Working For Her Attention (Hard Hat Hotties #6)

1. Avery Reynolds

AVERY REYNOLDS

“Honey, I’m home,” I jokingly said to the empty two-bedroom cottage I’d be renting for at least the next six months despite knowing no one was going to respond.

No one ever did. Why would they? I’d been on my own since I was sixteen. The small smile I had on my face withered away at the reminder of the past.

“That’s not your life anymore,” I whispered to myself and shook off the old, bitter memories.

Maybe it’s time for a pet? I chewed on my bottom lip as I leaned against the archway of the front door, something stopping me from going inside.

A pet would be nice. The lease stated they were allowed, my first place where adopting a cat or dog would even be possible.

I could definitely afford it now as a thirty-year-old woman who had slowly but surely done better for herself, a lot better than my sixteen-year-old version even thought was possible.

On top of that, it wasn’t like my job would make it difficult for me to be home since I worked remotely now, and I loved the new city I lived in.

Forge Creek, Colorado was everything I didn’t know I would like. The small-town charm with everyone seemingly knowing one another felt nice. Really nice. A lot better than the bigger cities I had lived in the past where it felt like I was just… hidden in plain sight.

The possibility for more was right there, at my fingertips, and I could almost reach it.

I was about to turn and shut the door behind me, when I saw him—my hunky neighbor across the street. Whatever funky mood the memories of the past had caused vanished, and my already good day instantly got even better.

He stepped out of his house, and sweat immediately started to form at the back of my neck at the same time warmth filled every inch of my body.

He was dressed in his gym clothes consisting of a gray tank top that showed off his meaty biceps and broad shoulders and black gym shorts with a white line down the sides that highlighted just how tall he was and how defined his calf muscles were.

Calves. Huh? I would never have thought of calves as particularly sexy, but on my tall, dark, and dangerously handsome neighbor they make my mouth water.

And other parts of my anatomy got wet, too, if I was being honest.

He walked straight to his truck and got in, and just like that, he was out of sight. The roar of the powerful engine on his pristine truck made me almost jump, reminding me that I’d been standing at my doorway like a lump on a log, so I hurried inside.

Okay, full disclosure? I might or might not have a crush on my neighbor.

(I did.) And I might or might not have done a deep dive on the Internet the very first time I ever saw him.

(I totally did.) I couldn’t help myself.

I needed to find out more about my sinfully hot neighbor.

Things like, was he a good guy? (A single girl could never be too careful.) And did he have a girlfriend or wife and kids?

(Because if he did, it would just prove to me once again how unfair life could be for me in particular.

But yay to the woman who snagged him up!)

But after a long night of research, I came across nothing! Not one profile for him.

Honestly, I’d been shocked to find no trace of a social media footprint. Who was out there living and breathing without an Instagram or TikTok account nowadays, anyhow? But two weeks ago, I noticed something I still wasn’t sure how the hell I’d missed it.

Business signage on the driver and passenger side of the door.

And suddenly, I had more of a clue to go on, and boom! There he was!

Samuel Miranda. With slutty little dark-rimmed man glasses on his HVAC business website and all the social media accounts that went along with it. Whoever did his content was amazing and should be given the Nobel Peace Prize for showing him off in his element with subtle thirst traps.

I might or might not have gone down a rabbit hole now that I had a little more of a clue about who he was.

(I totally did and didn’t go to bed until after two in the morning because time slipped past me as I stared at the most intense, dark eyes I’d ever seen in my life.

They were rich and kind and felt like they could see right through to the heart of you.) He was older than me, my guess would be by a decade, but I didn’t care.

It only added to his charm. He was captivating, and did I mention devastatingly handsome?

So, this had been me for the last couple of weeks: sneaking peeks at my neighbor like some kind of stalkerish, reclusive perv anytime he walked out of his place.

I had no idea why I didn’t just go up to the man and introduce myself instead of running away like some scared little rabbit anytime he stepped out of his house.

I wasn’t usually shy.

Not really.

Having been on my own since sixteen, I knew I had two choices in life: one, be the wallflower while hoping and praying no one noticed me. Trust me, I did my share of trying that, and honestly, it didn’t work. So, I had gone with option number two: being the main character of my own life.

The first week, right before I’d seen Sam, I’d done just that with everyone in the neighborhood: stopping by to introduce myself with a plate of homemade cookies, giving them my number in case they needed anything. It was the charm of small-town Colorado living.

But when I’d finally seen Sam outside, my mysterious neighbor directly across the street I somehow always missed, I hadn’t been able to get myself to go over and just say hi.

I’d tried. I really had. But anytime I was about to force myself to go out while he washed his truck or mowed his lawn, I froze.

Which now, after a lot of the neighbors had stopped by or talked to me when I was outside in the front yard or out on my jog (mostly fast-paced walking), it felt like it was a little too late for me to approach him and formally introduce myself.

The engine of his truck purred quietly in his driveway, and the temptation to look through the curtain of the window that faced the front yard was too monumental. I’d never crushed on anyone like this, where just a peek of his profile would make my day improve tenfold.

I pulled the curtain back, and a loud, horrible shriek came out of me! I jumped right out of my skin and tumbled back, letting the curtain sway slightly. My back hit the wall, my hand on my pounding heart.

Just my luck, it seemed my hot neighbor wanted to say hi.