I shoved the front door open with a bang and kicked off my tennis shoes, losing my balance and thudding against the wall in the entryway.

"Bella?" Charlie was half-way out of the recliner.

"Hi, Dad!" The greeting was supposed to be cheerful, but I was breathing too heavily. It gave away my panic. Giving up on trying to act nonchalant, I grabbed a box of tissues and hastily wiped down my shoes.

My dad stood awkwardly in the middle of the living room, looking at me like I'd lost my mind. "Do you, er, need a hand with anything?"

"Nope. Just give me a minute and I'll get the chicken on the grill."

Hoping against hope that this would work, I ran up the stairs with my shoes in hand, stumbling on the fourth step. I was ridiculously shaky as I dialed the Clearwater's phone number on the for-emergencies cell.

"Hello?"

I was lucky tonight (the right kind of luck, not my usual kind); maybe that boded well.

"Hi, Seth."

He didn't sound surprised. "Hi. Calling about Jacob?"

I frantically glanced around my bedroom. "Yeah. I…um…just had a minute…"

"You okay, Bella?"

I never could lie. Maybe immortality would help that. I sincerely hoped so. "No, actually. I need your help. I'm trying to outwit Alice."

"Okay…" he said hesitantly. "What do you need me to do?"

"Can you come up to Forks? Right now?"

"Uh…"

Funny how much that one little non-word could say. Seth was really beginning to question my sanity.

"I can come pick you up," I offered, beginning to feel desperate. "In the fancy sports car Edward got for me."

"Sure, I guess."

I dove for the dresser and opened the shirt drawer. Shoving my clothes aside, I stuffed my shoes in and covered them up again. With a muffled thud, I shoved the drawer closed.

"Thanks, Seth. Don't worry about it. I'm good now."

"You sure?" Because he sure wasn't.

"Positive. Alice is going fashionista on me and Edward says she's going to steal my tennis shoes to force me to branch out into other footwear. He's trying to reason with her right now, but I needed to take evasive action."

Seth burst out with laughter. "Glad I could help, then."

"You're great, you know that?"

"Yep," he chortled.

I was starting to calm down, now that I was about ninety-five percent sure that my favorite, worn-out tennis shoes were safe. I'd bought them in Arizona, all the way back before myth and legend became boyfriend and best friend. Alice took umbrage with me having sentimental attachment to clothing. In her mind, it would be like being attached to bottle-caps. Why keep trash?

Crazy little vampire.

"Since I have you on the line, have you heard from Jacob?"

I was just trying to make small-talk so Seth wouldn't feel like I was using him, and that was the first thing that popped into my head. Belatedly, I realized I was using him for information, too. I sighed at myself. But that was the question that was always in the back of my mind now.

Fortunately, he didn't seem to mind. "Not really. He's still a wolf and still sticking to dense forest. Last time I was on patrol he was in pretty rough terrain, probably really high up in the mountains. That was all I could get from him."

"Thanks, Seth."

"Sure. Hey, um, I don't want to blow you off, but the guys were going cliff-diving…."

I laughed. "Go. And thanks a million, Seth."

"Sure thing. Bye, Bella."

I hung up and went back downstairs to make dinner.

...

When Edward dropped me off at home later that night, he carried me from his car to my doorstep. I'd gone barefoot to his house, despite his assurances that Alice had promised not to do anything drastic. This had amused Edward to no end, but I didn't want my favorite shoes in her unsentimental clutches.

And I have to admit I was feeling pretty smug for one-upping her.

"That you, Bella?" Charlie called from the bathroom. He was brushing his teeth.

I climbed the stairs. "Yep."

He rinsed his mouth and wiped his face with a towel, then stepped into the hall to give me a hug.

"Goodnight, Bells."

I suddenly realized it was Friday night. "Are you going fishing tomorrow?" He was turning in kind of late for that.

"No," he muttered and gave me a sidelong look that clearly said he wasn't leaving his little girl unattended for that long.

I sighed, less at his distrust and more at the fact that there was no need for it. It was my choice, but that didn't mean I still didn't wish…. "Good night, Dad."

I quickly dressed for bed and then opened the window. Edward didn't immediately breeze in, so I went to check on my shoes. They were right where I had left them, except… I let out a low growl, and Edward's cool hands rested lightly on the tops of my shoulders. "Bella?"

I held up my sneakers and irrationally glowered at him since he was the nearest expensively-dressed immortal available. Alice had stolen my shoelaces. I dropped the shoes with a defeated groan and threw myself face-down on the bed. "I'm doomed to an eternity of high-end, designer everything, aren't I?"

Edward heard my muffled griping. "Except nightlights," he amiably pointed out.

"You're not helping."

"Pick up another pair of laces tomorrow morning," he suggested. I could hear his suppressed laughter. "Esme will be thrilled if you use the petty cash card."

And he'd be thrilled to see me driving the before-car. With another groan, I pulled the pillow over my head to drown him out.

His chill hands rested on my shoulders. At first they idly caressed the line of my neck, the top of my shoulders. Then gingerly Edward began to knead the tense muscles between my shoulder blades.

I froze in surprise. He'd never really given me a backrub before. What a shame – he was very good. With a contented sigh, I relaxed. Kind of. It was hard to completely relax under his touch, partly because his fingers were still cool despite the hand-warmers but mostly because I was in bed and Edward was the one running his thumbs up either side of my spine. I arched my back slightly.

Without the distractions of his beautiful face or his delicious kisses, I was especially aware of his hands on my body. I'd never noticed how perfectly they fit on me. His thumbs continued up my back while the tips of his long fingers trailed along my ribs. I couldn't feel his palm, just the light brush of cool air, as his hand passed from my tank-top to the skin of my upper back.

I pulled the pillow off my head. My sigh sounded closer to a moan. "That's nice."

"Not…too much pressure?" he asked anxiously.

"Actually, you can use a little more. Especially right down…a couple of inches…there."

"I can feel the knot," he murmured. "That doesn't hurt?" He almost sounded surprised.

"Not at all. I'll tell you if it does."

The knot quickly unwound under his touch. Edward could dazzle even my muscles.

"Don't tell me," I said, the volume of my words rolling a little with the rest of my ribcage. "You have a degree in chiropractics with double minors in massage therapy and acupressure."

He chuckled. "I'm afraid not. It was just part of the training with my last medical degree. I took a few classes on alternative and complementary medicine."

"Too bad. You have the hands for it." I silently contemplated that, wondering what else Edward's sensitive hands might be doing a couple of weeks from now.

So softly I wasn't sure he was speaking to me, he said, "I never would have dared then…to touch a mortal like this…."

"Are you moping?" I mumbled.

He chuckled again. "I only meant you've changed me, Bella, made me so much more human."

His fingers were fanning out from the middle of my back to the sides. I was acutely aware when his fingertips came within a hair's breadth of the curve of my breast.

"Hmm…I wonder…" I twisted my torso to look at him; he was kneeling on the bed, straddling me. A warm thrill rippled down my spine.

He sat back on his heels, his expression innocent as though he were oblivious to my blush and to what he'd just done to my heart. "Yes?"

My mind, impatient with my too-slow body, was already off in my happy place. "Huh?"

A smirk pulled at the corner of his lips. "What do you wonder, Bella?"

"Um..." What did I wonder? Oh, that's right! "I wonder if you're human enough that you'd enjoy a backrub, too."

He stretched out beside me, lying on his side and propping his head up on one hand. His crooked smile made my heart skip erratically. "You're incorrigible."

I reached for the buttons on his shirt – funny how he was always wearing button-down shirts these days – and his breath quickened.

"You don't want a backrub, then?"

"I didn't say that."

Apparently I wasn't quick enough because he had his shirt open and off in one barely-discernible movement.

The shock never ceased to delight me. Lavender in the dim glow, his skin was coolly beautiful. I reached out, marveling at the fluid way his muscles moved under my hand – smooth and hard as stone. He stretched out, lying on his belly, and my fingers trailed from his shoulders to his waist.

He sighed.

It suddenly occurred to me that the easiest way to give him a backrub was from the same position he'd been in. On top. Part of me went into a panic. The other part went to my happy place. He turned his head, his eyes glimmering with amused curiosity in the dim light. My heart was giving me away again.

Coward that I was, I sat up beside him, propping myself up with one hand and letting the other explore him. It was like giving a massage to an ice-block, and I quickly gave up trying to actually knead muscles or anything like that. Shifting to kneel and sit on my heels, I mimicked the way his hands had touched me earlier, tracing his spine, fanning my fingers over his back.

He closed his eyes, his breath catching a little.

Hm. I liked that.

His arms slid up my bed and he clasped one wrist with the other hand. For some odd reason, it made me think he was locking himself there. Not that I could tell anything from his always-tense, rock-hard muscles.

Rising up on my knees, I let my hands lightly slide down the sides of his ribs. At his waistband, I dragged my fingertips to the middle of his back and pressed my thumbs along his spine again. I continued all the way up his neck to the base of his skull. He tucked his chin, responding to the motion of my hands.

A shudder.

Definitely liking this.

My hands slid down his wintry neck and over the line of his shoulders. I gave the hard muscles at the top of his arms a little squeeze, and he let out one short, little sigh. Maybe he could feel my merely-human strength more than I thought. I tried again on his biceps. To me, it felt like squeezing stone, but he again hummed with pleasure.

It occurred to me that he wasn't the only one who could do some rehearsing.

I trailed my fingertips back up his arms to his shoulders and then hesitated, my hand hovering over his cold skin. What would I do, if I were in my happy place right now?

I'd be horizontal, for starters, a snarky part of me grumbled.

My still-as-stone Edward squirmed, his shoulders moving from side to side. Odd. I hadn't even touched him. Then I remembered how I could feel the cool brush of air from his hovering hands. Was it like that with my body heat? I experimented, flirting with his marble skin without ever connecting as my hand slowly moved down his back. I'd only gotten about half-way when he shuddered again.

I could affect him like that without even touching him. This was just…wow! I tried again, my hand hovering over his skin as I trailed warmth from the top of his shoulder to the side of his ribs and then down to his waist. Curious, I moved my hand over the side of his hips, and he squirmed away again.

He could feel me through his clothes! This was just too much…something. Fun? Maybe. Definitely fascinating. Edward was actually that aware of me physically. I continued all the way down the side of his leg and then drifted up the back of his thigh.

"Bella." His velvet voice was almost strained as I reached his…backside, and I didn't have to be a genius to figure out why.

I pulled my hands away. "Oops."

He chuckled, rolling to his side and flipping the quilt back for me. "Time for the human to get some sleep."

"Too hot for you?" I teased as I slipped under the covers.

"Something like that," he murmured, his lips brushing over my ear.

I turned my head to catch his lips with mine. "You could cool me off…" I invited through my kisses, pressing his marble hand to my face.

"Somehow…I doubt that would have the desired effect."

I sighed. "You're probably right."

"Of course I am," he answered archly.

I giggled before it occurred to me that he might not be teasing. His answering smile told me it had been a joke and I laughed again with relief. After last night, I was worried Edward would go into another moping slump, but apparently his black mood had passed. Nuzzling closer, I said, "Kiss me to sleep."

His eyes warmed again – not quite smoldering, but loving enough to make me go all gooey. "Yes, ma'am."