Chapter Seven – A Show Before Dinner


After the day I had, I needed some peace and quiet. I entertained the idea of canceling with Bella. I had handled multi-billion-dollar contracts, the most difficult clients, and business associates, but one meeting with Charles Swan had been my toughest yet.

It was easy to see where Bella had gotten her strength. The man radiated it and he had achieved respect by hard work and charisma, much like his daughter. He didn't need money to buy it, which earned my respect.

His love for Bella was apparent and he was fiercely protective of her and his grandson. It had taken quite a bit for me to convince him that I had no ill intentions toward his daughter and grandson. Perhaps it was the infliction and honesty in my voice, but he powered down from lethal father mode to asking me questions about my business.

We had met before at various functions where most of Seattle's most influential people congregated – fundraiser events, a local country club, and the golf course. The situation in my office was much different from our previous encounters. Then again, I hadn't wanted to take his daughter to bed at the time.

I knew I couldn't end the day without seeing Bella despite my exhaustion. However, my impatience couldn't wait until eight. Shortly after the meeting with her father, I had sent her a message that I would stop by earlier. She said it was fine as if I asked, and indicated she'd need to have twenty minutes to talk to her son when he called.

I approached her house with groceries my personal assistant had waiting for me in the passenger seat of my car. It was a nice, quiet neighborhood, and she lived in a handsome Craftsman home. I could see that she'd been slowly remodeling it, probably for years. Most of the homes surrounding hers seemed to be in various stages of restoration, too.

Groceries in hand, I walked up the front walkway itching with anticipation. Why had I agreed to meet at her house? I had never allowed my other partners to be in charge when it came to where we'd eat, drink, or fuck. One kiss from Bella and she turned the tables on me.

She also managed to choose the location, somewhere I'd never been. How she accomplished that when I hadn't even had a sample of what she had to offer between the sheets, I wasn't sure. However, instinct and raw need influenced my choices since we met.

It would be good if after the night was through, I put some distance between us. The time away would allow me to gain some control. The question was did I have the will to stay away?

I walked up the stairs that led to the porch, cocking an eyebrow at the sound of music blasting from within her home. There was no way she'd hear me. After knocking for several times, and even sent her a text in the hopes that she'd answer, but with no such luck.

I tried the door, finding it unlocked which upset me more than it should. The woman had no sense of self-preservation; her occupation was enough to prove that. Now she had her door unlocked, leaving her susceptible to an intruder.

Considering her sparring skills, I realized in all likelihood any assailant would end on up their ass and subdued by her bare hands. Despite that, she should be more careful. Her defensive skills didn't mean she'd be able to handle an armed intruder.

"Bella," I called out from the door, not finding her in the foyer. The music seemed to be coming from everywhere. There were sheets draped over all the furniture in a room that appeared to be a parlor, with a scent of fresh paint. It wasn't until I stepped into a dining area that I heard her.

She was singing along with the music that filtered through speakers mounted in her walls and ceilings. I followed the sound of her voice around the corner and found her in her kitchen, mopping the floor.

I wasn't sure I would call what she was doing mopping, considering how she danced around to the beat, hips swaying, feet constantly in motion, singing at the top of her lungs. It was both oddly domestic and very erotic. She was dressed in simple grey frayed cutoffs that displayed her long legs, and matching tank top, all form fitting and leaving little to my vivid imagination.

Lust seared through me, heating my blood instantly, my ears roaring from the sudden onslaught. It hadn't been a few isolated incidents, the attraction, had been there from the beginning.

Damn her and my libido.

I set the groceries on a countertop nearby to give my hands something to do. They itched to settle on her hips, pull her close, and mimic the enticing sway of her hips. To diffuse the thought, I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the counter to watch the show instead. It seemed safer, but with her every move, the more I wanted her. There was grace in her movements, sensual energy that had me wondering how it would transfer in bed. She'd be incredible, no doubt about it. A person couldn't move like that and not be a goddess in bed. Her long hair was in a tight ponytail at the top of her head, swaying along with her lovely ass.

When she started to moonwalk into the next song, she spun suddenly and saw that I had arrived. Instead of her stopping, she continued as if she didn't have an audience, though she blushed under my attention. It was good to know that I was capable of getting some kind of reaction from her.

"Hey," she said, squeezing out her mop, twirling her body in a sexy little hop when she finished. "You're earlier than I expected."

It was about time I surprised her, but something told me she knew more than she let on. "My last meeting didn't go as long as I thought it would."

She grinned over her shoulder, shaking her ass once again as she worked. Most people would've stopped once a guest arrived, but not her. She seemed determined to finish the job. "Well, did the old man give you a hard time?" She knew about our meeting.

I merely shrugged, trying to look indifferent. There was no way I'd allow her or her father to know that he intimated me. "Nothing I couldn't handle."

She rolled her eyes and her hips. I was positive that she was moving in such a way so that I'd react. If she kept on dancing, or whatever she was doing, I would not responsible for my actions. I clenched my hands tightly and locked my knees to prevent a more physical response.

"You're not that good of a liar." There was a little taunt in her voice. I chose only to respond with a cocked eyebrow. She grinned, pointing at my fists. "You just gave yourself away." When my eyes narrowed in on the tiny smirk on her face, it widened into a smile. "Policeman's daughter, remember? I know how to read people as well as you do."

"Be that as it may, I can handle your father."

She turned to face me only half-way, wringing out her mop again. "You'd be the first." She sounded like she couldn't believe it. "Besides me, of course." She unapologetically shrugged. "Daddy's little girl and all."

"I'd expect nothing less." I motioned that she had her father wrapped around her little finger.

"I only have another corner to finish." The music changed and turned it up. "Oh, this is one of my favorites to dance to." She put the mop down, washed her hands in a handsome blue farm style sink, and grabbed a bottle of water on the counter. Looking up at me, stepping incredibly close, she took a sip.

What she was waiting for, I had no idea. "Your door was unlocked."

A sexy smile tugged the corners of her mouth into a smirk. "Is that right?"

"You should always lock it when you're at home."

"I'll have to remember that." Something in her tone sent alarms bells ringing.

My eyes narrowed. Had James informed her of my departure? "You knew when I'd arrive."

"I had no idea if you'd come straight here. And since I wasn't sure, I left my door unlocked." S

I started to protest about invading my privacy by knowing my comings and goings, when she cocked a hip and slim eyebrow in anger, placing her water on the counter. "Edward, don't you dare give me a lecture about keeping tabs on you, considering you ran a background check on me. Let's not forget about finding out where one of my current projects so you could come to see me. I learned about your whereabouts because it was my father who gave me the information secondhand. For some odd reason, he gave me his approval."

Her words caused my lips to twitch into a smile. "He wasn't as immune to my charms as you seem to be."

"Maybe," she stated, grabbing the mop again. "Now unpack the groceries and let me finish. I need a shower before we start dinner and for Logan's call."

My back stiffened as my blood rushed through me. As nonchalantly as possible, I said, "I do not take orders from anyone." In one way or another, everyone answered to me. I preferred control in every aspect of my life. It was about time she understood that.

A slow cat-n-cream like smile emerged from behind the look of shock from Bella, her eyes narrowing. "Understandable," she said, cocking her head to one side.

The way she watched me unnerved me. It was almost as if she could see through me, right down to the core. Something no one had been able to do since my mother passed.

"They were instructions, but I don't mean to sound bossy. It's a habit I picked up as a mother and running a male-dominated business. For that I'm sorry, shit, I even gave you hell for talking to me like you would an employee."

She propped up her chin on the end of the mop handle, watching me with that penetrating gaze of hers. Sighing, she shook her head after a moment and moved the mop aside. As she made her way to me again, I saw the flicker of desire in her eyes, but fear, too.

I was an asshole because, for a single moment, I took the slightest bit of pleasure from that. She feared me because her desire for me was not something she experienced before. For some reason though, now that I knew I could elicit that emotion from her, I didn't want her to be afraid of me. It was such a contradiction of feelings. For the tenth time since we met, I asked myself, what was the woman doing to me?

Her hands rose slowly as if to give me ample warning. I had no inclination to stop her, though I should have some. They came to rest along the lapels of my suit's jacket.

"I will tell you something now, Edward." She watched me earnestly, that fear still distinct in her eyes. I smoothed a hand along her hip and told her to say what she wanted without fearing me. If I wanted honesty, then I needed to accept that I might not always like what I heard. "Before we go any further," her voice was soft, sultry. It was natural, not an attempt at being seductive.

Would I survive if she really tried to lure me into her bed?

The fear in her gaze morphed into something else as she continued. "I saw the types of women you've been seen with, I'm nothing like them. I don't like being arm candy, which includes ignoring me through a business dinner, nor will I worship the ground you walk on or lick your shoes. If you're looking for a little obedient woman who will always be two steps behind rather than beside you, I'm not her."

My hand tightened on her hip, the fabric of her shirt bunching in my fist as anger rose further to the surface.

"I'm also not looking for a fuck buddy or a business partner," she said firmly with a shake of her head, no doubt sensing my ire. "I have my son to consider here, so if that's all you're looking for, then I suggest you head on out now."

"I. Don't. Do. Fuck. Buddies." Every word she said made me angrier, and only because she saw most of my previous relationships for what they had been. The fact that she'd come to that conclusion when I had only made it earlier unnerved me and pissed me off.

She laughed, a little huskier, sexy, and full-bodied.

My control snapped.