A/N
This has taken forever to get out, I know! Big apologies to everyone reading this. I had trouble with this chapter and I'm still not happy with it but after numerous edits I've decided to just go for it. I'd really like to know what you think about this one – constructive criticism is more than welcome! – so please review at the end.
I've also decided to start looking for a beta, so if anyone is interested, please let me know!
As always, I don't own Twilight, but I do own a pair of Minnie Mouse ears from when I went to EuroDisney last week!
EPOV
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.
...Fuck.
This could not be happening. There is no way that I could possibly fuck things up so many times with this girl before I even know her name.
"Umm...why are you holding the door handle?" she asked quietly...and dangerously. I dropped my right hand to my side and pinched the bridge of my nose with my left. I took a deep, slow breath, held it for a few seconds and then released it slowly.
"Umm..." Smooth, Cullen.
Silence.
"Why are you holding the door handle?" she asked again, a little louder this time.
"It...broke," I explained. Very articulate.
"Broke...badly?"
"Yes," I whispered.
"Can it be...unbroke?" I heard the water splash softly behind me and forced myself not to turn to look at her.
"I don't think so," I admitted.
"Oh,"
Silence.
"Would you please see if you can open the door without the handle?" she asked, excessively politely and in the same, spookily calm voice. I made a futile attempt to shove the handle back onto the door, as though it was somehow magically going to stick back together. Eventually, I dropped the handle and ran my fingers down the crack between the door and the wall, trying to hook my fingertips into the gap to pull the door open.
"Arrgh," I growled in frustration as I gave up.
Silence.
"I couldn't open it," I said. I heard her slowly release her breath.
"Could you please try banging on the wall?" She asked in the same polite tone.
"Errr...I don't think anyone will be able to hear that,"
"Why not?"
"I've stayed in this hotel before, in a suite the same as this. These three walls," I gestured to the wall with the door and the two on either side of me. "Are all internal walls. They face into my bedroom, hallway and closet,"
"My bedroom, hallway and closet," she interrupted. I let it slide.
"That wall," I pointed over my shoulder but still didn't turn around. "Faces into my neighbours room. And, when I opened my front door with my keycard, my neighbours left their room, all dressed up like they were going out somewhere,"
"So we're stuck here," she stated.
"Yes,"
"I am locked in a bathroom with a total stranger, and I am naked in a hot tub," she muttered to herself.
"Errr...We might be here awhile," I said apologetically as I ran my hand through my hair. I leaned forwards onto the door, propping myself up with my hand. I heard her gasp quietly behind me but she didn't say anything.
"I'm supposed to meet my sister in her room in an hour though. When I don't show she might get worried and come looking for me,"
"She won't know to look in my bathroom though, will she?" she said sarcastically.
"I'm really sorry about the coffee by the way," I said suddenly.
And that's when it hit me. When I helped her pick up her handbag, her keycard had fallen out of its little cardboard pocket, the same as mine. I put two cards back in one pocket, and two back in the other.
The first keycard I tried in the door didn't work.
When I walked into the bathroom, as my eyes were drawn to her, I had seen a cosmetics bag on the counter.
I had taken her keycard by mistake.
Oh fuck.
"I beg your pardon?" she asked from behind me, sounding surprised. Had I spoken out loud?
"Oh God, I'm so sorry, I think I took your keycard my mistake when I spilled my coffee over you," I blurted out in a rush. To my intense surprise, I heard her giggle behind me. It was the most beautiful sound in the world.
"Finally, he gets it!" she laughed. I couldn't help it. I chuckled as well. At least she didn't seem angry.
"So, errr...my name's Edward," I said stupidly. There was a pause.
"I know," she said quietly. I had been dying to know her name for weeks now but it seemed like she wasn't interested in sharing.
"What's your name?" I sounded like a five year old. Next thing you know, I'd be asking her if she wants to share my crayons. It was quiet and for a moment I thought she wasn't going to answer.
"Bella," she whispered. "Bella Swan."
Bella.
"Bella..." I tried it out and found that it fit perfectly. I felt the urge to turn around again but I didn't want to look like a pervert.
"Edward...if..." she started and then stopped.
"If..." I said encouragingly.
"If we're going to be here for awhile...you probably don't want to face the door for a few hours," she whispered. I felt my heart stutter and I swallowed thickly. Was she really suggesting what I thought she was suggesting?
"R-really?" I asked. Not very original, but it was all I could think of.
"Well, there's lots of bubbles," she said, as though that explained everything. I took a deep breath and waited.
"Are you sure? I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable,"
"It's okay," I turned and leaned back against the door, keeping my eyes on the floor. Eventually I raised my eyes to look at her.
She was lying back in the hot tub – if she had sat up she would have revealed everything – with bubbles covering the surface of the water. She was looking at me with a perfect blush across her cheeks and her bottom lip captured by her teeth. I concentrated for a few seconds on keeping my breathing steady but then our eyes met and I couldn't look away. I felt everything else slip away until I reminded myself I was staring and forced myself to break the spell.
"It's nice to finally meet you Bella," I said with a grin. She smiled back at me nervously and I realised this must be incredibly difficult and embarrassing for her. I put aside my thoughts of ravishing her then and there in the tub and decided to focus on making her relaxed and comfortable.
BPOV
I can't believe this.
If you had told me a few months ago that I would be lying naked in a hot tub, in a five star hotel in New York, locked in a room with Edward Cullen, I would have thought you were high.
But here I was. And there he was. And he looked unbelievable.
Of course, he had scared the crap out of me when he walked into the room but I had calmed down when I realised how lucky I was. If he had arrived two minutes later, he probably would have found me touching myself and moaning his name. Once that thought had occurred to me, him finding me naked but not actually being able to see anything, didn't seem to bad.
Besides, someone like Edward Cullen wouldn't look twice at me anyway. And talking to him was definitely better than sitting in silence until housekeeping or whoever found us.
Come on, who was I kidding? He was so insanely good looking that I figured I might as well take the chance to look at his perfect face while I could. I forced myself to breathe in and out, hoping I didn't look like some starstruck fan, although I almost lost it when he ran his fingers through his hair. I had an immediate flashback to my Edward-bed-hair scenario that was so vivid that I actually gasped out loud. He didn't say anything so I could only hope that it wasn't loud enough for him to hear.
When he did turn around, I could feel my blush giving me away but I couldn't stop myself from gazing into his emerald eyes. He looked like he was concentrating very hard on looking at my eyes and I felt a little surge of excitement that maybe he wanted to look at my body. Then he seemed to snap out of it.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Bella," He gave me the same crooked grin as he had earlier, one that I had not seen in the many photographs of him, and it was all I could do to stop myself jumping out of the tub and throwing myself at him.
Or even, pulling him into the tub to join me.
No, stop it!
"So tell me Bella, what are you doing in New York?" he asked, giving me another sexy smile.
"I'm...on holiday," I said evasively. I didn't really want to get into the whole "I won the lottery so I escaped my small town and my ex-boyfriend and decided to do whatever the hell I like for a change" story.
"On your own?" He asked, raising his eyebrows slightly.
"All on my own," I agreed.
"Have you been here long?"
"Only a few hours," I smiled. "I was travelling in Europe with a friend but she went home because she missed her boyfriend and I wasn't ready to go back yet. So I decided to come to New York. So far, I love it," I immediately cringed as soon as the words were out of my mouth. Edward looked at me with his mouth slightly open and I flushed bright red. "I mean, not...obviously...I meant, I went to the park and, um, the hotel and...oh God," I sunk a little lower into the water and contemplated submerging myself completely until this whole embarrassing episode was over.
"You mean, having a complete stranger throw his iced coffee over you and then lock you in your own bathroom doesn't make the top ten of your trip?" he teased, laughter evident in his eyes. Wait a second, is he flirting with me?
"You forgot accusing me of breaking into his room," The words were out of my mouth before I'd even thought about it. Edward's face broke into what could only be described as a panty-dropping smirk. Good thing I wasn't wearing any at that moment in time.
"Very true," he drawled. "That would definitely be in my top ten, if I were you,"
"Well, you're up against some pretty tough competition,"
"What, like the Mona Lisa? The Eiffel Tower? Sistine Chapel? You're telling me that they all rank above the psycho coffee thrower-slash-bathroom abductor? I'm hurt," he made the most adorable pouting face.
"If it makes you feel any better, I think the look on your face when you realised it was my room makes the top 15?" I said it almost as a question and made my eyes wide and innocent as I gazed at him. He sighed dramatically.
"I suppose that will have to do for now. As long as I am closer to ten than 15," he raised his eyebrows enquiringly.
"Of course," I told him in a soothing tone, trying not to laugh.
"Top 11?" he asked hopefully and I actually did laugh out loud.
"Sure, why not," I told him. He moved from where he was leaning his back against the door and sat down on the floor at the foot of the bath.
"So what was number one? After a few months travelling, you must have done some pretty amazing things,"
I thought about it for a moment. "I'm not sure," I admitted.
"Okay, some of the best then?" He seemed genuinely curious and I couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking. Was he trying to make me more comfortable by turning on the charm? It was working.
"Well...the Palace of Versailles outside Paris is one highlight," Edward smiled and nodded.
"The Hall of Mirrors?" he asked knowingly.
"You've been?"
"Of course. I was working in Paris a couple of years ago and had a bit of time off so I did some exploring. The first place I went was Versailles and I just fell in love with the whole place. The Hall of Mirrors was mind blowing, but the gardens and the Royal Opera House were close runners up," he told me. I have to admit, I was surprised. I must have been showing my emotions on my face again because Edward chuckled softly.
"It's not all red carpets and exotic film locations, sometimes I do like to learn something and take in a little culture," he teased me. I blushed.
"You surprised me," I admitted. "I guess I thought you would be too busy for that. Doesn't everybody say being an actor isn't as glamorous as it looks? And that it's really just hard work and long hours?"
"That's true, it is, but I'll let you in on a little secret," Edward leaned forward and glanced mischievously around him, as though making sure no one could overhear, before lowering his voice. "The day I went to Versailles, I was so sick of work that I disconnected one of the cables for the main camera and hid the adapter. Filming shut down for a whole day until they found it,"
"No!" I gasped, giggling. Edward nodded solemnly.
"Emmett would have killed me if he'd found out, but I don't regret it. If I didn't do it, I wouldn't have seen Versailles and then I wouldn't have been able to surprise you,"
"Emmett?"
"My manager-slash-best friend. We grew up together and when I started my career he was always there so he sort of fell into the role of manager. I'd much rather it was him than some suit from the studio. But enough about me. What else have you done recently?" His eyes twinkled at me and I didn't know what to say.
"Oh, ummm...I went to the Louvre in Paris. I'm not an art aficionado at all, so I couldn't tell you about any one piece of art but the whole museum was great," I noticed a funny look come across his face when I mentioned the Louvre. "What, you don't like the Louvre?" I asked, confused.
"No, I do. It's just, ah, I like it there, too," his face smoothed out and the odd look was gone. "Any other favourites?"
"Oh, gosh, ummm...Maybe the British Library?"
"I've been there, too," Edward said smiling. "I did a reading there last year for an exhibit they did on early Hollywood. It's peaceful there,"
"I know, such a beautiful building too,"
"Why did you go there?"
"I think it was for the books..." I said, tapping my chin thoughtfully, with a teasing smile on my face. I mean, why else would somebody go to a library? Edward laughed in response and I breathed a little sigh of relief that he didn't think I was being rude.
"Okay, I guess I deserved that. So, what do you like to read?" he asked curiously. Again, it felt like he was really interested in hearing my answer.
"Um, the classics, mostly. Jane Austen, Shakespeare, Byron. Anything I can get my hands on, really," I cringed inwardly at how dorky I must sound.
"Byron?" he looked surprised. "I find him incredibly self-centred and egotistical. He couldn't write anything that wasn't centred on his own scandalous behaviour. Plus, he totally ripped off Shakespeare all the time," Edward stated very matter-of-factly.
"W-what?" I stuttered. If Edward looked surprised when I mentioned Byron, it was nothing to how stunned I'm sure I looked when he started critiquing Byron's work.
"Oh come on! Sardanapalus, committing suicide with his lover after being persecuted by the insurgents. The Two Foscari, another tale of persecution – what a coincidence – based on the premise of one family doing wrong by another. Need I go on?" He had an incredibly smug look on his face and I knew I should retaliate but the words wouldn't come out. I just sat there, feeling shocked that I was sitting naked in a hot tub, having a debate about the works of Lord Byron, with Edward Cullen of all people.
"See, you know I'm right," Edward said with another smirk.
"Actually..." I took a deep breath. "Byron's work does have a strong element of the autobiographical, but that's what makes it so wonderful in this day and age – it gives us an amazingly honest view into a world that no longer exists. And as for ripping off Shakespeare, well, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure it was you playing the lead in A Dream of Summer, which is based on A Midsummer Night's Dream? At least Byron only took elements and worked them into his own story, A Dream of Summer took the entire plot, characters and everything, and yet some people still seem to like it,"
Now it was Edwards turn to be stunned. He stared at me, speechless.
Oh shit, I hope I haven't offended him.
We looked at each other for a few more seconds until I couldn't help myself. He looked so astonished that I started giggling. A second later, he joined me in laughing, and the sound echoed around the room.
Edward stopped laughing and scooted further forward, so he was now sitting halfway up the length of the bath, closer to the end where I was sitting. He picked up my hand from where it was resting on the edge of the tub and as his skin touched mine, I felt a burst of electricity shoot through my body. He raised my hand and gently pressed his lips to my fingers and in that moment, I swear I felt my heart stop.
"Bella," he started, his eyes sparkling as they looked into mine. "No one has ever told me A Dream of Summer was, and I quote, 'just a rip off of Shakespeare' before,"
"I didn't mean –" I stuttered.
"No, let me finish. No one has ever said that to me – even though it's true. So, thank you, for being honest with me and telling me that my film, which, I might add, was nominated for six Oscar's and won four, is merely a plagiarism and that somehow, some people seem to like it," His lips were pursed in a thin line and he dropped his head, looking sad. I felt my heart stop again, this time because I realised I had insulted him.
The hottest guy on the planet was trying to be nice to you, and you insult him. Nice work, Swan.
"I-uh, I didn't...um..." Great, now I can't even form a coherent sentence. It was at that point that I saw his shoulders shaking slightly. His lips, pursed as they were, seemed to be turning up slightly at the corners. His eyes were still sparkling at me.
"You played me!" I gasped, wrenching my hand out of his. Edward dissolved into giggles now that his game was up.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it was too tempting! I couldn't resist!"
"I thought you were serious! You made me feel so guilty, I thought I'd really offended you," I told him. I made a show of crossing my arms and huffed, turning my head away from him.
"Aww, don't be cross with me," he crooned. "I'm sorry, I won't do anything like that to you ever again, please don't be mad," I glanced back at him to see him looking at me with big eyes and a pouty expression. My heart melted just a fraction.
"You're still trying not to laugh, aren't you?" I accused, as he broke down again, laughing helplessly. "Okay, mister, let's see if you still find it funny now!" I said as I splashed him with as much water and bubbles as I could. He immediately stopped laughing and choked a little on the water that hit him in the face. He blinked slowly and wiped a drop of water from his eye. I giggled as he just continued to sit there, stunned.
"That wasn't very nice," he said in a low, dangerous voice.
"Then what are you gonna do about it, huh?" I leaned forward and rested my forearms on the side of the tub, resting my chin on my hands. Holy shit, am I flirting with him now?
Edward raised one eyebrow in an undeniably sexy smirk.
"Since I can't exactly put my hands into the bath to splash you back," he paused as his eyes travelled down to the bubbles and back up again. He leaned forward slightly and his voice dropped to a deep, sexy drawl. "You better sleep with both eyes open, Swan. Because payback is a bitch,"
My breath caught and I felt my heart stutter. He was...dazzling, there was no other word for it. I gazed into his entrancing eyes, knowing I should look away. Flirting with Edward Cullen could never end well. Luckily, Edward moved first, clearing his throat and sitting back upright.
"So what's on top?" he asked.
"I – sorry, what?"
"Of your list. Come on, you've had time to think about it. The number one, best thing that you have done over the past three months,"
Hmmm, it was a tough call. Over the past three months, I had done more than I had in the past three years. And then it hit me. The thing that had made me happiest, more relieved and more free than anything had for a long time.
I broke up with Jacob.
But how could I tell Edward Cullen that? Would he think I was just saying it as a way of hinting that I was single? And what kind of person lists breaking up a long term relationship as the best thing they've done?
"Bella? Are you okay?"
"Oh! Fine, sorry. Just thinking," Just say it!
"So spill, what is it?"
"Ummm...does it have to be something I've done while travelling?" I asked nervously.
"No, I suppose not," Edward looked a little confused.
"Hmm okay. This is going to sound really bad...but three months ago I ended a relationship with a guy I'd been with for five years. That's probably the top spot," I muttered.
"Why would that sound bad?"
"It's a bit cold-hearted, don't you think? I'm sure he doesn't see it as the best thing that's happened to him in awhile,"
"Maybe he does," Edward said practically. "Maybe he wanted to end things as well,"
"Heprpsdtme," I mumbled.
"Pardon?" Edward asked, raising his eyebrows.
"He proposed to me," I looked down, blushing, unable to meet his eyes. Edward was silent for a moment.
"Is that why you broke up with him?" he whispered.
"No...I didn't love him anymore. I'd been unhappy for a long time, and when he proposed on my birthday, I felt so...trapped that I couldn't take it anymore," Okay, it was officially weird to be talking about this with Edward Cullen.
"He proposed on your birthday?" Edward scoffed.
"At my party. He took me into the forest, said he was going to give me his present, and then just asked "Will you marry me?" out of nowhere," After telling Ang what happened, the night of my birthday, I hadn't been able to speak to anyone about that night. But with Edward, it all just came pouring out.
"God, no wonder you dumped his sorry ass," Edward ran his pinkie along my forearm, from my elbow to my wrist, which was still resting on the edge of the tub, and tapped my nose gently. My heart melted at the cute gesture but my mind screamed at me not to take it to heart. Maybe he's just a touchy-feely person. "A birthday proposal has got to be the worst way to do it. Or Christmas, or Valentine's Day,"
"Why do you say that?"
"It basically means 'I couldn't think of anything to get you, so here, have an engagement ring'," I giggled because in a way, it was kind of true.
"It sounds like you've put a lot of thought into this," I teased. "I guess the rumours are true then,"
Okay, so I was fishing for information. Sue me.
"Rumours? You mean the ones about me and Rosalie?" he confirmed and I nodded my head. He sighed and shook his head, with a small smirk on his face as though he knew exactly what I was doing.
"Honestly? Complete bullshit," he stated. My eyes widened, silently asking for confirmation. "Completely made up. In fact..." Here he paused and leaned closer again. He had to stop doing that, otherwise I would have a heart attack right there in the tub. Death by Cullen in the hot tub...hmmm not a bad way to go. "Since you didn't tell anyone my Versailles secret, I'll let you in on another. You remember I mentioned my friend Emmett? They've been together for four years,"
"What? Really?" I gasped.
"Absolutely. That's why there are always so many rumours about Rose and me. Emmett and I are together more often than not, and he and Rose try to be together as much as possible, so naturally Rose and I are often in the same place, too," he explained.
"I guess you really shouldn't believe everything you read. Not that, uh, I do read...those kind of articles, it's just, I mean..." I felt my blush come on as I realised it must have sounded like I read trashy gossip magazines stories about him. He chuckled lightly beside me. When I glanced up at him, he actually looked embarrassed. We sat in silence for a few minutes before Edward's hand and gaze dropped to my hand again.
"Bella...how long have you been in this bath?" he asked.
"Umm...I'm not sure?"
"Look at your fingers, you must have been in there for hours! That's not good for you,"
"I guess I've been in here since I came to my room. You know, after having coffee spilt on me," I grinned slyly at him. He laughed nervously.
"I am sorry about that," he said sincerely.
"I know, I'm just teasing, you don't need to keep apologizing,"
"I feel like I should. Your first day in New York and some random guy throws his coffee at you. Probably not the way you wanted to spend your first day here,"
"That is true. But it's better than having some random guy take you hostage in your own bathroom,"
"You're never going to let me forget this, are you?" he asked. My heart sped up a little at the assumption that we would be seeing each other again after tonight.
"Absolutely not,"
"Excellent," he said sarcastically. "But, we need to get you out of this tub. It's not good for you to sit in the water for too long, and I'll bet it's getting cold, too,"
"Err...I don't have any clothes in here," I whispered, feeling my face burn. The colour drained from Edward's face and he gulped before taking a deep breath and looking around the room.
"We have towels," he said. "You can dry off and wrap up nice and warm in a couple of towels. And don't worry, I will be a perfect gentleman and close my eyes until you say I can open them again," he promised.
I thought about it for a second. It would be nice to get out of the water so I didn't end up resembling a prune. Then again, it would also be nice if Edwards wasn't a perfect gentleman about it.
"Okay, but close your eyes," I warned him. Edward made a show of squeezing his eyes shut and covering his eyes with the palms of his hands. I stood up, putting my hand on the wall for support, and stepped out of the hot tub so I was standing right next to Edward. I reached over and grabbed a towel and drops of water trailed from my hair on to Edward.
"Hey, you got me wet," he said, pretending to be cross.
Well you got me wet first, I thought, pursing my lips so the words didn't accidently come out of my mouth.
"Sorry,"
I quickly rubbed myself down with the towel and squeezed some of the moisture out of my hair. Picking up another towel, I wrapped it around myself and secured it at the centre of my chest. I ran my fingers through my damp hair and peeked in the mirror. The towel was long enough to leave some things to the imagination, but short enough to give the imagination a kick start. Oh, who are you kidding? Like Edward Cullen would even think about checking you out.
I felt my face heat up as I sat down next to Edward, tucking my legs to one side so my knee was almost touching his thigh.
"Okay, I'm good. You can look," I said softly. Edward pulled his hands away from his face and opened his eyes, blinking a couple of times as he adjusted to the lights. He looked at me and cleared his throat.
"Do you always blush?" he asked, just as softly. I blushed even harder and put my hands up to my cheeks to hide them.
"No, don't hide it. It's beautiful. You're beautiful," Edward's voice dropped to a whisper and he took my hands in his, moving them away from my face and into my lap. In that moment I actually felt my heart stop as I gazed into his eyes.
"Bella, I have to be honest with you. I have a confession," he said seriously as he gently pushed a strand of hair out of my eyes and tucked it behind my ear. My heart suddenly started again, this time at double speed.
EPOV
Bella just looked at me, her eyes asking me to continue. I couldn't take my eyes off hers, knowing that if I did, I wouldn't be able to stop myself from looking at the way her towel was riding higher up her legs. I took a deep breath and jumped in.
"I saw you," I said in a rush. Immediately, Bella's eyes widened and her blush spread, not just across her cheeks but across her chest as well. She tugged her towel lower at the hem and held it tightly at the top, as though she was trying to stretch it longer. Her head dropped lower in embarrassment.
"Oh God, no! Sorry, sorry! Not today!" I blurted out as I realised what she thought I meant. "Please, Bella, look at me, that's not what I meant," When she kept her head down, I reached across and put my hand under her chin. "Please look at me, Bella," I whispered and I lifted her chin. She slowly raised her eyes to mine, still clearly mortified.
"Bella, what I meant was, I saw you before today. In Europe." The embarrassment in her eyes turned to confusion.
"In Europe?" she repeated. I took a deep breath. Please don't let her think I'm a crazy stalker.
"The first time I saw you was in Paris. I was doing a press conference outside the Louvre and I saw you standing in the line." Her eyes widened but she didn't say anything. "The next time, I was driving down a street in Rome and you were walking along with a camera. The last time I saw you, was at Heathrow airport. You and your friend were running late for your flight." Bella was silent, she just looked at me with slightly shocked eyes.
"Bella? Say something, please," I almost begged, once the silence became unbearable.
"How do you know it was me?" she asked and I chuckled lightly.
"You're pretty hard to forget," I admitted. To my surprise, she started laughing and pushed my shoulder.
"Nice try," she giggled at me.
"Huh?" Now I was the confused one.
"I just told you that I'd been to all those places. You may be a good actor, but you can't fool me that easily. Again," she added as an afterthought.
"But – I did! I saw you each time. I've been doing the promo circuit around Europe for a film, I was in those cities as well,"
"Alright then, Edward Cullen, prove it." As soon as she said my full name, I realised why she didn't believe me. She didn't think Edward Cullen: Superstar would notice her.
"Okay. The first time, at the Louvre. You had a book in your hand, I think it was a Lonely Planet guide,"
"Pfft, any tourist could have a Lonely Planet guide. Lucky guess," she scoffed.
"You wore a navy blue silk blouse and carried a cream purse. It looked like you were irritated by the crowds. You were with your friend and it was about two in the afternoon," I told her. Maybe a bit smugly. "In Rome, the streets were busy, and I was in a taxi. I don't know the name of the street, but it seemed like a tourist area. There were two nuns walking along next to a small park,"
"There are nuns everywhere in Rome," she said, but she sounded a lot more uncertain than she had a minute ago.
"At Heathrow, you were running late for your flight and you only just made it. Your friend – Angela – was just behind you and you were shouting at her to hurry up. Gate 15, Heathrow to Seattle via New York," I waited for a minute to let her absorb this information.
"Were you...following me?" she asked, confused.
"No – my promo tour just had me going to some of the same cities as you." We sat in silence a little longer.
"I was hoping I would see you again," I told her, taking one of her hands in both of mine.
"Why are you telling me this?" Bella's chocolate eyes met mine and I was lost.
"Edward?" she asked tentatively and the connection was broken.
"I wanted to be honest with you,"
"Why?"
"Because I'd like to see you again," I whispered and I blushed – blushed! – like I was asking the prettiest girl in school to the fucking prom or something.
"Are you blushing?" she asked with an incredulous smile on her face.
"No," I mumbled, blushing even more. Shit!
"I didn't see you," Bella told me quietly after a brief pause.
"I know. Every time I saw you I wanted to talk to you but you were too far away,"
"Is that why you threw coffee on me? To make me see you?" She had a teasing tone to her voice but her eyes told me she was a little freaked out by my disclosures.
"No – I swear to God, the coffee and the bathroom were both accidents, although I'm not complaining. Maybe fate was growing tired of me losing you every time I saw you so decided to throw in a helping hand,"
"Fate?" Bella asked, looking at me strangely. Way to put your foot in it, Cullen. Why not just declare your undying love and ask her to marry you and have your babies? Hmmm, Bella in a white dress...Bella pregnant with my child...Shit, snap out of it dude!
Before I had a chance to answer, there was a knock on the front door.
"Housekeeping!" a voice called. Time's up.
I stood up and held out my hand to help Bella up. She fussed with her towel and I groaned internally, willing myself not to get hard at the sight of her standing there with nothing but a thin towel between my hands and her soft skin. I turned back to the bathroom door when I heard the front door open and somebody make their way inside. I raised my hand to knock and let them know where we were but then stopped and turned back to Bella.
"Bella – can I see you tonight?" I asked quickly.
"Umm..." she looked torn. Oh right, she probably has better things to do on her first night in New York than spend it with a psycho stalker who practically attacked her in the lobby and then held her hostage in her own bathroom while spouting off things about fate and destiny.
"It's okay, don't worry. You've probably got plenty to do, of course, sorry," I mumbled at her.
"No, I don't have plans. Well, no plans apart from room service and a film," she looked up at me with what I thought was hope in her eyes.
"Can I – do you mind if I...join you?" I asked hesitantly. A beautiful smile broke across her face and she blushed.
"Sure...if you like...that would be nice," I smiled back at her for a few seconds before realising our escape route would soon be walking out the door.
"Excuse me? Hello?" I called as I hammered on the door. "Could you please open the bathroom door?" A few seconds later, the door opened and a middle aged lady in a maid's uniform opened the door.
"Thank you so much," I told her as she looked at us in surprise. "Errr...the door handle broke from the inside, please just charge it to my room," I explained. I turned to Bella.
"Love, I need to let my family know where I am, they were expecting me an hour ago. Is it okay if I come back in an hour?" Bella smiled and nodded and before I realised what I was doing, I reached out and ran the backs of my fingers across her cheek from her ear to the corner of her mouth.
"I'll see you soon," I whispered before I left, my fingers tingling from her touch.
