Bella almost slammed the door in Ryan's face if not for the fact that she was in a good mood. Her Jacob-induced smile faded from her lips and her shoulders tensed, not wanting to hear a single word from him.

"What are you doing here?" She asked in a clipped, unfriendly tone.

'Can I come in?'

He winced at her icy manner and shoved both hands in his pockets.

"No. It's late and I'm going to bed, so whatever it is you want to say just say it here." She crossed her arms in front of her chest, feeling uncomfortable in his presence.

Ryan's hazel eyes suspiciously scanned the living room behind Bella. 'You got someone in there, say Jacob Black for instance?'

"Excuse me?" Bella frowned. She was totally caught off-guard by his knowledge of Jacob.

'One of my friends recognized him when the two of you were at Sea-lounge. He tried to intimidate me in case you didn't notice. Is he your boyfriend or something?' Ryan inquired, unable to hide his blatant jealousy while he spoke.

Bella pinched the bridge of her nose, her body starting to shake from anxiety. "First of all, that is none of your business and it's really rude of you to assume I had a guy in my apartment at this time of night. Second of all, we are no longer friends and I made this clear Ryan, so what is it that you want?"

The tall, curly haired, incredibly annoying Ryan seemed taken aback by her coldness. He tugged at his hair in frustration and paced the hallway for mere seconds before continuing his speech.

'Seeing you at the club with Jacob made me realize that I may have made a mistake Bella.' He admitted. 'I hate that a sweet, innocent woman like you fell into his clutches.'

"Clutches? For your information, Jake is Jini's brother; remember Jini? The girl who hated your guts for leading me on? The girl who left you death threats on your answering machine?" She snapped at him, her voice getting louder with each breath. "Well, Jake is the male version of Jini so you'd better watch your back Ryan, I mean it. Stop calling and showing up at my door at inappropriate hours of the night AND DON'T CALL ME INNOCENT EVER AGAIN!" B shouted, letting her inner bitch take over.

She slammed the door in his face and sank to the floor.

Her neighbors must've heard her ranting for sure.

"Holy cupcake; that felt good."

The next morning over breakfast at their favorite café, Bella retold her outburst to a shocked but proud Jini.

'So let me get this straight. You yelled at Ryan and slammed the door in his face? You, my doe-eyed, pink luvin Bells?'

She was having trouble even visualizing the whole thing.

"Yes, something inside of me just snapped. I'm sick of being the nice girl who gets put on the back-burner while the guy decides if he wants her or not. I read an article last week about how men e-maintain women and it really makes so much sense. Ryan used to do that to me and when he showed up last night it felt like the last straw." Bella vented over her plate of baked beans and scrambled eggs.

Jini's smile widened. 'We should make a toast in celebration of your inner bitch.'

"I agree." Bella nodded, raising up her tall, lemonade glass.

'To Bella's inner bitch, I love you girl!'

They clunked their glasses together and Bella jokingly patted herself on the back.

After breakfast, both Bella and Jini treated themselves to an afternoon at the nail spa and later stood in line at their much loved bakery for a slice of cheesecake heaven.

Jacob called while they were lounging under the fading sun in one of the many public parks close to the Black's house.

Bella filled him in about her day, ignoring Jini's childish kissy noises but refrained from telling him about what happened with Ryan.

There was no need to bring it up and cause any trouble.

Bella knew Ryan liked to hold grudges, especially against someone he claimed to have tried to intimidate him in front of his friends.

'Guess what?' Jacob asked.

"What?" She smiled into the phone.

'I'm coming home next weekend!' He cheerfully announced.

"You are?" Bella almost squealed, jumping off the bench.

Jini raised an eye-brow in question.

'Yeah, a good friend of mine is hosting this charity date auction event and I'm one of the uh…single guys to be auctioned off…' Jacob said with a bit of apprehension.

"Oh."

So he's not coming to see me, she thought in disappointment.

'I signed up for the thing ages ago Bells and it slipped my mind until Clara; my friend called and insisted that I attend. My name's on the list and it's for a good cause.'

Clara?

Date Auction?

Bella shook off all negative thoughts and tried to keep her jealousy in check.

"I'm sure you're going to be auctioned off for a million dollars if not more." She nonchalantly remarked.

Jacob chuckled. 'Are you a closeted millionaire Bells? Because I'm expecting you to be the highest bidder next Saturday.'

"So you won't mind me being there?"

'Honey, I'm counting on you being there but not for the money. Leave that to the rich old women who usually go to these events.'

Bella rolled her eyes. "You don't sound too excited at the prospect of being ogled by cougars." She teased.

'Damn right I'm not. All I want to do next weekend is spend my time with you.' He grumpily disclosed.

She couldn't help but laugh at how cute he sounded.

"Oh Jake, you're so adorable."

Jini made a gagging face then went back to playing Sudoku on her iphone.

'Bells, you are in dire need of updating your Jacob dictionary.' Mr. adorable recommended.

"Hmmm...is that so?"

'Yep. Adorable is fine but hot, manly, jaw-dropping and gorgeous sex bomb are more appropriate.'

"Sex bomb? Really?" She chortled.

Jake was glad he was finally able to make her laugh like that. It was his goal by listing off all those words in the first place.

'Yeah you know, like in that old, Tom Jones song.'

"Oh my God! That's so funny."

'My dad used to sing it to mom all the time just to crack her up.'

'Okay enough with the phone sex, I can't take it anymore.' Jini interjected, grabbing the flip phone from Bella. 'Hello Jakey boy, I'm going to hang up now because your future-wife and I are late for our evening margaritas. Talk to you later bro, bye-bye.'

She hit the red button and handed the phone back to a glowering B.

"Jini!"

'Don't –Jini- me right now. You two lovebirds have been chatting for over fifteen minutes.'

"Fifteen?"

'You look surprised.' Jini quirked an eye-brow, adjusting her purple strapless dress.

"That's because I hate long telephone conversations, crap, I'm turning into you!"

'This is called the Black effect hun. Jake and I are rubbing off on you.'

"What about the Swan effect?"

'You had me obsessed with pink cupcakes for a whole year! If that's not the Swan effect then I don't know what is.'

Tuesday Afternoon…

Bella read the e-mail in disbelief for the third time in a row.

She had no idea how Ryan's girlfriend was able to get her hands on her work e-mail, probably from a business card she had once given him?

It was a long-ass paragraph that could've been summarized in just a few words.

Instead of pissing her off; it made her feel sorry for the girl who wrote it:

...

Dear Isabella, or should I say Bella,

STAY away from my man, ok? I found ur number in his recent call history & one of my girlfriends who's very trustworthy saw him next 2 ur building. Yes I know where u live. Ryan loves me and we're happy, he told me u liked him so don't hate on me, ok? Ur not his type anyways.

I hope I made things clear.

'Blonde' Candy

...

'Blonde Candy? Did she just diss you for being a brunette?' Jini snickered.

"This e-mail is the icing on my shitty Ryan cake." Bella leaned forward in her office chair, tiredly rubbing her eyes.

'OMG, you said shit!'

"No, I said shitty because it would be ridiculous not to swear after receiving such an e-mail." Bella corrected her.

'Wow, the last time I heard you say shit was way back in freshman year after a calculus test.'

"How on earth do you remember that?"

'You can thank my sharp memory.' Jini pointed a finger to her raven head which was also home to her thick, lustrous hair.

Her best friend's chocolate eyes glinted with amusement but the bags under those eyes spoke of tiredness and two long nights of hard work for her picky client.

"I wish I could erase all this Ryan drama from my memory."

'Do you want me to leave death threats on her answering machine?' Jini soothingly offered in typical Jini fashion.

"No! We are not going to sink down to her level in any shape or form. Am I clear?"

'But...' Her friend protested.

"No buts, okay? She's obviously possessive and we do not want to fuel this possession and add more drama to this shitty situation."

'You said shitty again.'

"Jini, I'm serious. Promise me not to do any of your punk'd inspired numbers on the girl, Please?"

Throwing her hands up in defeat; J promised not to do anything Ashton Kutcher would do.

His show used to be an inspiration for her during high school.

'By the way, did you make up your mind about the auction?'

Bella signed out from her account and shrugged.

"I will be there for sure but I'm still undecided about my feelings regarding Jake going on a date with the highest bidder."

'You deserve that date more than anyone else but I know Clara, and her dad owns that charity. The auction's going to be really high maintenance and a lot of rich Paris Hilton wannabees are going to be there.'

"So much for older women." Bella muttered.

'Don't stress over this, Jacob adores you. You'd be an idiot if you thought otherwise.'

"I know."

'Why the worried face then?'

Jini crouched in front of Bella's desk chair, taking hold of her pale hands. 'Hey, I freakin hate that I won't be able to tag along and make fun of all the fake Barbies; so I'm going to suggest the next best thing and have you take Nina with you.'

"That is a great idea! I should text her right now."

'Fantastic, and make sure she's armed with her cheque book.'

Saturday Evening…

Bella received a surprise package from Jacob while waiting for Nina to arrive at her place.

During her very busy Thursday afternoon the two of them had an argument of sorts because Jini's big mouth spilled the beans about Ryan showing up at her apartment.

Jacob already hated the guy's guts and knowing that he wouldn't stay away from Bella made him both angry and upset.

He asked Bella if she still had feelings for Ryan which in turn made her feel upset that he'd ask her such a question.

She replied by saying that she didn't and he apologized for making assumptions and letting his jealousy get in the way.

Bella accepted his apology in a strained, distant tone but only because she was tired and stressed out but he misinterpreted it as –I'm still mad at you-.

So later that night, he dragged one of his female friends to the mall for advice on a special pair of earrings.

The package Bella received and carefully unwrapped was the one containing those earrings.

She read the note attached to the smaller box she found inside. It was written in Jacob's untidy handwriting:

Bells,

I'm so terribly sorry for what I said. You were in love with the guy so I was a bit jealous when I found out he came and saw you.

Hope you like what's in this box ;)

See you tonight?

Jacob

She smiled, lifting the lid to reveal a pair of Juicy Couture gold cupcake stud earrings.

They were very cute.

She was definitely going to wear them for the auction but she still had no idea what Nina had in store for her.

Her exotic, half-Italian friend who also happened to be a model insisted on dressing her for the event.

Nina was known for her sense of style and the fashion risks she liked to take off the catwalk. She used to send free designer stuff to both Jini and Bella every time she did a photo-shoot.

The girls loved her for being generous and humble even though she was a bit loud and liked to swear in Italian.

'Bella Donna, open up!' Nina's recognizable voice shouted from behind the apartment door, pulling Bella out of her thoughts.

"Coming!"

Seconds later, Nina was in the living room handing B a white laundry bag with her auction dress in it.

'This dress came right from Harrods in London; it's in your size so go try it on.' She urged B who was still admiring the way her friend looked in that grey jumpsuit she was wearing.

"Thanks for doing this; you're a life-saver."

Nina's catlike green eyes sparkled beneath her stylish fringe. She had a very attractive face complete with full pink lips and a small button nose framed by short, layered chestnut hair.

'It's my pleasure, I want you to blow Jake's mind tonight.' She winked.

Bella unzipped the bag and a short, golden dress came into view. It was strapless and had an all over sequin embellishment which made it all the more eye-catching.

"Oh wow, this is more suitable for a model Nina; it's also low-cut." She gestured at the v-shaped space in the bust area.

'My sweet Bella, you have the figure to pull it off, capiche?'

Bella bit her lip, staring at the dress like it was about to eat her.

"I don't know. It's unlike anything I have in my closet."

Nina removed the dress from its hanger and draped it across Bella's body.

'The material is fabulous, we'll just rub a bit of glittery lotion onto your porcelain skin and you'll look like a Goddess.'

"Umm…"

'No umms…it's just this one night B! Pretend you're playing dress-up.' Nina encouraged, steering her to the bedroom so she could change into the dress.'

An hour later, Bella sat in front of her dresser, putting on Jacob's cupcake earrings. She desperately needed a sprinkle of cuteness to finish off her sexy, dress-up Bella look.

She hardly recognized herself in the mirror once she slid her feet into a pair of Jimmy Choo sandals; also courtesy of Nina.

Her friend had used a curling iron to curl Bella's hair which looked great tumbling down her bare shoulders. She also applied mascara and black eye-liner to her chocolate eyes and painted her nails in a shade of red wine.

'You look sizzling hot and so edgy.' Nina complimented her, looking just as sexy in a short, black dress and silver pumps.

"What was I thinking when I agreed to let you be my stylist tonight?"

'You were thinking of Jake and how you're going to make him kneel at your pretty feet tonight.'

"I doubt that."

Nina suddenly started muttering something in Italian before smacking Bella's arm.

"Ouch!"

'You know what I want to do? I wanna send the mafia after that figlio di puttana who hurt you and your ego.'

"Nina, I don't think…"

The tall, passionate girl cut her off, grabbing her shoulders and shaking them gently. 'You are a beautiful, confident woman and Ryan did NOT deserve you, got it?'

Bella nodded.

"Yes, now teach me how to swear like you just did."

Saturday Night

'I literally feel like I'm in an episode of Gossip Girl.'

"Yes! That's exactly what I was thinking."

Both girls stood at the entrance of DT Hotel's grand ballroom where the auction was being held.

The theme turned out to be Night in Paris as indicated by the banner and Eiffel Tower decorations hanging behind the registration table.

'Why the French theme though? What, we're going to bid on baguettes?' Nina snorted.

Bella laughed in amusement, glad to see that she wasn't the only one wearing a short, edgy dress. "You really don't have to do this; bidding on Jake for me."

Nina's green eyes narrowed in warning as she sauntered over to the elegantly decorated table to register for the auction.

A woman around their age with a sophisticated up-do greeted them with a smile. She was dressed in a long, halter-neck dress with encrusted crystals below the bust. A diamond necklace adorned her long neck and the matching bracelet caught the light when she extended her hand to introduce herself.

'Bonsoir! Welcome to the Nicholas Foundation's annual charity date auction, my name is Clara.' Her soft grey eyes were friendly enough for Nina to shake her hand.

'I'm Nina and this is my good friend Bella.'

Clara's smile widened even more as she took hold of B's hand and shook it vigorously. 'Bella! You must be here to bid on Jacob, am I correct?'

Bella nodded, exchanging looks with Nina who was just about to write her name on the very long list of bidders.

"Yes. You're his friend who's hosting the auction, right?"

'Exactly, the foundation belongs to my father and it provides medical aid and fresh sanitary water for earthquake, flood and war victims. Jacob has participated in last year's auction too, he's such a sweetheart.' Clara told her with a dreamy sigh.

"Oh my God, I totally forgot to tell him that I was coming." Bella blurted out, holding a hand to her forehead.

'Don't worry; I'll let him know once he arrives. He's driving straight from college to do this.' The strawberry blonde gushed over Jacob. 'I really hope you win that date with him, he's so fond of you.'

"He told you that?"

Clara shook her head. 'No, but I could tell.'

There was no time for Bella to ask any more questions since the girl excused herself to welcome the other bidders.

Nina was scanning the brochure given to her which contained a list of all the hot single men taking part in the date auction.

'Jake is number ten, that's not so bad. Ooooh, they're going to be dressed in Armani leather, now that's exciting!'

Bella grabbed the brochure as they walked into the large ballroom. She almost tripped and fell over the navy blue carpet while staring at Jacob's photo.

He looked so hot.

'Someone's drooling.' Nina remarked in a sing-song voice.

"Shut up, you're engaged to a gorgeous Italian model that you spent months drooling over." Bella retorted.

Both girls stopped talking once they caught sight of the bistro tables at each corner of the room. They were lined up with cheese platters served with sliced apples, grapes and baguettes, chocolate éclairs alongside colorful macaroons and cupcakes.

A lot of women were gathered in front of the tables, waiting for the auction to begin. Nina enjoyed being served a glass of red wine at the wine tasting corner while Bella helped herself to an éclair decorated with a toothpick in the shape of a tiny French flag.

Jini would've loved the Parisian atmosphere, she thought. It was a shame that she had to attend her cousin's engagement party along with her parents.

'Look what I got?' Nina exclaimed, holding up a bidding paddle with a poodle on it and the number forty-four printed in blue.

Bella smiled and followed her friend down the third row of red velvet seats where they finally sat down right in the middle. The woman sitting next to them stared at B's dress for a really long time before asking if she could get the name of its designer label.

'See? I told you it looks good on you.' Nina boasted.

A few minutes later, the white stage came to life and Clara appeared with a blue microphone in hand. The Eiffel Tower centerpiece behind her started sparkling just like the real-life one did during the night.

There were a lot of impressed noises from the ladies and the seats were gradually filling up as everyone settled in their places. Nina quirked an eye-brow at the way some of the ladies were checking their make-up and smoothing down their hair in preparation for the main event.

Clara welcomed everyone, sounding incredibly excited as she picked up a glittery auctioning hammer from the nearby table.

'Let's start this auction by bringing out our first bachelor of the night; Damon! He's not a vampire ladies but he sure is disarmingly sexy. Damon come on out!'

Someone in the back wolf-whistled as a cute guy walked across the stage.

Clara recited his age, height and favorite movies then the bidding started.

It was more of a paddle war as poodles battled Eiffel towers over who had more money to win the date with Damon who reminded Bella of a red headed Ryan Gosling.

Her foot tapping and lip biting got worse with each bachelor, and by the time number nine strutted on stage Nina had to smack her arm to stop her incessant fidgeting.

'Cara, stop it! Why are you so anxious? I should've made you drink a bit of wine. Don't worry I'll get that date for you.'

"Don't be silly Nina, I can't let you pay fifty thousand dollars, and for what? I already get to see Jake." Bella reasoned, feeling stupid for being insecure about having him go on one stupid dinner with another girl.

'The money is not for you, it's for charity. Plus, I'm getting paid extremely well these days so don't say one more word about this, capiche?'

"Fine, just don't go all Jersey Shore on the girl who outbids you okay?"

'Oh Bella Donna, you really need to work on your sense of humor.'

"Shut up."

French lounge music replaced the traditional accordion sounds of Paris as bachelor nine got auctioned off for twenty thousand dollars.

'Our next bachelor of the night is a dear friend of mine and one of the hottest men on this planet, please give it up for Jacob!'

There was a lot of hollering and whistling as Jake appeared on-stage.

Bella's heart almost jumped out of her rib-cage when he smiled; running long fingers through his silky hair. He was wearing a black leather jacket over a blood-red, v-neck shirt and blue stonewashed jeans.

Jacob's onyx eyes searched the seated audience for Bella until he reached the third row where he recognized her friend Nina.

'Jacob is a twenty-one year old business student whose hobbies include mixed martial arts, classic car restoration and archery.' Clara recited, winking at Bella.

More women clapped as their eyes finally met, causing Jake to do a double take at the golden dress and the long curls framing B's delicate face.

She waved, feeling very self-conscious from his heated gaze.

'Let's start the bidding with five thousand dollars.'

A lot of paddles were raised so Clara quickly increased the price.

Nina's hand went up, glaring at the fake blonde who was bent on winning the date as well.

'Twenty thousand!' She shouted.

Clara glanced at Jacob who moved closer to her side of the stage and whispered something in her ear.

'Do I hear fifty thousand?'

Nina held up her hand again, sneering at miss fake Paris Hilton who stood up and offered to pay double the price.

'Merda!'

Jake chuckled as Bella covered her face with both hands, trying to control her laughter.

Nina was hilarious when she got competitive.

'How about a hundred fifty? Come on ladies Jake is worth it!' Clara grinned.

'Two hundred thousand!' A male voice bellowed from the back of the ballroom.

Everyone turned in their seats to look at the tall, lanky guy standing there with his hand in the air.

'Alright then, going once, going twice, sold to the gentleman in the back!' Clara announced, patting Jacob on the arm.

'You've got to be kidding me!' Nina muttered in disbelief as Julian walked down the aisle with a cheque in hand.

He gave the cheque to Clara who thanked him before turning to Jake and kissing him on the cheek.

Both men got off the stage as she started introducing the next bachelor on the list.

Some of the women stared longingly at Jacob when he passed them by on his way to Bella. He was desperate to know how her dress would feel like beneath his fingertips.

'Hey.'

"Hi."

Jacob took Bella's hand as they made their way to the hotel lobby.

'You look…amazing.' He told her after giving her a soft kiss on the cheek.

He had a feeling that she would object to a searing kiss on the mouth with tourists and hotel guests watching.

She tilted up her face and the cupcake earrings peeked out from behind her curls. His warm eyes twinkled as he lifted two fingers to her ear and lightly touched one of them.

"Thanks so much for the earrings, I got distracted by Nina and forgot to text you."

'It's okay, I'm just glad you're here.'

Nina was talking to the employee at the reception desk while Julian explained to Bella all about how he had a massive crush on Clara and wanted to impress her.

Bidding on Jacob was strategically planned so he'd pay the largest sum of money then ask her out on a date once the auction was over.

"Good luck with Clara; she seems like a really nice person." Bella smiled at Julian who later excused himself and headed back to the ballroom.

'So, what would you like to do now?' Jacob slid an arm around her waist while they waited for Nina.

"Umm...I don't know…what do you think of my outfit?" She had to ask since he wouldn't quit staring at the way the material clung to her breasts.

He smirked, running his hand along her bare arm. 'I like it, a lot. Who melted you and poured you in that dress tonight, huh?'

She giggled.

'Aaaw look at you two, so damn adorable.' Nina's loud, clicking heels interrupted their cute moment.

She had a sly smile on her pink lips as she approached them.

'Nina! How you doin?' Jacob did his funny Joey impression which earned him a big hug from Nina and a pinch on the cheek.

'I've always known that the two of you would get together.' She proudly said, handing them each a hotel key card. 'And since I couldn't get you the date I promised, I did the next best thing and booked the royal suite here in the hotel so you can spend the night!'

Bella's flustered expression was enough to make Nina drag her away from Jacob so they could talk in private.

'Hush! Don't say a word cara. Consider this an early birthday gift from me, okay? I've already paid for the suite and asked them to send up a nice dinner including your favorite lasagna.'

"Nina, that's too much."

Her friend's stubborn green eyes stared Bella down until she finally caved in.

'You and Jacob don't even have to sleep in the same bed, so don't panic and think that you're going to have sex with him tonight. It's up to you.'

"What about him? I…mean we're going to be alone for an entire night!"

'Bella, calm down! I'll go talk to him. Weren't you just telling me earlier how much you wanted to be alone with the guy? Now's your chance so don't fret over it. My God, Jini was right…' She rolled those catlike eyes before walking away.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

A/N: Yes Bella, just go with the flow! *sigh*

A night alone with Jacob...so many possibilities ;D

Do you think he will agree to spend an -all expenses paid- night with Bella? Will Ryan finally stay away from her or should Jake just teach him a lesson?

You can find a link to Bella's outfit in my profile page along with her VS underwear from last chapter. I've also posted the link to the French Lounge track which was played during the auction.

Thanks for everyone who took the time to review this story :*

Until next time!

PS The English translation for Carais sweetheart/beloved/dear or honey, figlio di puttana means son of a whore and Merda! is shit!