A/N: Thanks to our beta, SunflowerFran. Any mistakes are mine.
Hugs and thanks for your very kind wishes for me and my family! Maybe it means I have no life, but right now things are so bleak in my RL that corresponding with you all is the bright spot in my days. Thank you. I believe a little bit of escapism can be healthy sometimes. :)
It was very interesting to hear your thoughts on when (and if) they should sleep together. ;) Here are the results of the question from yesterday:
A: 2; B: 4; C: 10; D: 24; E: 3
A fairly large majority of you wants them to wait until they know the truth about each other. I agree that's the sensible thing to do. But are stories ever written about sensible people? LOL
~.~
After she had left, Edward stared at the closed door. He pounded his fist against the wall in frustration. He had never reacted to a woman like this. He had always tried to stay away from the young and innocent types; they became too serious too quickly. And then, there was all the tiresome drama, crying, scenes and recrimination. He preferred women with experience, worldly women who knew the rules. You enjoyed each other while it was convenient, then you moved on.
But this one… he felt different about her for some reason. He felt oddly protective of her. He did not want to be the cause of pain or misery this time. So he hoped—he hoped that she was truly as experienced in love as she claimed to be. That she would indeed be lighthearted and careless when he inevitably left.
He had never enjoyed the company of a woman so much: she was highly intelligent, had the most incredible imagination, and was so kind-hearted. Most of the women he dated assumed his philanthropy was performed for self-serving reasons, but this woman had instantly understood his need to protect the weak and defenseless. He had found himself describing in detail the stories of some of the children he had helped, the broken and downtrodden souls he had tried to rescue, and he had seen it in her eyes: she had been honestly interested. She had cared. She was so different from the cynical and polished women—and men—that he usually interacted with.
Although he had never been jealous of the other men his women dated, there was something different this time. Perhaps it was…the juxtaposition of her apparent innocence and her lighthearted sophistication…as well as the quantity of men this girl had been with. More than twelve! And at her age. He scowled. He couldn't stand the thought of that soft skin being caressed by another man, those huge eyes gazing at another's face, those lips… He spun angrily to face the window.
Perhaps she was lying.
Most likely she was lying.
But how could he be sure?
He pictured again her heart-shaped face, those brown eyes thickly rimmed with pale lashes, her fall of auburn hair that he only wanted to run his hands through…recollected her sweet lips and innocent kisses. He couldn't stop thinking about her. It felt as if he was going mad.
"An alpine guide," he muttered, his face darkening. He strode into the bathroom, lowered his trousers, and examined his knees in the mirror. "Hmph," he said. "No dimples."
~.~
A/N: I'm going away for a long weekend tomorrow and it's unlikely I'll have access to the internet. Please forgive me, but chapters will be on hiatus until next Tuesday, unless I manage to snag a spot in an internet café. I'm so sorry! I'll do my best to find a connection, but I'm afraid I can't promise anything.
So… how can Edward be sure that she is lying? And is he really worried about his knees? LOL