Double Dare (A Neighbor from Hell Book 6)

by Mathewson, R. L.

  Darrin thought about helping his brother, but…

  He was too comfortable to move.

  “There’s a picture of you wearing a bra?” Jodi asked, shooting a hopeful glance towards the pile of photo albums that they’d stacked for her.

  “Don’t even think about it,” Danny bit out coldly, which probably would have cowed any other woman, but not this one. She glared right back at him, which earned her a series of curses as Danny pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “Be nice, Tinkerbelle, or I won’t show you my old tree house.”

  “You had a tree house?” she asked, sounding intrigued as Darrin watched their mother walk into the room. Yeah, this should definitely be good, he decided around a yawn.

  “Yes, he did and I could only get him to come out for dinner,” their mother said with a huge smile as Danny stepped back to introduce them.

  “Sweetheart, this is my mother,” Danny said, leaning down to kiss their mother on the cheek. “Mom, this is my girlfriend…Mom?”

  “Mrs. Bradford?” Jodi asked, shifting nervously as Darrin watched his mother’s eyes roll back in her head and-

  “Shit!” Darrin snapped when he realized what was happening a little too late and jumped up from the couch. He dove for her along with the rest of his brothers and…

  Missed.

  Shit!

  *-*-*-*

  “I’m fine,” their mother, Mary said, waving off everyone’s concerns and gesturing for everyone to eat.

  “Honey, maybe we should go to the hos-” their father began to say only to stop mid-word when she turned a furious glare on him.

  “My oldest son brought home his girlfriend to have dinner with me and I’m damn well going to have dinner with her!” she snapped at their father, startling everyone at the table.

  “Ummm,” his father began to say, swallowing nervously as he slowly, ever so slowly, handed his wife the ice pack he’d been holding against the back of her head where she’d hit the edge of the couch when she’d passed out, and sat back in his chair. “Just let me know if it starts hurting.”

  “Uh huh,” she said, shifting her attention back to Danny’s girlfriend. “Would you like any more chicken, Jodi?” she asked pleasantly, noticeably startling the small woman even more.

  “N-no, thank you, I’m fine,” Jodi said with a warm smile as she returned her attention to the large plate of food in front of her with a curious frown.

  “Are you thirsty?” his mother asked, sounding eager as she gestured towards one of the many pitchers lining the long dining room table.

  “I’m fine, thank you,” Jodi said, smiling.

  “Are you sure?” Mary asked, gesturing for Duncan to pour her a glass of lemonade.

  “She’s fine, Mom,” Danny said, waving their brother off.

  “Yes, yes of course,” Mary murmured, looking thoughtful as she absently pushed her mashed potatoes around on her plate.

  “This is really good, Mrs. Bra-umm, Mary,” Jodi said with a smile as she took a bite of mashed potatoes.

  “So, tell me about yourself,” Mary said with a huge smile as soon as Jodi had food in her mouth.

  “You already know all about her,” Danny said, sighing heavily as he shifted the food around on his plate.

  Eyes narrowed on Danny, their mother snapped, “I have waited years for one of my inconsiderate sons to bring a nice young woman home to meet me! You will not deny me this moment!”

  Biting back a groan, Darrin shifted his attention to his plate, praying that no one decided to bring up his lack of “dating” again. He wished like hell that he could just tell them about him and Marybeth, but the stubborn woman was determined to drive him out of his goddamn mind. Speaking of Marybeth, he pulled his phone out and discreetly checked it beneath the table only to curse seconds later and-

  “Why are you here?” Danny suddenly asked, dragging his attention away from his phone. He looked up and followed Danny’s curious glance down to the end of the table where their cousins sat.

  “There was a party,” Jason said, taking a large sip of his ice tea.

  “And we weren’t invited,” Trevor finished for him with a careless shrug.

  “And Haley and Zoe?” Danny asked, still pushing his food around his plate.

  “Were,” Jason answered, taking a bite of mashed potato.

  “And the kids?” Jodi asked, frowning.

  “Also invited,” Trevor said, taking a bite of chicken.

  “Then why weren’t you-” she started to ask, only to get cut off by the arrival of the woman who’d spent the entire day fucking him over and rubbing it in his face.

  “I’m sorry I’m late. Uncle Jared needed a hand with some blueprints,” Marybeth explained as she walked into.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded as he glanced over his shoulder and watched as Marybeth walked over to the table, looking incredibly sexy in her Bradford Construction shirt and tight jeans that showed her generous ass off to perfection.

  “Darrin Bradford!” his mother gasped, acting shocked. “What is wrong with you?”

  “Many things,” Reese muttered under his breath, taking a bite of food as he shook his head in disgust.

  “I’m glad you’re here, Marybeth. I wanted to see if you’re still planning on flying down with us for the trip,” his mother said with a warm smile that looked a bit hopeful to him. Ever since he’d dragged Marybeth over to her and told her that he was keeping her, his mother had been holding out hope that they’d get married one day.

  “She’s not going,” Darrin bit out evenly, grabbing two biscuits off the large platter in front of him as his father and brothers all rolled their eyes and shook their heads as they sighed heavily.

  “Yes, I am,” Marybeth said as she sat down in the empty chair next to him.

  “No, you’re not,” Darrin said as he scooped some mashed potatoes on her plate and started to load it up with food.

  “Yeah, I really am,” she said, taking a sip of his lemonade.

  “No, you’re really not,” he said, throwing his arm over the back of her chair as he took the glass of lemonade from her and finished it off.

  “You really need to get over it,” Marybeth said, stealing a bite of potato salad off his plate.

  “You really think I’m going to be able to get over this kind of betrayal?” he demanded, as he reached up to play with a lock of her hair, loving the way that it felt sliding between his fingers.

  “I had lunch at a buffet with Zoe without telling you. It wasn’t the first time and it won’t be the last time so get over it,” she said, stealing one of his rolls off his plate just as a loud gasp drew everyone’s attention to the other end of the table where Trevor stood, looking absolutely furious.

  “She told me that she was running errands!”

  Sighing, because it looked like it was going to be a long fucking night, he grabbed his glass of lemonade and refilled it as he watched his brother Danny, who rarely smiled, grin as leaned down and kissed his girlfriend. As he placed his glass on the table and reached over and stole Marybeth’s glass of lemonade so that he could fill it, he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d been going about this thing with Marybeth the wrong way.

  Chapter 12

  “Are you still mad at me?” she asked, her words ending on a moan as Darrin’s hand snaked beneath the back of her pants and cupped her bottom.

  “I’m not mad at you,” Darrin promised as he brushed his lips across her throat.

  “Are you sure?” she asked, licking her lips hungrily as she shifted on top of him and pressed down against the large bulge straining against his zipper.

  “Mmmhmm,” he murmured as he kissed his way back up to her mouth while he used the hold he had on her ass to pull her down harder as she ground herself against him. “Very.”

  “Then why don’t we go inside?” she suggested, not sure how much more of this she could take as she reached past him and grabbed onto the back of the bench seat of her truck.

>   “I have a better idea,” he said as he removed his hand from the back of her pants and wrapped his arms around her, holding her as she leisurely ground herself against him.

  “What’s that?” she asked, admittedly distracted as she kissed and nibbled her way down his jaw and neck.

  “We could drive up to New Hampshire tonight and be married by morning,” he whispered hoarsely, making her roll her eyes, because she knew that he wasn’t serious.

  He was a Bradford, which according to all of those frightening stories that his family liked to share around the dinner table, meant that he probably wouldn’t give her any type of warning before she was dragged across state lines kicking and screaming.

  “Ah, no,” she said, deciding that she wasn’t doing a very good job if he was able to joke around. She shifted so that the next time she moved against him it would-

  “Then have dinner with me tomorrow night,” he suggested, cutting her off.

  “Are you really trying to use sex to distract me so that I’ll agree to make you dinner?” she asked, chuckling softly as she playfully nipped at his jaw. She shifted once again so that she could-

  “No, I’m trying to ask you to go out with me tomorrow night.”

  “No,” she said with a slight shake of her head as she pressed down and moved to-

  Gasp in surprise as she suddenly found herself picked up and set aside. Before she could ask what was wrong, Darrin was sighing heavily in typical Bradford fashion as he pulled his keys out of the ignition, grabbed his phone and opened the door. He jumped out and left her sitting there wondering what just happened.

  It took her a minute before she realized that the big bastard was trying to get her back for all those photos that she’d sent him today. Narrowing her eyes on his retreating form, she grabbed her bag, climbed out of the truck and hurried after him.

  “Nice try,” she said with a sad shake of her head as she walked past him and went inside. She opened her door and stepped inside her apartment, already deciding that she was going to make the bastard run out and get her a pint of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream before she allowed him to crawl in bed with her tonight.

  “Did you change your mind about dinner tomorrow night?” he asked, still standing in the small foyer when he really should be finding a pen and paper so that he could take down her ice cream order.

  “I was planning on making lasagna tomorrow night,” she said, mostly to distract him, but to her surprise, the promise of food didn’t seem to interest him.

  “So that’s a no then?” he asked with a curious tilt of his head.

  “No, that’s an offer to make you a home cooked meal, watch a bad horror movie followed by a night of sex,” she reminded him.

  “Sorry, I can’t do that,” he said with a shrug, instantly putting her on guard, because she knew him well enough to know that look of determination on his face meant that he was up to something, something that she was not going to like.

  “Can’t do what?” she cautiously asked.

  He sighed heavily. “I can’t let you treat me like a whore anymore,” he announced with typical Bradford flourish, making her roll her eyes.

  “Treat you like a whore? Really?” she asked dryly with a sad shake of her head, because really, only a Bradford would turn himself into a martyr over sex.

  “You know damn well that you’ve been treating me like a dirty, disgusting whore,” he said accusingly with a glare. “Well, I won’t have it anymore! Do you hear me, woman? I will no longer be subjected to sliding inside your incredibly delicious body unless you start acknowledging our love!”

  “Meaning?” she asked with a sigh, knowing that he would eventually get to the point.

  “Meaning that I will no longer allow you to have your dirty way with me anymore.”

  “Y-you’re ending this?” she asked, struggling to remain calm as her heart beat furiously in her chest.

  She knew that she was going to have to end this one day for both their sakes, but she wasn’t ready, not yet. She just needed a little more time before she had to give him up.

  He snorted at that with a shake of his head. “Like I’d let you get away that easily.”

  “Then what are you doing?” she asked, wondering if she had any beer in the fridge, because she was pretty sure that she was going to need a drink after this conversation.

  Possibly two.

  “What am I doing?” he asked, his lips kicking up into a sensual smile as he moved closer to her until there was barely an inch of space between them. “I’m giving you the ultimate double dare,” he said as he leaned down and brushed his lips tenderly against hers.

  “And what’s that?” she asked suspiciously, watching his every move as he stood up and stepped back.

  “To marry me.”

  *-*-*-*

  Perhaps he should have found a better way to do this? he thought as Marybeth’s shocked expression quickly shifted to disbelief.

  “You can’t be serious!”

  “Yet, I am,” he said, enjoying her distress probably more than he should.

  “I’m not marrying you!” she shouted with a panicked expression, but that was understandable under the circumstances. He had sprung this on her out of the blue after all.

  Then again, it was more warning than most women received from the men in his family.

  “Yes,” he said, leaning down and brushed his lips against her stunned ones simply because he couldn’t help himself, “you are.”

  “We’re not even dating!” she sputtered, sounding a bit hysterical.

  “We are now,” he said with one last kiss and a wink as he stepped away, deciding that she probably needed a minute to process all of this.

  “No, we’re not! We’re just having sex!” she pointed out almost desperately, making him sigh.

  She was so damn cute when she was on the verge of going for his balls, he thought with a smile, which by the looks of the glare that she was suddenly sending his way, she didn’t appreciate. He decided that it would probably be for the best if he clarified a few things for her.

  “We’ll be married by the end of the year, guaranteed,” he said, deciding not to prolong this explanation when she opened her mouth to cut him off and most likely tell him to go to hell. “But first, we are going to date, which means that all this bullshit about keeping what’s going on between us a secret ends now.”

  “And if I don’t agree to this?” she asked with a stubborn glint in her eye as she crossed her arms over her chest and tried her best to stare him down, which was just fucking sad.

  “Well,” he said, leaning back down to brush his lips against hers, making sure to tease her bottom lip with the tip of his tongue and nearly forgetting himself when she moaned softly before he remembered his purpose, “until you start letting everyone know just how much I mean to you, Marybeth, I’m going to keep my dirty little hands off your delectable little body.”

  Chapter 13

  God, would this night never end? she wondered as she glanced over her shoulder to find the manipulative bastard following her up the stairs.

  “What are you doing?” she couldn’t help but ask, especially after that little declaration that he’d just delivered.

  “Going to bed,” he said, looking adorably confused.

  “I see,” she murmured as she pointed to the right, “then you must be lost, because your apartment is over there.”

  “I sleep better with you,” he said with a shrug and a yawn that had her turning right back around and walking the rest of the way up the stairs, wondering why she hadn’t killed him yet.

  “That’s really too bad, because I believe that you just decided that you’d be sleeping alone for the time being,” she said, taking some perverse satisfaction that she would get the last word on the subject tonight.

  “I don’t remember saying that,” he said, sounding thoughtful as he followed her into her bedroom and started pulling off his clothes and tossing them aside.

  “Then what was tha
t little declaration downstairs?” she asked, yanking her top-drawer open and grabbed a pair of pale yellow lacy panties before slamming the door shut.

  “You mean my marriage proposal?” he asked, making her right eye twitch.

  “That wasn’t a proposal,” she bit out, storming off towards the bathroom, only pausing long enough to reach down and snatch up his discarded shirt.

  “Then what would you call it?” he asked, pulling back the covers and climbed in her bed with a satisfied sigh that had her hands twitching with the need to strangle the cocky bastard.

  “Typical Bradford bullshit,” she snapped, shaking her head in disgust as she headed into the bathroom and slammed the door shut simply because it felt good to do it.

  “Because I want to marry you?” he asked, sounding amused.

  “Shut up!” she snapped, hating him more with every passing second.

  “Aw, is little Marybeth mad that she can’t have her dirty little way with me?” he asked in the most condescending tone that she’d ever heard and that was saying a lot since she’d grown up around Bradfords.

  “Bastard,” she muttered, grabbing her toothbrush and squeezed an insane amount of toothpaste on the bristles before she shoved her toothbrush in her mouth and took her frustration out on her teeth.

  “Admit that you’re in love with me and I might consider letting you have your dirty little way with me,” he said, sounding way too pleased with himself, she decided.

  She should just accept that things were over between them and move on. It was the right thing to do and she’d probably never get a better opportunity than this, but she just couldn’t do it. It went against everything that she believed in to let the manipulative bastard get away with this.

  Jaw clenched, she decided that if he wanted to play games with her that was fine, because she was more than capable of taking this to the next level, something that he should have considered when he’d come up with this asinine plan. Ten minutes later she was showered, her hair was brushed, her makeup touched up and she was wearing his shirt sans panties.

  Biting back a smile, she opened the bathroom door and bit back a smile when she saw Darrin, lying back on her bed wearing a cocky smile that told her everything that she was about to do to him was completely justified.