AN:

Thanks to RoderrerClo and shouldbecleaning for being awesome prereaders!

And thanks to all of you sticking this out with me!

Chapter 4

"Earth to you, pretty girl. I know I'm easy to look at, but I doubt you want your neighbors to see you with your mouth hanging open like that." He chuckled as he took in my shocked expression.

I don't know what the lack of seeing this man did in the last week has done to me, but he looks more amazing than I remembered. Those jeans were hugging him in all the right ways and his 'Merica shirt made me want to giggle. And he topped off with some old red chucks? Oh, hell, I'm in hot man heaven.

Snap out of it before you look like a bigger fool than you already do!

"Shut up, I expected you to show up with beer, I was shocked at your lack of planning. Nothing more." That didn't sound real even to me. I'm losing it.

He simply smiled at me, kissed my cheek as he passed, and made himself comfortable on my couch. I looked over at him, loving the way he seemed to naturally fit in my space, and said, "Can I get you anything to drink? I haven't been to the store yet this week so all I've got is bottled water and diet coke."

"I'll just take water, Bella. Thank you. This is a nice place you have here…is it just you?" He asked as he looked around.

My small space was a do-it-yourselfer's dream with hand crafted canvases and curtains I'd sewed myself, even the pillows I'd done on my mom's old sewing machine. The rooms were full of light grays, yellows and teals. On the walls of the hallway and the fireplace mantel I had a bunch of framed family photos of my parents, grandparents and brother. They meant everything to me and seeing them in my space made it that much warmer.

"It's not much, but it's all mine. My parents were always on my brother and me growing up to respect money and work hard to earn it. I've worked since I was fifteen and, landing where I am now, afforded me the luxury of living on my own." I was happy with my spot and, based on the soft smile he had going on, he was, too.

"I really love it. It suits you with the pretty yellows and snarky teals," he says with a smirk, "Are you as close with your family as these pictures suggest?"

"Very funny, and I am, ya. Both of my parents are retired bank vice presidents and my brother is finishing up his masters in engineering over at Berkeley. We get together every Sunday for dinner and football…or dinner and whining about football in the off season." I laughed to myself remembering a few dinners where mom wanted to beat us because we wouldn't stop complaining about how boring life was in March.

I looked over at him and asked, "What about you? Are you close with your family? Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

He smiled and said, "I've got a younger sister, much younger actually, and we're all pretty close. My dad runs a local newspaper here in town and my mom owns an educational center centered on junior high aged kids." He shook his head, obviously thinking on something amusing, and continued on, "I try to spend as much time with them as I can, when I'm on leave, but it's not nearly enough."

Ah, perfect time to ask him about all of this military business. Was he looking for some casual fun while he was home? Or was he actually interested in me for the long term?

"That's right; you're military, aren't you?" I looked at him and his head snapped to me in surprise at the tone of my voice.

"Am I missing something? Do you have something against the military that I should be aware of?" His tone had changed from curious to almost angry as he finished his question.

"Nothing like that," noting that he was clearly thinking something other than the meaning behind my question, "Look, I'm just going to put this out there, ok?" He waved me on to continue where I was going with this.

"I was just wondering if this was a one-time thing or if you were different than the others I'd heard of and maybe wanted something more out of me than just tonight." That made sense right? I mean, he had to understand the hesitation on my part. It seemed to be the norm…sailors on leave…a girl in every port…

"Bella, you are clearly under some serious misconceptions. I won't sit here and bullshit you, telling you we are all these amazingly mature people who never act on our hormones, but not all of us have a want to date around." He stopped to take a deep breath before continuing, "And, a lot of times, those that do behave that way are young and nervous about being so far from home. It might not be the best way to deal with it, but it's certainly not the worst."

He looked at me clearly wanting to make sure I was getting what he was putting down and said, "I had my fun, I've been a single man traveling the world, and I have a hard time believing you've stayed locked in your apartment your entire adult life. That being said, I don't whore around, I believe in commitment and respecting one's relationship."

"Edward, I'm sorry I wasn't trying..." He cut me off and continued on like I'd never said anything.

"If you're asking me if I want something more than one night with you, that's easy, I want as many nights with you as I can get. You are unlike any woman I've ever come across. You make me crazy with your snarky attitude and constant need to be in control, but you also make me laugh and you create feelings inside of me that I'd feared I'd never feel again."

Now would be an amazing time for the ground to open up and swallow me whole.

Edward had answered my question, made me feel like a total moron and made me want to hug him all at the same time.

"I don't even know what to say other than I'm sorry for making an assumption on you based on what other people have done. It wasn't fair and I'm a complete tool. Can we start this night over because I'm feeling like there are only two ways to get past this: one, I climb you like a tree and make you forget this conversation ever happened or two, you accept my apology and we order in delivery."

My word vomit seemed to be incredibly amusing to him because before I could even take a full breath, he was bent at the waist laughing his ass off.

"Kitten, do you even hear yourself when you talk? You are nuts and I'd like to do both options, if that's ok with you." He started walking over to me, grabbed me by the waist, bent low and said, "There's no apology needed for wanting to figure out where things stand. I was planning on talking things over with you tonight before you caught me off guard. Maybe next time just use a little less force when asking?"

He smiled and did what I'd been waiting all day for; he kissed me until my knees gave out.

Edward's lips were soft yet demanding, forceful and sweet. He was lighting something up inside of me that I'd never felt before and I grabbed ahold of it with both hands. Meaning his butt, I literally grabbed it with both hands. It's an amazing backside, one can only resist for so long.

I felt his smile and he turned us around while walking me backwards towards the couch. Once I felt it at the backs on my legs, he stood up straight and knocked me down, following right behind. Having his full weight on me felt ah-ma-zing. He was so strong and warm and his gentle explorations felt like tiny little whispers on my skin.

Our sweet and slow "getting to know you" kisses turned into "hell ya let's make out" in no time. Gentle touches turned more persistent and I could feel the lust rolling off of him.

As we both reached for each other's shirt, the same thought must have crossed our minds because we both stopped.

"Edward, I could probably do this all night, and we should explore that at some point, but I don't think I'm there yet," I managed to get out. The man had stolen my breath and I was still trying to find it.

He sat up, pulling me with him, and hugged me to his side as he said, "No, you're right. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable but I can't seem to keep my hands off of you."

"That's the last thing I want you to apologize for!" I laughed at him, snuggling into his side and sniffing that neck that was calling to me.

"How about this, you sit on this side, I'll sit on the other side, and we'll…talk?" That sounded like a reasonable thing to do, and the only thing that would help me keep my hands to myself. Clearly he wasn't on board with the no touching idea because, as soon as I scooted to the other side, he grabbed my legs and placed them on his lap.

Right on the hardness that proved he'd been enjoying himself as much as I'd been. There was zero chance of talking if I kept my feet there. With a quickness, I moved them and dug my toes under his thigh. He gave me a look indicating he knew exactly why I'd moved but, thankfully, didn't push the issue.

I narrowed my eyes at him, telling him to behave, and started in on the questions that had been running circles in my brain.

"Why did you join the Navy? Was it something you always planned to do or something that just sort of happened?"

He sat there for a minute and then said, "I'd always planned to go in, but I did waiver right before I left because I was offered a partial scholarship to play football for the University of Norte Dame."

Holy crow. He played football well enough to be offered a scholarship? He gets hotter and hotter with every bit of information he shares.

"But, I figured I could pull more tail if I was in a military uniform over a football one." He smirked and I rolled my eyes. There goes that last thought. He doesn't get hotter, he gets more annoying.

"Really though, I felt a pull towards the military that I can't really explain. I'd always wanted to be in the Marines, actually, but they don't have their own medical program; they use Navy Corpsmen. I joined the Navy, became a Corpsman, and then was stationed with Marines. I might be Navy, but my closest guys are Marines."

"Have you been overseas at all or just in the US?" I asked him, unsure if I really wanted to know the answer to that question or not, but feeling like I needed to ask.

"The night I met you was my first home from Japan, where I'd been for the last year."

I looked at him in shock because, Japan? Wow. That's so far from home; I couldn't imagine being that far away…and for an entire year? There's just no way. I'm a daddy's girl and need to talk to my parents constantly. My phone bill would be insane.

"You were away from your family, in another country, for a year? How were you able to do it? Did you come home at all?" I must have tossed too many questions out at once because he held his hand up to slow me down.

"Bella, take a breath," he laughed out, "I wasn't able to come home, no, but I did stay in contact with my parents and sister as much as I could. We talked on the phone once a month or so, we emailed all the time and they made sure to send me care packages constantly. As much as I hated being away, the experience of being out there was something I'll always be grateful for." He had a wry smile on his face when he continued, "There are far worse places one could be sent when you belong to the government."

Speaking of that…

"So, when do you go back? Are you stationed around here somewhere?" This is probably something I should have asked him before I got emotionally invested, but I might as well get the answer now.

"I'm stationed down South at Twenty-Nine Palms, where I'm expected back in a few days, but I'm not set to be deployed anytime soon. So, if you don't mind some road trips…" He looked both hopeful and nervous and I realized he was tossing that ball into my court.

If I wanted him, which I did, I'd have to get used to a long-distance relationship. And, while he said he didn't have any deployments coming up, how long would that last?

Was this the type of thing I wanted and was Edward the type of guy that was worth it?

I was in way over my head.

See you guys in a few days!