Chapter Four

Smoke

"I can help you with that," Bella said in a soft voice.

Edward glared at her like she was pavement pizza into which he'd just inadvertently stepped.

"Help with what?"

Jasper cleared his throat and turned his head, but Emmett watched the exchange with a delighted expression.

"Your voice keeps cracking on that note. I can fix that," Bella said again, her voice even softer.

"Funny. I don't remember asking."

Edward seethed. How dare she come in to his band and tell him how to sing? He eyed her, not even bothering to hide his disgust. Jasper sighed and sat; Emmett snorted in laughter. But Bella...she just stood there and accepted his open hatred.

She was an anomaly, an oddity, and it pissed him off that he couldn't figure her out. She never reacted like most girls would. In fact, she usually didn't react at all. She didn't cower or apologize, but she didn't fight back either. She just watched him with those calm brown eyes and somehow left him feeling more like a dick than if she'd just broken down and cried.

Finally, Bella spoke. "We sing tonight at 8:00. As of right now, your voice will crack on that note. I am perfectly willing to let that happen. Jasper? Emmett?"

Jasper shook his head, still staring at his lap. Edward saw his lips twitching, but Jasper knew better than to offer his opinion on the matter. Emmett, however, broke into full, raucous laughter.

"Damn, Edward. She's got you, and you know it. Let her help you."

"We're lucky to have someone with her knowledge," a voice offered quietly.

Edward's head snapped toward Jasper, knowing that was who had spoken. Jasper still studied his shoes as if they imparted the secrets of life, giving no sign he'd just opened his mouth.

"Let's see what you've got, then, Diva," Edward said.

Bella nodded, becoming business-like in an instant. She stepped forward and touched his throat with two cool fingers. He stepped back as if he'd been burned and frowned.

"Calm down," Bella sighed. "Just let me show you, and if you don't like it or it doesn't work, you can go right back to cracking on that note, ok?"

Edward leaned forward again and allowed her touch once more.

"You're singing from here," she said, lightly massaging the muscles on either side of his vocal chords. It was strangely relaxing. "It's an okay technique for the type of music that you sing, as long as you don't strain it. For this note, though, you're going to need more muscle behind it."

She removed her fingers and pressed her flat palm against his abdomen, just below his ribs but above his stomach.

"Take a deep breath," she commanded.

The combination of her touch and her authoritative voice had Edward's pulse racing. She raised her eyebrows, and he realized he hadn't yet breathed. He followed her direction, watching her hand rise and fall with his breath.

He removed the guitar and leaned over to set it in the stand, then stood to allow her to continue. She moved behind him, keeping her small hand against his ribs. He caught his breath again as he felt the heat from her body against his back.

"Inhale," she ordered, her voice still soft.

There was a bit of steel there, and he obeyed her immediately. Again, her hand moved, but this time she pulled back, forcing the air in his lungs out in a huge burst.

"What the hell are you doing?" he cried. "I'm not choking. There's no need for the Heimlich."

"That feeling you just had, where all your air burst out at once? That's what you need for that note." She was quite a bit shorter than he, but he could still feel the air she stirred as she spoke, and it tickled his ear. "Try it again."

She led him through the exercise twice more, then had him expel the breaths on his own. When she thought he was ready, she nodded toward his guitar and he picked it back up gingerly.

"Now, try it singing," she said. Without another word, she stood up on the toes of her left foot and slid back onto her stool. He noticed again that she had avoided using her right foot for help.

Jasper and Emmett jumped back to the ready as he began to play. He tried to keep the memory of her hands on him and her breath in his ear from entering his head as he sang. He knew what she had shown him would work. She was the best and knew her craft. When that note came and passed, and his voice sounded out pure and true, he couldn't help the grin that crossed his face. Emmett let out a wild whoop of joy, but Bella just kept singing as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

oOo

"You nervous, Bella?" Emmett teased as Bella drew in deep breaths.

"I guess I am. It's been a while since I was on a stage."

"Well, you'll be fine," he soothed. She grinned and accepted his quick one-armed hug.

"Do I get to meet your Rosalie finally?" she asked, her eyes flashing with humor.

"She's here already," Emmett nodded. He pointed across the bar, and Bella drew in a sharp breath.

"Jesus Christ, Emmett! You didn't mention she was a super model!"

"Yeah, she's fucking gorgeous." His eyes filled with pride. "We've been together since my first week in America. We met at that bar on Second... You know, the one that tries to call itself an Irish bar?"

"McFadden's?" Bella offered.

"Yeah, that one. Been inseparable since. Thank God, too. I got to move out of that shithole Edward calls his flat."

"Oh no," Bella murmured. "It's never occurred to me to wonder where you live. That's very thoughtless of me."

"Why? We don't know where you live," Emmett smiled. "It's gotta be better than Edward's little dump, though. He doesn't say he's going home, he says he's going to Hell."

"And Jasper lives there, too?" she wondered.

"Nah. He lives in another shithole on the other side of town. His is a bigger shithole, though. I mean, he's got more room. It's a bit nicer."

"That's terrible." Her eyes sought Edward in the crowded room. He was laughing with a group of people at the bar, and she was struck again at just how beautiful he was.

When he was snarky and rude to her, he was still handsome. His perfect lip would curl in a sneer and his green eyes would flash with unjust anger. The sheer emotion on his face had the power to steal her breath.

But when he smiled… She allowed a tiny grin to tip her lips as she observed him roaring in laughter at something one of the guys said. His eyes lit up, the lines of his face smoothed, and he became art. Not merely handsome, like some fresh-faced college kid, but pure unmatched beauty. The brooding Edward had snagged her interest, but the smiling Edward stole her heart.

It took everything she had not to react when he hurt her. He did so often, and with malice. Bella had no idea what she had done to invoke his wrath, but she was determined not to let him know how deeply she felt it.

"He's always a bugger," Emmett offered softly, watching her emotions play across her face like a symphony. Every note was there, and he read the music perfectly. "I know you think it's something you've done, but he's just an ass sometimes. When he gets to know you, he'll let you in."

"What are you talking about?" Bella knew it was pointless to play dumb but did so anyway.

"He thinks the brooding rock god is the only way to get respect. He's perfected the act so much that even he believes it."

"He doesn't look like he's brooding now," Bella retorted, dropping the guise.

"No. He's schmoozing now. Whatever he says, he wants people to like him."

"I'm sure he'd do just fine if he just acted like himself," Bella sighed, tearing her gaze from Edward to meet Emmett's eyes.

"He probably doesn't know who that is anymore," Emmett said with a sad little chuckle. "Hell, I've known him since we were five and he came to li—, I mean, we became friends. I don't even know who he is most of the time."

"Huh," was Bella's eloquent remark.

"Ready?" a velvet voice whispered in her ear.

She shivered and turned quickly to see Edward standing there. He'd snuck up on her the moment she turned her back.

"I am," she replied smoothly, making sure to give no outward signs of her nerves. If there was one thing she remembered from her years of drama training, it was how to rein in her emotions.

"Then let's go," he smirked.

Without another word, he stepped onto the small stage, leaving her staring after him. Emmett hopped up slipped behind the drum set, sending a jaunty air kiss in his girlfriend's direction.

"Bella?" Jasper said in a low voice, stepping up from out of nowhere.

He offered her his arm and helped her onto the stage. She was grateful for the assistance and wondered how Jasper always knew what she needed. When he was sure she was settled onto her stool, he grabbed the bass and pulled the strap over his head. She grinned at him and then turned to Emmett to wink. When she looked at Edward, however, he was tuning his guitar without a glance in anyone's direction.

Their set went remarkably well. Bella was thrilled to watch Edward put her technique advice to use, and the harmony they made on the once-putrid note had to have touched Edward's hard heart.

When the applause had died away and the next act took the stage, Bella stepped outside for air. She had looked around for Emmett, but he was sitting with Rosalie. Since she didn't yet know the gorgeous girl, interrupting would have felt especially rude. Jasper sat with Alice, and the two presented a more palatable option for company. When she approached, though, she could see that Alice was completely wrapped up in whatever Jasper was saying. The thought of breaking into their moment left her feeling like a voyeur. So, instead, she found herself out on the tiny deck that overlooked the parking lot.

Her knees shook from the adrenaline that hadn't yet left her system. She always felt the nerves more after a performance than she ever did before. With trembling fingers, she opened her bag and pulled out a pack of Parliaments.

"What's this?" a voice asked.

She looked up and saw Edward leaning against the railing. Her mind flashed to James Dean without her bidding, and she bit back a cry of surprise.

"Miss Vocal Coach is a smoker? Is this advice you'd give your students?"

"Not exactly," Bella admitted, accepting the light he offered.

"Do as I say, not as I do—is that it?" Edward sneered, taking a drag on his own cigarette.

He had to admit, seeing her light the cigarette awakened something in him. He wasn't sure what. Perhaps he saw she wasn't the pure, driven snow he'd originally thought. Or maybe it was just the way her little bow lips sucked on the end of the little cancer stick.

"More of a 'it doesn't really matter now,'" Bella admitted.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Edward growled, surprised at his reaction. Of course it mattered. With a voice like hers, why would she go messing with it?

Bella only sighed and stared up at the stars. She was thrilled to see them again. Seattle and Forks were often covered in clouds, so even if the light pollution of Nashville dimmed them, the stars seemed to twinkle in happy greeting.

"Whatever." Edward tossed the butt to the ground and kicked it with his boot. "Nice talking to you."

oOo

Song title by Tristan Prettyman.