Disclaimer: The characters are Mrs. Meyers.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Keep em coming and I'll keep updating fast!

Chapter 10 - Edward's Mistress

I unstrapped my Wii guitar and threw myself down on the couch with a frown plastered across my face.

"I don't want to go home," I pouted with tears filling my eyes.

"I don't want you to leave," Edward whined and threw himself down on the couch next to me.

"Well, I guess technically I told my mom and Alice that I would be gone for two to four days, so its not like I have to go this minute."

"Thank goodness." Edward breathed a sigh of relief.

"I will stay tonight and then leave first thing in the morning."

"I may just have to tie you up and keep you here forever." Edward reached over and took my hand interlacing our fingers together.

"There would be no need to tie me up." I rolled my eyes and shook my head trying to lighten the mood.

"Bella were you really counting on cooking again tonight?" Edward asked.

"I don't know why?"

"Do you think I could take you on a date?" Edward said, obviously treading lightly and watching for signs of me retreating to the bathroom.

A date! A real date! What will I wear? What will I talk about? Is he going to kiss me again?

I was careful not to bite my lip and give too much away. "But what about our vacation?" I reminded him.

"Well unfortunately, I think we're going to have to leave the apartment today anyway. If the interstate is open, I am going to have to check on the office and then make sure everything is ok at my dad's house."

Oh, so I'm staying for him, and he's leaving me here alone! I looked down and bit my lip.

"Bella, of course you'll come with me to do those things!"

"Oh." I blushed.

Stupid mind reader.

"So Bella, will you go on a date with me?" He tried to look as pitiful as possible.

"Of course," I sighed completely losing myself for a moment.

"Great! We can go to a restaurant about 45 miles out of town where it is less, um, intense. Do you want to start getting ready? We can run those errands on our way out of town."

Big gulps.

"Yeah sure." I tried to sound like this was all no big deal to me. I looked at him, curtsied and turned toward the bathroom.

Oh my gosh, I just curtsied?!

I showered again, even though I had just taken one last night. I remembered from movies that you should always shave your legs extra well before a date. I wondered why that was. I had hung up my black skirt and teal blouse that I wore to my interview while I showered, hoping the steam would smooth out the wrinkles. I put gel in my hair to make it wavy and applied just a tiny bit of make up. I looked in the mirror. Not bad for me. I let Alice give me another pep talk in my mind before opening the door and going back out to Edward.

"Edward?" I asked when I didn't see him.

He was gone. I sat down at the kitchen table and congratulated myself for not immediately freaking out. About 29 seconds passed, and I was about to freak out when someone knocked at the front door.

I opened the door to find Edward standing on the other side wearing that sexy crooked grin and holding flowers. There were freesia and a bunch of other things I couldn't name, never having been much of a botanist. He was dressed in a blue button down shirt and jeans. He was the most handsome thing I had ever laid eyes on, and my eyes immediately filled with tears.

"Oh, Bella, what is it? Did I do something wrong again? I just wanted to make it seem like I was picking you up for our date," he said concerned about my reaction.

"No, you're perfect. Thank you." I said reaching and squeezing his forearm.

"Stop scaring me like that," he breathed.

"Sorry." I started giggling to cope with my nervousness.

"You look stunning." Edward interrupted my giggles and wrapped me in a hug.

Keep saying stuff like that, and I might do something I'll regret in the morning.

"You clean up ok," I said shrugging my shoulders.

"After you," he said opening the door.

"I want to go by the house first and make sure I tell the staff to take the next couple of days off. I know they have been working extra hard taking care of all those unexpected guests," he said once we were in the car.

"Edward, why do you have people working at your dad's house if no one lives there?" I asked curiously.

"I know it doesn't seem to make much sense, but they are like my family. The three of them have been with me since I was a small boy, and I just can't imagine them not being there. I know things will have to change eventually, and I will have to do something with the house, but for now, I just want that one thing to stay the same. I need them to be there. They are some of the only people around who still believe in me. Plus, who would do my laundry if I didn't keep them?"

"Well in that case, it makes perfect sense. Clean clothes are very important."

About fifteen minutes later, we were driving down a country lane lined with trees that created a canopy overhead. We turned off onto a drive that wound up to a huge house tucked back off the main road.

"I've never seen such a lovely house!" I was amazed.

"It's OK." Edward shrugged.

"Whatever. You are either extremely modest or extremely naïve," I said mocking him.

"Come on, let's go inside." He ran around and opened my door and reached to help me out.

I felt the heat rising up on my cheeks. I wasn't used to all this attention.

We were greeted inside by a little old lady. She had gray hair, and if you looked closely you could make out what could only be described as a mustache and a bunch of curly chin hairs. Her skin was wrinkled and her ankles were swollen even with her support hose on. She walked a little hunched over accentuating her hips and thighs that were rather large and strangely not proportional with the rest of her body. Despite the fact that she didn't appear to have aged well, her eyes twinkled when she saw Edward.

"Finally you've come back to me my love!" She gushed.

"You know I could never stay away from you for long my dear." Edward replied as he bent down and kissed her on the cheek.

"Bella this is Tanya. Tanya, this is Bella my…" He stopped and looked at me with fear in his eyes, "girlfriend."

"Girlfriend! I thought I was your girlfriend dear." Tanya said while patting him three times on the butt.

Edwards face turned red as he said, "No Tanya, you are just my mistress. You know I love our secret midnight trysts."

Girlfriend? Girlfriend!

"Nice to meet you Tanya, and I'm sure there is plenty of Edward for us to share," I kidded.

"Oh she's a dirty one Edward." Tanya was laughing to herself as she hobbled away.

Did I say something dirty?! Ewwww gross, did she just pass gas?

"Bella, don't be mad, but I didn't know what to do. I didn't dare introduce you as just a friend," Edward blurted out nervously.

That whole encounter with Tanya tickled me. "Edward you don't have to walk on egg shells around me. I might be a little crazy, but I'm not that fragile. I do appreciate your sensitivity though," I giggled and kissed him on the cheek.

"Woah! Who are you and what have you done with Bella?" Edward laughed back.

"I just realized I better not be so high maintenance now that I know I have competition." I nodded to where Tanya had just walked.

"No one could ever compete with Tanya. I love running my fingers through her beard," he replied with a completely straight face.

At that, I almost fell on the floor laughing. When I finally composed myself, Edward took me to the kitchen where a lovely couple in their late 50's were sitting drinking coffee and sharing a newspaper.

"Excuse me Mr. and Mrs. Banner, I wanted to introduce you to Bella." Edward was careful not to further define our relationship.

"Hello Bella." Mr. Banner reached out his hand shaking mine and looking at me suspiciously.

Mrs. Banner looked from Edward to me and back at Edward before a huge smile spread across her face. "Oh Edward! She's beautiful!"

"I agree," he laughed.

"Nice to meet you." I said too embarrassed to look anyone in the eyes.

"I'll tell you all about her later. I just wanted to come by and tell you all not to worry about anything for the next few days. In fact if you two want to go up to the lake cabin and relax, I'm sure you could use the break."

"Oh Edward, you take such good care of us. Your father would be so proud," Mrs. Banner beamed.

"Thanks for saying that in front of Bella." He winked at her.

"Now now charmer, we still have some things to clean up around here after all our guests finally cleared out. You two better get going before I make you help." Mr. Banner teased. "It was lovely to meet you Bella."

"You two as well." I said. I couldn't help but run over and give Mrs. Banner a hug before we left.

"Thank you Edward for being who you are." I smiled at him as we headed toward his office.

"What was that for?" He asked.

"I just love the way you treat people. It's obvious that the people that work for you all love you and care about you so much, and you make them feel so at ease with the way you talk to them. It's not just them though, it's the way you are with Emmett and his terrible girlfriend, and even the way you treated Ms. Cope and Tyler. You are so careful to treat everyone with kindness and respect even when they aren't giving you the same courtesy. It's one of the first things I noticed about you."

Well that and your body.

"Wow Bella, I think that's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. Thank you."

I was proud to see him blushing for once.

Back in town, Edward pulled up in front of a small building with a sign that read "Cullen Enterprises."

"I'll try and make this quick. It will just take me a few minutes to check my messages and make sure things are on schedule. Why don't you wait here in the lobby so I won't be distracted," he smirked.

"No problem." I was already engrossed looking at the pictures hanging around the room of different buildings and houses. I was thoroughly impressed that Edward had a part in designing these. The boys I had crushed on before could not hold a candle to this man.

I didn't hear the front door open, but suddenly felt someone breathe on my neck.

"What is a beautiful woman doing at Cullen Enterprises?"

I turned around to recognize the man with the black truck standing much to close to me for comfort.

"I-I'm here with Edward."

"Well that just leads to more questions," he smirked. "What would a beautiful woman be doing with Edward Cullen?"

I shuddered and tried to back away from him. My internal creep alarm was going off.

"I'm sure he will be back in a second if you were looking for him," I said nervously ignoring his question.

"Actually Bella, I wanted to meet you." He took a step towards me.

"How did you know my name?" I was starting to get scared.

"It's a small town Bella. I just wanted to let you know that if you're as smart as you look, you'll stay away from Cullen. In fact if you're looking for someone to hook up with, I would be happy to hire you to stay in my house." At that, he leaned towards me and inhaled deeply through his nose. "Mmmm, you smell delicious. I'd like to take a bite out of you Bella."

Ewwwww!

"What do you mean hire me? Get away from me sicko!" I yelled furiously.

"Bella, I'm surprised at this reaction. Word around town is that you're just an expensive whore Edward hired to keep him company."

I raised my hand planning to slap him with every ounce of anger in me, but he caught my wrist holding it so tightly that I was sure it would bruise.

"Ow! You're hurting me!" I shrieked suddenly terrified.

"You just made a really big mistake Bella," he growled. "You are going to be very sorry you did that."

The scary truck man suddenly released my wrist and went flying across the room. I immediately started rubbing my wrist then looked up shocked to see Edward holding him up against the wall. The look on his face was more ferocious than any animal could be.

Now that's hot.

"JAMES IF YOU EVER TOUCH HER AGAIN, I SWEAR I WILL…." He stopped suddenly.

"What kill me? I'm sure the police would love to hear about you threatening your brother Edward," James taunted triumphantly.

At that Edward's hands fell to his sides. He clenched them into fists and warned, "GO! NOW!"

"OK Edward I'll go." He held both of his hand up and started backing towards the door with a disgusting smile plastered on his face. "When you're done with Bella though, I'd like to have a go at her if you don't mind." Then he turned to me and winked. "See you soon beautiful," he pledged as he went through the door, jumped in his truck, and skidded out of the parking lot.

A/N: Ha ha ha. I made Tanya an ugly old lady. I cracked myself up on this one. Review or else...