Ummm....Okay....WOW!!!
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The reaction to the skinny dipping was HILARIOUS! Been there, done that...got the freaking tee shirt!!!
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Stephenie Meyer owns all Twilight Characters...I just like looking at them in tight jeans!
14. Margarita Madness
EPOV
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My driver was waiting as I made my way through customs. He took my bags from me and loaded them onto a baggage cart. I had just been on a plane for a little over 10 hours and it was very early in the morning in London. I had only managed to grab a couple of hours of sleep on the plane. I was tired but looking forward to the show.
"Good Morning, Your Grace. The flight was good I hope?" He asked as he opened the door to the Bentley. I nodded and sunk into the back seat, pulled my Blackberry out and started dialing Bella's number. I found myself needing to hear her voice.
The phone rang several times and her voicemail picked up. It wasn't as good as speaking to her personally, but I could hear her voice and it was working some wicked design on me.
"Hey sexy girl. Hope you didn't trip running to answer your phone and that's why you aren't picking up. I'm here. The flight was uneventful. Had wicked thoughts about you the whole time. Call me back Bella."
I stretched into the comfort of the backseat and watched as the lights began to move by in a blur. I must have drifted off to sleep because I was startled awake by my phone vibrating in my hand.
"Edward?"
"Bella?" I answered. I squinted at the time on my phone. "Good Grief! What time is it? You're calling me back awfully late. You could have waited until tomorrow."
I heard her sigh into the phone. "Had to talk to you." She mumbled. She sounded sleepy.
"I know who you look like." Bella almost slurred her speech.
I think my girl was drunk.
It was kind of amusing and I wanted to hear what she had to say.
"Who do I look like Bella?" I asked her.
"The picture of you at Eton. I saw it on the wall." She started giggling a little bit.
"Where did you see the picture Bella?" I asked her, an involuntary smile crossing my face.
I could hear her giggling some more. "Shhhhh….stop…I'm on the phone. No I don't want any more…." …
"Bella who are you talking to?" I asked her. I kept hearing her laughing. "Bella?"
"You look like that guy! You know…uh..God! You know…uh…the guy who played Cedric Diggory! Wearing your uniform and robes. Oh my God that's funny! I had sex with Cedric Diggory."
She burst out laughing even harder. She was drunk. I couldn't help but to laugh with her.
"So, what? Should I say "expelliarmus" or something hot like that?" I teased her.
Bella got quiet for a second. Then her voice came low and honeyed over the phone.
"Oh Texas, you disarm me just by walking into a room."
I wanted to be there with her right now. The tone of her voice reminded me of how she sounded when she breathed my name into my ear. I felt my body reacting to her.
"Where are you Bella?" I asked her.
"I'm at the ranch. With Jasper. Oh, and Emmett too. We just came in from outside. Christ, Emmett makes a mean margarita. I think he sprinkles voodoo dust in them. Those two men are dangerous Edward. I had way too much fun with them tonight."
The margaritas that Emmett made were legend at the house parties at the ranch. Jasper had jokingly referred to them as sodium pentothal in a glass.
"Just how much fun did you have with them Bella?" I asked her, my voice coming out flat.
She started laughing again. "We played a stupid game and somehow after God knows how many margaritas, we all ended up skinny dipping. Jesus, what a sight. Three full moons under the Texas nighttime sky. I think I have mosquito bites everywhere!"
Her fit of laughter subsided and I think she realized that I had suddenly become silent on my end of the phone call.
"Edward? You're not mad at me are you?" She asked tentatively.
I pinched the bridge of my nose between two fingers. Was I mad at her? Hell no. The person I was mad at was that fucker Jazz.
"Are they there now?" I asked her.
"Yes. And why do you sound so damn polite right now? I hate that tone of voice. It's so…so…ducal!" She snapped back.
"Bella, I'm not mad at you. Can you please put Jasper on the phone for me?" I gently asked her easing my voice up a little.
"Mmmm. Okay. Jasper! He wants to talk to you." She said and I could hear her handing the phone over to him. I could also hear Emmett's booming laugh in the background.
Jasper spoke into the phone, his voice slurring just a bit as well.
"Well. Well. Well! Cedric…been dipping your wand lately?" Jasper laughed and I knew that they all must have consumed a colossal amount of alcohol.
"Jazz…" I growled. "You better be taking good care of her. If you so much as lay a finger on her, so help me God…"
"Cool it cousin. Ain't gonna happen. She's all cloud nine about your rigid, stuffy ass. Glad you are finally showing better taste though. Bella's a great gal. And Jesus! She can flat fucking drink. I think even Emmett was starting to have a hard time keeping up."
I chuckled slightly to myself. "Yeah, Jazz I know. Seriously, take good care of her for me."
"Yeah, I will you limey asshat. Besides, I gotta turn in. I got that damn photo shoot tomorrow and I better be getting my beauty sleep." Jasper paused for a moment.
"We missed you Edward. You would have had some real fun for a change."
Jasper must have been drunk. He was getting all emo on me. I knew that Bella had worked her inscrutable magic on the both of them. I began to like the idea that she was with two of the people I trusted the most.
"Give the phone back to Bella. And tell Emmett Cosmopolitan magazine called and said he has to return his sash and his tiara…"
I could hear Jasper laughing as he handed the phone back to Bella.
"Edward?" She hesitantly whispered into the phone.
"Hi Sleepy girl. I'm okay. Just wish I would have been there to see your naked fanny in my family's pool."
"Do your thing Texas and get back and show me this ranch the right way. Jasper and Emmett and I didn't get anywhere past the damn pool today. God, I'm going to have an awful headache when I wake up aren't I?"
I thought of her waking up at the ranch. I thought about her waking up at my loft. Slowly Bella was invading my life. And I wanted the next place for her to wake up was London. Here. In my bed.
"Lots of water and aspirin before bed for you. And Bella quit looking at my school pictures. They're embarrassing. I look like a girl."
I heard her laugh softly.
"Are you alone?" I asked her.
"Yep, just came into the guest room. It's so lovely out here Edward. Very hot and sticky though."
"Yeah, the summer's can be brutal. But it's Texas. Give the weather five minutes. It will change." I said.
"You're talking to me about the weather?" Bella said, sounding surprised.
"Yeah, I guess I am." I responded. We both laughed for a moment.
"Close your eyes sleepy girl. I've just arrived at my townhouse. I need to go in and take care of some last minute details and grab a quick nap before I have to be at the show later this morning."
"Mmmmmm. Good night Texas." She murmured.
"Good night Bella. I'll call you soon." I hung up the phone, got out of the car and headed up the steps into the house.
I was met at the door by my butler.
"Good Morning Your Grace."
"Good Morning Karl. I'm headed to my study. Can you have some tea sent in to me please?"
"Yes, Your Grace. Excuse me Your Grace, but there is something I need to inform you of." Karl said, stopping me on the way to my study.
I turned around to face him. "Yes Karl? What is it?"
"Lady Rosalie Hale, Sir. She's here in residence. She arrived last night."
I let out a long frustrated breath. This was a complication I didn't need right now.
"Thank you Karl. Please make sure to inform Lady Hale that I will not be joining her for breakfast since I have to get such an early start." I stalked towards my office.
Rosalie was here. I knew that I was going to be seeing her at the horse show. But I was surprised at the length she had just gone to in order to insinuate herself back into my life. I had spurned most of her advances but I could now see her determination in having this marriage become a reality.
I would deal with Rosalie later.
BPOV
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I cursed Emmett McCarty for the day he was born.
My tongue felt twice its size, covered in cotton and stuck to the roof of my mouth. The sunlight streaming through the blinds seemed as if the sun had decided to rise right there at the ranch. In front of my window.
I sat up gingerly. My head had a freaking conga line running through it and I lay back down. I reached over to look at the time on my cell phone.
SHIT!!!
We were late! Alice was going to have my head. She was a stickler for punctuality and this was not the best way to introduce her to Jasper.
I made my way to the bathroom and took a quick shower. When I came out I noticed that someone had laid a fresh t-shirt across the back of the chair and I smiled. Jasper. Those Whitlock-Cullen boys had some serious gentlemanly manners.
Even while skinny dipping distances were maintained. I giggled thinking about the look on Jasper's face when I accidentally let it slip that I had slept with Edward.
Of course it could have been the way I said it.
I seemed to remember saying something about Edward boinking me silly on the kitchen counter and Emmett then spraying his margarita all over his shirt, laughing his loud infectious laugh.
I blame it all on the margaritas. Now I had something else to blame on the margaritas. I dialed Alice's number and she picked up on the first ring. I steeled myself for her diatribe.
"Oh Thank God Bella! Are you downstairs? We've got so much…"
I cut her off. "Alice, now before you get totally mad at me…"
"Oh shit Bella. You aren't even here are you? James is going have my ass! Do you know how much he is going to bitch having to pay extra money for the stylists and my assistants alone to have to sit around and wait? Shit, I didn't have to go through this with Brangelina!"
"Alice, James is going to be fine. He'll just have to be. I got the okay from Edward to do the interview. James' precious magazine will have one of the first actual interviews ever given by Edward Cullen." I explained hoping it would calm her down.
"That's great Bella. How did you manage to pull that one off? What did you do? Sleep with him?" Alice teased me.
I was quiet for a second. I couldn't hide anything from Alice.
"YOU FUCKED HIM?" She shouted into the phone. Suddenly she burst out into wild laughter. "Oh fuck….Bella get your ass back to Houston as quickly as possible. We so need to talk!"
I could still hear her laughing as she hung up. I grabbed my bag and headed out to find Jasper.
He was sitting in the kitchen drinking a huge mug of coffee. He looked like Hell. This day was just getting worse by the minute.
He pointed to the coffee maker. "Want some? I need it to pry my damn eyelids open."
"Yeah, me too. Where's Emmett?" I asked as I poured myself some coffee.
"Asshole is still sleeping. Like I should be. Do we have to do this today?" Jasper looked all sullen.
I was hung over. I was late and I lost my temper.
"No sir! You are not bailing on me after getting my ass all drunk last night. This is now about the job that I was sent here to do. I've already spent way too much down time with you and your cousin. Get your tired ass up Jasper Whitlock and drive us back to Houston." I chastised him.
Jasper's eyes went wide for a moment. "Damn Bella. The only other woman who ever speaks to me like that is my mother. That was kind of sexy. Do you talk to Edward that way because I bet that gives him more than just a stiff upper lip?"
I stared at him for a moment. He winked at me and broke out into a huge grin, his dimple becoming prominent in his cheek.
"Jasper…." I became exasperated and started stuttering at him. . "Don't even go there. Just march your butt out to that piece of junk in the driveway, get in and shut up and drive."
He laughed again as he grabbed his keys from the hook near the door.
"Oh Bella Swan! This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship…."
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