A/N Hello ladies!! I'm very sorry that this took so long to post, and that it's short as well. Remember that stupid RL I have? It reared its ugly head. I had some health issues with my family to deal with and settling into my new job.

On another note my woderful beta and I decided to collaborate on a one shot we entered in the Things That go Bumb in the Night contest called The Cullen Family. Please go check it out and let me know what you think.

Voting began in my Esme contest that cpw and I are hosting. Check out all the awesome ways Esme gets laid and vote for your favorite!! Go now!! I'll wait.

You're back? Good! Now put on your thinking caps and enter the Round Mound of a Beehound contest that I have the honor of judging. Go to www . roundmoundbeehound . blogspot . com for details.

Now you know I don't own, but I do play with them often... and they like it! On with the show.....

Chapter 10

BPOV

The Sunday morning sun woke me gently with its light and warmth. Stretching and smiling to myself, I went about my normal morning routine. Since I didn't have a typical nine to five job, Sunday was just another day of the week. When things were rolling well with writing I could—and often did—work without regard to what day it was.

In truth, I didn't get anything done Friday and most of Saturday because I was distracted by Edward. I spent most of the time running the entire night over and over again in my head.

As I sipped my coffee and headed toward the shower, thoughts of how he would lean in close to hear me in the crowded bar, allowing me to breathe in his unique scent followed me. While the steam clouded up the bathroom, my thoughts became muddied with memories of how his fingers caressed his whiskey glass when he was deep in thought. When the shower ran cold without me even washing a toe, I decided not to think about it anymore.

After cleaning up and a quick trip to the store for groceries, I settled down to type out the latest ideas I had for my new story. I was once again lost in my personal land of make-believe when the ringing of my cell dragged me out. I snatched it up and answered without looking at the caller id, angry that my flow had been interrupted.

"Hello," I practically snarled to the poor bastard on the other line. There was a distinct pause for a moment.

"Bella? Umm, it's Edward. Is this a bad time?" He sounded so shy and hesitant. I immediately felt terrible for my behavior. Here he was gathering up courage to call me and I almost cut his balls off because he accidentally interrupted my work.

"Oh Edward! I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to sound like that." I hoped I'd injected enough apology into my voice, along with a healthy dose of happiness. "I was working and I can be a bear when pulled away. I hope you aren't upset."

"No, I'm not upset. I can let you go if you like…" his voice trailed off, almost like he didn't want to let me go. Pleasure spread throughout my belly.

"Don't be silly! I've been at it for about," I paused to squint at the clock, "four hours now. I can use a break." I stood up and stretched, cracking my shoulders and several vertebrae in the process. "What can I do for you on this fine evening?" I smiled and headed to the kitchen for a Dr. Pepper. I thought about rooting around the fridge for food, but decided to wait until we were done talking.

Maybe he'll invite me to dinner. Don't hold your breath girl!

"Umm, have you checked your email today?" He was back to sounding nervous. I wandered back to my computer, curious as to why he asked such a question.

"No, why? Did you hack a network and find my address? You probably could right? If so, there are some critics I'd like you to give a nasty virus to!" I resaved and closed my document, popping up the internet to grab my email.

"N-n-no! I would never do that!" He sounded so appalled and indignant at the accusation.

"Calm down Skippy! I was joking. But seriously, you can do that right? I mean, aren't you like some super computer genius or something?" I looked over the general emails. There was one from Renee, one from another bookstore in Atlanta, and one from Alice.

Why didn't she just call?

"Yes, I suppose I could. Do you really want me to?" He was so cute. I laughed at the fleeting thought of all the critics that gave me bad reviews and called me a hack opening an email and their entire system crashing down around them. Hmmmm…

"No, no that's okay. Are you calling about the email from Alice?" I opened it and scanned its contents quickly.

"Yeah, umm how do you feel about the etiquette classes? I understand the media training, but etiquette?" I could hear the pout through the phone. I tried to hold in my laughter. Tried and failed miserably. It rang out loud and heartily. I heard his low chuckle through the phone.

"Uh I hate to tell you Big Ed, but I think the etiquette classes are more for you than me." I attempted a sympathetic tone, but his snort told me I didn't pull it off. "What's the big deal? It'll teach you to lift your pinky at tea."

"I don't need an etiquette class. I know how to behave at a dinner table. My mom did teach me manners." It was obvious he was more insulted than anything else.

"Well, they teach you more than table manners there." I clicked on the link in Alice's email to bring up the site. I clicked around quickly, years of doing research helping aid the retrieval of information. "It says it covers greetings, pleasantries, making a good first impression, and even covers holiday and other workplace parties." I snickered as one heading caught my eye. "Hey here's one for you… it says it covers net-i-quette. All things internet related!"

"I could probably teach her a thing or two about that," his tone was droll. It was cute, but I could tell the feelings of being insulted had left and resignation sank in. Maybe I was dreaming, but I thought I'd detected a bit of anxiousness in his voice. I was wondering how I could help him when a brilliant idea formed in my head.

"What would you say to going to these classes together?" My voice quivered a little, making him aware of my nerves. "From what it looks like, we have to attend a conference that will include many others. If we had a friendly face, it wouldn't be so bad." I held my breath waiting for his response.

"Well, that was kind of my idea. I don't think I could do this alone. Would it be too much of an imposition if we went together?" He sounded so eager and hopeful, like a little kid about to go to Disneyland.

"I suggested it! We can make this fun. How about we heckle? Will they throw us out for heckling?" He laughed along with me at the thought of security escorting us out for yelling insults. "Well looks like our best bet is a two day seminar up in Rosemont for next weekend. There are seats still open and I can book you a room if you like." I was furiously clicking away, trying to secure rooms at a decent place last minute.

"Are you going to stay up there?" He sounded incredulous.

"Yeah, this thing starts at nine each morning. There's no way I'm waking up at five to get ready and drive up there each day. I'll stay over Friday and Saturday and drive back down on Sunday," I thought out loud, trying to sort out the arrangements in my head. "Damn, that place is booked. Lemmie see if this one…." I trailed off, typing in the necessary information. "So do you want a room or not?"

"When you put it that way, yes. Why do they start so early?" he mused. "Hey, do you want to just ride there together? It'll save on gas and stuff." The shyness returned to his voice, making me smile.

"Sure, sounds good…" I clicked around some more, to no avail. "Uh oh," I said, "there's only one room open at a decent hotel. It's either this or the Motel Six. Do you maybe want to room together?"

"I don't want to be an imposition," he said. "It may make you uncomfortable to be there with me." Highly unlikely.

"I won't mind. I know you'll be a gentleman." I grinned slyly, feeling emboldened. "Of course, if it makes you feel better, I promise to keep my hands to myself. You have permission to touch anytime you like." I smiled at his nervous chuckle. "Now, what do you say? Will you share with me?"

"Umm sure," he squeaked. "If that's okay with you." I could almost see him pulling at his collar.

"It's no big deal. I'll set it all up and email you the details." He rattled off the address and thanked me for making all the arrangements. I did it gladly because I had the feeling if left up to him, we'd stay at the most craptastic hovel in the vicinity.

After saying our goodbyes, I booked everything needed for our trip. I even arranged for each of us to get a massage in the room on Friday night. I sent him all the info and lost myself again in the world I was writing.

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Fingers tangled in my hair, holding my head in place. A thumb moved slowly over my cheek and lips, tantalizing me. I allowed a breathy moan to escape my parted lips at the sensations running through me—want, need, an ache so acute that it was painful...

No one had ever touched me with such sweetness before.

Reaching up, I locked my hands behind his head, wanting him closer. Complying with a soft chuckle, he leaned down, inhaling my scent and letting our breaths mingle. We inched closer and closer, our lips millimeters apart. His tongue reached out to lick my lips…

Waking with a start, chest heaving in the darkness as my breath escaped in ragged pants, I glanced toward the clock. I groaned as I saw it was two am. Lying awake, I chastised myself for doing exactly what I'd said I wouldn't: dreaming of Edward.

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APOV

The weekend turned out to be one of the best ever. Jasper called Saturday morning apologizing for leaving me "high and dry" as he put it. When I told him I took care of the problem myself, I couldn't' help but laugh at his sputtering "That's so hot!" He asked me out for lunch to take advantage of the nice days while they lasted.

Sweetly packing a picnic for us, he took me to the lake near Shedd Aquarium. He spread a blanket, and then coaxed me into lounging back between his legs. The sun turned his hair into a golden halo on his head. The warmth of the sun on my front and Jasper against my back made it easy for me to ignore the slight breeze coming off the lake. We talked and ate, then strolled among the tourists holding hands. He left me with some sweet kisses later that evening, telling me he had some work to catch up and couldn't see me Sunday. I was disappointed, but I knew we couldn't spend every day together. We made plans to have lunch on Monday and dinner on Wednesday. After another toe curling kiss, he slipped away with an apologetic smile.

Most of Sunday was spent catching up on chores and errands that had fallen to the wayside during my busy week. I always hated balancing my checkbook and paying my bills, but I was always grateful that my business was doing so well that it was no longer necessary to dip into my inheritance. I always felt guilty for using the money I knew should have belonged to my mom and dad. I was glad that I had taken what was left over and invested, making a sizeable nest egg.

A bright spot of my day was the surprise email I received from Bella, confirming seats as well as a single hotel room for her and Edward for the next weekend. I sent them both the information hoping they would both reserve seats at the same seminar, in turn allowing me to mention it to both of them. I'd planned in pushing for them to ride together as well as sit near each other, hoping that the extra time spent together would give them a nudge. I was over the moon that they'd apparently talked about it and decided to attend together.

A bonus was the fact that Bella didn't seem to want to get up super early to beat traffic and had invited him to share a room with her. I knew for a fact that it was Bella's suggestion—Edward would have simply given her his room and driven back and forth, being as shy as he was. Giving a little cheer for her, I shot off a reply that I was happy they'd worked quickly.

The rest of my night was uneventful. Bills paid, checkbook balanced and Bella and Edward situated, I made myself a light supper and uncorked a nice bottle of wine while catching up on The Vampire Diaries. Man was that Stefan hot!

My days were far less stressful now with Jess able to split the workload with me. After another smaller scaled shopping session with a repeat client, I met up with her and couple of new clients I had yet to meet. I was assured that she was keeping on top of the plans that were laid out and doing a wonderful job as well.

As I was leaving to meet Jas for lunch, I made sure she knew how proud and impressed I was with the work she displayed. The phone calls and emails praising her work made me glad that I made the decision to promote her. It also made me feel slightly guilty that I didn't do it earlier. I knew she understood that I needed to wait and get the business off the ground. She told me quite honestly that Jake has a big hand in it as well. I knew that without him and the seamless transition he made into my company, there would have been many more bumps in the road. I told her to call him up and that they needed to clear their schedules because tonight dinner and drinks were on me.

Jasper was sweet and patient when he listened to me prattle on about my work. After about twenty minutes he shut me up with a fierce kiss and the announcement that he needed to reschedule our dinner. I was upset to hear that a contract snag required him to go to China immediately. He swore it would only be for a week, and that he'd call me while he was gone.

The assurances did little to calm the panic setting in.

Feeling that he was slipping through my fingers just when I was getting a grasp on our relationship, I put on a brave face and assured him I'd be fine. When he asked me to ride with him to the airport, I wasted no time in bailing out of the rest of my plans for the day.. It was slightly reassuring to me that he'd deliberately caught a later flight so he could have lunch with me.

I rode home in complete silence, my thoughts wandering back to seeing Jasper off when traffic backed up.

Ignoring his protests, I paid to park in the short term lot, choosing to walk him to the check in desk. His hand gripped mine the whole way, as if he was as desperate for the contact as I was. When we finally went as far as I could go, he held me to him wrapping his arms around my body in a tight hug. I clung to him, desperate for any connection I could get. He leaned down and kissed me thoroughly—ignoring the snickers and scoffs we were getting from people passing us. Once we needed to catch our breaths, he tore his mouth from mine.

Holding my face in his hands, he locked his eyes with mine and promised fervently to call. Giving me one final kiss and an assurance that he'd miss me as much as I'd miss him, he went to security, stopping once to give me a devastating smile and blow me a kiss with a wink.

I snapped out of it when my phone rang and Jess told me that they'd decided on dinner at the Raw Bar.

I met up with Jake and Jess at the bar, but was poor company despite their attempts to cheer me up. They booed at the measly salad I picked at and Jake practically forced a glass of Merlot down my throat. I ended up leaving them early when plans shifted to check out some male strippers Jake knew.

Tuesday greeted me with weather to match my mood. It was like Jasper took the sun with him. The skies were dark and heavy with rain threatening to fall at any moment. I went through the motions at the office, not really getting anything done. When Jake reminded me of my lunch meeting with Esme, I nearly cancelled. I changed my mind thinking it could distract me and I owed it to her to keep her in the loop.

Meeting up at a small diner, we exchanged small talk until after ordering.

"Well Alice? What's new with my son and my author? Spill and leave nothing out!" Her eyes shone as she leaned forward, not wanting to miss anything.

Starting with the story of our shopping trip and how Bella and Rose became instant friends, I told her about Bella first. She seemed so pleased with that information. I could imagine she would be. It did seem that Bella was a bit lacking in the friend department. From what I saw, she was too scared to put herself out there. I was happy to report to Esme that not only did she get along with Rose, but both Emmett and Jasper had met and approved of her.

When she questioned how they approved, I was very happy to say that not only did they now count her among their friends; we were all convinced that she and Edward were made for each other. The arrival of lunch interrupted the discussion momentarily, but eventually I finished telling the story of the salon meeting, dinner with the girls and our outing on Friday night. Esme remained a captive audience, almost clapping her hands in victory when she heard of each conversation they had engaged in, and seemed shell shocked that her son had asked for Bella's number.

"It's just not like him to not bumble his way through these things," she told me in an awed voice. I wished I could claim that I'd helped him, but he was always tight-lipped about those things. When I told her my belief that Bella was the reason for his boldness, along with the kiss and the upcoming seminar and hotel sharing, I thought she was going to fall out of the booth.

"I'm so very happy things seem to be working out for them. You're doing such a wonderful job with them." Her eyes shone with tears as she continued on, "I've talked to both of them this week and I can hear the difference in their voices. I want so much to see them together. Oh, yes of course it's perfect! Why didn't I think of it earlier!" I was confused by the sudden topic change.

"There's a silent auction in about two weeks. The publishing house has donated her library, including the new book. I can arrange for her to have to be there and personalize the set. Can you convince Edward to go as practice?" It was impossible to resist her eyes when they begged me the way she did.

"Of course I can, Esme. You leave it up to me!" I was able to pay for lunch this time, taking advantage of the distraction she had on the phone setting the evening up. The foundation was thrilled to have Bella there, certain they'd fetch an even higher price than before. As we were leaving the diner, her hand on my arm stopped me.

"Edward told me you and Jasper started seeing each other." I froze. This is it. The moment of truth. "I look at Jasper like another son, and I can honestly say there's no one I can see him with more than you. I'm so happy you found each other."

"Thank you so much Esme. Your approval means so much to me." I hugged her tightly, reveling in her softness. The touch made me long for my mom. I missed the talks we used to share and all the advice she gave. As she pulled away, the peck she gave me on the cheek almost made me lose it.

"Anytime you want to talk Alice, you can always call me." She left after another brief hug, leaving me standing on the sidewalk crying. The ringing of my cell pulled me out of my depression.

"Hey Miss Ali, I miss you so." I was overjoyed to hear his voice on the line.

"Oh Jasper, you have no idea…."

I know that it was short. I needed to cut it off here though. Next chapter should be longer and more centered around Edward and Bella at the seminar. What will those crazy kids do? Please let me know what you think. It's like crack... and I need a hit!! I love you all for reading, and I'm glad you're along for the ride. What am I reading? Why run over and check out On the Inside of Love by nicnicd and MusicJunkie. They've been on a bit of a break, but I expect them to get back in gear in a week or two. Go get caught up and love it as much I do! *muah*