Chapter 12
Confessions
BPOV
I woke up to a cold and empty bed. I rolled over and noticed that Edward's side of the bed was untouched and looked like it hadn't been slept in. I tried to remember what happened last night and all I could remember was another amazing kiss in the car on the way back to the hotel and then nothing. I must have fallen asleep and Edward carried me back to the room.
My cheeks burned at the image of another walk of shame through the lobby. The employees are going to think that I can't walk. I sighed quietly and looked over at the clock. It was already eleven thirty. I groaned and rolled out of bed, Edward's parents would be here in a few hours and I really didn't want to meet them just rolling out of their sons bed.
I busied myself with getting ready to meet the parents and then picked up my book and cuddled up on the couch waiting for Edward to come back.
"Honey, I'm home!" Edward's sweet voice floated through the doorway. I laughed at his quip.
"I'm in the living room, dear." I called back. I turned to see him walking through the doorway. He threw his room key and phone on a small table by the door before walking over and plunking down next to me. He kicked off his shoes and propped his feat on the coffee table.
"My parents just arrived and they're getting settled in their room. They'll come up here around six so we can go to dinner together." He laid his head back on the headrest and closed his eyes. He looked tired. Faint purple lines showed under his eyes and I wondered if he got any sleep last night.
My nerves kicked in when I realized I would be meeting Dr. & Mrs. Perfect in a few hours. What am I going to say to them? How am I going to get through this night without telling everyone how we met?
"What did you tell your parents about me?" I had to understand what I was getting myself into. He slowly opened his eyes and lifted his head to look at me.
"I told them that you're a friend, and that you would be joining us for dinner."
"That's it? You didn't tell them how we met or who I am?" He looked perplexed at my question.
"Sure Bella, I'm going to tell my parents that I picked up a girl who I thought was a hooker and she's been staying with me for the last week." His sarcastic answer didn't cut like it would have a few days ago, instead I laughed at what he implied.
"So you don't want your parents to know that their Golden Boy has a fondness for ladies of the night?" I smirked as he smiled and shook his head.
"I think it would be better if my mother never knew that little detail." How quickly he turned this into his shame and not my own. Always the gentleman.
"Honestly, Edward, we weren't very prepared when Emmett started asking questions so I think it would be best to get our stories straight."
"I don't like lying to my family, Bella. It was hard enough telling Emmett and if you didn't notice he didn't believe my answer anyway." I automatically felt bad. I didn't want him to have to lie about me to the people that he trusts the most in life.
"Okay, let's not lie then. Tell them the truth."
"Then I'd have to explain the reason why I brought a prostitute to my hotel room. I could tell Emmett, even Carlisle, but I don't want to go there with Esme." I sighed knowing that this was a sticky situation for him.
"Then what do you want to do?"
"Let's just stick with the friend of a friend introducing us."
"Alice knows part of it. I didn't tell her everything, but she knows that I didn't have anywhere to go and that you rescued me."
"Alice won't say anything, at least she won't contradict anything I say to my parents, but she'll want to know why I'm lying later." He ran his hand over his face to clear his thoughts. I hated seeing him distraught, but I didn't know how to fix this without telling everyone my distasteful past.
"Thank you, Edward." Tears stared to form in my eyes. I felt like I was making his life harder. The words that Mike hurled at me that fateful day came rushing back to me. I wasn't any better than a common whore. At least with a whore there wasn't all of the baggage that I carried with me to deal with.
"What is it, Bella?" Edward asked as he tipped my face up to meet his intense stare. "Why are you crying?" I wiped at my eyes frustrated that I could still feel the pain of Mike's words ringing in my mind.
"I just don't want to disappoint anyone. I know that I'm out of my league here and that—" His jaw tightened and he growled at me.
"First off, I don't ever want to hear that come out of your mouth again. Second, you could never disappoint me or my family. They are all really excited to meet you. I think Alice has been talking about you to my mother." He reached over and pulled me up against his side, his arms wrapped protectively around me.
"You have nothing to be ashamed about Bella. Whatever you have gone through has shaped you into the amazing woman you have become." He kissed the top of my head and squeezed lightly.
We sat there for quite awhile in comfortable silence. I heard his even breathing and knew that he had fallen asleep. I started to pull away to let him sleep when he woke up enough to pull me with him so he was laying down, I was laying half on him and half wedged between his warm body and the back of the couch. My head was resting under his chin when a quiet snore came from his parted lips. I didn't want to be anywhere else.
EPOV
I was woken up from my long needed nap with Bella's soft whispers.
"Edward?" I opened one eye and looked down at the angel in my arms. Her eyes were closed, she looked like she was asleep, but I wasn't sure.
"Hmmm?" I asked, she didn't continue so I assumed she was talking in her sleep again.
I loved listening to her babble in her sleep. You could learn a lot about a person when they talked as clearly as Bella did at night. Some things she said didn't make sense, like when she told Emmett to leave the cupcakes for the dog. I smiled at the thought. But other times the pain she had been in over the last couple of years would come out. I usually just had to touch her or rub her back and she would calm down.
What exactly did this guy Mike do to her? Did he physically hurt her? My blood began to boil at the thought. If he laid one hand on her I would rip it off and shove it down his throat. I know that the emotional hold he had on her was powerful, so much so that she began to believe the filthy lies that he told her. What else did he do to her?
"Love you."
What? Who was she talking about? Surely not me, we've only know each other for a little over a week. Maybe she was thinking about Jake I reasoned. I could see in the restaurant that he loved Bella very much. They had a special bond, almost like brother and sister, but forged through their deep friendship. How could anyone deny her the happiness of having him in her life? Even though I have only known her for a short time, I saw the difference that having him back has caused. Her beautiful brown eyes have more of a spark to them now. Yes, she is probably dreaming about Jake.
My mind drifted back to last night and the kiss that she had given me. I was surprised at her forwardness, but also secretly thrilled that she had been the one to make that first step. Maybe she is warming up to the idea of turning this into something more for the remainder of my stay. I wasn't lying when I told her that I wanted her in any capacity she was willing to give herself to me.
What exactly did I mean by any capacity? I mulled over that question for awhile before coming up with an answer. I definitely wanted her physically, she was beautiful and just the thought of her naked in my arms sent a small thrill through me. On the other hand, I wanted to protect her fiercely, even if it was from my own lust. I didn't want scum like Mike to hurt her or bring her down again. I wanted to make sure that she was taken care of, that she never wanted for anything in life. In the back of my mind I began to form a plan, one that would take care of her and never make her dependant on anyone not looking out for her best interests.
She stirred and slowly rested her chin on my chest. "Hi." She said softly when her eyes met mine.
"Hello, beautiful." She rolled her eyes and tried to sit up, falling further down into the crack of the sofa. I rolled over onto my side facing her to give her some more room but not wanting her to leave just yet.
"Did you get enough sleep?" she asked, reaching up and tracing the dark circles under my eyes. She must have noticed that I didn't go to bed last night. I spent the evening on the couch, trying to keep myself from pouncing on her and ruining what little progress we had made. The problem was I didn't sleep well without her warm body wrapped around mine, hence, the haggard appearance.
"Yeah." I looked at my watch and saw that the time for diner was fast approaching. "We should get going, my parents and siblings will be here pretty soon." She grabbed a hold of my arm and pulled it up so she could see the time. A small gasp came from her mouth and in an instant she had shoved me right off the couch and onto my back. She leaned over the side of the couch with an amused, but horrified look.
"Oh my, Edward. Are you okay?" She said a small giggle erupting from her mouth. I reached up and grabbed her, pulling her off the couch and on top of me and assaulted her ribs. She was the most ticklish person I had ever met. Her squeals of laughter were echoing off of the walls as I relentlessly attacked not giving in to her pleas for mercy. "Uncle! Uncle! E-Edward. S-Stop. I'm going to pee!" she shrieked. I heard someone clear their throat towards the door.
"Are we interrupting something?" I heard the musical voice of my mother and I immediately stopped my assault. Bella groaned and buried her face in my chest. I laughed at the situation we were caught in, craning my neck I saw that my whole family was standing in the doorway.
"Please tell me that they are not here already," Bella whimpered into my neck.
"They're not here yet," I said in my most convincing voice, a grin plastered to my face.
"Smart mouth," she said as she punched me in the stomach lightly before pulling herself up and off of me. I jumped up and took her hand pulling her over to meet my parents.
Alice and my mother had identical grins on their faces. I looked down at Bella and caught her fidgeting with her shirt. She had turned a lovely shade of red.
"Mom, Dad, this is Bella. Bella, Esme and Carlisle." I introduced as Bella held out her hand to my father. He took it into his hand and shook gently.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, my dear." She then turned to do the same with my mother when Esme pulled her into a quick hug, just like Alice did when she met Bella. I sure hope Bella is okay with my overly affectionate family. My mom winked at me over Bella's shoulder before she released her.
"I'm so glad to meet you. Alice can't stop talking about you." Bella smiled at Alice and then looked back at Esme.
"I hope it was all good," Bella replied.
"Of course," Alice chimed in as she danced over to Bella and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Bella, turned to me and gave me a glare before looking back at my family.
"If you'll excuse me for a moment, I need to get ready."
"A bit distracted there, Bella?" Emmett's loud voice boomed through the room. Bella winced but just nodded her head and then made her escape. I looked daggers at my brother and watched satisfied, as Rose smacked him in the head.
"What? What'd I do?" he whined.
"Embarrassed Bella, yet again," Rose scolded.
"She's lovely, Edward." I turned back to my mother as she spoke nodding my head in agreement.
"I better go check on her," I whispered as I walked back to the bedroom. I didn't knock but just quietly walked in. It took me a second to locate her in the massive room, but when I did my breath went out of me. She quickly spun around to face me and I couldn't bring myself to look away. We both stood there in stunned silence, our eyes locked on one another.
She was clad in only a black lacy bra and pair of lacy boy shorts. She didn't move to cover herself up, but instead stared right back at me. I broke the eye contact and turned around.
"I'm sorry," I whispered. She didn't say anything, but I heard her open the closet door. A minute later she spoke.
"You can turn around now Edward." I slowly turned. She had slipped on a pretty spaghetti strapped blue dress that hit right at her knee and complemented her skin perfectly. It was nice, but not overly formal. She was holding the front up as she walked towards me and turned around.
"Can you zip me up?" Her back was completely exposed to me. The black bra that she was wearing a minute ago was gone. My fingers were trembling as I reached out and grabbed the zipper, zipping it up slowly. When I reached the end I placed my hands on her waist and bent down, placing a small kiss on her shoulder. She leaned back into me and I just held her like that for a moment, not wanting to let her go. Why are we playing this stupid game of cat and mouse? She wants me as badly as I want her.
She pulled away without a word and went in to the bathroom. I grabbed another shirt from the closet and changed, the images of Bella standing there moments ago playing back in my head. She came back out of the bathroom with her hair pulled back in a neat twist at the base of her neck, tendrils of hair framing her face. I had to agree with my mother. She is lovely.
She sat on the bed and pulled her shoes on while I continued to admire her from the other side of the room. When her shoes were on she looked at me and smiled.
"I'm ready," she said as she walked past me brushing her body up against mine when she squeezed through the doorway I was standing in. I sighed and followed her out. This is going to be a long night.
BPOV
The hotel had provided a limo for us so we could all ride together to dinner. Edward, Emmett and Jasper were filling Esme and Carlisle in on the party tomorrow evening. Esme kept glancing at me when she thought I wasn't paying attention, but I caught every curious look.
Carlisle and Esme didn't look like they could have children in their late twenties and early thirties. Esme barely looked forty, if that, and Carlisle looked more like a distinguished actor than a doctor. They both had warm and inviting personalities that immediately made you feel comfortable in their presence. I was still mortified that they had walked in on Edward and my shameless flirting episode. However, I couldn't say that I didn't enjoy his hands on me, no matter what the consequences may have been.
When he walked in on me changing I didn't have that instant urge to cover up. I wanted to run to him, throw my arms around him and forget that we had company in the next room, but the sensible side of me won out and I held my ground. His eyes raking over my body sent chills down my spine. I felt like I was going to combust on the spot. If he hadn't turned away when he did, I had no doubt where things would have ended up.
"Bella? Did you hear me?" Edward nudged me lightly with his elbow.
"I'm sorry, I spaced out there for a minute. What did you say?"
"My mother asked how long you've been in New York."
"Oh," I turned to Esme. "I'm sorry, I'm not normally this rude." She shook her head and waived her hand dismissing the notion and then asked me to continue.
"School brought me here in August of 2001."
"Where did you attend university?"
"Columbia." She looked impressed and nodded her approval.
"I have a Masters in Business Analysis." I answered the next question that always came before it was asked. Carlisle looked a bit surprised.
"A Masters in Business, very impressive." He turned to Edward. "I hope you snatched her up to work for you."
Edward chuckled. "That's not a bad idea, Dad." He looked over at me and winked.
"So Bella, would you like for me to be your boss?" he asked teasingly.
I gave a small snort at the idea. "I wouldn't mind working for you, it's Emmett I don't think I could handle working with." I teased back.
"Hey? That's not very nice, pip squeak." Emmett defended, while Rosalie laughed at the jab to her husband.
We arrived at the restaurant and each gentleman helped his date out of the car. Edward pulled me out of the car with a little bit more force than I was anticipating and I went crashing into his chest. He caught me before I could hurt myself and pressed his mouth to my ear.
"You know, it isn't a bad idea, having you working for us."
I shook my head. "I don't think it's a good idea." I said quietly.
"We'll talk more about it later." I nodded my agreement and he wrapped my arm around his and led me into the lobby of the restaurant.
We were seated immediately, conversation flowed freely and I couldn't help but admire Esme and Carlisle. They had raised three amazing children and it was obvious that they did it through strong family values that they set. All of them were raised to understand the value of working hard and about the benefits of service. Not in the sense of monetary or social gain, but by the sense of accomplishment that came from donating your time, money and talent.
"So Bella, where does your family live?" Esme asked as she cut up her chicken.
"My mother lives in Phoenix with her new husband and my father lives in a small town called Forks in Washington." Edward looked at me with a surprised expression.
"You never told me you had family in Washington. Forks is only a couple of hours from Seattle," he whispered in my ear. I shrugged my shoulders.
"I haven't been back in years. It didn't seem that important, New York is my home now," I replied just as quietly.
"Edward, how did you and Bella meet?" Esme directed her question at her son, but looked at me in case I wanted to answer.
"A friend of a friend." Edward said with a shrug. Emmett scoffed at the lame answer, but didn't say anything more. Esme looked expectantly at me since her son didn't provide the details she was looking for.
"Uh, he has a friend in Seattle that knew one of my friends and they set us up." My cheeks flamed and felt a pang of guilt for lying to this wonderful woman. She smiled kindly at me and then I felt even worse. I had to get away so I excused myself from the table and headed for the restroom.
I walked in to the bathroom and washed my hands, looking for anything to busy myself before I had to go back. Alice burst through the door and walked over to me.
"What's going on? Why are you lying to my parents about how you met?" Seeing the concern reflected in Alice's eyes, I realized that I wanted to tell someone about it. I wanted to tell Alice. She had accepted me without any doubts, and she deserved at least my trust.
"It's really embarrassing, Alice." I warned her hoping that she would give up and let it drop. Instead she wrapped her arms around my waist and hugged me.
"Bella, it really doesn't matter. We love you already and nothing you say will change that." I knew her heart and I knew that she was telling the truth so I opened up and let it all out.
"When Edward found me I was laying on the sidewalk with a sprained ankle."
She nodded her head already knowing this part. "Why don't you have a home, Bella?" She wanted to know the heart of what was going on.
"I was thrown out of my home by a man that I thought loved me. Now that I look back on it I realize that it was an extremely unhealthy relationship. He was abusive." She gasped and shook her head. I held up my hand to stop her.
"Please, Alice, I can't handle the pity." She nodded her head in understanding. "He wasn't physically abusive, but I could see that it was headed in that direction. He said a lot of horrible things to me." The tears were freely flowing down my cheeks. "He told me I was worthless and I believed him. Right before he tossed me out I received a phone call from his lover. She told me everything. Come to find out he'd been seeing her for several months. When I confronted him he…he…said a lot of hateful things and physically threw me out. I ran and that's when Edward found me." Tears were shining in Alice's eyes when she pulled me in for another hug.
"I'm so sorry, Bella. You have to know that you're an amazing person. That all of those things that he said were not true." I sniffed loudly and tried to wipe the tears from my eyes without ruining my make up more than it already was.
"Thanks, Alice, but that's not the end. Edward thought I was a prostitute when he brought me back to his hotel. That's one of the reasons why we're not talking about this."
"What?" she shrieked. "How in the hell could Edward think that. I'm going to hurt him, what was he thinking?" I placed a hand on her shoulder trying to get her to calm down.
"He thought that because I was in a dress that was ripped to almost nothing. Mike ripped it when we were fighting before he threw me out. It just barely covered me, I don't blame him for the conclusion that he came to. He's worried about what Esme would think about him for bringing a hooker to his hotel." Alice stood there for a few seconds before what I said sunk in and then she burst out into a fit of giggles.
"My straight laced brother was taking, what he thought was a prostitute, back to his hotel!" She doubled over holding her stomach as her giggles turned into loud guffaws. I was laughing right along with her when the bathroom door opened and in walked Esme and Rosalie.
"My goodness, what has you both in hysterics? I could hear you clear down the hall." Esme smiled looking expectantly at us.
Alice sobered up and then launched into the real way that Edward and I met before I could stop her. When she got to the part where Edward thought I was a prostitute, I cut in and directed the story back to me to save myself and Edward from the humiliation of his mother finding out. Alice gave me a dirty look, wanting to dish the dirt on her brother to her mom.
"Edward saved me. He's given me a place to stay until I get back on my feet." Esme looked puzzled at the explanation.
"I'll come back to this pig that you lived with in a minute. What I don't understand is why you both were laughing so hard. That doesn't sound like a story that deserves the kind of amusement I heard when I came in here." She's perceptive. Alice piped in and I hoped that the 'prostitute' issue didn't come up.
"We were laughing at something totally unrelated that Edward did. He'd be mortified if he knew that I knew, let alone you, so we'll just leave it at that." Esme seemed appeased with her answer.
"Now dear, I have a little story to tell you." She took my hand and led all of us out into the sitting room outside the bathroom. "I was married before I met Carlisle. I was very young and thought that love was the only thing that mattered. I ignored my parents and friends warnings of my future spouse and married him anyway. As soon as the honeymoon was over he changed, he became abusive. I lived in that environment for about a year until he hurt me so bad that he put me in the hospital. That's where I met Carlisle. He was in his residency at the hospital I was admitted to. I had several broken ribs, a broke arm, my skull was cracked and I had internal injuries that had far lasting consequences. Carlisle helped me through the trial that put my husband in jail and finally the divorce. I can tell you from experience that the Cullen men are the best at helping us messed up females through tough times." She patted my hand and at that moment I realized that I had a friend for life, no matter what happened with Edward.
"We should get back to dinner before Jasper sends out the cavalry." Alice joked as we walked back to the table.
The men stood up and helped us with our seats as we arrived. When everyone was seated Emmett had to acknowledge our trip to the ladies room.
"What is up with women going to the bathroom together? You'll never catch a guy inviting his friend to go with him to the John. That's just wrong." He shuddered to prove his point. We all laughed at his observation.
We spent the rest of the evening getting to know one another and laughing heartily. I found myself yearning for this kind of family unity. They all respected and supported each other. Their motivation for doing so was their deep love for one another.
When we arrived back at the hotel we said our goodbyes to Emmett, Rose, Alice and Jasper. Esme made Edward promise to meet them for breakfast before she gave me a warm hug.
"I'm so glad you are part of Edward's life," she whispered in my ear before letting me go. I smiled at her and nodded as Edward took my hand gently.
"We'll see you in the morning mom." He leaned down and kissed her cheek and then led me towards our room.
"Things seemed to go well with my mother." He grinned crookedly at me. "She thinks you're wonderful."
"I think she's pretty amazing, too." I said as I walked towards the bedroom, kicking my shoes off when I reached the closet.
"You all came back from the bathroom like best friends, what happened?"
"Alice knows everything now." He quirked an eyebrow at me.
"Everything?" I nodded. He groaned loudly and flopped on the bed.
"She cornered me in the bathroom and I couldn't lie to her. Then your mother came in and she told her everything." Edward groaned even louder.
"Please, no. Tell me she didn't tell her about me thinking you were a prostitute." He raked his hands through his hair.
"She didn't tell her about you thinking I was a prostitute." He stopped and looked at me skeptically.
"Are you teasing me?" he asked.
"No, I'm not teasing you, she told her my story up until you found me and then I cut her off so she wouldn't continue. Trust me, she wanted to tell your mother." He heaved a sigh of relief.
"How do you feel about them knowing?" I shrugged my shoulders.
"I don't really know right now. At the time it felt like the right thing to do. Your mother told me about her first marriage and it felt good to have someone to talk to that understands what I'm going through." Edward's hands tightened into fists when I mentioned Esme's tragedy.
"Did she tell you that the reason she can't have children was because of what he did to her?" I shook my head mortified at the thought of what his sweet mother had been subjected to.
"Thankfully, he died in jail five years after he assaulted her. He was a month from being released. Carlisle said she was terrified and begged him to move. If we would have left they wouldn't have adopted Alice. It's funny how things just work out. I can't imagine our family without Alice."
Edward stood and came over to me. "Turn around," he ordered. I looked at him not understanding his request. "I helped you get into that dress, it's only fitting that I get to help you out of it." His lopsided grin dazzled me into silence so I just turned around so he could unzip my dress.
His fingers lightly caressed my shoulders before he took the zipper in between his fingers and slowly slid it down. As the zipper moved agonizingly slow down my back I felt the fingertips of his other hand flutter over the bare skin that he revealed. I held my breath in anticipation of what he would do. When the zipper was completely down he leaned in and placed a kiss right between my shoulder blades.
"Breathe, Bella," he whispered, tickling the baby hairs on the back of my neck. I let out the breath I had been holding and turned around. I was surprised to see him sitting on the bed again. I shook my head slightly trying to clear the Edward induced fog that fell over me.
No one was winning this little game of seduction that we were playing with each other. I was
going to figure out a way to either forfeit and let him win or I was going to win and claim that same prize myself. Hmmmm. Sounds like a win/win either way. But not tonight. I need to figure out his game plan and make one of my own.
