Double Dare (A Neighbor from Hell Book 6) (12 page)

Chapter 18

              Life was good, she decided, unable to stop smiling as she waited for the cashier to finish bagging her breakfast. She normally settled for cereal or pop tarts in the morning before work, but today she felt like treating herself to a few slices of apple crumb coffee cake and an apple fitter from the best bakery in town, which also just happened to be the one that Darrin was banned from.

              There really was no better way to celebrate, she mused as she gestured for the cashier to add another apple fritter to her order. Actually, that wasn’t true, she realized with a sad shake of her head as she pulled her phone out and snapped a quick picture of all the yummy looking Danishes and muffins laid out for the morning rush. She placed her money on the counter, grabbed her bags filled with baked goods and headed for the door as she hit, “Send.”

              She wasn’t exactly surprised when he didn’t respond to her text. He was avoiding her after all, had been since last week when she’d commandeered his television. Since then she’d had him on the run. Anytime he saw her, he’d curse and abruptly head in the opposite direction. If she called him, he’d answer, ask if she was okay before she could say anything and as soon as he knew that everything was fine, he’d hang up on her. If she sent him a text, he read it, but never responded. She should probably back off and give him some space, but that would only give him a chance to regroup and come after her from a different angle and she knew damn well that he was trying to figure out another way to break her. 

              Sooner or later he’d figure out that he didn’t have a chance in hell of winning and by the time he did, it would be too late. She’d turn the tables on him and make him beg before she let him have his dirty little way with her and put an end to this dare once and for all. Then she’d be free to enjoy the remainder of their time together without having to deal with another heartbreaking conversation about the future.

              Sighing with relief, she opened her truck door and climbed in, gently tossing the bags full of goodies that she was going to have to eat before she made it to the worksite down on the bench seat next to her. Five minutes later she was driving down one of the backcountry roads, humming along to one her favorite songs and reaching into one of the white bakery bags when she heard the chirp of a siren.

              “Crap,” she muttered with a groan as she looked up into her rearview mirror and spotted the flashing lights coming up behind her.

              Resigning herself to a speeding ticket, she pulled over to the side of the road and put the truck in park. Very familiar with the drill, she reached over and began the long tedious search through her backpack for her license and-

              “Please step out of the vehicle, ma’am,” the painfully familiar voice said, making her shake her in disgust, because this was sad even by Bradford standards.

              Giving up her search for her license, she turned her attention to the large bastard standing outside her door, looking smug as he waited for her to comply. Curious to see what he had planned and admittedly eager to torment him some more, she opened her door and-

              “Please place your hands on the hood of your vehicle, ma’am,” Darrin said firmly, sounding a tad bored as he waited for her to do as he’d asked.

              Amused, she didn’t bother to hide her smile as she moved to the side, turned around and placed her hands on the hood of her truck. “Is there a problem, officer?” she somehow managed to get out without laughing….much.

              “Do you know how fast you were going?”

              “No clue,” she said, waiting for him to put his hands on her and make some half-assed attempt to try and tempt her into losing control.

              “You were doing fifty in a thirty-five mile zone, ma’am.”

              “Uh huh,” she said, sighing heavily as she stood there, squinting against the early morning sun as she waited for him to get on with it.

              “Also, your taillight is out,” he pointed out firmly.

              “That might have something to do with the fact that you didn’t change it when you promised,” she pointed out helpfully as she shifted and waited.

              “Ma’am, are you aware that there are ten outstanding parking tickets on this vehicle?” he asked, ignoring her as he continued with what was turning out to be a really pathetic attempt to win, making her wonder why he even bothered.

              “Yes, yes I am. I believe a certain police officer borrowed my truck to get to work and forgot to get a parking permit to park at the station and kept racking up parking tickets that he was supposed to get excused,” she reminded him.

              “I’m afraid that I’m going to have to place you under arrest,” he said, finally getting to the point and making her roll her eyes, because yes, they had played this game a time or two. Only today it probably wouldn’t end with him taking her from behind. Well, it probably would, she thought, smiling smugly, but she’d also get exactly what she wanted when he finally gave in and-

              “Officer McCain, would you please take this woman into custody?” he asked, drawing her attention to the fact that a second cruiser had pulled up behind Darrin’s while she’d been waiting for him to get to the point.

              She turned her head as the first tendrils of apprehension crawled up her spine and she felt her jaw drop as a very stern, and very angry looking, female officer walked towards them. Swallowing nervously, she said, “Darrin?”

              Chuckling softly, he moved closer until he was standing behind her. “Say the word, Marybeth, and I can make this all go away,” he whispered, his warm breath teased her nape as she stood there, licking her lips nervously as she watched the other woman draw closer, looking seriously pissed for a woman carrying a gun.

              “Or you can just turn around, wrap your arms around me, stare adoringly into my eyes and profess your undying love for me,” he said, chuckling.

              “Don’t do this,” she bit out as her hands clenched into fists as the very angry officer pulled her handcuffs out.

              “Give me what I want and I won’t have to.”

              “This better be a joke,” she bit out as the officer gestured for Darrin to step away.

              “Last chance, sweetheart,” Darrin said softly and even though he wasn’t touching her, she would swear to her dying day that she felt the bastard smile.

              “Don’t do this, Darrin,” she pleaded, shifting nervously as Officer McCain stepped beside her.

              “You know what you have to do to make this all go away,” he said, stepping away and leaving her to the tender mercies of-

              “Ow!” she gasped, more in shock than in actual pain, when Officer McCain grabbed her arm and pulled it back to snap the metal cuff around her wrist before doing the same with her other arm.

              “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say and do can-”

              “This isn’t funny anymore,” Marybeth snapped, glaring over her shoulder at Darrin as Officer McCain read her her rights.

              “Breaking the law never is,” Darrin murmured mockingly.

              “You’ll regret this,” she promised him, still holding out hope that this was all a sick joke, but something about Office McCain told her that the woman didn’t have a sense of humor.

              “Probably,” he murmured absently with a shrug as she was pulled back away from the truck.

              “I’m not kidding, Darrin!”

              Smiling that damn Bradford smile that she was really starting to hate, he walked over to her truck and stole her precious bakery bags while she stood there, helpless to stop him. “I never thought you were,” he drawled, making a show of inspecting her bags.

              “Don’t even think about it,” she bit out, needing her sugary baked treats more than ever.

              Shooting her a wink, the son of a bitch that she was going to kill, reached into her bag and pulled out one of the large glazed apple fritters that was rightfully hers and took a bite, all while keeping his eyes locked on her.

              “Let’s go,” Officer McCain said, giving her arm a gentle tug that had her moving.

              “This isn’t over!” she shouted as she was dragged over to the second police car. “I will get you for this, you bastard!” she promised him as Office McCain opened the car door and shoved her inside.

              “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, baby,” he said, sighing happily as he strolled past her, taking a huge bite out of her apple coffee cake and bringing her rage to a whole new level.

              “You’ll have to come out of there at some point, you son of a bitch!” Marybeth shouted, emphasizing her words by pounding on his door.

              “You do realize that she’s going to kill you, right?” Reese asked around a loud yawn as he absently scratched the back of his head while he scanned the pile of empty packages covering the coffee table.

              “Probably,” he said, unconcerned as he leaned forward and searched through the empty packages and wrappers for something to eat, uncaring when they fell on the floor.

              “I can’t believe you had her strip searched,” Jason said, shaking his head ruefully as he reached past him to pick up a package of Double Stuff Oreos only to drop it a few seconds later when he discovered that the package was empty.

              “She could have put a stop to it anytime she wanted,” he reminded them as he glanced at his watch, wondering where Aidan was with their food.

              “That probably didn’t help with your bullshit plan,” Trevor added, tossing an empty bag of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups aside and leaned back against the couch with a sigh, reminding Darrin of something that he’d been wondering about for the last two hours…

              “What the hell are you doing here?”

              “Zoe kicked us out,” Trevor explained with a shrug and a sigh as he gave up his search and sat back.

              “That still doesn’t explain what you’re doing here,” he pointed out as he accepted a beer from his twin.

              “Grandma is having a dinner party and she didn’t trust us to behave,” Jason said around a yawn as he finally gave up his search for food.

              “Still doesn’t explain why you’re
here
,” he said around the same time Marybeth released a frustrated growl in the hallway a few seconds before they heard her door slam shut.

              He couldn’t help but shake his head in disgust. Did she really think that he was going to fall for that? He popped the top off his beer and took a sip as he watched the game, waiting for the moment when the frustrating woman realized that he wasn’t falling for this lame trick. It didn’t take long before she released a groan of frustration and was back to banging on his door.

              “Open the door!” she snapped, annunciating her demand by pounding on his door.

              “Are you ready to give up yet?” he asked around a yawn, because if this was all she had left then she might as well give up and accept the inevitable.

              There was a slight pause before she asked, “Will you come out if I do?”

              “No.”

              “I hate you!” she snapped, emphasizing her declaration by slamming the front door shut.

              “No, she doesn’t,” he said with a slight shake of his head as he watched her storm past his front window and head towards her car only to slow down when she spotted Aidan, climbing out of his SUV. He shot Marybeth a smile and a wink before he turned around and busied himself with loading his arms with the bags of takeout that he’d promised to pick up.

              “What is she doing?” Jason asked with a frown as they watched her abruptly stop in her tracks, turn around, walk back towards the house, grab the hose and storm off back towards the driveway.

              “Oh, shit,” Reese muttered.

              “She wouldn’t…..” Trevor said, slowly coming to his feet as they watched Marybeth storm across the yard towards Aidan and-

              “Shit!” he growled, racing for the door, praying that he was able to make it to the faucet and shut the water off before-

              It was too late.

              He’d barely managed to throw the front door open when Marybeth took her revenge out on Aidan, and more importantly, the delicious Chinese food that he’d been dreaming about all morning. Aidan tried to make a run for it, but the heartless wench that he loved more than anything managed to take his brother down with a jerk of the hose. While Aidan scrambled to save the last few morsels of food that had somehow survived her vicious attack, Marybeth calmly shifted the hose to the right and with her eyes locked on him, destroyed every last tasty morsel.

              The woman was heartless, he realized as he watched her drop the hose by her feet, step over Aidan who was searching in vain through the waterlogged food for any survivors, and walked towards him only to come to stop and noticeably swallow when she caught the murderous twinkle in his eyes.

              Absolutely heartless, he decided as he lunged for her only to find himself pinned down on the ground by his cousins as the cruel woman that he was more determined than ever to make his own made her escape.

*-*-*-*

              God, she missed him, she mused absently with a pathetic groan as she lay there watching the alarm clock, waiting for the last minute to pass before she had to get up. She shifted in anticipation only to wince when the move caused one of the rusted old springs that were becoming more and more noticeable with each passing minute to poke her in the side.

              She also really missed her bed, she thought miserably as she slowly sat up and carefully untangled her favorite shirt from the sharp spring poking out of the ratty old cushion. Sighing, she shifted to the side, reached over and grabbed the roll of duct tape that she kept on hand for just such an occasion. She pulled off two short strips and covered the jagged metal tip, hoping that the spring wouldn’t see that as a challenge to pop all the way through tonight while she was trying to sleep and impale her.

              She glanced at Jake’s closed bedroom door and considered forcing the bastard to trade places with her, but….

              She’d seen his mattress.

              Not that she really wanted to know, because she didn’t, but she was pretty sure that was the same mattress that he’d had since he was fifteen. It was lumpier than the couch, stained from all those iced coffees that he liked to drink at night and had chunks missing from it. Until she figured out what she was going to do, she was going to have suck it up and deal with his lumpy couch and the possibility of contracting tetanus.

              “You’re up,” Jake said around a loud yawn as he stumbled out of his bedroom and headed towards the bathroom.

              “Do you think you could swing by my house today and pick up a few things for me?” she asked, pulling out the list she’d made last night, knowing that this made her a coward and not really caring.

              He shook his head. “Sorry, can’t. I’ve got a date tonight,” he said with a sheepish smile that could only mean one thing.

              “Crap,” she mumbled with a sigh.

              “Sorry,” he said with that boyish smile that usually had her rolling her eyes and laughing it off as she called him a jackass, but not today. Not when it meant that she was out of time. “Maybe you can stay with Mom?” he suggested with a shrug.

              Where her mother could bombard her with a thousand questions about why she wasn’t staying in her own house and why she looked like she was constantly looking over her shoulder? No, that really was not the best idea, not if she didn’t want to end up having to explain the real reason she’d come between a group of Bradfords and their food.

              “I can’t,” she said with a heavy sigh, realizing that she had nowhere else to run.

              It was time to go home and face the music, she decided with a cringe as she was forced to shift to the side as another spring tore through the rough couch fabric and threatened to lodge itself in her hip.

              “Do you want me to talk with him?” Jake offered, as he grabbed his toothbrush that had been worn down to a matted mess and squirted an obscene amount of toothpaste on it.

              Since she knew who “him” was, she shrugged it off and shook her head. “I can handle this on my own.”

              “Are you sure?” he asked around his toothbrush and a mouthful of toothpaste, pausing mid-brush and looking like he wanted to argue with her, again.

              “Yeah, I’m sure that he’s over it by now,” she said, forcing a careless smile when all she wanted to do was to hunt that large bastard down and kick his insensitive ass.

              He hadn’t come after her to seek his revenge, texted her, dropped by to check on her, called Jake, her mother, or had one of his relatives ask if she was okay, nothing. Not that she wanted to see him upset or was in rush to find out exactly what he had planned for her, but still…

              Would it have killed him to at least pretend that he gave a damn about her?

              Bastard.

              As she stood up, gasping in pain when the spring got in one last poke, she walked over to the bathroom and shoved her brother out of the way, deciding that it was probably for the best that she confront the heartless bastard now and put an end to this dare before they ended up killing each other.

*-*-*-*

              “Let me the fuck go!”

              Reese, the biggest fucking traitor in the world, shook his head while Jason and Trevor lounged on the bed on either side of him, finishing off the last of his cereal. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Jason said with a soft sigh and a shake of his head that had Darrin yanking harder against his handcuffs, eager to kill the bastard.

              “I’d have to agree,” Trevor said absently as he tossed aside the empty box of Lucky Charms and grabbed the box of Twinkies that they’d found hidden in Marybeth’s apartment.

              “I’m not going to kill her,” he promised, because killing her was the last fucking thing that he wanted to do to her. She’d betrayed him, used his weakness against him and then ran off before he could get his revenge and he couldn’t remember ever wanting her more.

              “Uh huh,” Jason said absently as he stood up and tossed his empty cereal box aside. “Why don’t we go downstairs and give him a chance to cool off before we let him go?” he suggested, already heading for the door and bringing his rage to a whole new level.

              “Don’t. Even. Fucking. Think. About. It,” he bit out, emphasizing each word with a vicious yank on his handcuffs.

              “It’s for the best,” Trevor said, repeating the same damn phrase that he’d been using since yesterday when they’d all ganged up on him and dragged him up here.

              He knew that they meant well. He did. He even appreciated that they were trying to protect Marybeth, but they just didn’t understand what seeing her screw him over like that had done to him. He wanted her so much that he was actually in physical pain. He needed her and as soon as they released him, he was going to find her, bend her over and fuck her until it stopped hurting.

              Then he was going to have to come up with a new plan, because clearly this dare wasn’t working the way that he’d hoped it would. He was going to call off this dare, something that he’d never done before, take her to bed, put them both out of their miseries and then he was going to have to regroup and come up with a different plan, because-

              “Well, this explains a lot,” Jake drawled as he walked into the room.

              Darrin shifted his gaze past Jake, hoping to find Marybeth lurking in the hallway, desperate for a glimpse of her, but she wasn’t there. “Where is she?” he demanded, keeping his attention on the hallway, hoping that she’d magically appear so that they could put this bed and the handcuffs to good use.

              “At work,” Jake simply said as he grabbed the chair away from the wall and dragged it over to the bed.

              “Then why are you here?” he asked, yanking on the cuffs as he shot a hopeful look back at the hallway, damning his cousins and brother to hell and back when their large backs blocked his view as they filed out of the room.

              “We’ll be downstairs if you need us,” Reese said, but he wasn’t listening.

              “Because you and I need to have a talk,” Jake said as Darrin continued to glare at the hallway, willing Marybeth to appear so that they could put an end to this dare and move on.

              “About what?” he asked absently as he shifted on the bed, trying to get a better look at the hallway so that he could see the exact moment when Marybeth came upstairs.

              “The reason why you need to leave my sister alone and move on.”