Following Leah's lead, I broke away from Bella to quickly swoop up a paint brush and join my werewolf companion at the last wall I'd yet to finish painting. Moving close, I made one careless swoop of my brush in an effort to mask the fact that I was about to drill Leah about what the hell she was doing here.

"What's going on?" I hissed, noting from the corner of my eye that Bella was lingering uncertainly in the middle of the room, standing just to the side of the paint supplies.

The smile on Leah's face was confusing, and nearly impossible to decipher. I didn't like it one bit, but I said nothing about it as I waited for an explanation. Leah took her time, pushing up to her tip-toes to reach a high spot on the wall. Her thin shirt skimmed up her ribs, yet again provoking an unexpected reaction on my end. I'd never thought I could manage to be physically attracted to Leah, but it was like she'd spawned an evil twin that was masquerading through my living room to completely bewilder me.

"I'm doing you a favor," she whispered happily, hiding our secret conversation with a large smile and a phony giggle.

What was she playing at? And what kind of favor was she bestowing upon me? I took another distracted swipe at the wall with the paint brush, keeping Leah in my sights as well as a blurred, corner vision of Bella. She was still in the middle of the room, as if she felt out of place.

"What are you talking about?"

Leah took a deliberate step to the side, brushing against my shoulder as she reached to paint a place on the wall in front of me. I felt a brush of heat. She let out a soft laugh that somehow managed to travel through the room, rolling over me in an uncomfortable sort of way. She was really playing this up.

"I'm the welcoming committee, Jacob, but I'm not here for Bella."

What was she getting at dropping her voice all low and sultry? I stared at her dumbly. She seemed to know I wasn't comprehending. It was an effort not to respond as she trailed her free hand abruptly over my shoulder. Talk about mixed feelings.

"I'm here to welcome you back to the world of other women. They're out there," she told me. "It's about time you realized it, and Bella too, for that matter."

Had Leah hit her head some time between when I'd seen her late last night and right now? It was like an alternate reality I'd somehow stumbled into, seeing Leah like this. The fact that she was attempting to help me in this process was beyond bizarre as well. Leah never did me any favors, and she never bothered with any pretenses pretending like she would have if the need arose. I eyed her suspiciously.

"Leah, this is…weird."

Leah smirked up at me, looking strangely cat-like. Almost as if I'd just stroked her back. I guessed she must have taken it as a compliment, like I'd, more or less, just commended her on a job well done. She had obviously unraveled me, so that must have equaled out to mission success. So, that was her game. Rile me up, and flaunt my overly induced hormones in Bella's face.

It didn't sound smart to me. It sounded like something that would backfire.

"Look at Bella, Jacob," she instructed me.

Without question, I obediently shifted just enough to put Bella more clearly in my line of view. She'd managed to retrieve her usual paint roller, but she didn't seem capable of making the short journey to the wall to apply the paint. It was like someone had hit a pause button and suspended her in the same spot, and they'd also suspended that look on her face that I was only just noticing. I hadn't expected to see it there, at least not where I was concerned, so that could have been why it took me so long to understand it.

I'd never seen Bella look jealous.

"That's your plan? Make Bella jealous? Trick her into running into my arms?" I asked darkly.

Leah shrugged. "Sure. That, and prove to Seth that I can make you attracted to me."

She said this so nonchalantly that I couldn't think up an adequate response. Sometimes, I really hated it when people were so frank about things, though it was usually how I went about business as well. That didn't count though. Not when compared to Leah bluntly admitting that she was trying to seduce me.

I was really going to let Seth have it when I saw him again. He should have had a little more respect for the alpha. At least enough not to provoke his wicked sister to harass me in the name of what he probably saw as harmless fun.

"Great," I growled.

It was about that time that Bella seemed to recall where she was and that she had two, functioning legs. She found her way to my side, opposite Leah, and began to quietly and hesitantly apply her roller to the wall. I glanced sideways at her, torn between embarrassment and pleasure that she still looked a little unsettled.

She wasn't the only one though. Really, I was the one on uncertain, foreign ground here. Sandwiched between the woman I loved and the woman I'd never expected to want, I couldn't find my footing. I had a strong urge to make a quick evacuation, but I figured Leah would bring me up short there. She seemed intent with her plan, and she didn't save any expenses. Between less-than-innocent, seemingly casual brushes with her hand against my arm or shoulder and the conversation she continued to fill the silence with, Leah was proving herself to be an exceptional actress.

"So, Bella, been here long?" Leah turned the conversation abruptly.

It seemed like the conversation was taking a bit of extra time to seep through Bella's skull. She was probably getting whiplash. I was pretty sure that I was. Every few minutes, I'd glance her way, and she'd looked a million miles away, lost in thought, and throwing uncertain glances from Leah to me and back to Leah.

"Just a few days," she supplied.

"Huh," Leah grunted thoughtfully, tossing her hair back unnecessarily.

Unlike Bella, Leah had a completely Earthy smell. She smelled just like the deep woods. I suddenly wasn't sure which smell I liked better. Stupid.

"It's weird, you know. I'm so used to Jake being alone here. I drop by from time to time, to keep him company," she paused, and I was instantly wary of the slow smile the spread across her face. "We've had some interesting times late at night, huh, Black?"

Shit.

I cleared my throat, knowing full well what that sounded like, but it wasn't completely untrue. We'd had some interesting times late at night, sure, but they involved us being in wolf form, running through the forest, scouting the area and making sure it was secure. Leah, though, sounded like she was insinuating something entirely different. I found the wall immensely interesting for a few minutes there.

"Sure we have, Clearwater," I returned.

I didn't know if Bella would catch the sarcasm, but I didn't try to explain myself. Though Leah's plan scared the hell out of me considering how it had transformed the irritable, female werewolf into my pretend pursuer, I was selfishly finding the expressions playing across Bella's face gratifying.

The tables had turned.

Bella seemed to flounder for a moment. "Oh. Well. I'm glad Jake's had company then."

She didn't sound glad. Leah snorted softly, as if to agree.

"Company. Yeah, sure," Leah giggled.

I shot her a disbelieving glance, raising my brows. I couldn't remember having ever heard Leah giggle so much, or, really, at all. She'd never been so girly either. I'd always found it hard to believe that she'd been Sam's love interest until the fateful appearance of Emily, considering how effortlessly she had taken on the role of just another one of the guy's. Now, I thought I might be understanding Sam a little better.

Bella made an uncomfortable noise in her throat, as if she'd interpreted Leah's vague reply just as Leah had intended for her to.

"Speaking of," Leah went on, not at all intending to let Bella get away completely unscathed, "what time are you picking me up on Friday, Jake?"

I mentally stumbled.

Friday? What was she talking about? A date? That was news to me. Just like her reverting to calling me by a nickname was. She'd never attempted to be that intimate. Even on just a friendly basis. Especially not by saying it like she just had, like it was her favorite word to let roll off her tongue.

I nearly choked, still struggling to keep up with her charades, but I regained my composure before it became apparent that I hadn't known a thing about any supposed Friday date.

"Seven," I supplied.

I couldn't have explained why I was playing along now.

Okay. Yeah, I could. I was enjoying this bit of role-reversal. Usually, I was the one watching Bella go gallivanting off with the person I liked the least, and now she was the one here watching me make plans. Sure, it wasn't exactly the same—the fact that it was fake, notwithstanding—but it felt almost as good just to be the one that wasn't wanting at the moment. Thoughts of possible backfire faded into the back of my mind, to be considered when it actually all blew up in my face.

"Great. I haven't been into Port Angeles in awhile."

I couldn't imagine what Leah would have ever found interesting in the city. She wasn't exactly a die-hard, girly shopper type. At least, I hadn't thought so, but it seemed I'd misjudged a lot about Leah. This could have been another one of those things just as easily as it could have been a lie to bother Bella.

"Me neither."

God, had I really just made a date with Leah Clearwater? And was I really going to have to actually go through with it? The thought was terrifying. I had no idea what Leah would find interesting as small talk, or what she preferred to even do in Port Angeles.

But it seemed that Leah had been swallowed by this game she was playing, and over the span of time it took us to finish the last wall, she continued to escalate in her flirting and lies. I was half-expecting her to wrap herself around me and suffocate me in a kiss by the time we were done. It would have been the only thing left to seal the deal and embellish the scene she'd just made for Bella's unfortunate benefit.

Thankfully, Leah refrained from kissing me and making this whole awkward situation that much worse. I didn't really know what I'd have done if she had kissed me. How could I respond to such a bizarre event?

When the painting finally came to a close, however, Leah didn't spare me from a sultry smile, a slow, meaningful wink, or a soft pat on the cheek as she made for the door.

"See you in two nights, Black," she called over her shoulder. "I'm looking forward to it."

My skin crawled and burned at the same time, and I was left in an overwhelming, awkward silence as Leah exited my house, shutting Bella and me into a now significantly emptier home together. I cleared my throat, shuffled my feet, and felt like an idiot.

"Well, uh, I guess I'll get to bed," I decided aloud, though I was far from tired. "I have work to do tomorrow."

Bella nodded distractedly. She'd been standing just behind me in the hallway as I'd showed Leah out of my house. The strange expression on her face hadn't quite dispersed, and she was looking even more deeply unsettled than she had when Leah had actually been here. I could tell there was something she was wanting to say, and I was reluctant to hear it. I didn't know if I could answer it. Especially if it concerned the show Leah had just put on.

Still, I hesitated as I started to step around her to claim my spot on the couch in the living room. She didn't move to go to the bedroom, but simply lifted one hand to clasp the elbow of her opposite arm, standing there awkwardly.

"Do you and Leah have something going on?" she asked finally.

I was glad she was looking at the floor rather than me. I might have flinched at the question, as uncomfortable with it as Bella seemed to be, but for different reasons. Great. What was I going to say about mine and Leah's fabricated relationship?

I should have just told the truth. I wanted to lie.

"It's…uh… new," I explained. "It's not really something steady. Just occasional, I guess."

Wow. That had come out sounding a little sleazier than I'd intended. I wanted something Bella would be jealous about, not something that would appall her. Fortunately for me, Bella seemed just as disturbed about a possible, occasional one night stand between Leah and me as she might have had I alluded to a more permanent relationship.

"Oh." She sounded like she'd been punched in the gut.

I felt wrongly elated by that. I shouldn't have been enjoying making Bella so upset, but really, it was about damn time she felt what she'd put me through. Even in a small dose like this. And what did she care anyway? She had scumbag Senator Cullen to return to any time she was struck by the whim to go back. Wasn't she madly in love with the creep?

The creep that hadn't even come looking for her. Imagine that. I didn't have any understanding in me for Cullen. He probably didn't even care that his wife had gone missing. He had that Tanya broad to warm his bed. Instantly annoyed with the way my train of thought had turned, I frowned at Bella.

"Yeah. Well, I'm getting to bed. It's an early morning tomorrow," I explained briskly.

Then I stepped around Bella, and I let Mrs. Cullen stew in a taste of her own medicine while I slept through the night like a baby.

Well, that's how I hoped it went, anyway.