AN: Cause I've been AJ deprived lately and because I've been neglecting this story more than it deserves. On a side note, I was surfing around yesterday and came to the conclusion that Nick Carter is hot. Is there a way I managed to miss that until now? I dunno. I always thought he had Justin flashes of hotness but I revised my opinion yesterday thanks to some wonderful galleries and a continual stream of 'oh my' exclamations. Alright kids, ya'll know the drill, feedback, love. Updates. =) inspiredthoughts@hotmail.com ************************** One Night Stand: Chapter Two ************************* Keelie was still jobless two weeks later, and close to homeless as well. So she swallowed her pride and went back to the manual work she had so hoped, and tried desperately, to escape from. She was tired of brown bag lunches and wearing jeans and getting whistled at but if it came to starving and doing what she did best, though detested, she'd work. Keelie Stephanie Marie Childs went unwillingly back to the profession that she might have well been born into, construction. Keelie was a beautiful woman any way you looked at it, any angle, any preference, whether she often admitted it or not. She was small, compact at five three, and trim, but she had muscle. Muscle from working, from having to work as early as she could, to eat. She was naturally pale but as tan as a lifeguard several weeks into her newest construction gig. Her hair was fine and thick, slightly longer than shoulder length and a shade or two lighter than coffee, darker than her already dark skin. Her eyes were hazel but light, almost honey colored, naturally. She was striking, even in work boots, a tool belt, and a construction hat. She often wished she wasn't. It would have made her life a hell of a lot easier. Harder to find dates, but easier to win her coworkers' respect at work. She always managed though, ever since she had picked up her first hammer at sixteen and joined her first crew. Keelie was fearless when it came to construction, not stupid, but fearless. She could walk roofs, beams, and brave heights with the best of them. Her knots never came undone, her nails were always hammered perfectly, and she had learned the rest as she went. Had gained enough upper body strength to keep up with the men, and had developed the hardened attitude it took to make it once she managed to keep up. She was hardly the only woman in her field, though they were in a vast minority, but she was the only small, beautiful one. *************************************************************************************** They were doing work on beautiful Orlando mansions, mostly roofings and some room additions. It was fiercely hot outside and Keelie cursed softly to herself as she fixed red clay shingles onto the roof she was working on. She hated these kinds of roofs; they looked beautiful but were a bitch on her balance. Give her plain shingles any day of the week. Nails between her teeth and tools in hand she didn't notice the sports car pulling into the driveway or the two very familiar men getting out of it. She simply hammered away and let out a huge sigh of relief when the site boss called for lunch break. She climbed nimbly down the ladder and started to follow her fellow workers over to the temporary trailer that had been set up to accommodate them on this large re-roofing job. Or she started to until a low whistle split the air. "Wow Bone, if all construction workers looked like that I'd get my house re-roofed a lot more often." Keelie turned to tell the admiring man exactly where he could shove his job offer as the rest of the men on the crew, and her peers, chuckled knowingly. She didn't take shit from anyone, even clients. She whirled, and came nearly face to face with a tall, blue eyed blonde. If she had been given another minute or two she would have probably managed to place him as Nick Carter, unfortunately, Bone, also known as AJ McLean, placed her first. "The tongue girl!" The ever so ready insult died on Keelie's lips as she peered around the tall blonde to his 'friend'. "Shit..." AJ walked up excitedly and grabbed her tattooed wrist, chattering all the while to the skeptical Nick Carter. "Kaos, dude, this is the tongue girl. And the coffee girl. The coffee- tongue girl. The one who can..." Her honey colored eyes grew large as she yanked her wrist from AJ's excited grasp before darting back to where the rest of the construction crew was suddenly taking a very studied lunch break as they watched the drama unfold. "What are you doing here?" she hissed at the oblivious McLean. He blinked in surprise at her tone and grew suddenly belligerent as he crossed lightly muscled, tattooed arms across his chest stubbornly, a curious glint hardening the warm brown of his eyes behind the thinly tinted sunglasses he wore. "I live here. What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were some corporate chick or something..." "That would be called an assumption. You don't know anything about me because we've never really spoken." "Nah, just had really great sex..." Keelie flushed scarlet as Nick hooted in obvious amusement over AJ's interruption. "What are you, the one night stand from hell?" she demanded none too softly as she heard raucous laughs coming from the other men behind them. Double shit. Credibility had to be earned in the construction business and what little she had managed to accumulate just flew right out the window. "Are you trying to ruin my life?!" Belligerence melted to sudden concern that melted the hard curiosity in his eyes. And suddenly he was the gentle gentleman of McDonalds instead of the yummy if arrogant pop star Keelie had taken home all those months ago. "I... I'm sorry I didn't think. Shit..." "My thoughts exactly," she snapped but the edge was gone. She was just tired. So damned tired. Without thinking about she rubbed her hands over her eyes, wishing away the sudden burning of tears. She was too damn young to worry about going hungry. "Hey, watch out or you're going to run your mascara," Nick chimed, uncomfortable by the sudden serious shift in the situation and the tension that came with it. "I don't wear make up to work," Keelie said softly. The sheepish surprise was very evident in Nick's reply. "Oh." Oh her fired ass. "Umm, do you want to come in? Or I can talk to your boss or..." AJ trailed off helplessly and she felt a brief stab of pity for him. It wasn't entirely his fault that she was all but going to be ostracized after this or that she was probably going to have to quite if she wasn't fired. Keelie was just having the best of luck lately. She could feel the leers of the construction men behind them, feel the assessing stares, and groaned, making a split second decision that would change two lives forever. "Fine, inside, screw it. This can't get any worse than it already is." So she let AJ take her hand and, god help her, followed two fifths of the Backstreet Boys into AJ McLean's house. She really needed to work on her judgment calls.