A/N: My apologies again. I know where I want this story to go, I'm just having trouble getting there. Please bear with me and my rambling. IT WILL PICK BACK UP!!! The next chapter will be fluffy. I need a break from drama!
DISCLAIMER: Ms. Meyer is the genius in this one way relationship. She owns them. Not me!
**********
"But Bella, I can't let this go. How dare he try that? No one…NO ONE will touch you that shouldn't."
She takes his face in her hands. "Listen to me Emmett. I spent a long time trying to get the men in this office to forget I am a woman working in a man's world. I need them to take me seriously. If my big, burly brother were to come in and threaten to beat up all the bullies, then my credibility would be shot. Please, just let it go."
"Is this normal behavior for him? Has he tried shit with you before?"
"No not really. He's only just been creepy up to this point. I think he got the point today though. It will be okay. Now, brother, take me to lunch. We'll discuss it more there."
"Okay my dear. You're right, I need to feed the human." He sneaks a quick kiss on her cheek. "Where would you like to go?"
"I know a tiny place where nobody from here goes and we can have a dark booth in the back." She gives him a sexy sideways glance.
"Sounds perfect. Let's go." He opens the office door as she grabs her purse then leads him to the elevator.
***********
"How many?" The hot blonde woman with overly large breast asked from behind the podium.
"Two please." Emmett says, paying little attention to her while running his hand up Bella's ass to come to rest on the small of her back.
"Please follow me" she says trying to get his attention but thrusting her cleavage up and out toward him. She leads them toward the open area in the middle of the main room.
Bella clears her throat. "Is it possible to get one of the booths in the other room?"
The blonde stops dead in her tracks and sighs loudly. She turns to speak directly to Emmett. "Let's go back and see what I have available."
"Thank you that would be great." Bella replies, trying to be nice to the woman who is so blatantly flirting with her man. They walk back to the podium and she looks at the seating chart.
"Yes sir. We have a private booth available. Right in here." She turns and enters a separate room with only booths. The lighting in the room is low, mostly candle light. Bella and Emmett sit in the booth being offered to them. The hostess opens and hands Emmett his menu, then drops Bella's on the table in front of her. Bella's eyes pop wide open at the rudeness of this woman. Emmett slips his hand under the table and squeezes Bella's knee to try and keep her calm.
"Your server will be right with you."Leaning into Emmett, "Please let me know if there's anything I can do for you." She winks at him.
"I'm sure I have his needs covered just fine thank you." Bella says to the presumptive hostess. She turns and huffs away. "Why do I get the feeling my food and drink are not safe?"
"What was up with that?" Emmett asks, totally clueless.
"Are honestly telling me you don't get it?" totally unbelieving his cluelessness.
"Get what?"
"She was totally hitting on you. She came just short of ripping her shirt off and offering you her tits." Bella is seething.
"Come on, she was just doing her job."
"Don't you know how hot you are?"
"I'm nothing special. I'm just a guy." Emmett is starting to feel a little uncomfortable.
"Oh, baby. Did she really fill you with that bill of goods? Did she keep you down so far that you can't see the man that you are?" She reaches out and run her fingers through his curls.
Emmett just looks down at the table.
"Hello, I'm Tia and I'll be your server today. Can I start you out with something to drink?"
Bella looks up, keeping her hand in his hair. "We'll have two Iced Teas please."
"Very good. I'll be right back with those for you." And she walks off.
"Emmett…"
"Emmett, please look at me…"
"PLEASE?"
He raises his eyes up to meet hers. "You are one of the most attractive men to walk this planet. Most women see it and react to it. Your face and your body both catch the eye of any warm blooded woman. Isn't that part of the whole vampire mystique?"
"Yes it is."
"Then why would you doubt it?"
"I guess I've just gotten used to not needing it. I forget it's there."
"Well, that's not all that makes you attractive. Your charisma, your confidence, your personality. They all draw them in too. I'm a jealous human, Emmett. I had to get used to women flirting with my man a long time ago. It's never been very easy for me, and now I have to deal with it twofold!" She laughs trying to lighten the mood.
"Hey! It could be worse…You only have to fight of women. Jazz and I have to keep our eyes out for women AND men! Double the trouble!" He chuckles.
"Touché!" she looks around and sees that they are temporarily alone and sneaks a quick kiss.
"Mmmmmmm. Have I told you I love your kisses?" he lazily smiles at her.
"Not lately, but I am glad that you do because I love kissing you."
Tia returns to the table with their drinks. "Are you ready to order?"
"I think we'll split the large Caesar salad and add blackened prime rib and some bread sticks. Thanks." Emmett says to Tia and hands her their menus.
"Very good. That should be right out." And she walks away again.
Emmett reaches out and takes a hold of Bella's hand. "Honey, will you please tell me about that Jerry guy? How long has he been bothering you?"
"Really, it's not that bad. The guys in the office are just friendly. They don't see me like that."
"BELLA! Now who doesn't see how attractive they are? You are the hottest girl geek EVER and those guys are all killing themselves to be near you. Jasper told me all about the lust he feels from them whenever he's in the office."
"Nahhhhh. They just aren't used to being around girls all that much." She laughs loudly.
"I'm serious Bella. How long has Jerry been bothering you?" he asks with all seriousness.
"He's always been a flirt. Making innuendo and such. The first time he touched me was at the last employee meeting. Nothing big, just his arm around the back of my chair and brushed my arm. I didn't think much of it."
"Did you tell Jasper?" Emmett is starting to feel the anger well up in himself.
"I didn't see the need. I didn't want him storming down here and killing some guy because of a misunderstanding." She looks at him worried. "And I don't want you to lose your temper either. I want you around the office for a long time."
"Wait, you said the FIRST time. He's touched you more than once?"
"Today was the only other time."
He has to let go of her hand to keep from holding it too tight. She pulls hers back and folds her hands in her lap. "Listen to me, Bella. No one is allowed to touch you without your permission. If he or anyone else does, you come get me, okay?" He reaches for her hand again.
"Okay."
"You are too special to me and Jazz to let anything happen to you. It's bad enough we have to fight off pissed off, vengeful Vampires, but horny, inappropriate humans too?" He chuckles.
"It's not like you have anything to fear from geeks." She smiles.
"No, we sure don't."
**********
They sneak in a kiss before the elevator doors open on their floor again. John, one of her techs, is waiting for her by her office door. Emmett tenses up. "John, meet Emmett. Emmett, this is John, one of our techs. You'll see him floating around quite a bit. I like to send him out on the more involved issues."
"Nice to meet you Emmett. I don't mean to be rude but I need Bella right now." He seems very anxious.
"No problem. I will just go get settled in my office. I have some books I need to catch up on too. I'll meet you here at quitting time Bella?"
"Sounds good. See you then." She fights the urge to kiss him before turning and going into her office with John.
At five o'clock, Emmett turns off his monitor and desk lamp, packs up his study manuals and heads toward Bella's office. He finds the door cracked open and can hear her on the phone.
"No sir, I don't know what caused it, but I assure you I it has been my top priority since I found out about it…Yes, I will call as soon as I know something… most of them are back up at this point. Now I am working on securing it and replacing the lost files…ok I will."
"DAMN IT!!! FUCK!!!" she shouts at the top of her lungs.
"I take it your afternoon didn't go so well." Emmett asks, startling Bella causing her to jump.
"That would be a huge NO. What time is it?"
"Five. Time to go home."
"I'm sorry Em. I can't leave yet, in fact I think I need to go to the NOC center to replace a hard drive tonight."
"How late will you be?" Concerned.
"Probably another hour here then a couple at the NOC."
"I don't want you to go alone. You aren't going anywhere at night alone."
"Really Emmett. I will be okay. I have a GPS and you and Jasper on speed dial. There is no need for you to go with me. I've been there dozens of times alone."
Emmett picks up his cell phone and dials. "Hey baby… no we're okay… she's had her hands full today and still has a few hours of work left to do… she insists on me coming home…yes would you?" "Here," Emmett says as he hands her the phone, smirking. "Our beloved wants to speak to you."
She sticks her tongue out at him and takes the phone. "Hi Jasper…I'm sorry, it's been a rough day, Hi my love…thank you… I don't need him to… he'd just be a distraction anyway… an hour here and a couple at the NOC…yes I DO have to go to there tonight… Jasper it's my job… we're not having this discussion again right now… fine… FINE… he can go with me… promise?... Okay… I love you too." She hands the phone back to the snickering Vampire standing in front of her desk shooting him a death glare.
"Yeah like THAT could hurt me," taking the phone from her. "I'm back…yes she's giving me a look… We miss you too… yes I'll make sure she eats… yes honey I know how she is… we're gonna do WHAT to her when we get home?... ohhhh I love that idea… uhmmmmm… okay… we'll see you in a few hours… I love you too, bye baby." He hangs up the phone. "See, don't mess with two protective Vampires that love you as much as we do. We don't fight fair." He flashes around to the other side of the desk and kisses her quickly since there are still people in the office. He whispers in her ear "I do love you, you know."
"And I you. I'm sorry I'm being a pain today. I tend to get snippy right before Jasper leaves and with all the other shit stacking up today… I have been a raging bitch. You don't deserve it." She looks at him with her sad puppy dog eyes.
"I understand Princess. I don't take it personally. I'll just be sitting over here out of the way reading my manuals. Just let me know when you're ready to leave." He blows her a kiss.
**********
Back at the house, Jasper hangs up his phone and smiles. He really loves those two. He's very thankful now that Emmett is there with her now. He hates it when she has to go to the center where they keep their servers. She goes there alone, at night and he's never felt it was all that safe, and now with Victoria on the loose looking for her…
"Jasper?"
He looks up to see Alice standing at his office door. "Come in Alice. Have a seat."
"I don't want to interrupt. You look like you're busy."
"No please come in. I was just on the phone with Emmett and Bella. They are going to be a few more hours. What's up?"
"A few things. First, I had a vision that some guy at their office is bothering Bella. He reminds me of Mike Newton, but even more grabby. He finds it hard to take no for an answer. It's going to take something drastic for him to get the message."
"Has he done anything already?" Jasper asks worried.
"I don't think so. Just talk as of now from what I can tell."
"Thanks for the heads up. What else is on your mind?"
Alice sighs, almost wanting to avoid the elephant in the room. "Let me start by saying I am sorry for everything that happened all those years ago."
"Alice, I really don…" Alice stops him.
"I really need to say some things Jazz. That last year leading up to the family splitting up was a huge lie on my behalf. I let you believe that I was happy and we were in love. I knew…I knew all that time that you weren't my mate and that I wasn't yours. I knew even then that you and Bella were destined to be together. I just didn't want you to see it. I was jealous. Jealous enough to try and keep you from her. But I should have known I couldn't mess with fate. Look where it got us."
"Alice, what are you saying?" Jasper asks starting to get frustrated.
"I knew for a year that you and Bella would end up together and I fought it until I couldn't anymore. So when the birthday incident happened, it was the perfect opportunity to start a fight with you and use it as an excuse to break up with you."
"Why didn't you just tell me?"
"Because you wouldn't have believed me. You wouldn't have let me leave you. But we both needed to get on to our true mates."
"Did you see Emmett for us too?"
"That's a long story that will go along with my Rosalie story when I get to tell it. Now isn't a good time though. She's still not happy and I don't want to stay long. I just wanted to apologize for the way I handled things and to tell you about the vision I had about Bella." She stood up to leave the room.
"Thanks Alice." Jasper smiles at her.
"You're welcome, Jazz. I do still love you. I love you all and miss you terribly. I hope we can all get past it and be a family again."
"Me too."
**********
A little while later, Jasper goes downstairs to see what Carlisle and Esme are up to. They are cuddled on the couch watching "House".
"How realistic is this show?" Jasper asks.
"Not really, but I think he's a hoot. Everything okay? I thought Bella and Emmett would be home by now."
"Bella had some major issues come up that had to be handled ASAP. Emmett and I thought it would be best for him to stay with her." Jasper frowns.
"What's wrong son? You look as if you're worried by it." Esme asks concerned by the look on her son's face.
Jasper sighs loudly. "I don't really like her working there. I always get a bad feeling when I go up there to visit her. And now Alice had a vision that one of her co-workers is going to be way too forward. Tonight her stress level is way over the top. I have tried to tell her she didn't have to work, but she insists. We've had several fights about it actually."
"Jasper, you have to remember that you come from a different time than she does. Women actually enjoy working now. They feel they need to." Esme tries to explain.
"But she doesn't have to. It's not like we need the money."
"It's not about the money. It's about her independence. About her need to feel productive and earn her own way in the world. To feel needed somewhere."
"She is needed here with me, and now Emmett."
"Jasper, does she enjoy what she does?"
"In general, yes she does. She loves working with computers on several levels…"
"Then why would you insist on her giving up something she loves?" Realization starts to set in with Jasper.
"Mom, you're making complete sense. I just wish she could be happier at this particular job." Then an idea struck.
"What is it Jasper?"
"I just got an idea. But I need to run it by Bella and Emmett first. Thanks for letting me bend your ear, Mom." He gets up and kisses Esme on the cheek before heading back up to his office to start some research.
**********
Around midnight, Jasper hears Bella's car coming up the driveway. He runs down the stairs and out the front door to wait on the front porch for the faces he's been waiting all day to see. Emmett pulls the car into its space in front of the house. Jasper can see Bella in the passenger seat, her head resting in her hand obviously stressed. He opens her door and after unbuckling her seatbelt, he pulls her out of the seat into his arms.
"Bella? Are you okay?" He can feel her stress level is at an all time high. "That bad?"
"I just have a headache. I'm going to go upstairs and take a bath." She gives him a kiss and starts to walk up the porch stairs.
"Wait baby. I'll go with you. I've missed you." Jasper takes a hold of her hand.
"Really Jazz. Stay with Emmett. You missed him too. Oh and I'm working from home tomorrow, so I don't need to get up as early. I love you both."
"Bella…I really want to go up with you."
"Jasper…I really just need a few minutes to myself. I am going to go up, take a bath and get into bed at that point I would love nothing more than for my two favorite men to join me. Please?" She squeezes his hand.
"Of course if that's what you want, it's what we'll do. Go have a nice bath." He kisses the top of her head.
She looks over at Emmett and smiles. "Thanks for being there with me today. I love you."
"I love you too, babe." He smiles back at her.
Once she disappears into the house, Jasper reaches back for Emmett's hand. "Come on up to my office and tell me what's going on. I don't like the way this feels."
"There's nothing to like about it. Her day really sucked." They walk up the stairs to Jasper's office and sit down in the two chairs in front of his desk, still holding hands.
"It started around lunchtime with some jerk trying to come on to her in her office. Thank GOD I walked in on that cause I get the distinct feeling he would have taken it too far. I'm still not convinced he hasn't, but she insists it's okay."
"What the hell? What happened?" Jasper asks starting to get angry.
"We'll tell you about that one later. I think it's taken care of for the moment. So, then we went to lunch and the damn hostess was a complete bitch to her and was apparently hitting on me, completely pissing her off."
"Ut oh. It's never a good thing when women are all over me. It turns her into the warrior I tease her about being. Just makes her want to pick a fight. And now she has to deal with it when she's out with you too. But that can't be all…"
"No it isn't. While we were at lunch, the shit hit the fan and one of our main client servers took a dump causing about three quarters of our clients' websites to go offline for a few hours. She caught all sorts of shit about it even though it wasn't her fault. She got the data moved around, sites back online and repaired the server. But it wasn't fast enough for the boss' liking and he spent that last hour giving her hell. She almost quit right then and there. The boss didn't want that so he offered to let her work from home for a couple of days. That just means I have to go to work alone though." He pouts.
"Actually, I really wish she would quit. It's a sore subject with us. But I think I have something to offer you both, but we can talk about it later. As for you going in to work alone, I'm sorry. It may only be for one day if you like my idea. I don't think you'll be a hard sell. Bella on the other hand…" Jasper trails off. He stands up and walks over to kneel in front of Emmett. "Hello by the way. I'm glad you're home." He reaches up to kiss him.
Emmett's hand reaches out to grasp Jasper's hair and pull him harder into the kiss. His tongue pokes out from between his lips to beg Jasper to let him in. Their tongues clash against each other before forcing themselves into the other's mouth. Their hands start roaming all over, unbuttoning Emmett's shirt, pulling Jasper's over his head.
Jasper leans forward and starts running his tongue around in circles on Emmett's nipple. "mmmmmm…baby that feels wonderful." Emmett moans. Jasper starts kissing his way down Emmett's abdomen, his tongue tracing the lines of his muscles. His hands reach up and unfasten the belt, button and zipper that are holding Emmett's hardening cock back. Emmett rises up off the chair just enough to allow Jasper to pull his pants and underwear out from under his perfect ass.
Jasper starts nibbling the inside of Emmett's thigh causing bolts of electricity to run throughout his body. His tongue reaches out to caress his balls making Emmett jump.
Emmett tangles his fingers in the blonde hair below him as he watches the beautiful mouth wrap around him. He growls at the sight of his manhood disappearing and reappearing in and out of Jasper's lips for what feels like hours. "OHHHHH GOD JAZZ… you feel amazing. Your mouth is…ohhhh…" The growl becomes louder as Jasper reaches up and starts to fondle his balls. "I'm sooooo close…Jasssppp!!!!" His hips come up off the chair as he releases himself deep into Jasper's throat. Jasper gladly accepts it and continues to lick and suck until Emmett's orgasm subsides and is clean from his release.
Emmett pulls Jasper up and plunges his tongue into his mouth hard and fast showing him his appreciation. If they needed to breathe, they would both be completely out of breath right now. Emmett pulls back and stares into his lover's eyes. "That was amazing, love. Thank you."
"Small payment. I owe you so much more."
"What in the world for?"
"For loving us. For taking care of our girl today. For being here. Aw hell, just for coming home. I would love nothing more than to thank you in some small way every day."
"Only if I can thank you in return just as often." He smirks at Jasper.
"Be my guest." He kisses the handsome face in front of him. "I think our gorgeous yet stressed out girl is out of her bath. Shall we go pay some attention to her? Help her relax a little?"
Emmett smiles showing his dimples. "That's a great idea. She really needs it." He stands up and redresses for the walk to the bedroom. "Jasper? What are you feeling from her right now? I wish I could convey the stress I saw on her face today. It looked almost painful for her."
They stop outside their closed bedroom door while Jasper concentrates for a moment. "She is conflicted, yes to the point of pain."
Panic sweeps across Emmett's face. "Conflicted? About us?"
"Ohhh NOOO baby. I'm sorry to worry you. She's conflicted about work. She wants to keep working. She needs to feel useful and needed. But this particular job is slowly killing her. They take advantage of her at every turn."
"Well then, she needs to quit. Easy enough."
"She won't. I've tried to talk her into that before. No go."
"So now what?"
"I have an idea. It involves both of you. Let's go in there and make her feel better then I will talk to you both about it." He opens the door to reveal Bella lying on the bed on her stomach wrapped in a towel. Her head is turned away from them but they can tell she hasn't quite fallen asleep yet. Jasper whispers to Emmett "Head or feet?"
"Feet."
Jasper kneels on the bed beside Bella and whispers in her ear "We're here with you now darlin'." He tugs the towel from her body and gently presses her back down as she tries to get up. "Let us take care of you." He kisses her shoulder. His hands travel up to her hair and start to stroke her long locks, alternating with lightly scratching her scalp.
At her feet, Emmett rubs the arches while kissing each toe.
"You two couldn't possible know how wonderful that feels. You're making Bella pudding here…" she sighs.
Emmett's booming laugh rings off the bedroom walls. "Bella pudding? I think that's one that even WE can eat."
"Daily!" is Jasper's response.
They each continue to massage their way to Bella's middle, occasionally placing gentle kisses on random places on her skin. Once they finish every bit of the back of her, they flip her over and start on the front, once again starting at opposite ends and working to the middle. When they finish, they both crawl up to lay next to her.
She kisses them each in turn. "Thank you so much my loves. That was the most amazing thing I have ever felt. It did the trick."
"Well, now that you're relaxed, I want to run something past you." Jasper says between kisses on her collarbone.
"Mmmmmm, go ahead." Her eyes are closed.
"I know how stressful today was for you. I also know that you need this job to be independent." Bella starts to interrupt. "Now hear me out Bella. I am not trying to start the same old argument now. I have an idea. Would you be willing to listen to it?"
"Sure, go ahead." She says grumpily.
"Since Emmett is here now, why don't you two start your own company? You could be your own bosses and work out of the house until you grow too big and need the offices and more employees. I did some research today and you could do remote network monitoring and Emmett could do website design and development. We could build an addition that could be set up specifically for hosting servers. Money is obviously not an issue while you build your reputations and client base. We could do the initial setup and legal needs before your change. That also means less pressure to get back to work once you've changed. What do you think?"
Bella is silent for a little while thinking about everything Jasper just proposed. Emmett reaches over and pulls him into a kiss. "I personally think that is the best idea I have heard since you asked me to move in here. It's damn near perfect."
Bella speaks up... "There's a problem with your plan."
"What's that?" Jasper asks caressing her cheek.
"We both have a 'no compete' clause in our contracts. We can't start our own or work for anyone else for a year after leaving them."
"That's why we have lawyers honey. Get me a copy of your paperwork, and they will find a way out of that. Other than that, what do you think? Do you want to get away from BTS and start your own company?"
"It's not BTS that I enjoy. It's just actually having something to work at. I would love to have my own company. Something to show for all my hard work other than a migraine at the end of the day."
"Then it's settled. You two give your notice and we'll work on the legalities when I get home from my tour."
"I really see no reason for Emmett to give any notice. He really hasn't started working yet. Just call them tomorrow and tell them you won't be working there after all. Just don't tell them about me or our plan." Bella contemplates. "I'll just give my notice when I go into the office on Thursday."
"That works for me Princess." Emmett replies.
"Sounds like a plan. Thank you for accepting my idea darlin'. It makes me feel better knowing you won't be in that hell hole anymore." Jasper smiles at her.
"Thank you for coming up with such a great idea." She kisses him passionately. Then turns to Emmett, "So tomorrow I guess we start coming up with some ideas for names and start shopping around for equipment. You ready to be my partner?" her eyes sparkle at him.
"I thought we already were." He shoots her a fake pout.
She smacks his shoulder hard enough for it to sting her hand. "You know what I mean."
"Of course baby, I'll be your partner in anything and everything you want." He grabs her face and kisses her. It was supposed to be a soft, gentle kiss, but it quickly turned into a heavy, lust filled one. Jasper is almost overcome with the passion pouring off of them and starts to suckle on her breast. His hand starts to caress her belly before it is grabbed by Emmett's and pulled up to her other breast. They entwine their fingers and fondle her together.
"I love you both so much. Thank you for…"
**CRASH**
Emmett and Jasper jump up instantly and assume a defensive position surrounding Bella.
Jasper starts toward the door. "Stay with her. I'll go see what the hell is happening."
"JASPER!!!" Bella cries. "Please be careful."
**********
A/N: Wordy ain't it?? Please review anyway.
