.

  I waited, trying to listen intently through the clattering of my sex toy, finally backing off to find the soft, erotic moans had only gotten quieter, but were still very present.

  I rolled over on my bed, huffing as irritation pumped through my veins. I was determined to get my revenge on this arrogant asswipe.

  I slipped the bullet under the elastic of my panties, holding it to my clit and instantly feeling arousal burn through my veins. My mouth popped open, and a soft sigh escaped.

  I applied a little more pressure, exploring with the little textured head all the nerves between my legs. I allowed another moan to fall from my lips before I closed my eyes, dialing up the volume a few more notches and releasing another, even louder moan.

  The sounds of sex from the other apartment died down instantly.

  But it was too late, that magic little bullet of love had pushed me past the point of no return.

  I clamped down on my lower lip, stifling loud moans as I swirled the head around my slit, sliding it down the seam of my damp lips, massaging my clit again, enjoying the slight bite of the nub as it kneaded my flesh.

  “Oh my God, oh my God…” I groaned, hips arching as I clamped down on my lip again. I’d meant to put on a show, but I hadn’t meant to get that loud.

  But that little fucking bullet carried the secret to life, I was sure of it.

  I hummed, one fist clutching at the sheets at my side, my other hand working the toy in tight circles at my clit. Jagged breaths cut with gasping moans filled the silence in my apartment as my toes curled, my back arching, my nipples hot and hard with built-up pressure, until…until…

  Bam. Bam. Bam.

  Someone was knocking on the door. I dropped the toy, cringing as it thudded loudly on the cherry wood floors.

  “Fuck.” I hopped out of bed, pulling a tank top and shorts on. “Coming!” I called, feigning casualness when I
really wished I could ignore the door and finish what I’d started in the bedroom. Every nerve between my thighs flaming with warmth, begging and burning for the orgasm we’d worked so hard for.

  “Who is it?” I breathed, unlocking the door and opening it without looking.

  I should have looked.

  If I had looked, I would have turned right around and gone back to my little magical friend.

  But instead I opened the door and ran smack dab into the hard wall of his smooth, chiseled, naked chest. “Oh my God.”

  “Apparently,” he growled, pushing through my doorway and slamming it on the hinges. “What’s with the show, little bird?”

  I crossed my arms, feet rooted as we squared off. “No show, just, ya know, having some fun.”

  “Fun?” His body entered my space, one hand landing on my hip, the other catching my wrist in his large palm. “Got a new friend?”

  I turned fifty shades of red when he pulled the little bullet from my sweaty hand. I hadn’t even realized I’d been clutching it so tightly. But that’s what Stone did to me. He made me mad as hell, tense with irritation, wild with—

  “I can make you cum harder than that little battery-operated bastard ever could.” He tossed the vibrator on the couch.

  “Look, I didn’t mean to piss you off earlier, but those walls are really thin—”

  “Don’t I know it,” he murmured against the crook of my neck. Jesus, what the fuck was that hot, wet, fucking amazing feeling crawling through my body? “I couldn’t listen to those sexy little noises you were making a second longer.”

  I shuddered when his free hand trailed down my stomach, fingertips wisping against my body and causing rampant lightning bolts to catapult through me.