Hello, everyone. I've been MIA for a while due to a few things going on. I posted on my Facebook group page, Dishie's Stash, that I would be putting this story on the back burner and picking it up again when things improved for me. Well, things are getting better, so I thought I'd leave you a treat.
But first I need to thank Kriszta Farkas for her support and assistance in keeping this story on track. Your friendship is important and I don't know what I'd do without you.
Secondly, as you may or may not be aware, I have two books out, I'll Be Seeing You and I See You. It would please me very much if you would check them out and let me know what you think.
I hope everyone had a pleasant Thanksgiving and are all dolled up for Christmas.
Now … Does he spend the night with her? Oops, did I say that out loud?
CHAPTER 9
"He wants to come over!" Bella frantically whispers to her friends.
Edward didn't really think she'd want him to, but since the door was open, and if she had said yes, who was he to let a pretty girl down?
"Um, sure, if you want to. Are you going to bring Emmett and Jasper with you?" she asks nervously.
"No. Tell the girls that their boys will meet them at their place," he says without first consulting his friends. "I'll be there in twenty minutes."
As soon as Edward hangs up, Em slaps him on the back. "Thanks for setting me up with Rose, Eddie."
"Emmett, you call me Eddie one more time, I'll castrate you and call you Emmeline, do you understand?" he threatens, witnessing Emmett's look of excitement diminish with the threat.
"You guys better get going because I have a date, and, apparently, so do you. Now shoo!"
Edward sniffs himself, smelling the barbeque sauce on him. Bella doesn't live far, so that gives him time for a quick shower and change.
After he pulls into her drive, his gut takes on a ticklish sensation. It's been a while since he's felt that for a woman.
"Be cool, Edward," he mutters to himself while tucking his motorcycle key into his pocket.
Taking a deep, cleansing breath, he rings the doorbell. After expecting her to be on the tipsy side, he's surprised to see her rather sober.
"Hey," she says shyly, motioning him inside.
"Hey," he says in return, eyeing her warily. "How was your party?" he asks, trying to get the conversation rolling.
"It was fun. Do you want something to drink? Beer, iced tea, water, anything?"
His eyes lower to view her long legs as she heads for the ice chest on the patio outside.
"Um, sure. Is there any beer left?" he says with a smirk.
"Oh, yeah. We had margaritas, so there's a ton of beer," she says handing him a cold bottle.
After they sit in matching lawn chairs, both sipping on a cold brew, they chat about her work at the hospital and his work at the shop. It allows them to get over their apprehensions and back on track of getting to know each other better.
"One more of these and I'll be back to drunk-Bella. I was able to sober up a little before you got here. Rose says I'm a cheap date because I'm such a lightweight." Edward smiles at the lilt of her giggle when she laughs at herself.
"Well, if it helps, I'm here, and you don't have to be anywhere … have at it."
"Oh, god no. You'd really think I'm a mess then," she says in a tone that implies he'd have no respect for her.
His dark eyes find hers, holding them. "You are far from a mess. Not even close."
Stretching his hand out, he reaches for hers, waiting for her to take it. When she shyly lays her palm upon his, he wraps his fingers around her, his thumb lightly stroking her soft skin.
"You're the smartest woman I know. You're a healer … you save lives. How can you say you're a mess?" he asks with sincerity.
A blush rises from her chest, and she takes her hand back, then finishes the rest of her beer out of nervousness.
Eying the badminton net in her yard, Edward sets his half-empty beer bottle down and gets up.
"Come on, let's see if you can beat me in a game." He helps her up from the lounge chair, and they head for the net.
"Beware … I'm the badminton queen," she says running out to the yard grabbing two racquets and a few shuttlecocks on the way.
After a few warm up serves, they're ready to play, and Edward has to admit, she's pretty good … but then again, so is he.
They decide there are no boundaries, just volleying the bird until someone misses. They're doing fine until the competitor in both of them come out, and they take down the net in an effort to slam the piece of plastic on the other side. Edward suffers a blow to his nose, and a gush of blood runs down his shirt.
"Oh, shit! Oh, my god! Oh, shit!" Bella yells, trying to untangle both of them from the net. "Let me get my medical bag … I'll be right back."
By the time she returns, Edward's nose has quit bleeding, but he's pretty certain it's broken.
"Oh, god, I'm so, so sorry," Bella pleads, wiping the blood from his mouth. He stops her and turns to spit blood on the grass, clearing his mouth of the drainage.
After she examines him, she sits back on her heels and lets out a deep anguished sigh.
"It's broken."
"I thought so. Can you fix it?" he asks, squinting his eyes at the pain.
"Yes, but it's going to hurt," Bella replies. Edward nods and closes his eyes as she adjusts the bridge of his nose, realigning it with my face.
Edward cries out like a baby.
Bella wraps her arms around him, starts to cry and apologizes all over again.
"I'm so sorry, Edward. God, I'm so fucking sorry."
He'd been sitting up on the grass this whole time and chooses to lay down when the pain rushes to his head.
"I'm going to give you a shot of Demerol for the pain, all right? Do you have any allergies?"
"No," he says, closing his eyes against the pain. "What did you hit me with, anyway? A baseball bat?"
While he lays there, pain shooting into his brain, Bella gives him a few cc's of the drug, and it hits him almost immediately.
"I'm so sorry," she repeats while spearing his vein. "I really put my weight behind that swing, didn't I? Lord, your eye is blackening already." Bella gently rubs the pad of her thumb over his eyelid and then does something that sends a blast of happiness through him … she kisses his bruise.
"Come on, Edward. Let's get you in the house before you're a total noodle and I can't carry you," she says, pulling on his arm.
Once they're in the house, she guides him down the hall to one of her bedrooms. Immediately noticing her scent, he inhales and smiles.
"This is your room," Edward says with finality.
"Yes. My guest room is trashed because I'm redecorating it. You can sleep here, and I'll sleep on the couch."
"No. You will sleep here too. Right here," Edward orders, his finger pointing at the space next to him.
"I don't think it's a good idea, Edward," she returns, a beaming smile on her lips.
"Really? Why?" he asks with total amazement.
"I don't know. We don't really know each other all that well," she answers.
"Hi, my name is Edward Mason Cullen. There we know each other better. Besides, does it help that you took me down with a tennis racquet?"
"Are you phishing for sympathy, Mr. Cullen?" she asks. "And it wasn't a tennis racquet. It was a badminton racquet. There's a vast difference."
"No, Bonerella!" he says loudly, laughing, holding his aching head. "You clobbered me with a tire iron."
"I did no … Bonerella?! What the hell does that mean?" she asks, her eyes wide with shock.
Edward can't quit laughing at himself, and when he pulls the waistband of his jeans and looks down inside, he asks, "Wanna see?"
She jumps from the bed and shrieks. "No!"
"Well, you asked," he says, laying his head back down on the pillow, yawning. "I've been this way … pretty much … since we … met."
The next thing he knows, Edward is waking up. It's dark, and Bella is sound asleep next to him. When he attempts to get up to go to the bathroom, she rolls over and looks at him.
"You're awake," she says quietly.
"Yeah, I need to use the head. Where is it?" he asks, groggy from the pain meds. She points to the door across the room.
After Edward finishes, he returns to the bed and sits down on the edge, looking at the clock on the bedside table … it's three in the morning!
"Wow, Bella, it's late, I should go home."
"What? It's Bella now? Not, Bonerella?" she laughs.
Rolling his eyes, he can't help but join her. "I guess I shouldn't do Demerol anymore, huh?"
"Do you need more? Are you in pain?" she asks, sincerely.
"Naw. I'm good. But I should head out."
"I think you should stay here. You are in no condition to be riding a motorcycle. Especially at night. Doctor's orders."
Edward grins at her, and she informs him she's totally serious. After he relents, he swings his feet back up on the bed and lies down.
"Come here," he says to her, his arm reaching out to her. Bella scoots over and snuggles into his side, and he wraps his arm around her, enjoying the feel of her next to him.
"One day," Edward says to himself. "One day I plan on making love to this woman."
~.~
"Oh, no!" Bella nearly screams from the other room. Edward rolls over to check the time. It's eight o'clock. He should have been at the shop hours ago, but fuck, that shit she put in him knocked him on his ass. He's going to need a day just to recoup and get back to normal.
Getting out of bed, he pads on bare feet down the hall toward the kitchen, praying she has coffee. As soon as Bella sees him, she pours him a cup, handing it to him. Edward inhales the scent and takes a sip.
"Everything okay?" he asks, seeing the disdain on her face.
"No. My step-monster is coming for a visit."
"Step-monster?" Edward asks, incredulously
"After my mother, Renee, passed away, my father remarried Cruella Deville aka Sue. She can't stand me, and believe me, the feeling is mutual," she explains, her brow furrowed deeply.
"Then why is she coming?" Edward asks curiously.
"She wants something. That's the only time we see her. My father pays her to stay away."
"Um, why would he pay her to stay away? Why doesn't he divorce her?" he asks, probably overstepping, but his curiosity is piqued.
"She's vicious. She has threatened to take everything, including the things inside my dad's house that belonged to my mother. Charlie says it's easier to pay her to stay away, but she pops in periodically. When she does, she always wants something. She knows I have money from my inheritance. She tries to threaten me now and then to get some of it. She tells me she'll stay away if I give her some. Under the guise of a loan, mind you. My dad won't let me."
"Wow. That's pretty fucked up," Edward says, recalling how Angela tried to come back into his life when she found out he had a few million from his parents. "When is she coming?"
"Tomorrow."
"That's short notice. Do you want to make some plans so you can say you are busy? We can ask Emmett and Rose if they want to go to dinner, or bowling. We can ask Alice and Jasper too, if you'd like."
It takes Bella a while to answer, and he can tell she's in deep thought, but eventually she turns to answer.
"Are you asking me out on a date, Mr. Cullen?"
"Yes, ma'am, I guess I am."
"That sounds fun actually," she says. "Oh, by the way, how are you feeling? Let me take a look. Sit here," she instructs, pointing to the stool at the breakfast bar.
After she steps up to Edward's side, giving him a whiff of her gentle perfume, she leans in close to look at his nose, softly pushing around it.
"Does this hurt?" she asks, looking into his eyes. Edward shakes his head.
She then tilts her head to look at the bruises under his eye and flinches, drawing her lips between her teeth.
Not able to take it any longer, Edward wraps his arm around her waist, pulling her into his spread legs.
"Bella …" he whispers, threading his fingers in her long hair, pulling her mouth down to his.
The soft warmth of her mouth is more than he can bear, and as soon as her sweet tongue peeks out, it's over for the both of them. Heat and passion take over, and he presses her hips into his groin. He growls when the sensation spreads like ripples in water through him.
"Edward?"
"Hmm," he replies, his mouth suckling on her neck.
"I have something to tell you," she says, needing to confess.
Edward pulls away from her neck to look at her. He's pretty sure he knows what it is, but this is her story to tell.
"I've … I'm … I've …" She turns away from him, her face beet red with embarrassment.
"What is it?" he asks, prompting her to continue.
She walks to the window over the kitchen sink, regaining the confidence to say it.
"I've never been with a man before." There. She told him. When there was nothing but silence behind her, she turns to look at him. He's still sitting in the same position she left him in.
"Well, aren't you going to say something?" she asks, throwing her hands in the air.
"Like what?"
"Like … 'how old are you? Oh, you're twenty-eight, and you're still a virgin? How can that be?'
"Come here," he says, pulling her to him. "What are you trying to tell me, Bella?"
Wrapping his arms around her, he forces her to look at him. "Are you trying to tell me that you want me to be your first? Because that's what I'm hearing." She looks into his eyes and leans into his chest.
"Yes. Maybe not right this minute, but when the time is right, I do want it to be you."
Edward cups her face in the palms of his hands and rests his brow against hers.
"I'm honored."
~.~
"Dad!" Bella shouts slamming the door behind her. "DAD," she yells again after not getting an answer.
"I'm up here, quit yelling," Charlie yells back from his bedroom. "I just got out of the shower. Give me ten minutes. Make some coffee, would ya?"
Bella makes herself at home having grown up in this house. It doesn't take her but a few minutes before the coffee is brewing, and she's back to waiting for her father to come downstairs.
"What's all the yelling about?" he asks as he hurries down the stairs.
"Sue's coming," she says, not hesitating.
Charlie stops in his tracks and looks at her.
"Yep," Bella confirms, folding her arms over her chest. "She called me yesterday and said she wants to talk to me."
"She wants more money. Like I don't give her enough as it is," Charlie scoffs. "When is she coming?"
"Today."
Charlie throws his arms in the air letting out an expletive. "She'll want to stay here. Can she stay at your place?"
"Are you out of your fucking mind? Of course she can't stay at my house. You married her … let her sleep with you!"
"No," Charlie says abruptly.
"Oh, she'll find someone in town to bunk with, I'm sure," Bella says sarcastically. "Dad, she makes a fool out of you every time she shows up. Why do you allow it?"
"She wants my money, and I refuse to let her have Renee's. Better keep her away from that Cullen boy," Charlie adds.
"Other than that just being gross, why would you say that?" Bella asks curiously.
"Didn't you know? Edward is rich."
