Disclaimer: Meyer made the mold but we are all here to break it. I own nothing except this here story's events.
beta'd by jcat5507
Go Fish
Chapter 10 – Adjustin'
"Over to the left a little bit!"
"Like this? Here?"
"No! Your left, my right…mmn…"
"Ah! Got it! Mmm-ung!"
"Yes! Slide it right...there.…yes!"
They both heave, straining together as the large section of countertop drops right into place, leaving them both a withered, breathless mass, dangling at each of the heavy, wooden structure's ends.
Really, that's just Bella.
Edward's not quite as withered, but his chest and ribs are definitely workin' hard after his effort.
Bella has to hide her face away from that "workin' hard" chest in an act of dire self-preservation—meaning, she's face down into the crook of her right arm, her upper body limp across her end of that hand-crafted and cumbersome countertop.
She's wonderin' if he owns more than that shirt from last night—and earlier this morning—and his now-choice of apparel: V-neck white undershirt, ratty blue jeans, and black work boots.
Wiping the sweat away from his temple with his shoulder, Edward squints and says, "You know…you didn't have to get so…rough…back there, at the, ah…" He purposefully stops his sentence there, his eyebrows raised high as he stands at his end with his two fists pressing into the top of the brand new counter. He leans forward, forearm muscles flexing, and grins devilishly at a bent over and hiding Bella.
She's been like this all day.
Hearing Edward's laugh, Bella peeks over in his general direction, only to hide her face away again. "I…" she huffs for breath and continues, not moving an inch, "…refuse…to look at you right now…so…you fail…with…" her hand motions half-hazardly in the air in front of her as she emphasizes, "…all that…"
It's been like this since the two of them left Carlisle and Esme's this morning after chowin' down on sausage-griddle cakes and strawberries.
Easy, fun…and often, very inappropriate for work.
Bella hadn't smiled or laughed so much since Charlie's death.
"You know, that position you're currently in makes me—"
Bella whips right up at that, yelling and pointing, "Don't you dare say it, Edward!"
"I was going to say it makes me want to rub your back." His eyes dart down to her chest and then back up. He's pretty sure she's still not wearing a bra, and it's making him kind of crazy.
"Liar." He was so not going to say that. She eye-balls him knowingly, her stare sort of maybe getting stuck on the muscles of each of his finely displayed forearms. She's thinkin' goddamn forearm veins.
Zipping her lips tight, Bella whips her work gloves off and tucks them into the back pocket of her skinny-jeans and pulls her red bandana off from where it's tied around the top of her head. Ponytail swingin', she crosses the cabin floor to where a cooler sits—empty now, except for melted ice water—just inside the front door. She bends and dunks her bandana in, getting it good and wet. Standing, she first wrings out the excess water and then she rubs the cold, wet red fabric across her sweaty chest and up the front of her neck and around to the base at the back of her head.
She moans.
Edward moans, too.
That's when her inner sex muscles clench.
Stunned brown eyes whip back over to Edward—who's frozen still as stone himself—and she can see that his eyes are glued and staring hard right where she's just rubbed across her exposed upper chest.
Alice clears her throat loudly, and then teases them, "You two been working it hard, I see." That pixie grin of hers couldn't look more pleased. She's been resting her arms across the open window sill from where she's been standin' outside for the last few minutes, lookin' in and watchin' the two of them work together to settle that heavy countertop in place, and trying not to laugh out loud.
She's thinkin' the pair of them couldn't be more obvious, what with their laughin' and workin' and teasin' each other all morning and afternoon. They'd been clueless to the fact that Alice was hearing everything from her perch in the hammock hangin' on the front porch of her cabin.
More obvious is Edward's reaction to Alice's unexpected and sudden appearance, as he somewhat covertly turns a one-eighty and discreetly attempts to adjust something at his front midsection.
Alice isn't the only one who sees this, either.
Eyes wide and face flaming, Bella slowly turns away from Edward's back to stare over at Alice, somewhat speechless because…because…Edward just…he just…she just saw him…
Well, Hell, just because!
Alice mouths to Bella something along the lines of you two are so busted, and then she says out loud, batting her innocent, wide eyes playfully, "Ready for that break, Bella?"
Bella's completely forgotten. "Oh, shit!" She sort of stutters her next words. "Wh—what? Is it time, already?"
Still grinning, Alice glances exaggeratedly at the watch she's not wearing and replies, "In about twenty minutes or so. Time flies when you're having fun, doesn't it?" Her light eyes lift to find Bella again and take in a very dirty, messy form. "I figured you'd want to freshen up first. Afternoon showers can be the best…" she pauses, glancing at Edward and then back to Bella, continuing, "…and very…refreshing." She points to Edward's back where he's still faced away, and then she does that thing where her one pointer finger pokes repeatedly through the circle she's makin' with the thumb and pointer finger of her other hand.
Bella's glaring at Alice when Edward turns around then, and Alice's hands drop down and out of view. She says, quickly, before she darts away with a wave, "I'll just, uh, meet you at your house in a bit. Bye, Edward."
Edward clears his throat, looking mighty entertained as he rubs across his lower lip with his thumb. Then he smiles crooked and says, "So, um…you two finished," he motions with his hands at the space between Bella and where Alice has just left, "passin' notes behind my back?"
Bella snorts at that, trying to play it off as she scoffs out, "We were not doing that."
His eyebrows lift in question.
She's sticking with her original answer.
Rolling her eyes at his sexy as hell smirk, Bella decides it's the perfect time to vacate the premises. She turns and grabs her work belt up from the floor and walks to the door, directing Edward from over her shoulder. "Just finish up with this counter for now and call it a day when you're done. I won't be back for a few hours anyway."
She's about to step outside when Edward's hand grabs her elbow and pulls her back inside. She turns to ask him what he's doing, but when she does, she suddenly finds herself backed up against the wall next to the door with one sweaty, sexy-stupid Edward Cullen standing up tall…and so, so very close.
She tries not to swoon.
She barely succeeds.
He's not exactly touching her, but he may as damn-well be. His big feet are mixin' with hers, and she can smell his sweat and soap and feel his body heat.
Edward let's his eyes travel around her pretty face and then down her trim little body once and back up again. "Where're you off to?"
"Um…I'm, uh, going up to Sue's," she's thumbing stupidly over her left shoulder, "for refreshments, and I'm taking Alice along for introducin'."
His mouth starts to water. Swallowing deep, he says amiably, "That's nice. We really need to talk about proper clothing etiquette when I'm around." He stuffs his hands deep into each of his front pockets, because if he didn't, he's sure to demonstrate more of the touchin' before kissin' thing.
"Um…what?"
"Bella, the next time we work together, can I ask you to do me a favor?"
She blinks and shakes her head, confused, "I don't understand."
He shifts a little closer to her, hands still safe in his pockets, but his eyes darken as they travel down and back up her body again. "Well, this work we're doin' together takes concentration." He pauses and leans his head down to whisper in her ear, "And I've had a time of it, tryin' to not to grab and play with you."
All of the air leaves her lungs. She's barely able to answer when she says, "Play…with me?"
"Fondle…I mean fondle you, Bella."
"Oh."
His own breath flows out through his nose and caresses down the length of Bella's delicate neck.
She shivers and her nipples peak hard and throb.
"Do you…own…an actual bra-type contraption?" It's gravely spoken when Edward says this, his eyes glued to her chest.
Her eyes are glued to his chest, too. Boy's got beautiful pecs, and they're right at her eye-level. She frowns and answers, "Um…yeah—yes, I have…a few…bras."
Another exhaled breath floats down and across Bella's throat, and she tries not to convulse. That's when she decides it'd be good to ask Edward, "You…um, don't like it when I don't wear one?"
He snorts and shifts again, his hands helpless now as they leave the safely of his front pockets to grab her slender, curved hips and give them a squeeze. "Bella, I love when you don't wear a bra…shit, I'd go so far as to say I hope you never wear one again." His green eyes lift to pin hers. "Except, there's times when a man only has so much restraint—"
"Restraint…" she repeats in a daze, watchin' his lips and nodding as Edward's explaining himself. It's really difficult to do that with his hands on her person.
"—and I am waitin' for that kiss first, but Goddamn it, Bella Swan!" He shifts his hips—maybe kind of angry like—and continues on, "Top it off with me now knowing you're goin' inside, up to that bath of yours, so you can get refreshed while you're most likely naked? It's got me one mad wreck of a fantasizin' fool, and my body's sayin' fuck that kiss!" His mouth sets thin at the end.
Oh, okay then. Bella's thinkin' she's been stung hard and good now.
She's ready to give that fucking kiss.
Her body sort of vacillates toward his.
Edward hums and then suddenly—eyes slightly panicked—he jumps back. His hands go up like he's ready to ward of the evil in the room. "Whoa!" He freezes when he hears a growly moan. He has no idea who it actually came from. Backing up one more step, he mutters, "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" His hands lift and his long fingers run roughly through his sweaty, dirty hair repeatedly.
He stops—suddenly, again—and he focuses back on her, hands frozen and still tangled up in his hair. "Okay, you need to go. We need to separate."
She starts to move toward him, still dazed but now also confused. "Wait, what? Separate? But, I'm ready to give you that ki—"
His hands got out again, warding her off. "Stop! No, no, no…this ain't the time nor the place for that. It needs to be different…needs adjustin'."
Mouth dropping open, Bella does a double-take inside her extremely befuddled head. Then she gets embarrassed, naturally. Defensively, her hands go to her hips, right where his larger ones had been planted moments before. She challenges him, "Adjustin'? Says who?"
Holy fuck, he knows he needs to be careful here. "Um, me?"
"You."
"Yes, me..."
Bella fumes, her nostrils flare, and then she starts glaring.
"…and the universe of all perfect re-done kisses."
He wisely chooses that moment to move back around to safety on the other side of that newly-placed kitchen counter. His voice gets gravely again. "Look, B. I want that kiss…so fucking badly, you have no idea. But I can't be the one forcing it to re-happen."
"Oh, really?" Annoyed now, Bella's foot starts tappin' on the painted, cement flooring.
"It needs to be all you, Bella Bee."
She just stands there—incredulous—across from where he's so obviously gone hiddin', and then she blows her roof. "You're givin' me fucking whiplash, Edward!" She starts to storm around in her own angry pace, her arms gesticulating wildly at him. "Fine! You got it. But be warned, Edward Cullen! Be warned! 'Cause it's gonna be when you least expect it!" She's bent forward at her waist and pointing and hissing when she's finished speakin'.
Edward's never seen her so fucking cute. He's got her exactly where she should be. The right side of his mouth lifts into a half-grin, and he says, "You know, I am mildly afraid of you right now."
Bella tries not to smile but is not wholly successful, so she whirls and marches out the door and out of Edward's site.
Edward yells, "Have fun with your naked shower. I won't be thinking about that at all."
Bella's back screen door is heard slamming closed real, real hard…twice in a row.
a/n …hi you guyz...I LOVE YOU ALL...now, let me have it...*twirls*…read-review-love…please…*twirls*…
xxx jess
p.s. i HAD to do that beginning here...b/c when i always read those types of scenes i always say to myself 'huh, i could never write something like that'...but i did...it just came out...lol...