Volturi Bed & Breakfast

by lovepotionsbrewer

Bella Swan makes the only logical decision when her father dies a year before she graduates from college. She buys a Vermont Bed and Breakfast with the unexpected inheritance. Edward is a native Vermonter who thinks he knows everything about the kind of person who moves into his State. Eventual lemons - minimal angst. Lots of Vermont-made, syrupy sweetness.

10. Chapter 10 - If I Wanted to Hear a Wolf

Chapter 10: If I Wanted to Hear a Wolf Howl, I'd Watch the Nature Channel

A/N- This chapter has a musical twist, so check out my profile for some links to "play along." Thanks again to the wonderful Sunflower Fran for her amazing beta work.

EPOV

Bella's eyes were heavy with lust as we broke apart. She leaned forward as if she wasn't ready for the kiss to end, and it took a great deal of resistance on my part to not crush my mouth into hers again. I could feel her heart hammering in her chest since it was still pressed tightly against mine. My heart was racing, too. And it wasn't all about the kiss. I had never been so direct with a woman about my feelings.

What if I scared her away?

I didn't even intend to tell her how much I wanted her. But, the way that she had opened up to me broke what little resistance I had. I still couldn't believe just how naive she was to have believed some college jerk when he told her it was her fault he couldn't make her feel good.

Did it put a little extra pressure on me? Sure, since I was now determined that I would be the first man to bring Bella to ecstasy. I had made my feelings clear, and she had admitted to wanting me. Part of me wanted to just throw her over my shoulder and take her on the nearest bed. But when we did make love, it would be almost as important as when Bella gave up her virginity. I had no interest in rushing through that experience for either of us, and Alice and Jasper were waiting for us down at the River Tavern.

The silence in the room was becoming awkward for the first time. Bella looked like she might be trying to speak, but her lips were too numb to form words. Part of me wanted to ask her directly if she'd use the word "good" to describe what just happened between us, but I didn't want to press my luck. We needed something to break the mounting tension, but I had no idea what to say.

Instead, I silently led us outside, one arm tightly wrapped around Bella's waist. I walked her to the passenger side of my truck, opened her door and waited as she slid in and closed it, then walked to the driver's side. Bella seemed to wake up out of her trance, because she broke into a grin as she watched me through the windshield and leaned over to pop my door for me.

We were halfway to the tavern before I remembered an important point I should make.

"Just to be clear," I said, turning my head. "Tonight we're hanging out. When I take you out for our first real date, it's going to be something a little better than going out for burgers and listening to some crappy, local band."

Bella shook her head at me. "It doesn't matter where we go... and how do you know the band's going to be crappy?"

I was pretty sure I wouldn't like the band, but there was no point in starting an argument about that. "Let's pace ourselves. Tonight we had our first kiss. Sunday afternoon we'll have our first date. You've still got reservations for Friday and Saturday night, right?"

Bella nodded. I wanted her full attention when we went out. Tentative plans were already forming in my head, but it was good that I'd have a few days to really plan. I had waited months to tell Bella how I felt. It was going to take a while to really show her, but I hoped both of us would enjoy every minute of it.

We pulled into the tavern and Bella opened her door and exited the truck before I had a chance to walk around and open it for her. I suppressed a frown at that. Eventually I would get her used to being treated like a lady. For now, I had to be content with her allowing me to open the door to the River and letting her walk inside ahead of me.

I didn't know Jacob Black by sight, but there was no question who he was when we entered the bar area. The boy was watching the door, and the second he caught sight of Bella, his face lit up like it was pulling all the juice from Vermont Yankee. Bella didn't notice him because she had seen Alice first. Jake's eyes followed her like a wild animal stalking its prey as she walked over to Jasper and Alice's little table near the far wall.

"Hey, what took you so long?" Alice whined as she stood up and pulled Bella into a hug. "I thought you were headed right over. You missed some songs I know you would have liked."

"Oh, sorry," said Bella, "You know how hard it is for me to leave the Volturi. Is the band any good?"

"They're okay," Jasper said. He had risen with Alice like the gentlemen he was, but was looking significantly at me. He put his hand on my shoulder and pushed me down into a chair, silently conveying the need for me to play it cool and settle down.

Seriously, how did he do that? It's not like anyone else could tell I wanted to pull that kid off of the stage and smack him, could they?

Bella settled into a seat that was pointed more directly toward the stage. Though I didn't like the fact that she'd be looking at Jacob, at least I didn't have to worry about her turning her back to me in order to do so.

She applauded as the song they had been playing ended, and I realized perhaps a half second too late that I should, too. Even though I didn't think they were particularly good. I didn't want to appear jealous.

I half-turned in my seat and saw Jacob Black leaning into the microphone. "Thanks for sticking around or showing up," he said with a smirk. "We've got some oldies but goodies coming up for you." He turned away from the microphone and gestured to the band, apparently making a switch to their upcoming song.

I turned my head and tried my best to look neither irritated nor impressed as a familiar tune struck up and Jake began to sing:

"Hey where did we go, days when the rains came

Down in the hollow, playin' a new game,

Laughing and a running hey, hey; skipping and a jumping

In the misty morning fog with our hearts a thumpin' and you

My brown eyed girl,You my brown eyed girl."

My teeth clenched.

Oh no she's not, buddy. Nor will she ever be. Knowing it was a risk; I shifted the angle of my chair and moved it a little closer to Bella's, as if I was trying to get a better view of the band. I stretched my arm out to rest on the back of Bella's chair next to me.

She smiled and leaned close so I could hear her. "Did you want to order our burgers right away or give it a while?" she asked.

I thought I heard Jake's guitar hit a bad chord, and smirked. For all he knew we could be whispering sweet nothings to each other.

"I'll go up to the bar and put our orders in." I offered. "Do you want whatever beer they have on tap, or did you have your heart set on something in particular?"

"Actually, I can't really have a beer." Bella confessed with a blush. "I won't be twenty-one until September. But I'll take a cherry coke."

I shook my head at the absurdity of the fact that the woman of my dreams had purchased a hotel but couldn't buy a beer. "I'll be right back," I told her. "You guys all set," I gestured to Jasper and Alice, as I got up. They both waved to me and I turned to go to the bar, open a tab and place our order.

By the time I made it back to the table, the Wolf Pack had moved on from murdering Van Morrison, to an old blues song that was a bit sexually suggestive. Luckily, Bella had turned to watch for my return, or I would have been even more irritated at the way the stupid boy was gyrating with his guitar. I sat back down and she only turned from me after I put my arm back around the top of her chair.

"So, what have you two been up to today," Bella asked Alice and Jasper. I was relieved that she wasn't so interested in the band that she didn't want to talk over them.

"Nothing much," said Alice. "I did some sketches for ideas on the next set of rooms, and then Jas and I swung by a few of the used, furniture places nearby to see if they'd gotten anything new in recently. But, we didn't want to be gone too long and there wasn't much where we stopped."

"That's too bad," Bella replied. "Do you think we're going to have to resort to catalogs to get the rest of the rooms done before foliage season really starts?"

Before Alice could answer, I cut in. "Hey, ladies," I said leaning across the table to get both of their attention. "How about we put the Volturi talk on hold for one night? We're all supposed to be having some fun."

"Yeah, no shop talk," Jasper backed me up. "It doesn't count as hanging out and getting to know each other outside of work if we just talk about work."

Bella looked chagrined. Keeping my left arm around her chair, I reached over with my right and squeezed her knee under the table to let her know I wasn't upset. She smiled. I noticed she had been tapping her foot, so perhaps the band had more of her attention than I thought

"You like this song?" I asked her, taking advantage of the noise by leaning right into her ear. She leaned back so our sides grazed each other.

"I guess so," she said, tickling my ear with her breath. "Charlie used to have some John Lee Hooker on vinyl. Blues kind of reminds me of my childhood."

"That sounds sad," I said, my eyes not leaving hers.

She laughed at my seriousness. "Actually, it's kind of funny how happy most blues songs are."

As she made this statement, the band shifted into another song. Jake howled into the microphone:

"I don't want you to be no slave

I don't want you to work all day

I don't want you sad and blue

I just want to make love to you..."

My teeth were on edge, but Bella was still staring at me, not the stage. The familiar blush crept across her cheeks, but she returned my gaze and I saw her lips move but wasn't sure I understood her over the distracting music.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Nothing," she demurred.

"Oh come on," I protested.

"It was silly," Bella said, her eyes now on the table in front of us. "But, I said that this song is certainly more happy than sad."

I chuckled at her obvious embarrassment over the admission. Bella was probably the most innocent woman I had ever met. It made me feel uncharacteristically protective, and perhaps even a little possessive. Jake was growling his way through the rest of the song and staring at Bella and me. I nodded at him, jerking my chin a little too pointedly. It could have appeared I was just getting into the song, but his narrowed eyes told me that he got the challenge I was throwing at him.

The tension was broken slightly by the arrival of our dinner. I decided to eat with one hand, leaving my arm draped over Bella's chair. Luckily I was practiced at eating left-handed from all the meals I had to take on the road.

"So, did you two girls hit many clubs in your wild, college days?" I asked, looking quickly at Alice and then back to get lost in Bella's eyes. "They don't let you out of school unless you've had at least one regrettable night, right?" I shot Bella my best, crooked grin. "Let's hear it."

"Alice has much better stories than I do," Bella protested. "I spent most of the time I wasn't in class either at home with my Dad or driving around New England looking at B&B's."

I didn't miss the way her voice cracked when she mentioned her father, nor did Alice. Her smile was unusually tender and her tone sweet as she explained "I gave it my best shot to corrupt young Bella, but aside from me, she just had too good of influences. I did get her to stay in my dorm room a few nights when there were parties she needed to go to, but she always made us leave early."

"I've always been more of a morning person than a night owl," Bella shrugged as she finished chewing a bite of her own burger. "I commuted over an hour to get to class, so by the weekend, pretty much all I wanted to do was hang out in my sweats to study, and work on my plans for what would be the Volturi."

"Oh, I assumed you were roommates for some reason. How did you two know each other, then?" Jasper asked.

"We both had the same crappy, work-study assignment freshman year - washing dishes in the cafeteria," Alice explained. "I was stupid and waited too long to go to the campus employment office, and Bella was just crazy - she actually wanted the job."

"I figured it would be a good way to see how a professional kitchen worked," Bella explained.

"Well, let's hope we manage to put out something a little better than mac and cheese and chicken fingers for our guests," Jasper said.

"Hey, bro," I said, pointed a warning finger at him. "What did we just say about no work talk?"

"My bad," Jasper answered. "It just slipped out. So, how long did it take you to uncover all the secrets of campus cuisine?"

Bella laughed. It was a beautiful sound, even if it was hard to hear over the wailing guitar coming from the Wolf Pack.

"Well, I worked there a full year, but Alice put in her notice the first night. I think she may have even threatened to make a workman's comp claim for her ruined manicure."

Alice stuck out her tongue at Bella. "Good nails don't come cheap, and I figured I could weasel my way into an envelope stuffing job. But, Bella would always tell me what food I should definitely avoid, and I repaid her by making sure she had at least a little fun once in a while."

Alice went on to describe the various parties that they had gone to together. From her words and Bella's expression, I guessed that they had been more fun for Alice than Bella. She turned slightly pink as she chewed her burger, and I could feel every time she shifted in her chair, but I resisted the gentlemanly urge to move my chair away to give her more room. Aside from the fact that I was sure Jake would be watching for that kind of victory, it felt like a physical impossibility to pull myself away from Bella. The pull I felt toward her went beyond attraction; it was like an elemental force.

As the band moved into the familiar chords of BB King's signature song (even I knew that one) Bella turned to Alice with a wry grin and said, "This was a familiar one junior year."

"Yeah, yeah," Alice said, looking a little embarrassed.

"What's the joke," Jasper prompted.

"I liked to play this for Alice every time she decided that she wanted to break up with someone." Bella grinned and asked her friend, "I was afraid I might wear out the CD. What was the grand total?"

"I plead the fifth," Alice replied, trying to look innocent and failing spectacularly.

Everyone laughed, including Jasper. I doubted I'd have been so carefree if it was Bella who made such a statement. Perhaps I underestimated my little brother's maturity. I wondered how much he and Alice had already discussed about their pasts. My brother had an advantage with the amount of time he spent in the same building where the object of his affection lived. Unlike me, who was eager for any crumb of information I could gather, he was just sitting back and soaking up the mood and atmosphere. The blissed out smile he wore had nothing to do with the beer in his hand that he had yet to take a third sip from.

As Jake finished another verse and broke into a guitar solo, Bella spoke again, "You never really wished them well, either."

"I did, too!" Alice protested. "I always wished that they'd disappoint the next person less than they had disappointed me. That's wishing them well in my book. Being a good, breaker-upper was a point of pride with me."

"No," Bella said. "It was a practical necessity for you. If you had been a bad, breaker-upper you would have never been able to leave your room for the number of people who might have tried to stalk you or seek revenge."

"Ha, ha," said Alice. "Don't make it sound worse than it actually was Bella. Sure, I left a trail of a few exes and regrettable flings behind me. Like Edward said, that's all part of the experience. Years from now you'll tell me you wished you had listened to me when I told you a guy wanted to take you back to his room."

Unfortunately I was taking a sip at that moment and had a little trouble swallowing. I reminded myself that Alice's point was that Bella had avoided hooking up in college, but my mind was flooded with unpleasant images of beer soaked, frat boys breathing on my beautiful girl.

Underneath the table, I felt Bella's fingers brush my knee. Before I could move my own hand to take hers, she pulled away and brushed her hair behind her ear in a nervous gesture.

"I listened to you," Bella insisted. "I just didn't believe you." She turned her head to me, explaining, "According to Alice, half the campus was interested in me." She rolled her eyes as if this was a ridiculous thought.

"Just half?" I asked, leaning in a little closer. Bella's eyes widened in surprise, and out of the corner of my eye I could see Alice looking triumphantly across the table at both of us. I was sure Alice was right, and not surprised at all that Bella had been blind to the attentions. She had clearly been ignorant of how much I was attracted to her, and I had figured it was painfully obvious. It also made perfect sense to me that Bella hadn't been entranced by any of the lackluster college crowd. I guessed she had always been an old soul and too mature to fall for the typical, school crushes.

All these thoughts whirled as I watched Bella's lips move as she shared jokes and stories with her friend. Every once in a while Bella cut in with a slight barb at Alice's past, and Alice cut back with one about Bella's lack of experience. Though their teasing words could have sounded unfriendly to others, I could tell how the two women cared deeply for each other and balanced each other out.

I'd stuck with my first beer, but I felt slightly drunk on the sights, sounds, and even the scent of the amazing woman next to me. Her blush set my body on fire; her smile made me happier than I could remember feeling, and the touch of her skin where our arms met sent an electric current pulsing from my heart to my brain.

Before I knew it, several minutes had passed. Alice had thankfully taken it upon herself to break the tension by launching into a rundown of all the live music she and Bella had seen while in college. Bella's nose scrunched up in adorable disgust at the mention of some of the more pop and dance type acts that had clearly been Alice's choices. I realized it had been a while since Jasper or I contributed to the conversation. The girls didn't seem to mind though.

Despite the ease of the conversation, I was becoming more and more aware of the heat of Bella's body so close to me and every tiny movement she made. Listening to Bella and Alice's banter wasn't particularly helping with my secondary agenda of trying to determine what Bella might enjoy doing on a date. All the stories were about parties and nights out that Bella didn't enjoy. I was obviously going to have to get creative with my planning, and wondered if I could enlist Alice for a little undercover research.

My attention was brought back by another shift in the conversation.

"Remember the time Charlie took us both out to lunch at that jazz place near campus," Bella asked Alice.

"Yeah," Alice replied. "That was really sweet of him. Though I think I disappointed him since I didn't know anything about jazz composers."

Bella smiled and turned to Jasper and me to explain. "Charlie always made a point of knowing who the songwriter was. I eventually picked up quite a bit of it, but it was embarrassing having him quiz my friends."

"No," Alice protested. "Charlie was the best. I didn't mind at all when he talked about music. It was better than fishing."

"You know, I've been thinking ..." Bella trailed off, shooting a guilty look in my and Jasper's direction. "This is kind of work talk, but it's kind of personal, too."

"We'll allow it for the time being," Jasper joked.

"Well, I'm not really crazy about the name Volturi," Bella said. "With all the changes we're making, I thought it might be nice to make a fresh start. What do all of you think about rebranding before our opening?"

"I think a fresh start's a great idea. What were you thinking of calling the place?" Alice asked.

Bella looked down at the table as if she was afraid to voice her idea aloud.

"Come on," I said nudging her knee with my own. "We won't judge. And honestly, I doubt there's a worse name in the world than Volturi."

"Well," Bella said, taking a deep breath for courage. Her arm grazed mine as she shifted a little nervously. "Originally I was thinking of something like Charlie's, but that feels a little too casual. Do you think it would be too self-promoting and narcissistic to call it Swan's Inn?"

"There's nothing narcissistic about that at all," Jasper said, sincerely. "I think it's a great way to honor your Dad's memory."

Alice and I both nodded in agreement.

"Swan's Inn is a perfect name," Alice chimed in, backing up Jasper. "After all, we're transforming the place from the ugly duckling it was. I've actually been thinking of asking if you'd be okay with putting a picture of Charlie up in the front hall."

Bella's eyes were glistening with tears. I instinctually tightened my arm around her in a sideways hug. Alice reached across the table to squeeze her hands.

Tonight she looked even more beautiful than I had ever seen her. Her cheeks were flushed from the warmth of the room and the depth of her emotion. Her shoulders, which were so often hunched from stress, were now relaxed; and I allowed my gaze to wander from her creamy, white throat, down the v of her blouse as I watched her chest rise and fall with her laughter at another joke from Alice that I hadn't heard.

Just then her head bowed and her hair formed a curtain between us. I couldn't stand having my view of her face blocked. With a single finger, I pushed her hair away, tucking it back behind her ear. I wanted to give Bella another demonstration of a better than alright kiss, but guessed that she wouldn't appreciate the public display. Plus, this wasn't supposed to be a date. I held myself in check with the reminder that Bella deserved more than a make-out session at the local pub. This made my mind wander back to the question of what our first date should be.

Bella's eyes moved slyly to my face and we were locked again in each other's gaze. She unconsciously moistened her lips, and I was mesmerized by the movement of her tongue. The memory of our kiss replayed in my mind and I ached to crush my mouth into hers.

Before I could act on the impulse, another song came to an end and the crowd spattered their applause. Bella looked embarrassed as she broke away from my gaze.

"Hey, thanks," Jake said into his microphone. "This is our last song for the night, so get home safe everyone." The band began to play another, familiar song. Bella mouthed along with the lyrics and I was entranced by her lips once again.

Mostly to distract myself before I could do something she may not want me to, I leaned into her ear again. "So, who does this one originally? I think I know it from a commercial."

Bella nodded. "Yeah, I think a car company used Muddy Waters' version a while ago. But Willie Dixon wrote it. I think Jake must really like Willie Dixon - this is the third song of his they've played tonight."

"Oh," was my brilliant reply. I didn't know much about blues music, so although the name sounded familiar, I didn't really have anything to say about the artist she mentioned. I was a little surprised that Bella had been paying enough attention to the music to have counted how many of his songs they have played. I suddenly felt anxious that I had missed something. Bella's thoughts weren't as obvious to me as I would like them to be. Whenever we were together I knew that I never really had her full attention. She was always thinking about more than what was happening in that moment - worrying about her business, or being lost in the memories of her dad. Could it be she may also be thinking about Jake? Women did love musicians, didn't they?

The band came to the end of their song and we all clapped a little louder and longer as the lights came up, signaling the end of the night.

I suddenly remembered that both Alice and Bella would need a ride back to what was soon to be Swan's Inn. I had been hoping to have a few more minutes alone with Bella, and perhaps even another kiss tonight. That seemed less likely with her friend in the car.

Jasper had obviously been thinking along the same lines. "Why don't I take the girls home, since it's more on my way?"

"Oh, yeah," Bella said. "I don't have a car. If you're sure you don't mind, Jasper."

"Of course not."

"Well," I said. "I guess this is goodnight, great seeing you Alice." It was then I noticed Jacob Black making his way over to us. "I'll call you soon to make our plans, Bella." I said a little louder than was probably necessarily. Everyone talks a little louder than normal after sitting through live music, don't they?

"Hey Bells," Jacob said. "I'm glad you made it. Did you like the set?"

"Yeah," Bella replied. "You guys were great."

I realized there was no reason for me to go on standing there, so I waved goodbye and started making my way to the door. I imagined I could feel Bella's eyes on my back as I walked away, but when I glanced back over my shoulder, she was talking with Jake and hadn't really acknowledged my leaving. Alice and Jasper were pushing in their chairs and getting ready to leave.

It was clear I had competition, which meant the date I was planning had to be legendary. It had to be a night that was worthy of a woman like Bella - fun and different and undoubtedly romantic.

This would require careful planning, but luckily no one can plan like an engineer.

Can't you just picture Edward at his drafting table, sketching out the perfect date? I'm sure he'll be running his hands through his hair a lot as he figures out this challenge.

Remember to check out the songs Jake played by visiting my profile. See you next week!