Double Dare: April Fools' For Love (2 page)

CHAPTER TWO

“Do you think she’ll show up?”

Graham finished lighting the grill before transferring his attention to Matt. “Your guess is as good as mine. But I hope to hell she does.” And not just because they’d busted their weekly grocery budget splurging on the lobster tails. Yeah, a deliberate ploy to impress Dani after Erin let it slip that the pricey seafood was her sister’s favorite treat.

Hell, he wasn’t too proud to admit he’d stoop to any level necessary to ease past Dani’s walls. Busting into Fort Knox would be a breeze compared to getting the stubborn woman to relax her guard.

He knew damn well his and Matt’s attraction to her was reciprocated. There were plenty of times he’d caught her appreciative gaze on them when she thought they weren’t aware. Then there was her response this morning when Matt touched her. Dani’s skin-tight top and the perky status of her nipples made it crystal clear that she was turned on
and
not wearing a bra. Both realizations had played havoc with Graham’s sanity for the remainder of the day. Sweating through a major case of blue balls while edging lawns wasn’t exactly his idea of a good time, but it was the norm when it came to his physical response to Dani.

Much as he wished it was only a matter of his dick having a major yen for her, it’d be a damn lie. His sweet and shy little neighbor was a consuming fascination he couldn’t shake. Yeah, acting like a monk had been far from his MO since moving in across the street from her, but while the occasional casual hookup here and there might have gotten his rocks off, the second he pulled his pants back on his thoughts always cycled around to his pretty blonde neighbor.

Too many times he’d lain awake in bed, tormented by questions he didn’t have answers to. Yes, plenty of them were sexual in nature, like what position Dani preferred—missionary, doggie-style, or something else. There were also other musings that had nothing to do with sex. Was there a song that made her smile whenever it popped on the radio? Sometimes he’d even imagine her in her studio, painting away until that particular tune came on, and she’d be compelled to drop everything and get up and dance. He had no damn clue if she’d actually do something spontaneous like that. Shit, he didn’t even know if she listened to the radio while she worked. So it made zero sense why he dwelled on these inane thoughts.

Shaking his head at his own nonsense, he peeled back the plastic covering the prepped lobster tails.

“You ready for a beer yet?” Matt asked.

Graham turned toward his roomie just as the gate leading into the backyard inched open with a squeaky whine. Dani stepped into view, and the oxygen leeched from his brain. She’d ditched her T-shirt and shorts in favor of a pink halter dress that hugged her like a glove, accentuating her hour-glass figure.
Goddamn
, she had curves that didn’t know the meaning of the word quit. He’d give his left nut to be able to snuggle her generous double D’s in his palms—preferably while she was riding him like her own personal hobby horse.

A choked sound broke from Matt, hinting that he’d noticed Dani and he was now engaged in similar thoughts to Graham’s.

Her motions endearingly timid, Dani smoothed a hand along her hip and shuffled toward them. “The fact I’m here doesn’t mean anything. This is
not
a date.”

Graham loosened his tongue from the roof of his mouth. “Are you at least allowed to have a glass of wine on this
non
date?”

She exhaled softly. “Yes. Of course.”

Chuckling, Matt freed her of the bakery box in her right hand. “Glad to see you remembered dessert.”

“You’re lucky.” Her lips twitched in a mischievous way that instantly stiffened Graham’s cock. “I was tempted to scarf them down on the walk over.”

Matt arched a brow. “Guess we woulda needed to find another sticky sweet indulgence for your taste buds then, huh?”

Judging from the beet red stain decorating her cheeks, she’d conjured some interesting possibilities following that suggestion. The knowledge did nothing to ease the snugness in Graham’s boxer briefs. Especially when he produced a tantalizing mental snapshot of her full, pouty lips wrapped around the head of his cock. The fantasy was so real, he could almost feel the warm, wet swirl of her tongue teasing his shaft and the soft vibration of her moan humming over his flesh.

Jesus.
Too many more thoughts like that, and he’d bust out of his jockeys. Clearing his throat gruffly, he abandoned the grill and strode to the umbrella-shaded table. He snatched the wine glass he’d fetched earlier from the kitchen cupboard and pulled the chilled bottle of sparkling rosé from its perch in the ice bucket. The soft scuff of her sandals on the brick patio announced Dani’s approach. He slid a glance her way and noticed the frown scrunching her forehead.

She jerked her focus from the wine label and offered him a confused look. “That’s my favorite wine.”

“I know.” He corked a laugh when she gave him the side eye. “I haven’t been digging through your garbage like a creepy stalker. Erin passed the info on to us. And to save you from jumping to any conclusions about the lobster, she provided that intel too.”

The wariness dissolved from Dani’s face, replaced in a flash with fiery irritation. “I’m going to strangle that kid. What other pertinent stuff did she get around to disclosing about me? My questionable love of Ramen noodles, Tumblr porn, and cat memes?”

Her cranky, outraged response triggered the laugh he’d successfully caged seconds ago. Porn? Damn, never woulda guessed on that one. “What’s Tumblr?”

She turned several deeper shades of scarlet. “An internet distraction that gets me every damn time.”

He topped off the wine glass and handed it to her. “Sounds like something I’ll have to check out.”

Studiously flicking her gaze away from his, she took a dainty sip of her rosé. Sighing, she twirled the stem of the glass between her fingertips. “I really want to stay furious at Erin, but damn it, this tastes wonderful.”

Matt joined them and passed an opened bottle of beer to Graham. “Does this mean we’re all in the clear now?”

Dani twitched her nose. “Jury’s still out. I’m not sure how I feel about you trying to win me over with wine and lobster. Especially since this is clearly not a date.”

Graham swigged a quick swallow of beer and eyed Dani over the lip of his upraised bottle. “You keep pointing that out.”

“Yes. Because I don’t want to give the wrong impression.”

He dropped his microbrew onto the table and studied her. “Why are you so dead set on pretending this attraction isn’t mutual?”

She opened her mouth, and he held up his hand, stalling any pending denial she might have ready. “Yeah, the gentlemanly thing would be for me to not bring up the countless times I’ve busted you checking us out. Fortunately for everyone involved, I’m no gentleman.”

Matt grunted. “Understatement of the century.”

Dani choked on a cough. “I haven’t been checking you two out!”

“Honey, that is a blatant lie, and you know it.” Graham returned her scowl with a smile. “It’s okay though, since we’ve been doing our fair share of checking you out too. And can I just say that you’ve killed at least half of my brain cells with how fucking amazing you look in that dress?”

She gaped at him mutely. Chuckling, he leaned forward and gently nudged her chin upward with his knuckle, effectively snapping her mouth shut. “Best not to give the flies an open invitation.”

Dani rolled her lips together before letting a sigh escape. “Thank you for the compliment. I’m not really used to getting male attention. Part of the hazard of rarely venturing outside my house.”

“Well, Matt and I appreciate the times you do. Especially when you’re wearing a bikini.” He waggled his eyebrows, earning her sputtered laugh. Hell, he could easily get used to that sweet sound. “We’re particularly fond of the purple floral number.” Sweat prickled his brow. A woman with
assets
like Dani’s should come with a warning label attached—May cause spontaneous combustion in all red blooded males.

“Should have brought it with you. We just cleaned the pool and hot tub.” Matt cocked his beer bottle toward the custom-built gunite pool behind them. “You coulda been the first to break them in.”

He didn’t know whether to praise Matt for that suggestion, or thank his lucky stars when Dani shot it down with the excuse that the bikini in question currently occupied the bottom of her laundry basket. Trying to keep his few remaining brain cells from exploding with a dripping wet Dani in close proximity? Yeah, not fucking likely.

He cleared his throat in an effort to banish the provocative picture from his mind. “How ‘bout you keep doofus here company while I get the lobsters on the grill?”

Matt didn’t gripe about the nickname. Probably because he was too thrilled at scoring some one-on-one time with Dani. Fortunately Graham wasn’t the jealous type. And it was definitely a non-issue when it came to Matt. They’d even hooked up with the same woman a couple of times. So the fact that they both wanted Dani was certainly nothing unusual. Truth be told, he was hard as a damn bat at the notion of her squirming naked between them, coming her brains out while they fucked her senseless.

Covertly adjusting his fly, he lifted the hood on the grill and situated the lobster tails on the rack. He whisked the herbed butter sauce with the basting brush and generously slathered the seafood before allowing his focus to drift in Dani’s direction again. The citronella candles scattered on the table cast her pretty features in an enchanting glow. Entranced by the sight, he didn’t immediately notice the sting in his right hand. When it morphed into an outright searing pain, he cursed and jerked his arm back.

Dani and Matt slashed their gazes in his direction and he offered them a sheepish look. “Burnt myself.” On the bright side, at least he hadn’t screamed like a girl. No doubt that would have impressed her.

She jumped from her seat and rushed toward him. Matt remained slouched in his chair. A week hardly passed where one of them didn’t suffer some injury on the job, so a minor singe wasn’t worth getting excited about. Graham was almost too embarrassed to let Dani fuss over him, but the instant she took his hand in hers he began to see the benefit in capitulating to her need to play nursemaid.

Resisting the urge to bury his nose in her deliciously fragrant hair, he scooted closer. She blew a soft puff of air across the reddened burn mark, stirring the fine hairs on his forearm and parts south of his waistband. Clearly his body had no damn control around her.

If she noticed the distinct bulge behind the zipper of his shorts she sure didn’t let on about it. “You should get antibiotic ointment on this.”

“I’ll be okay.”

She huffed out an exasperated breath that caused her breasts to swell and quiver against the plunging neckline of her dress. He damn near busted a nut. Lifting her gaze to his, she offered him a droll look. “You’re one of those guys who’d refuse to go to the ER even if you had a steel pipe protruding from your stubborn noggin, aren’t you?”

“Depends. Is it impairing my vision?”

She rolled her eyes. “What am I going to do with you?”

There was a loaded question.

“Do you really want him to answer that?” Snorting, Matt propped his feet on the adjacent cushioned seat. “Because believe me, the kinky sonofabitch’s suggestions would be some doozies.”

“Like yours wouldn’t be a million times worse,” Graham volleyed.

Matt’s expression turned smug. “Damn straight.”

Blushing, Dani dropped Graham’s hand. For that reason alone, he was damn tempted to kick his best friend’s ass six ways to Sunday for making her nervous with his trash talk. Instead he winged Matt a death glare over the top of Dani’s head. Punk had the audacity to only shrug in response.

Tension settling over her, Dani chafed her arms. “I’m flattered by your attention. Really I am. But I think my coming here was a mistake.”

Graham frowned. “Why? And don’t bring up the BS about this not being a date again.”

Dani remained quiet while she bounced her gaze between him and Matt. Finally she sighed and leveled her full attention on Graham. “The fact it’s not the slightest bit out of the norm for you to refer to this—” She gestured between the three of them—“a
date
only validates how different our worlds are, and precisely how far out of my element I am here.”

“Why do you assume this is something Matt and I routinely do?”

Her expression flustered, she fidgeted with her earring. “I know this is going to sound like I’ve been spying on you—which I totally haven’t been doing—but...”

His curiosity properly stirred by her skittishness and cryptic words, he brushed his fingers across her cheek, forcing her to meet his eyes. “But what?”

She exhaled a heavy breath. “Damn it, blinds are there for a
reason
.” 

He preferred to blame his slow uptake on things that were completely out of his control—such as his distraction over the velvety softness of her skin. If that weren’t enough of a hazard to his few remaining functional brain cells, there was also the nearness of her temptingly kissable lips. “Err, what do blinds have to do with any of this?”

She shifted her head, and he automatically followed her gaze to the sliding glass door directly across from them. They’d left the TV on in the living room, and the occasional flicker of lights from the mounted flat screen illuminated the space. Fully intending to ask what she was looking at, he suddenly noticed the darkened window across the street.