The Next Mrs Cullen

Chapter 13

BPOV

I couldn't believe I had nearly $50,000 sat in front of me. These four small presents could pay for my cruise and let me upgrade both the cabin and the number of trips ashore I could take. They could pay my bills while I was away and still leave more than enough for spending money and some new clothes for the trip.

I pushed the earrings around my breakfast bar, marvelling at the ray of light that danced on the kitchen wall as the sunlight hit the stones. I was tempted, I'll admit, really tempted to go down town and see what the cash in price would be. The other option was to take them all back to Tiffany and see if they would refund the cash.

"No!" I shouted at the wall. "They have to go back to the person who bought them."

I pushed my coffee and the remains of my breakfast aside and walked into the bedroom to get dressed. I automatically reached for one of my 'business suits' but changed my mind. If I was going to see green eyes I need to be comfortable and relaxed. I needed to be ready for him.

Rosie had given me a seriously biased insight into him last night. I could tell from Emmett's face that he didn't agree with a lot of her opinions but I could tell he wouldn't contradict her in front of me. She obviously didn't have much to do with Edward, she knew him as the man that kept her 'Emmy bear' away from her. The hard boss who had very high and exacting standards. I intended to get Emmett on his own as soon as I could to get his side of the story.

First things first I needed to take the jewellery back. Edward needed to realise it would be wasted on me, that I wasn't the sort of woman who wore her wealth on her body. Apart from the fact I had no wealth I just wouldn't be comfortable walking around knowing I could support a small family with the trinkets I wore.

Back to what I should wear, I didn't want too casual so that ruled out jeans but I didn't want formal, so no pant suit either. In the end I settled on a tight cream pencil skirt, nude heels and a chocolate brown silk short sleeved blouse. I pulled the sides of my hair up into a hair slide at the back of my head, leaving the rest hanging down and applied my make-up. As I stood back and had a look at the overall effect I felt sexy, strong, pretty and confident all rolled into one.

I grabbed the diamonds and put them all into their individual boxes, then their little bags. Some were a bit soggy where they had not reacted well to being stored in the freezer, but overall, they were fine. I grabbed my purse and keys and opened the front door. My first instinct was too look down, nothing today thankfully.

Alex was on the phone as usual and waved as I walked past. I made my way outside and climbed into my truck. A quick check around and I could see the Range Rover parked about five spaces up. I waved assuming it was Emmett and set off towards Edward's office. I couldn't help but wonder when It would dawn on my shadow where I was actually heading. I threw in a few odd turns to try and confuse whoever was following me, the subterfuge making me grin to myself.

Finally, I pulled up outside the club and parked on the road so I could make a quick getaway if I needed to. I grabbed the gift bags, some half-baked idea about pretending I was a courier delivering some merchandise for Mr Cullen if they challenged me forming in the back of my mind.

As I walked towards the entrance the Range Rover pulled up behind me. I stopped to see who was driving and was relieved when Emmett jumped out of the driver's side.

"Hey Emmy Bear," I hollered, "how did you find me?"

"Don't let my Rosie hear you call me that," he warned, rolling his eyes as he slowed from a slow jog to a standstill. "I already got a tongue lashing for taking you to 'our' restaurant. I wouldn't want to be responsible for what she would do if she heard you call me that."

Emmett glanced at the door of the club but didn't say anything. Slightly anxious now, I mirrored him, turning to look at the classy frontage for a moment before looking back at him.

"So, are you going in?" I blurted the words out, unable to maintain the Mexican stand-off. He looked at the door again, then back at me, as if weighing carefully what he was about to say.

"Yes," he said, and a breath that I didn't know I had been holding whooshed out of my mouth, "but not that way. I use the staff entrance, it's around the back."

"Don't you think I should do this properly?" I asked, feeling that sneaking round the back was a little anti-climactic after all the time I had spent working up to this. "Speak to the doorman? Ask to see him, that sort of thing? It doesn't hurt to have some manners you know."

"Bella," he said gently, putting an arm around my shoulders and gently guiding me down the side of the building. "Even if you actually blagged your way past the doorman your chances of getting to Edward are virtually zero." I had quite literally dug my heels in, reluctant to let the door out of my sight. "Come on," he said, pushing me a little more forcefully, "if you follow me the odds rise dramatically." I let him lead me around the building. The back was very plain compared to the grand frontage that faced the street.

"You won't get into trouble, will you?" I asked as we walked up to a non-descript door.

"That depends entirely on how your meeting goes," he said. "Can I put a request in that you actually leave him smiling and maybe a little aroused? The poor guy seriously needs to get laid, he hasn't had any action in years."

"Emmett!" I smacked him on the chest, the dull thud emphasising just why my nickname of man mountain suited him so much better than 'Emmy bear' yuck.

"Seriously Bella," he said, and something about his tone made me stop, realising just how serious he was. "Edward must be so lonely, his marriage to Tanya was a sham from the beginning. It was arranged and neither of them had any say in it, they have never been happy or in love and Edward is too much of a gentleman to get caught out sleeping with some random woman." He sighed, running his hands through his hair. "When he found out Tanya was being unfaithful, well," he laughed, but the noise was harsh, "let's just say he loved being able to take the moral high ground."

I was a little stunned, Emmett had just told me more about Edward in those few short sentences then everything else I tried to find out. Before I could ask him anything else he disappeared through the doorway, holding the heavy door open for me to follow.

"Go straight along this corridor and up the stairs, at the top turn right and his office is on the left," I must have looked dubious as he smiled, a genuine one this time. "Don't worry, you can't miss it, it says 'office' on the door." With that he gave me a gentle push in the right direction. "And Bella, if he isn't in there go in and sit and wait, I'll find him and send him to you."

I nodded and took a deep breath. I straightened my skirt, fluffed my hair and licked my lips. I had a diva moment as I talked myself into taking that first step forward. I can do this, I can do this, I can do this.

I stomped up the stairs and knocked on the door. I was ready for him.

Shame he wasn't in his office. After knocking twice more and getting no response, I tried the handle. The door was unlocked so I had a quick peep around the door. The office was definitely empty, Emmett had told me to wait for him so after another deep breath I walked in and shut the door.

The office was very masculine. It had a large mahogany desk in the centre, with a high back leather chair behind it. There was a laptop open on the desk as well as several different mobile phones and some paperwork. I looked for somewhere to sit, deciding that the leather chesterfield sofa looked the most comfortable. I settled down in it but it was the most uncomfortable piece of furniture I'd ever come across. The only other places to sit were either his chair or the two severe looking chairs in front of the desk. Opting for his chair I sank into the luxurious leather and waited for him.

Five minutes later I was bored, I was close to looking through his desk drawers just to see what was in there. Instead I got up and poured myself a drink. I was surprised the glasses and decanter didn't match, someone with his taste in diamonds would surely appreciate a decent decanter and glasses? I sniffed at the decanter, it was Scotch and a good one if I was not mistaken. I poured myself a shot and knocked it straight back. I shuddered as it made its way down my throat and settled in my stomach, the warmth radiated through me and I shuddered again.

"One more for luck," I said to the wall as I poured another shot and sat back in the chair, this time putting my feet on the desk crossed at the ankles. I felt like I was on a film set, I was some glamorous film star and I couldn't help but laugh out loud. I was just in the process of performing another full twirl on the chair when the door opened and he walked in.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" he screamed.

He couldn't have timed it any worse, my spin was only half completed so all he could see was the back of the chair, as I finally made my way around to face him I couldn't help but shout, "SURPRISE!"

He stood looking at me and for a second I honestly thought he didn't recognise me, my ego hit the floor as I started to formulate how I could explain who I was.

"Miss Swan, how lovely to see you," he said in an almost normal tone as he walked towards the desk and sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" His eyes scanned all over me, I thought he may be checking me out or even just checking I was actually there.

"Well I came to return the gifts you sent me," I told him, the words tripping over each other in my rush to get them out. "I can't possibly accept them and I wanted you know that while I love them, they are not something that I would ever wear or enjoy, they just aren't me."

With that I placed the four Tiffany's boxes on the desk for him and pushed them towards him.

"I bought those gifts for you," he said as he pushed them back towards me. "I don't want them back."

"Well I can't and won't accept them," I pushed them back across the desk, a little harder so that one little turquoise bag almost fell off the desk, "so please take them back."

"No, I won't take them back, they are for you, to be worn by you, so they are yours." His voice had raised an octave or two and I could see his face was starting to colour.

"Edward," I said reasonably, "please don't be awkward about this, I'm not some women that needs buying, I don't want all these diamonds, please take them back."

"What is it with you?" He muttered." You are either throwing food at me or arguing with me, what do I have to do to get you to just do as your told?" he stood up and walked over to the side where he poured himself a drink, stopping for just a moment to look at the level of Scotch left in the decanter.

"For your information, I never do as I'm told," I told him. "I'm a single independent woman and I certainly do not need a man telling me what to do." With that I picked up the boxes and slung them at him one at a time and stood up to walk out. This had been a big mistake, I should have trusted my instincts and just left the boxes with the door man.

"DON'T YOU DARE WALK OUT ON ME AGAIN!" he screamed as I reached for the door handle. Now the phrase 'red rag to a bull' was rattling around my brain, I could think of at least several different responses I could spit at him as I flounced out of the office, but before I could decide which one to scream back at him, he said something that completely disarmed me.

"I'm sorry Isabella," all of the anger had leaked out of his voice. "I shouldn't have shouted, please sit back down and talk to me."

I turned to look at him, his face was so sad I almost cracked. Part of me was screaming to sit back down at the desk and get to know him, the other part was urging me to storm out and ignore his apology.

I had a split second to make the decision so I went for neither option. I walked towards him and his faced relaxed into a glorious smile as he thought I had decided to do as he asked, but I didn't stop at the chairs, I walked straight up to him, grabbed his tie, pulled his face down towards me and planted my lips on his. He was surprised, so surprised he didn't even respond until I ran my tongue along his bottom lip. The taste was glorious, he tasted of scotch and vanilla, cigarettes and something manly that I couldn't place.

As he started to respond our tongues fought for dominance, he couldn't let me kiss him, he had to take control. I stepped back and before he could say anything else I walked out of his office, down the stairs and out of the staff entrance. I could hear him shouting me as I let the door slam shut behind me.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

I know she is being harsh but she can't buckle at the first sign of a smile can she ?