Double Dare: April Fools' For Love

  Double Dare

By

Jodi Redford

“Double Dare”

Copyright 2015 Jodi Redford

Edited by JL Stalker

Published by Jodi Redford

Cover by S.L. Carpenter

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or

dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.  This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people.  If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient.  If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy.  Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system-except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine, newspaper, or on the web-without permission in writing from the author.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my fellow Lust With a Laugh crew, Roxy Mews, Mary Hughes, and Scott Carpenter. You guys inspire me, make me laugh, and are truly some of the best friends I’ve been lucky enough to have walk into my life. I’m so honored to have worked on this special project with you.

Also to all of my wonderful readers. As always, I couldn’t do this job I love without your support. I’m truly grateful for each and every one of you.

CHAPTER ONE

The not so distant chugging groan of a stubborn lawnmower broke through Dani Tipton’s concentration. She dropped her paintbrush onto the ledge of her easel and scooched off of her stool, nearly toppling it in her haste to reach the doorway to her studio. She rushed into the hallway and bee-lined for the living room. Her clumsy feet tripped her up halfway to the bay window fronting the house. Yelping, she wind-milled her arms, attempting to regain her balance, and instead performed a graceless face plant into the oversized bean bag chair situated on the far side of the couch.

Digging her elbows into the smooshy, suede-covered seat, she groaned and blew a lock of hair out of her eyes. A slow clap sounded behind her. Of course she’d have a witness to that epic fail. Gusting a sigh, she pushed up onto her knees and shot a look over her shoulder. Her nineteen-year-old sister, Erin, wore an ear-to-ear grin. “Damn, wish I’d had my cellphone to record that.”

Thank God for small favors with that rare occurrence. Usually the device was permanently attached to Erin’s hand. Straightening, Dani rubbed her arm and grimaced at the slight twinge in her elbow. Great. She was probably going to have a bugger of a bruise there now.

“Why were you racing to the window anyway?” The smirk residing on Erin’s face confirmed that she already knew the answer.

“I wasn’t headed for the window.” Dani spied her sketch pad on the coffee table and pounced on the most logical excuse. “I’m in the middle of finishing Talia’s painting and needed this.” She leaned forward and swiped the leather-bound pad.

“Uh huh.” Her tone and expression unconvinced, Erin slid her gaze to the bay window. “Why don’t you just admit you’re horny for the hotties?”

“Erin!” Her cheeks warm, Dani avoided direct eye contact with her sister. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Yeah, right. Because being turned on by two built, sexier than fuck guys is
soooooo
crazy.” Erin waved her hands in the air.

“You really shouldn’t talk like that.”

Erin rolled her eyes. “God, you sound like mom and dad.”

“Is that such a bad thing?”

Erin shuddered. “Yes. Bad enough I always have them riding my ass. Please don’t start on me too.”

A niggle of guilt worming through her, Dani hugged her chest. She didn’t want to be a nagging big sister, but sometimes she had no choice. Trouble tended to adhere to Erin like Super Glue. It’d always been that way, and was a big part of the reason she’d moved in with Dani her senior year of high school. Back in Detroit, Erin had fallen in with the wrong bunch of kids and ended up getting busted by the cops for smoking pot and underage drinking. To save Erin from being shipped off to a super strict parochial school, Dani took her in and made damn sure her little sis graduated without ending up in juvie. Or worse.

“I’ve gotta hit the road.” Her expression petulant, Erin spun on her heel and snatched her woven hobo bag. Slinging the strap over her shoulder, she stalked toward the front door. Dani stalled her in the entry with a bear hug. Her pout slipping, Erin sighed and squeezed Dani tight. “I’m sorry for being bitchy. And laughing when you tripped.”

“But you only clapped.”

“I was laughing inside.”

She slugged Erin in the arm and scooted her out the door. “Drive safe, brat.”

“Talia’s chocolate-banana empanadas are on today’s menu. I’ll bring home a box.”

One of the many benefits of her little sis waitressing at the best Cuban restaurant in St. Augustine—an endless supply of fresh baked goodies. Her waistline might be suffering the price, but oh so worth it. “Tell Talia I’ll have that painting ready for her tomorrow.”

A devious twinkle lit Erin’s eyes. “You know what would be freakin’ hilarious? Swap out your watercolor for something hideous, like
Dogs Playing Poker
.”

“Uh,
why
would I do that?”

“Tomorrow is April Fools’ Day.”

Aw shit. Thank God she didn’t have to worry about being a victim of anyone’s pranking. Her college years had seen plenty of that stupidity. “I have no idea where to buy a copy of Dogs Playing Poker.”

“I’ve got a person.”

“Do I even want to know what that means?”

“Heh. Probably not.” Leaving Dani to ponder what kind of shady people her sister was hanging out with, Erin dashed to the ancient station wagon parked on the other side of Dani’s convertible. Every time she looked at her sister’s car she was tempted to take a flamethrower to it just to put it out of its misery. Still, Erin had paid for it with her own money, and anything that made her sister proud and responsible was a good thing in Dani’s book.

A motion across the street distracted Dani and she shifted her focus. Graham Barlow lifted from his crouch in front of a large stand-on lawnmower and swiped his grease-streaked forearm across his brow. The movement pulled his black tank top snug to his chest, molding the fabric to the mouthwatering contours of his ripped muscles. He tossed a scowl toward the shiny silver pickup truck that he and his roommate used for their landscape business. “Did you find that wrench yet?”

One of the truck’s doors slammed, and Matt Spencer popped into view. He strode to the disabled mower and passed the tool to his partner. A grunt fell from Graham. “Took ya long enough. What were you doing over there, jacking off?”

Oh Lord. Like she needed
that
image implanted in her brain. Especially since her hormones were already performing their own version of an exuberant Riverdance, thanks to the ogle fest Matt and Graham provided.

Damn it, she really hated that Erin was right. The two men
were
walking advertisements for lady boners. Unlike Graham, Matt had forgone a shirt, which put every inch of his strong, sculpted back on mouthwatering display. Her fingertips tingled as she imagined running them down the deep groove of his spine, cruising toward those cute dimples that rode just above—

A car horn tooted, and Dani jumped guiltily. Both men swiveled their heads and sent a wave to Erin as she reversed out of the driveway. 

Erin poked her head out the station wagon’s window, the sticky breeze rustling her neon blue pixy cut. “When are you gonna grow some balls and ask my sister out?”

Dani groaned, desperately wishing she could mimic a chameleon by blending with the nearby flowering lantana bush. Before she could safely duck inside the house without anyone being the wiser of her presence, her neighbors slashed their attention her way. She was fairly certain her cheeks were red enough Graham and Matt would be able to detect their nuclear glow from a mile away.

Matt’s chuckle floated in Dani’s direction. “Just as soon as we’re certain she’ll say yes.”

Her pulse revved at the wickedness of his expression and the resulting heat wave that swamped her body. There was no mistaking the blazing interest he and Graham had leveled on her. Since they’d moved in roughly a year and a half ago, they’d attempted to lure her to the Dark Side with a steady dance of flirtation, so she had a bad feeling those twin sparkles of determination in their eyes bode an outright war against her resistance. But that’s precisely what she needed to cling to. With every ounce of her being. Tempting as the two delicious hunks were, she couldn’t give in to her attraction to them.

She was well aware of the kinky things that went on in that house across the street. It wasn’t that she necessarily went out of her way to be a Peeping Tom, but when you had neighbors who didn’t bother to close the blinds you noticed things. Things that left you embarrassingly aroused and in desperate need of a cold shower or quick session with your battery operated boyfriend.

The first time she’d accidentally witnessed Matt and Graham skillfully tag teaming a woman together she’d been too shocked to immediately process what she was seeing. The lights had been dim enough in their living room she’d even considered the possibility that she was misreading the situation. But it became crystal clear they weren’t playing a new version of Twister when they’d put the woman on her knees and Graham settled behind her while Matt stationed himself in front of the female. Even without the benefit of twenty-twenty vision, Dani saw a whole new side to her neighbors she sure as hell hadn’t been expecting. Every square inch of Dani had been hot and tingly by the time the woman ducked out the door, barely able to walk straight and a goofy grin on her face.

Certain that they’d somehow know what a perverted snoop she was, Dani hadn’t been able to look Graham and Matt in the eye for an entire week. She’d gotten over her guilty conscious soon enough, but the impromptu peep shows provided by her neighbors and their lady friends proved to be a rare treat. Still, spying on them was one thing. Joining in the action? That would be a hell to the no. She needed to be a responsible role model for Erin. And floozying it up with Graham and Matt in a three-way fling sure as hell wouldn’t accomplish that. 

Besides, she wasn’t cut out for the whole one night stand scenario. And that’s all it would be with her hunky neighbors...one sweaty, sinful night sandwiched between two smoking hot men who stared at her like they wanted to spend the entire evening setting her bedsheets on fire.

Totally unproductive thought.
Gulping, she tore her focus from Graham and Matt and slunk back inside the house. Snicking the door closed, she thunked her forehead against the whitewashed wood grain. Why must fate be such a devious bitch? Florida was full of retirees. Why couldn’t her neighbors be a pair of old coots who owned a closetful of lime green Bermuda shorts and compression socks?

Grumping under her breath, she detoured to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of iced tea from the fridge. She twisted off the cap the same instant the doorbell chimed. Heart knocking, she stared in the direction of the front entry. Safe to say that wasn’t the milkman.

“Thanks a lot, Erin.” Grumbling, Dani shuffled to the door. A quick peek through the peep hole confirmed her suspicions of who stood on the other side. Sending a memo to her hormones to get a damn grip, she sucked in a deep breath and swung open the door. She returned Matt and Graham’s megawatt grins with her own wobblier version. “Hey.”

His gaze sparkling, Graham propped one hand high up on the doorframe, the position hiking the hem of his tank top. “Hey yourself.”

An endless moment passed while she stared transfixed at the intriguing peppering of dark hair that formed a happy trail down Graham’s washboard abs and disappeared beneath the low-slung waistband of his navy blue cargo shorts. His pointed cough snapped her from her trance. The muggy heat contributing to the warmth already occupying her cheeks, she lifted her focus and met his amused regard.

The tiny upward hitch at the corner of his mouth did funny things to her tummy. “We couldn’t help but notice that your bush is in need of a little TLC.”

She double blinked. “Uh, what?”

He cocked his head toward the flowering lantana to the right of him. The wicked glint in his whiskey-hued irises verified that he was plenty aware of his double entendre. “Wouldn’t take us but a minute or so to shape it up.”

“That’s incredibly nice of you guys, but—”

“Consider it a trade,” Matt offered.

She frowned. “For what?”

“The empanadas that your sister promised you’d bring when you come over for dinner tonight.”

She stifled a groan. “Please tell me Erin didn’t invite us over.” It’d be right up her sister’s alley to do something both embarrassing and rude, all while not giving a hoot.

Graham shook his head and chuckled. “Just you.”

His clarification instantly deflated her sharp bloom of relief.
I’m going to kill Erin. Plain and simple.
“Look, I don’t want you guys getting the wrong idea about what she said earlier.”

“You mean asking you out?” Matt’s teeth flashed brilliant white against the sun-bronzed backdrop of his complexion. This up close, she easily detected every glistening bead of sweat dampening his sculpted pecs.

Do
not
allow yourself to be distracted by gorgeous man titty.
She nodded vigorously, both at her inner reprimand and Matt’s question. Best to nip this in the bed—
bud! Get your mind out of the gutter.
—before she gave in to the urge to offer herself up as a human towel. “Erin likes to instigate things.”

“Yeah, but I happen to think she’s got the right idea. So does Graham.” Without warning, Matt’s fingers closed around hers. She jolted at the unexpected skin-on-skin contact, but it was the lazy stroke of his thumb along hers that spurred her fluttery intake of breath.

His smoky blue gaze locked with hers, he pried her bottle of tea from her frozen grip. He lifted the beverage to his mouth and took a swig. Normally she’d be completely miffed at anyone brazenly availing themselves of her drink without asking permission. But the provocative sweep of his tongue over his bottom lip left her too brain-addled to care.

He passed the bottle back to her. “Dinner’s at eight. Don’t forget the empanadas.”

Both men offered her a smoldering grin before ambling to their side of the street. It wasn’t until after Matt and Graham hefted the lawnmower into the trailer hitched to their pickup and sped off that she realized they’d snuck a fast one on her.

Son of a bitch.