Trevor narrowed his eyes on him. “You’ll regret this one day, you son of a bitch!”
“Probably,” he agreed with a careless shrug as he headed for the door. “But look on the bright side, you just stopped yourself from becoming Bubba’s bitch.”
“He would have been gentle!” his cousin yelled after him, making him chuckle as he headed towards the waiting room, preparing for the fight of his life.
Less than a year later…
She never should have agreed to come on this trip, she realized as she turned over onto her side and blinked away another tear as she listened to the Bradford boys talking and laughing around the fire.
At least if she’d stayed home she’d be able to lounge around in her pajamas, eating junk food and watching Lifetime movies while she wallowed in self-pity. Instead, she was stuck on this trip, forcing herself to smile and laugh at jokes while pretending that she wasn’t dying inside. Maybe she should just tell them that she wasn’t feeling well and get a ride into town, she thought even as she dismissed the idea. She didn’t want to talk about it and if she told them that she wasn’t feeling good, they’d gang up on her until she told them what was going on.
Sighing, she rolled over onto her other side, trying to find a comfortable position on the old, lumpy sleeping bag that Darrin had dug out of his parents’ garage. After a few more turns, groans and sighs, she decided to steal Darrin’s sleeping bag and use it as a mattress. Sitting up, she reached over to do just that when she heard a twig snap close by.
“I’m fine,” she muttered as she grabbed her sleeping bag and threw it on top of his.
“Then come out and join us,” Darrin said as he unzipped the large net window at the back of the tent.
“No,” she simply said as she sat on top of her mattress, laid back and closed her eyes.
“You want to tell me what’s wrong?” he asked, not exactly surprising her that he’d realized that something was wrong, but she’d kind of been hoping that he’d just assumed that she was upset about Malcolm.
“No,” she said, rolling over onto her side, facing away from him and hoping that he’d just take the hint and go away.
“I know that you’re not upset about that prick, so tell me what’s going on?” he asked just as she registered the feel of his fingertips tracing a line down her neck, leaving a path of goose bumps behind.
“He wasn’t a prick,” she admitted with a grumble.
Malcolm had been a nice guy, sweet, kind, considerate and had apparently been falling in love with her, something that she’d warned him against. Unfortunately he hadn’t listened. While she’d been hoping for something casual to pass the time, he’d been imagining a life together filled with children, puppies and a white picket fence.
“Maybe not, but he wasn’t the right guy for you,” he said softly as he continued caressing her cheek.
Hating the way that she reacted to him, she reached up and brushed away his touch. “I’m tired, Darrin,” she said, pointedly closing her eyes, hoping that he’d just leave her alone so that she could continue to wallow in self-pity.
“I see,” he murmured.
“Good. Then go away.”
“I will...just as soon as you complete the dare I just gave you,” he murmured, sounding thoughtful as she lay there, frowning and wondering what he was talking about.
“You didn’t dare me,” she pointed out as she rolled over onto her back.
“I didn’t dare you to go skinny dipping?” he asked, sounding thoughtful as she immediately sat up and headed for the tent flaps, all while praying that she made it in time before he could dare her to take a dip in the ice cold lake that she’d been avoiding since they’d arrived earlier this afternoon.
She’d just managed to grab hold of the zipper standing between her and freedom when the large bastard sealed her fate with four simple words, “I double dare you.”
*-*-*-*
“You. Bastard!”
“How’s the water?” he asked, shooting her a smile and a wink as he threw another log on the fire.
“I hate you!” she hissed as she continued to slowly make her way into the ice-cold lake as he took his time setting up their mini camp.
“You love me and you know it,” he reminded her as he walked over to the fallen log and grabbed the rolled up sleeping bag that he’d hidden earlier.
“Hate! I hate you!” she snapped around chattering teeth.
“That’s just the freezing cold water talking, sweetheart,” he said as he rolled out the sleeping bag in front of the roaring fire.
“No, this is,” she bit out, sounding triumphant and letting him know that he was about to get a taste of his own medicine, but he’d been expecting it. “I double dare you to get your ass in here.”
“I see,” he muttered, making sure to sound appropriately put out as he kicked off his shoes and pulled off his clothes.
“I hope you freeze your balls off, you sick bastard!” she hissed through a clenched jaw as he tossed his boxers aside and stepped into the cold lake.
“Shit,” he hissed as he forced himself to keep going, wishing that he’d come up with something else to help take her mind off that asshole.
“This was a dumb dare,” she muttered as he joined her.
He chuckled as he reached for her, pleased when she wrapped her arms around him and held on, most likely trying to steal the last of his body heat, but at the moment he didn’t care. “I’d imagined this going a little bit differently,” he admitted, deciding that telling her that he’d actually planned a romantic midnight picnic for two by the lake probably wouldn’t be in his best interest, not when the admission would cause her to shove him away and storm off.
“You lose your dare privileges for two weeks for this bullshit,” she announced as she wrapped her legs around him and tightened her hold around his shoulders.
“Fine,” he said, deciding not to argue, not when she was in his arms like this.
“And you’re doing my laundry for a month after this,” she informed him as she buried her face against his shoulder.
“Will it count if I drop it off at a Laundromat?” he asked as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her shoulder before he could stop himself.
“It depends,” she mumbled against his shoulder.
“On what?” he asked, closing his eyes as he prayed for control.
“On whether or not you’re willing to splurge for the good softener,” she mumbled, making him chuckle as he tightened his arms around her.
“You’re a greedy little thing,” he said distractedly as he moved back in the water, needing to do something to take his mind off of just how good it felt to have her in his arms like this.
“You already knew this,” she muttered as she reached up and gently trailed her fingers through his hair.
He sighed heavily as he kissed her shoulder. “True,” he agreed, closing his eyes as he moved through the water, enjoying the fact that he could hold her like this without worrying about some prick trying to come between them.
This time he wasn’t going to wait for the right time to tell her how he felt. This time he was going to tell her that he loved her before some other asshole could come into the picture and force him to wait again. He couldn’t stomach the idea of sitting back and watching as some other asshole held her when he knew with every fiber of his being that he was supposed to be the one holding her in his arms. He swallowed hard, dreading her reaction even as excitement tore through him.
“I need to tell you something,” he said even though he had absolutely no idea how to tell her that he was in love with her, not after all this time.
She shifted in his arms and sighed heavily. “If it’s something that’s going to depress me, I’d rather you kept it to yourself.”
“It’s not depressing,” he promised her, although he was pretty sure that he would find it depressing if she rejected him.
“Okay,” she said, pulling back so that she could look up at him as her
fingers continued to toy with his hair, “tell me.”
He opened his mouth to tell her that he loved her, that he wanted to be with her, wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, to have children with her, but he couldn’t find the right words. He’d practiced this in his head a hundred times a day for years, but now that he had her in his arms and another asshole was out of the picture, he couldn’t figure out what he was supposed to say to make her take a risk on him, on them.
“What is it?” she asked, shifting her hand away from the back of his head so that she could cup his jaw. “Darrin? Are you okay?”
“I…,” he started to say only to end up shaking his head with regret, because no matter what he said or did, he was going to fuck this up and probably lose her.
So instead, he kissed the top of her head and told himself that this wasn’t the right time.
Chapter 1
Present Day
It must be Saturday, she realized with a sigh when she felt Darrin press another kiss against the back of her neck and his large body curled up behind hers, pressing the abnormally large erection, that she was ninety-nine percent positive was the result of an accident involving radioactive waste, against her bottom as his arm wrapped around her. There really was no better way to wake up, she thought as she settled back against him, reached down and-
“Ow! Son of a bitch!” Darrin yelped, jumping off the bed in record time as she took her time sitting up and climbing off the bed.
She groaned softly as she stretched her arms over her head, noting the way the bastard paused in rubbing the back of his hand to watch her. With a roll of her eyes and a chuckle, she headed for the bathroom, throwing over her shoulder, “Get the hell out.”
“No,” he grumbled around a loud yawn as he stumbled back towards her bed and threw himself across it.
“Then you better have breakfast ready when I get out,” she said, absently noting that he was wearing black boxers, her favorite.
Pathetic, she thought with a sigh and a smile as she walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She used the bathroom, brushed her teeth and had just stepped in the shower when she heard the bathroom door open behind her.
“You have your own apartment,” she reminded him.
“But I like yours better.”
“Too bad,” she said, tilting her head back and closed her eyes as she allowed the water to pour over her hair.
When she heard the sounds of the shower curtain being pulled back she smiled. He was such a persistent bastard.
“Don’t even think about it.”
With a chuckle, he released the curtain. “What do you want for lunch?” he asked, making her frown.
“What happened to breakfast?’
“It ended about two hours ago,” he said sounding amused while she stood there, shoulders sagging and muttering, “Damn it!”
“What?”
“I have a date at one that I forgot to cancel,” she said, opening her eyes and grabbing the bottle of shampoo, resigning herself to a nice relaxing bath tomorrow morning after she got home instead of a leisurely shower now.
“You don’t sound too happy about it,” he noted, sounding hopeful.
Because she hadn’t been looking forward to this date. He was her brother’s accountant or something like that, not that she really cared, because she already knew that it wasn’t going to work out. According to her brother, his friend was in his early thirties, funny, smart and ready to settle down and start a family. In other words, he wasn’t for her.
“Jake,” was all she needed to say to make him understand.
With a chuckle, he said, “Oh, I see.”
She just bet he did, she thought as she heard the bathroom door click shut behind him. For a minute, okay, maybe a second, she considered going after him and stopping him, but then she realized that it really was for the best. Besides, this way she’d be able to meet Zoe and kids earlier than planned.
*-*-*-*
“What do you want?” Darrin demanded as soon as he ripped the front door open.
“I, um,” the man standing on his front step said, looking a little unsure of himself, “I’m here to see Marybeth?”
“Do you have an appointment?” Darrin asked as he folded his arms over his chest, giving the confused man a good look at the gun he’d shoved in the front of his pants.
“Umm,” the man said, glancing down at the gun, “her brother arranged a date for us. I’m supposed to pick her up at one.”
“She’s just finishing up with her last client,” he said, leveling a glare on the much smaller man.
“A client? Jake told me that she was a painter.”
“Are you a cop?” Darrin asked in his sternest tone, the one he’d honed to perfection over the years.
“A cop?” the other man repeated, noticeably swallowing as he shifted nervously. “No, I’m not a cop.”
“Good,” Darrin said approvingly with a firm nod. “Did Jake tell you to bring cash for your donation?”
“Donation?”
“She requires a three hundred dollar cash donation, per hour.”
“I……,” the guy gave his head a little shake before he asked, “Are you saying that she’s a hooker?”
Darrin just stared at him.
“Jesus!” the guy gasped, stabbing his fingers through his neatly combed hair.
“Do you have the money or not?” he asked, hoping to speed this thing up so that he could get back upstairs and convince Marybeth to crawl back in bed with him for a few hours. He’d rather use the time to try to convince the stubborn woman that she was madly in love with him, but he was too fucking exhausted to do anything more than pass out.
He’d been working too many extra shifts and not just for the overtime, but to earn more vacation days. For every eight-hour shift he worked, he earned an hour of vacation time. So far he’d earned an additional six weeks of vacation time this year. Add that to the five weeks of vacation time that he’d earned last year, and the four he earned the year before that and he was going to have plenty of time to help his cousin and her husband out when the time came.
If it came….
Three years later, Connor and Rory were still trying to get their project off the ground. They were aiming high, very high, and they needed to raise an insane amount of money to get their project going, but Darrin had faith that they were going to do it. They were going to turn Rory’s dream into a reality and when they did, he was going to be there for them.
Every Bradford was.
“I’m sorry, but there must be some mistake. I’m looking for Marybeth Dawson,” the man said, sounding hopeful that this had all been a mistake and bringing him back to the problem that he needed to take care of so that he could catch up on some sleep.
“She prefers to be called Caramel Butter,” he said, giving the guy a knowing smile and just to fuck with his head, a wink.
“Caramel…..Butter……..,” the guy repeated back slowly, making Darrin feel kind of bad. The guy looked decent enough. It wasn’t his fault that Marybeth was his, had been since they were little kids even though the stubborn woman refused to accept it. He opened his mouth to explain things to the guy only to end up shaking his head in disgust.
“Listen,” the guy said, licking his lips nervously as he glanced around, “I only have fifty bucks on me, but I can hit an ATM and be back here in ten minutes.”
Typical, he thought as he reached back and pulled his badge out. “Run,” he simply said.
“Oh, shit!” the guy said, stumbling back. “I’m gonna go now.”
“You do that,” Darrin said, shoving his badge back in his pocket and sighed in disgust.
He was going to have a word with Jake, he decided as he threw the lock on the front door, walked back in her apartment and dragged his ass back upstairs.
“Did you get rid of him?” Marybeth asked as he walked into her bedroom, not sounding terribly upset that he’d ruined her date, which of course pleased him.<
br />
“Yeah, he went running,” he said, smiling when he spotted her curled up in bed beneath the covers.
“Did you pull your badge out?” she asked teasingly as he pulled his gun free and placed it on the bureau next to her Bradford Construction baseball cap. He shoved his pants off as he made his way towards the bed.
“Had to,” he said, pulling the covers back so that he could join her.
“You couldn’t have just told the guy that I wasn’t interested?” she asked, snuggling back against him.
“I wouldn’t have to if you just told your brother that we’re together,” he said, pressing a kiss against the back of her neck.
“That would be lying,” she said, groaning softly as he wrapped his arm around her and cupped her bare breast.
“Would it?” he asked, pressing a kiss against her bare shoulder as he gently squeezed her large breast.
“Yes,” she said, turning her head so that she was looking back at him as she pressed her bottom against his erection, reminding him that he hadn’t had her since yesterday morning just before he’d left for his shift, “it would.”
He released his hold on her breast and reached down between them. He reached inside his boxers and pulled his eager cock out. He watched as she licked her beautiful pink lips as he gripped his cock and aimed seconds before he pushed inside her warm, wet core.
“Fuck,” he groaned as he moved his hand out of the way so that he could slide deep inside her.
She gasped as she went ahead and licked those beautiful lips of hers, driving him out of his fucking mind. He reached up and pushed a strand of her black hair out of the way as he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. “We can do this for the rest of our lives,” he pointed out as he moved his hand down her arm, over her breast, making sure to brush his palm over the large brown nipple that he loved to devour with his mouth, and down her soft stomach until he was tracing her wet slit.
“This is only temporary,” she reminded him as she spread her legs to give him better access.
He decided that it would probably be for the best if he didn’t remind her that they’d been doing this for over six years as he found her clit and gently teased it with his fingertip. He slowly pulled back, loving the way that she moaned as she reached down and gripped his hand to keep it right where it was while he pushed back inside her.
Double Dare (A Neighbor from Hell Book 6) Page 3