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He couldn't get her scent out of his head. The intoxicating mix of citrus and something that could only be her, filled his lungs and teased his senses long after she had escaped through the door. He'd quickly asked the waitress to seat him at the same table she had occupied and the seat was still a little warm.
Jasper leaned back as the buser wiped down the table, his thoughts otherwise occupied.
She was such a tiny thing, her head barely coming to his chest. If his attention hadn't been riveted to her the instant their eyes locked, he would have missed her completely when she walked by.
He ordered the first thing he saw on the menu when the waitress came by, suppressing an eye roll as she leaned forward and pressed her arms to her sides in an attempt to showcase her assets. Once he would have been interested and quite likely he would have taken the woman up on her offer, but she was dull and boring in comparison to the petite wonder he had just seen.
He supposed he must have looked crazy to the people around him as he stared into space, but all he could see was the woman's shy smile and her wide dark eyes. Those eyes had contained so much in the brief seconds they had been locked on his: surprise, interest (he hoped), lingering amusement, sadness. He wanted to know the reasons for each, most especially why she was sad so that he could soothe the hurt and bring another smile to her delicate features.
Her surprised little jump as her laptop shut down made him smile and he took the opportunity of her distraction to study her further without her notice. It wouldn't have done to have her catch him staring a second time. He tried to be sly. He wasn't quite sure how that worked out, so mesmerized by her smooth graceful motions was he. It seemed that no movement was without a purpose, each flick of her fingers that moved a lock of hair behind her ears, every tilt of her head to check her bag was exactly as she wanted it to be.
He snapped his eyes to the laminated menu on display in front of the seating counter as she slung her bag over her shoulder and made her way to the door. It seemed his heart was beating so loud that it was a wonder that the entire establishment hadn't stopped to stare at him. Five steps…three steps…one step. Her scent swirled around him as she passed, sending him into a little convulsion of pleasure.
By chance he glanced back at her table and noticed the small blue rectangle of her phone still sitting on the cheap plastic tabletop. His insides cheered. Quickly, he reached out and just managed to graze her elbow with his fingers.
"Excuse me?" He stepped closer while she turned.
Her head tilted back to look at him directly. The color of her eyes intrigued him. Across the room he had thought them a very deep brown, but up close he could see that her irises were barely distinguishable from her pupils. The flush tinting her pale skin caused a pump of heat in his chest.
"Yes?" she said quietly, taking a deep breath after.
He nodded back toward the table, his eyes never leaving her face. "I think you forgot your phone on the table," he managed.
Her dark eyes widened and she looked over in a mild panic. One of the waitresses had noticed, too, and was on her way over with the phone in her hand.
He thought he noticed a quick, but profound flicker of disappointment cross her face, but he was reluctant to read anything into it. It was already hard enough to try acting like a normal stranger when he found everything about her so fascinating.
The tiny woman scrubbed her hand across her face and snatched the phone from the waitress's hand with a hurried 'thank you.' She looked up at him again. "Thanks, um…"
"Jasper," he supplied, perhaps too quickly.
"Jasper," she said with a strained smile. The layers of emotion behind her eyes frustrated him to no end. He wanted to know the what and why and how and when, all of it. "Thank you, Jasper." And she was gone before he could say another word.
He had stared at her retreating back and sighed, "Any time." He had never been one to believe in love at first sight, but something about this woman reached deep inside him and stirred up all kinds of emotions he hadn't known himself capable of feeling.
"Any dessert for you tonight?"
He pulled himself from his thoughts and shook his head. "No, thank you. I'll take the check."
The waitress pushed her lips forward in a little pout he supposed was meant to be inviting, but it only served to annoy him. She set the slip down on the table and winked as she sauntered off swinging her hips like she had something to brag about. No thank you.
He glanced at the tab and frowned when he noticed the time on the ticket. The frown deepened as he checked his watch and realized that he had wasted nearly two hours pining over some woman, granted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, that he would likely never meet again. He laid some money on the table next to his plate and stood. Though the night was still young, he had places to be. With one last wistful glance at the table, Jasper flipped open his phone and headed out.
Alice arrived home more than twenty minutes later and she was still out of sorts. She pulled into the garage and shut off her car, sitting there for a few seconds. "Jasper," she whispered to herself. She closed her eyes and bumped her head forward on the steering wheel. She just couldn't get his face out of her mind.
The house was warm and the smell of lasagna brought a smile to her face. Thank god, Bella had moved in with them soon after Edward and herself had taken residence up in the penthouse. Alice supposed that Edward could cook just fine, but why expend the effort when Bella was more than willing to contribute to keeping them well-fed.
Alice skipped up the stairs to the second level, since the first level contained only the garage, the wine cellar and the entrance to the apartment. "Honey, I'm home!" she called as she entered the spacious living room/dance floor/kitchen. Once again, she thanked whoever had decided to place her under the care of Dr. Carlisle Cullen after her parents' deaths. That man had saved her life in more than one way.
Bella was seated on one of the counters with her arms looped around Edward's neck as he stood content between her legs. One hand was curled around the back of her neck, holding her close as he kissed her and the other was splayed across her lower back and inching lower by the second.
"Oh, God! You're not having sex are you? I eat there!" Alice screeched in mock terror.
Bella tried to push Edward away, a famous blush heating her cheeks, but he refused to move. He kissed her again, seemingly oblivious to her escape efforts, and said, "Absolutely. Right here on the kitchen counter in plain sight in the middle of the day." She hid her face in his neck and pinched him. Hard. "Ow, hey!"
"That's what you get," she mumbled.
Alice set her bag on the other side of the counter and grabbed a soda from the fridge. "Save the kinky stuff for when I'm not here," she ordered. "And I know that you've had sex right there on the kitchen counter in plain sight, so don't give me the sarcasm. Just because it's two am, doesn't mean that people can't see or hear you." She shuddered after she took a long gulp from the can.
Bella pushed Edward back and tried to slide her feet back to the floor, but he beat her to it and lifted her down. "I can do it," she said, pushing him away again.
"Right," Edward snorted. "Like the time you told me you could walk down the stairs and ended up with a broken arm? Or like the time you told me you could ice skate and we sat in the emergency room for six hours? I'll take the wrath over the pain any day." He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead, but Alice could see the darkening of his eyes as he remembered. "I don't know if you get it, but I can't lose you, Bella. I'm kind of in love with you."
Alice looked away, feeling like an intruder. She had been more than thrilled when Edward had finally found the courage to ask Bella out after pining from afar for nearly two years. She was truly happy that they had such a deep and solid love for each other, but a small part of her was insanely jealous. She wanted someone to look at her the way that Edward looked at Bella, someone to come home to after a long difficult day at work, someone who accepted her with all her flaws and loved her so much that nothing else mattered. She was so tired of being alone.
"It'll happen, you know."
Alice jumped at how close Edward had gotten without her notice. "Yes, thank you."
He ignored her tone as he leaned toward her across the counter as Bella checked on the food. He glanced behind at her as she opened the oven, tenderness in his gaze. "And when it does, it will be so worth everything you went through first."
Alice scowled. "I'm really not in the mood for optimism, Edward. No matter what any of you say or how often you say it, I'm still going to be an afterthought to everyone else."
He studied her face with surprise. The unusual venom in her tone had caught him off guard. "What-?" he started, but she leveled a pointed look at him. He glanced at the calendar quickly and noticed that the entire day was blacked out with marker. Shame coiled into a tight knot in his gut as he realized he had forgotten what this day meant to her. "Oh."
"Yeah." She set her soda can on the counter and rested her forehead on her palms. "I'm sorry," she said, weariness mixed with the sincerity. "It's just so hard to be positive today. Every time I see them…"
He slipped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to his side. "They were horrible people, Alice. They don't deserve to be remembered."
"That doesn't make it any easier," she mumbled.
He squeezed her arm gently, exchanging a glance with Bella. It upset them both to see her void of her usual exuberance and cheer. "I know."
"Really? Do you?" she asked, the venom staining her words.
Edward hugged her tighter, turning her so that she was facing him. "No, my parents were everything they were supposed to be and more, but that doesn't mean that I can't sympathize." He pulled away a little and used a hand under her chin to force her head up so that she had to look at his face. She couldn't doubt him when the evidence was right there in front of her. "I love you, Alice. Whether we're related by blood or not, you are my family."
She pressed her forehead to his chest, fighting off the sniffles. "Thank you," she whispered. "I love you, too."
"I know," he said, his falsely arrogant tone making her laugh. "Everybody loves me."
She rolled her eyes and stepped back, the despair draining from her system. He was so good at bringing her back to herself. "I'm sure. So, what's the word on the old married couple? Are they back yet?"
Bella shook her head. "They're staying another week with Carlisle and Esme. Lawrence has a pretty bad fever, so Rose wanted to make sure he was okay before they traveled. Carlisle said he should be fine, but the girls might be coming back to stay with us for a couple of days. Just to be safe," she added.
Alice made a quick mental list of what she'd need to do if the McCarty twins did come to stay. She'd have to dig out the padlock for her closet and stock up on the latest Veggie Tales and Barbie movies. "Sounds good. It'll be nice to have some normal company around here." She drank some more soda.
The timer started buzzing and Bella took the lasagna out of the oven.
"Smells great, darling," Edward said, kissing her cheek.
"Shall I get some wine?" Bella asked with a smile, knowing full well what the answer would be. Carlisle had imbued his children with his love of fine alcohol, though they weren't nearly so picky about what they'd drink.
"Yes, please," Alice chirped, making the other two laugh. If she was drinking wine, she was going to eat, and if she was going to eat, she was feeling better. It was a dead giveaway that she was feeling bad when there was food still in the refrigerator.
Edward removed the hot pan from Bella's hands and set it on the table while Alice pulled the glasses out of the cupboard.
"Oh, that reminds me," Bella called back as she headed down to the first level to get a couple of bottles of wine. "Esme wanted you to call her."
Alice nodded. "Sure."
Edward grinned. "We're still here."
"You know it's not the same," she said, rolling her eyes.
He grabbed the glass from her fingers and set it down. "We're not going anywhere until you have someone to take care of you and even then, you're stuck with us until things get crowded." He sighed and muttered, "If they get crowded."
She waited until Bella was safely down the stairs and faced Edward fully with an assessing look. "Are you pushing her again?"
Edward's face closed off and he stalked across the room to get placemats. Alice followed him, refusing to let him off the hook.
"Leave her alone for a week, Edward," she said, frustrated that her usually insightful brother could be so obtuse when it came to his girlfriend. "She is obviously not comfortable with putting an official label on your relationship, despite," she cut him off before he could interrupt, "her complete and total emotional commitment to you. Look at the attitude her parents have toward marriage and how well it worked for them! We are barely halfway through our twenties. There is plenty of time to settle down. You've got another fifteen to twenty years before she hits menopause."
"But Emmett and Rosalie- ," he began.
"Are different people," she finished for him. "Rosalie only ever wanted a family, and adoring hordes of men, but being in love and being a mom were her life goals. Bella's just getting used to the idea that you're going to be around forever and she's never thought about children. You have to give Bella time."
"Time for what?" Bella asked as she crested the stairs, two bottles in either hand.
"Time to pick a decent vintage that will complement our dinner perfectly, " Alice said smoothly. "He almost came down to get you."
Edward's face was tight, but he relaxed before Bella had a chance to notice. "What with your history and all, I was worried that you had tipped the wine rack."
"Well, I imagine you would have heard a crash had that been the case." She shoved the bottles at Edward to open. "I am going to eat now. I hope you can trust me to operate the fork and knife alone?"
Alice smiled at Bella's minute fury, knowing that it would disappear the instant he touched her. Ah, to be in love.
Once dinner was eaten, the dishes were cleared and leftovers put away, Alice finally had the opportunity to drag Bella to the third floor to begin the transformation. She was even more enthusiastic than usual with two large glasses of wine in her system, though she seemed to have an amazing tolerance for someone so petite.
Bella squirmed and moaned piteously while Alice primped and curled and painted and glossed for an hour and a half before she was satisfied with Bella's appearance and that it wouldn't melt off in the heat of a hot new club.
"It's not like I'm even going to be dancing," Bella had complained, but Alice silenced her with a wave of the hand.
"It doesn't even matter. Just direct the heartbroken ones in my direction and I'll do my best to soothe their hurts." She winked and Bella flushed.
Bella sat near the door of Alice's enormous closet, one of the benefits of having a four story penthouse and a floor all to yourself, and watched her friend dart up and down the racks of clothes looking for an outfit for Bella to wear. She had learned by now just to let her friend work. Resistance was futile, especially when Edward was inclined to let Alice have her way when it came to dolling up his girlfriend.
"So," she said. "What happened while we were on the phone earlier? It sounded interesting."
Alice shrugged as she held up a dress against Bella's front and shook her head. "Nothing really. I just saw this guy." She dashed away again in search of something else.
Bella was intrigued. Alice hardly ever mentioned men and that little gasp on the phone meant much more than just some guy. "And," she pressed.
The woman shrugged again. "And nothing. It's not like he would have been interested anyway."
"Oh, please, Alice! He would have to be dead not to be interested." Bella narrowed her eyes, deciding to take another approach. "What did he look like?"
Alice stared off a little, a wistful smile curving her mouth. "Beautiful," she murmured, then shook her head to bring herself back to the present. "He was very attractive. His eyes were this pale green, lighter than Edward's. Very intense. He was tall, too, but perfectly proportioned."
"Is that so?" Bella said, a little thrill of hope bubbling in her chest. "What's his name?"
"Jasper."
Bella wanted to shake her. Getting this information was like pulling teeth. "Jasper…"
"I don't know. He stopped me so that I didn't forget my phone. I said, 'thank you,' he said, 'Jasper', I said, 'thank you, Jasper' and I left." Alice held up another dress, a short pewter-colored silk halter with rhinestones around the neck. "I am wearing this. But, you…"
"You didn't say anything like, 'Hi, my name is Alice. Want to have coffee sometime?' Where is Alice and what have you done with her?" Bella moaned.
Alice shot her a glare. "It's not like I'm really on my game today, okay? In any case, this guy would so not be into someone like me." She dove into a rack and emerged after a few seconds of intense struggle with a simple, elegant and decent-length sapphire cocktail dress. "You are wearing this," she said with not a little bit of satisfaction.
"How do you even know if you didn't give the guy a chance?"
"I just do, Bella. People in perfectly pressed Armani slacks and an Yves Saint Laurent shirt with even their $1 bills arranged so that they all face in the same direction and none of them are upside down do not like people like me," Alice huffed. She hung the dress on a hook and opened the doors to her accessory closet.
Bella rolled her eyes. "Just because you shove your cash straight into your purse in a crumpled mess and you have paint splatters on your Armani slacks?"
Alice pulled her to her feet and indicated that she was to strip and put the dress on. "No, well…yes, but those people are all about image. There's no real feeling beneath that shiny surface."
"But – " Bella began.
Alice cut her off. "What about you and Edward? It took us forever to convince you that he was really and truly in love with you." She lifted a delicate silver necklace with large links shaped like leaves and handed it to Bella to put on. "Why is it so hard to believe that I have the same doubts? And it's not like he even knows my name, so there's no chance of follow-up anyway."
Bella grimaced and slid the dress over her shoulders after she had secured the necklace around her neck. "What if he did want to know? What if he's pining for you right now and cursing that he didn't have the balls to ask you out?"
"I can't live in a world of what ifs, Bella," Alice sighed wearily, praying for this discussion to end.
Bella looked thoughtful. "Maybe we could hire a private eye to track him down and then you could 'accidentally' run into him again."
Alice would have banged her head on the wall if not for having done her makeup already. "No, Bella. If I'm meant to find him again, I will. Without a private eye."
