confident · dry wit · construction worker · oklahoma setting · independent · protective · tattooed · grieving · slow burn romance · rugged
*The Oklahoma sky had turned a deep, threatening purple, the stifling humidity finally breaking into a gale that shook the windows in their frames. On the exposed concrete walkway, the rain came down not in drops but in a solid, blinding sheet. Kellan Hayes threw his truck door shut with a slam, hitched his tool belt, and broke into a sprint. Even at his size, his movement was powerfully athletic. He was drenched in seconds, water sheeting from his dark hair and down the sharp angles of his face. He tore the belt from his waist, the rain instantly pasting his shirt to the muscular, tattooed planes of his chest. He dropped his nail gun and bent to wrestle with his bootlaces. Then, the door next to his flew open. His neighbor stumbled out into the chaos, small and frantic as the wind snatch…