CHAPTER 36

Well into the night, I contentedly occupied my time while Bella slept peacefully in the adjoined room. I wasn't tempted to watch her- as had become habit to me. Having Bella near of her own volition filled me with a comfort that allowed me to quietly prowl through the rest of the suite as an alternate activity.

A living room area, dining room, and even a butler's pantry were made available for discerning guests. And of course, Alice had been correct. These accommodations weren't necessary to impress Bella. She didn't care about the décor- though she had commented on the view. It would have seemed indulgent to an extreme if we weren't forced to take the suite by a Jasper-arranged-problem with our reservations. I was going to owe him big time, for the opportunity to keep Bella close.

I pulled the hem of my t-shirt up and over my head, and casually tossed it to the top of my bag before walking out onto the terrace. The cool night air caressed my skin and I breathed in the night time scents of the city and the river below. I was still trying to decide if I should present Bella with a gift. Something pretty- as Jasper had suggested. But what? Jewelry would be way too presumptuous. Perhaps a flower?

My head turned quickly toward a sound from the inner recesses of the suite. I crouched and rapidly moved indoors, looking for signs of danger. Only one scent permeated the air, and I stood upright and followed it until I found Bella in the butler's pantry. She was bent at the waist, illuminated by the glow from the small refrigerator as she pulled a bottle of water from its shelves. I leaned my shoulder into the frame of the door, folded my arms across my chest, and watched her.

Even after the refrigerator door shut, I could see her clearly. I wasn't shocked by her state of undress. I watched her sleep in less on most nights. But her particular choice of sleep attire that evening made me smile.

"Is that my shirt?" I asked quietly. Bella had been taking a drink of water, and my voice startled her so that she splashed her drink.

"Oh my God," Bella sounded nervous. "You scared me!" She wiped her mouth on the back of her hand.

"Did I?" I rose to stand straight and walked into the room. "I'm sorry."

"It's ok," Bella replied. "I hope I didn't wake you."

"I wasn't sleeping." I moved very close to her. I told myself it was to allow her to see me in the dim lighting provided by the city beyond the window. But truthfully, I just couldn't resist.

"What were you doing?" Sleep had made her voice raspy. I wasn't sure what to attribute the breathy quality to.

"I was standing outside."

"You… aren't wearing a shirt." Again- she spoke with that breathy voice. I stepped lightly around her, circling.

I let my hands move her hair behind her shoulders so I could speak near her ear. "And you aren't wearing pants," I said softly. She shivered.

"I… washed your shirt. I planned to return it to you…" She wore the same t-shirt that I had loaned her to wear when she stayed at my house.

"Oh really? Ok. If you insist," I laughed lightly. I had moved all the way around her and was standing in front of Bella once again. She blushed intensely, a fact that was not lost to me in the dark.

"I decided to keep it. You aren't getting it back."

"Damn," I continued to tease. But Bella's heartbeat picked up in pace and thrummed loudly. "Am I making you nervous?" I asked.

"No." She moved a step closer to me as if to illustrate her conviction. "Something tells me that maybe I should be nervous. But I'm not."

"You probably should be," I admitted quietly.

"I know I'm safe with you," she said with a determined voice. Her hand reached out and she tentatively touched my chest. As her fingers slid downward, my stomach muscles contracted under her touch and she took a shaky breath. I took a step backward and her hand fell down to her side.

"What if you're wrong?" It was painful to voice my fear out loud.

"I'm not," she argued firmly.

We stared at each other, in the semi-darkness.

"I think… I should let you get back to sleep," I finally suggested. Bella nodded but looked no less determined.

"And I should let you… get back to whatever it was that you were doing."

"Well then. Good night. Again," I said. This time, I was the one to turn first. I escaped back out to the terrace and stared unseeing at the dark landscape.

I was walking on the edge of a blade with Bella. I could never have the type of relationship that I hoped to have with her, until she fully understood the threat involved by having me in her life. At the same time, I was certain that disclosing the true danger of our association would only force her to leave. I wasn't ready to give any of this up.

Morning arrived, and I still had not come to any definitive conclusions. I did, however, find a new focus for my determination.

Bella felt safe with me, and I never wanted to make her regret that.

When I heard the water running in the other room, I put in a call to room service and had breakfast sent to the room. By the time Bella emerged, fresh-faced and ready for the day, a pretty table was waiting with trays of sweet breads and fruits, coffee and milk.

"Good morning. I wasn't sure what you'd like," I indicated the breakfast selection. "I'll just shower while you eat." I hoped that an assortment of foods would make my abstinence less noticeable than if I had ordered individual plates. Bella smiled her gratitude and I left her to her meal.

I buttoned my shirt as I walked back through the suite. Bella was standing on the terrace with a cup of coffee, looking out at the horizon much as I had done the night before. Her hair blew in soft-looking waves behind her. I was struck once again by her beauty, and couldn't resist commenting as I moved to stand beside her.

"Beautiful," I murmured.

"It is, isn't it? It's going to be a gorgeous day!" Bella turned towards me with a smile. The wind chased her hair into her eyes, and I reached forward to tuck it behind her ear.

I wasn't referring to the weather, but I didn't want to come on too strong.

"Are you ready to go have some fun?"

"Absolutely! But… am I dressed alright?" Bella glanced down at her light-pink cotton pullover and jeans.

"You look great," I told her truthfully. "We'll be back here in plenty of time to get dressed for the theatre."

She smiled and I held the door for her as we set out for a morning of sight-seeing.

Bella and I spent hours literally strolling through the Museum of Fine Arts. Bella was by no means an expert in art. She didn't pretentiously point out light sources and brush technique. But she knew what she liked, and she didn't rush her enjoyment of the experience. When we came to a piece that appealed to her, we would simply stop and look at it until her eyes had absorbed as much of the detail as she hoped for. Sometimes she would try to explain why she was drawn to the artwork. Sometimes she would try to describe how the colors or subject made her feel. Always- she would use her hands in sweeping motions while she talked that made me think back to the way those warm and expressive hands felt when held inside my own.

Bella often stopped to ask my opinion about certain pieces. I didn't bother to lecture her with art history. She didn't want to know what could be learned in a book. She wanted to know about my thoughts and my feelings. She was trying to know me.

Bella's favorite paintings were found in a collection of Renaissance artwork from Italy. We spent most of our time in the gallery that housed them. When I casually mentioned that we would never be able to visit even half of the museum in the time that remained, Bella shrugged and smiled.

"I would rather spend all of my time truly appreciating one beautiful thing, than hurry past a million things that don't interest me just so I could say I had seen them all." Her smile was so beguiling that I wanted to tell her right then and there that she had pretty much summed up my entire existence so far.

As we left the building and waited at the curb for a cab, Bella reminded me which of the pieces of art she had been most taken with.

"What about you?" She asked, as I held the door of the taxi open for her. "Did you have any favorites?"

"My favorite wasn't hanging on a wall," I smiled.

Half-way back to our hotel, colorful umbrellas and tables called my attention to a string of small café's with outdoor seating.

"Would you like to stop for lunch?" I asked, pointing toward the window. Bella smiled.

"I'm glad you asked. Yes. I'm starving!"

I directed the cab driver to pull aside, and paid him as Bella exited the cab and made her way to the nearest bistro. We were seated in minutes and Bella quickly chose from the menu. She ordered pasta and a glass of wine before the waitress turned to take my order.

"Nothing for me, thanks," I said politely. The waitress left with an intentionally flirtatious offer for me to let her know if I changed my mind and would like anything. Bella sighed loudly.

"Edward. I'm sorry. I've tried. But I am going to have to break one of our rules. The 'food thing' is making me nuts," she frowned. I wrinkled my nose and pretended to playfully cringe. Inwardly I dreaded the turn the conversation had taken. It really was only a matter of time.

"Ok. You get two questions. Only two. And… they have to be questions I can answer with 'yes' or 'no.'"

"You're stubborn!" Bella's lips pressed into a hard line.

"You started the rule-making," I shrugged.

"Fine." She huffed good-naturedly. "You're obviously in great physical shape. So I can't assume you have any kind of eating disorder…"

"You think I'm in great physical shape?" I smiled coyly while letting my fingers play against the small flowers in the vase on the table between us.

"Don't try to distract me," Bella said sternly. "Since you aren't anorexic, I can only assume that you are fasting for some particular reason that you don't want to talk about."

"Is that a question?" I asked.

"Yes. Are you fasting?"

"Yes," I answered with a nod.

"Is it… some sort of religious thing?"

"No." I let the smile play on my lips and answered truthfully.

"Well… are you like Gandhi? Are you fasting to make a statement about something? Against the clubbing of baby seals or some other crime against humanity?"

I tossed back my head and laughed with earnest. She just watched me with an amused look on her face.

"No. I'm nothing like Gandhi. And I've already answered two of your questions." I cut off her attempt to prolong the topic. She just frowned and looked down at the table.

"I suppose since I broke the rules, you should be allowed to ask me something about Mike now. Two questions? 'Yes' or 'no' answers?" she suggested.

"I'd … rather not," I declined. Grasping a single green stem, I plucked a daisy from the arrangement. I pinched it between my fingers, making it spin as I smiled at Bella over its cheery yellow crown. And then I presented the gift to the woman sitting across from me at the table. "I'd much rather pretend that I'm the only man you are thinking about while we are together."

Bella's cheeks turned pink as she took the flower from my hand.

"You must think I'm horrible," she mumbled. "To have just broken up with him a few days ago… and yet seem so ready to move on already."

"Are you ready to move on?" I asked, urgently.

"Yes." She met my eyes with sincerity in her gaze. "But, that relationship has been over -for me- for a long time. Physically… emotionally… and ending it was not something I treated lightly."

"I understand," I told her. "And I don't think you're horrible. In fact, I think you are amazing."

Bella smiled at my acceptance of the situation, and laid the flower down next to her napkin when the waitress served lunch.

The conversation easily went back to our previous game of questions and answers while Bella ate. We asked for and shared memories of our childhoods. It was much more difficult for me to remember those details of my human life. But I learned that Bella had taken ballet lessons (and hated them,) and Bella discovered that my one true love as a boy was for the game of baseball.

Together, we decided to walk for the remainder of our trip back to the hotel. I was anxious to hold her hand again, and Bella seemed more than eager to accept my outstretched palm with a smile. I was a little worried, however, about the weather.

"It looks like rain," I commented as I looked up at the heavy clouds hanging above us. Bella squeezed my hand in agreement.

"Like that's ever stopped a couple of kids from Forks, Washington?" She giggled and I laughed with her.

We had gone no further than a city block when the sky opened up with a torrential downpour. Pedestrians huddled under awnings and in store-front doorways. Some passed us on the sidewalk, cringing from the rain and hiding under large umbrellas. Bella and I just walked as though oblivious to the weather, grinning and holding hands while the rain soaked us through. We smiled. We laughed. Bella skipped a little, and we playfully kicked water at each other from puddles. I couldn't remember having more fun.

We earned quite a few stares while we played in the rain. I didn't care. I picked up thoughts around us… of confusion… of amusement. My smile grew impossibly more wide when I heard the jealous thoughts of one individual we passed. But when one man walked near, peering at us from beneath the cover of his umbrella, his thoughts made me turn my face toward Bella with alarm. She was skipping a few steps in front of me, unaware of how she had attracted the man's attention. But I tugged her hand hard, causing her to spin towards me before I pulled her close to my chest.

"Edward!" She was taken by surprise and shocked by my sudden movements. Rain dripped from her hair and down her face as she turned her startled brown eyes up toward me. "What is it?"

"Your shirt," I said while gritting my teeth. I steeled my jaw and turned my face away from Bella, trying to afford her some privacy. But my body was reacting very strongly to the warmth of her chest pressed against mine; separated only by a couple layers of very wet- and in her case- very transparent cotton.

"Oh my God!" She whispered, looking down. I could hear the mortification in her voice. "I had no idea!"

"Here," I muttered. I immediately unbuttoned my shirt and took it off, trying to block her from the view of other possible bystanders. She quickly thrust her arms through the sleeves. While she pushed the cuffs up past her hands, I fastened the buttons down the front of the shirt, feeling the back of my fingers burn where they brushed against her.

"Thank you," she said quietly. My own a-line t-shirt offered me no protection from the elements. But my navy button-up covered Bella completely.

"My pleasure," I smiled, trying to alleviate her embarrassment.

"I guess you can't have a real Spring Break without at least one wet t-shirt contest, huh?" Bella was joking, but still sounded nervous. I looked up at her and stared deep into her eyes.

"You, my dear, would have won first prize."

Bella tipped her face up toward the rain and laughed, tension finally gone.

"Did you look?" She slapped at my arm while I shook my head and refused to admit to peeking. "And I was just about to accuse you of being a gentleman again!"

I took her hand with a twisted grin, and we walked the rest of the way to our hotel. Bella giggled breathlessly as I pulled her through the fine lobby. Our shoes squished and slid across the elegantly waxed floors. We looked half-drowned as we dripped water from our sodden clothing all the way to the elevators. It was within the small confines of the elevator that I noticed Bella's teeth chattering.

"I never thought I'd see the day," I teased. "But Isabella Swan, you look cold!"

"I'm freezing!" She admitted.

Once in the room, I walked straight to the master bath and turned on all of the faucets to fill the over-sized tub with hot water. I twisted the lid of the hotel-issued bubble bath and sniffed at it cautiously before turning the entire contents of the bottle into the steaming water. Bella giggled from the doorway while removing her shoes and socks.

"I could probably step into that bath fully clothed, and still end up less wet than I am right now!" Bella joked.

"Hmm. You're probably right," I agreed. Then I rushed to her side and scooped her up into my arms before she had time to see my intentions.

"Edward!" She squealed and squirmed against my chest. "What are you doing?"

"Testing your theory!" I said. I strode to the edge of the tub and placed her, fully clothed, into the water.

The look on her face was so comical, it was priceless. Her mouth hung open in shock when she realized what I had done. So I laughed.

"I… can't believe you!" she sputtered. I just grinned and pulled my own socks and shoes off, tossing them to the side.

"Scoot back!" I instructed. As she complied and slid to the back of the tub, I launched myself over the edge with a large splash. I could hear her laughing when I emerged, shaking my head and wiping soap from my face.

"You've gone crazy!" she laughed.

"Maybe I have!"

"I think I like it," Bella complimented with a smile. I just pulled my thin white t-shirt up and over my head before tossing it to the floor near my shoes with a wet thwack against the marble tile.

Bella grinned and shed my button-up shirt, throwing it in the same direction. Her pink t-shirt joined it and I could see the white lacy straps of her bra above the bubbles that hid everything below. She raised her eyebrow as if she was challenging me to continue. So I tugged my denim jeans off, made heavy by the water, and added them to the pile of soaking wet clothing on the floor. Bella pursed her lips, and the water sloshed as she struggled to remove her own jeans below the suds. Soon, they were thrown out of the tub too. She looked at me again then, checking my next move. I laughed.

"Don't worry! I plan to leave my boxers on, so I won't compromise your modesty!"

"Good idea," she sighed.

As if it were the most natural thing in the world for us both to bathe together in our underwear, we leaned against our respective sides of the tub and warmed our bodies in the fragrant water.

"What show are we going to see tonight?" Bella asked, stretching her toe to rub against the gold fixture on the side of the tub.

"The Phantom of the Opera."

The water splashed against the sides of the tub while Bella sat up quickly in excitement.

"Bubbles," I warned her.

"Sorry," she blushed and sank back down under the water and out of my line of sight. "I just can't believe we are going to that show. I've never seen it. And I've always wanted to!"

"I know," I admitted quietly, though I would have loved to take the credit for the idea. "Alice told me."

"That's right!" I could hear that she remembered the conversation she had with my sister. "I really like Alice, Edward. And Jasper too. They are very kind. And they are lots of fun."

"They really like you too," I said sincerely.

Bella slid down until her head disappeared under the water. I held my breath until she re-emerged. Then I moved forward with a washcloth in hand. She sat still under my attention as I carefully wiped the soap away from her eyes.

"Thanks," she breathed.

"Anytime."

Bella opened her wide eyes to look at me when I didn't immediately make a move to return to my side of the tub, and I swore the water increased in temperature by at least twenty degrees. My eyes shifted down to her mouth. I stared at the water drops that lingered there. Her breath caught, and I raised my hand tentatively towards her face.

She didn't move away. I swallowed hard and let my fingers graze lightly down her cheek. Then, as softly as I was able, I cupped her chin in my hand and allowed my thumb to trace her lips.

"Bella… I want…"

"Yes, Edward?" Her scent swirled around me, and I held my breath. I was hyper-aware that we were both barely dressed. And I was fairly sure that if I gave in to the feelings that were coursing through my body, I'd never stop with just a simple kiss.

"I want… to let you finish your bath." I slid away from her before I could change my mind. "You should probably cover your eyes!" And then I jumped from the tub and wrapped a large towel around my waist. Wet boxer-briefs probably wouldn't be conducive to protecting Bella's modesty, and certainly not at my current state of arousal.

I didn't look at her as I picked up our wet clothing and dropped it into the sink basin. I also took an extra towel and mopped up the large puddle of water that we had created, so that Bella wouldn't slip when she got out of the tub.

When I finally dared to look back at her, Bella was resting with her head back and her eyes closed. A small smile played around her lips, making me believe that she wasn't upset with my sudden departure.

"Hey Edward?" Bella called my name as I was leaving the room, causing me to take a step back and look at her. Her eyes were still closed.

"Yes?" I asked, cautiously.

"You should know… I peeked," she grinned. I shook my head and laughed.

"Well then, you should know… I did too."

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