Sorry for the delay – lots going on! Last chapter was heavy, so let's lighten it up a bit!
All my love to Frannie and my prereaders – how we get any reading or writing done I'll never know lmaoooo.
Edward
The last thing I want to do tonight is say goodbye to her.
She feels the same.
I think.
The looks she's giving from her place next to me at our table at the outside bar makes me think she wants to stay as much as I do.
We'll use the moon and sunrise as our clocks and the ocean waves beating against the shore as reminders that a world exists outside of the two of us.
Sometimes she makes me forget.
It's easy to blend in here; her friends act as if I've been around forever as opposed to only the handful of days Bella and I have known each other. There is none of that 'new guy' awkwardness. I never once feel like I don't belong here, which says a lot about the people I'm with.
I can see myself joining their Happy Hour again.
To be honest, I can see myself doing a lot of things if they involve Bella.
We've been at the bar for hours, the crowd dwindling as the night wears on, but I barely notice. I can't take my eyes off her.
It's not just the way she looks; I'm mesmerized by the words she says, the way she laughs around the stories she tells, the way her eyes widen when Jessica says something crazy.
The drinks keep filling around us, but I nurse mine slowly. Even if I wasn't planning on driving home, I want to be able to look at her and remember what she looked like tonight – the night I knew.
Her hair blows softly from the wind off the ocean, landing on the smooth skin of her shoulders and occasionally across her face. I watch as her fingers naturally put the errant strands back into place behind her ear, only for the wind to blow it right back just moments later. It's distracting, in the best way, as this is the perfect way to end my first week of work.
My golf outing feels like it was ions ago instead of just hours, and I know it's all because this is the moment I was gearing up for all week. I had the golf event planned before even meeting her, but I can see that the impromptu golf outing with my boss was just a stepping stone to bring me to her.
I think, on some level, we were always supposed to find each other.
Jessica and Mike take our cash and go up to the bar to settle the tab for the night, leaving Bella and me alone for the first time all night.
It might have been a blessing to be surrounded by others for the majority of the evening because once it's just the two of us, all I can do is think about how I can keep this night going. I'm not ready to say goodbye to her or her smile or her legs that make me imagine them wrapped around my neck.
Luckily, Bella starts talking, so it takes my mind off the thoughts ravaging my head.
"So what'd ya think?" She asks, her eyes scanning our surroundings. My own trail after hers, taking in the tiki torches strategically placed on both the beach below us and the wooden deck where we sit. My eyes land next on the black ocean and the pier, alight with lanterns and other official lights guiding the vessels at sea. There are several small boats on the waves in front of us, anchored until morning yet rocking in the water.
"What's not to like?" I answer her, turning my gaze back on her face. Her skin, illuminated by the glow of the tiki torches and moonlight, makes me want to touch it. "This is amazing."
"That's why we always come back," she laughs, nodding in agreement. "We try other places every now and then, but we always end up back here."
I take the final sip of my drink and place it down on the high-top table between us.
"I can see why."
I've been to beach bars in my lifetime, but I can already tell there's something about this one that stands out from the rest.
There's a good chance it could be because of the girl I'm with, the one who crosses her legs and reveals a swath of skin that makes me lean closer to her any way I can. Innocent move by her or not, I like what I see and am not above begging to see more.
"Was there a place you liked to go back in D.C.?" She asks, angling her body so the wind is to her back. It makes her even closer than she was before, our legs now touching beneath the table, and I can feel the night shift. The sparks that have been between us since our beginning now threaten to ignite here at the table.
To stop myself from lunging at her, I tilt my head to the side as I think back, contemplating some of my favorite hangouts from back home. A few come to mind, but the memories are tinged with Lauren's betrayal – making flashes fill my head of Brady pulling me away from places; sloppy, and angry at the world around me.
It's not something I want to dwell on right now, with a new and beautiful girl next to me.
"A couple, yeah. But after a while, I needed a change of pace."
And even though it's only been a week, I think Willow Creek is just the change of pace I'm looking for.
Bella laughs quietly against the breeze from the water. "You too?"
I return her smile; it's contagious. "What do you mean?"
She shrugs and looks out over the ocean. "I see it a lot; people come here to slow down their lives or something." She turns her gaze towards me, her eyes finding mine beneath the amber lighting. "Is that what brought you here to Willow Creek?"
I nod slowly, not wanting to spoil the night with sour tales. "Something like that, so I guess you're right in a way." I give her shoulder a little nudge with my own. "But I really did have a job transfer. I didn't just up and leave like I originally wanted to."
If it had been up to me, I would have left D.C. the second I found out about Lauren and her little visitor, but luckily my family and friends convinced me to stay and figure out how to live a life in the same city without her. I had spent a long time working on getting where I was, and once I had been able to think rationally, I was glad I had waited. The transfer I had put in for had taken time, but I can't help but acknowledge that if I hadn't followed this very path, the chances of Bella and I ever meeting would be pretty slim.
The thought of that hits me harder than I'm ready to admit.
"So, if you didn't have a transfer, but you wanted to get out of D.C. quickly, where would your first pick be?"
I can't take my eyes away from her. They dance across her face, unable to stay in one spot for long as I want to commit them all to memory. Clearing my throat, I try to remain focused on our conversation and not on the way her lips rest in a soft smile, waiting for my response. "I've always loved being in a place where I could experience all four seasons, you know? Snow in the winter, beach trips in the summer, outdoor firepits in the fall. And the Cherry Blossoms in D.C. in the spring?" I shake my head as I remember all the strolls I used to take beneath them. "It was perfect."
She doesn't need to live a life surrounded by books to be able to read between the lines.
"Until it wasn't?"
I nod, my eyes daring to glance at her lips again before up to the chocolate pools of her eyes.
"Exactly."
Nodding, she moves her empty glass next to mine. "I tried once. Moving away." Bella gives her head another tiny shake, an aroma coming from her hair that the wind catches and blows in my direction, reminding me of coconuts and a day on the beach. "Didn't last. I just couldn't shake this place from my memory."
I understand her meaning.
"I've only been here a week," I answer, looking around where we've spent the last several hours, "but this place, Willow Creek, I can't imagine being anyplace but here."
I leave out the rest of my thoughts, but it's been sitting on my tongue since I met her a few days ago.
It's because of her.
"Another one bites the dust, huh?" Jessica jokes as she returns from paying our tab at the bar, dropping our change on the table between us. I guess it was pretty obvious that Willow Creek had definitely won me over, though I'm not sure if Jessica is speaking about the town or the girl whose hand I reach out to beneath the table.
I digest her words as we say goodbye for the night, accepting that without a doubt, I have bitten the dust so hard I can fucking taste it.
-m-
The week catches up to me by the time I make it back to my bed, and all I remember is dragging myself inside my apartment and flopping face down onto my blankets, too tired to move or change into other clothes. I had settled on disrobing as I made my way down my hallway, and later in the afternoon, when I finally decide I'd had enough rest, I find clothes scattered about the house.
I'm not surprised I had slept this late; I feel like my life has been in overdrive since I moved here exactly a week ago today. I had spent the week moving and settling in, buying items for the apartment I thought of as I went along, and learning new facets of my job and the new people that came along with it. All of that is to be expected when relocating to a new job and place to live, so it didn't bother me.
The library visits and trips to the bar with Bella were completely unplanned events, and I find myself unprepared for the feelings brewing inside of me.
The fear of not fitting in as the new guy at work? Bring it on.
The stress of not having all of my furniture in the move? I knew that was coming.
The awkwardness of adjusting to a new routine? I was ready.
My first thought upon waking; when can I see her again? Not prepared.
…Whatsoever.
I think to myself as I stretch in bed, not willing to leave the comfort of my cool sheets in a hot Carolina summer just yet. Even though my days of mourning my relationship with Lauren are long over, I haven't been trying to put myself back out there just yet. I've been enjoying living my life on my own terms. I didn't have a set time I was expected to be home; I didn't have my cell glued to my body so I could be in contact with anyone at all points in a day.
I had spent the last year enjoying my freedom, even if I usually chose to spend it with myself or Brady on our quiet and dilapidated porch in D.C.
Another reason is that I've only lived in the town for a week. Shouldn't I be trying to meet new people instead of clinging to the first person I met outside of work?
I probably should. I probably should be doing both – enjoying my freedom while also meeting new people in Willow Creek, but I can't. I won't.
The funny thing is, I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything. When I reach for my phone, I'm not looking to see what time it is – I'm looking to see if she had reached out to me. When I think about going around town to see and try new places, she's the only one I see myself experiencing it with.
And it doesn't bother me.
At all.
In fact, it puts a smile on my face as I rub the sleep out of my eyes and step into the shower. The smile stays on my face for the remainder of the afternoon as I keep myself busy with various tasks around the apartment that I put off all week. I'm drilling a set of shelves into my wall in the living room when my phone rings, and I'm a little disappointed when I see Brady's name pop up instead of Bella's. Bella and I had been texting back and forth for the last hour, nothing of importance but still completely entertaining.
I fill Brady in on my first full week and try to skirt my interactions with Bella, as I still want to keep them to myself for now. But since I had made the mistake of telling him about her a few days earlier, he won't let it go.
Brady had seen me at my worst last year, and I think he's a little sore that I had gotten the wind in my sails mere days after I moved away. I hadn't been much of a wingman for him; I can admit that.
"Already?" He asks when I tell him how hooked she's already got me. I don't give him the details he wants, privately enjoying the flashes I see in my head of the favorite parts I've seen of her. "I mean, I know you said she was hot, but -"
I cut him off. "Beyond hot."
"So, what are you gonna do next? I can't believe I'm missing this," he laughs. "It's been a long time since I've had a good laugh."
He's referring to the times I've failed in being the smooth one in the friendship who brings home the girls. We had learned the hard way that since I had been with Lauren for so long, I had completely forgotten all my training in the world of women.
It had been Brady's primary source of entertainment.
Bastard.
"I don't really have a plan," I admit, shrugging my shoulders even though he can't see me. I'm sitting on my leather couch, hitting the button on the recliner, so my feet rise, and my back lowers.
"Now I'm pissed I'm missing this," Brady says. "You ready for a visitor yet? I need to witness this in person."
I laugh.
"Soon, man," I answer, looking over at the clock so I don't lose track of time. "Turns out I have a client in town for the next couple of days I need to wine and dine if I want to score this account."
I fill him in on my golf outing, telling him that the round of golf we played was a backdrop to the networking my boss had set me up for. I tell Brady the same thing I told Bella last night – nailing this account would be critical for not only myself personally, but professionally I have the opportunity to pave the way for clients even more influential than the Calls. They'll be in for the weekend, and my boss had told them he would show all of us around since they were visiting, and I hadn't had a chance to explore much in the week I'd been there.
Our first stop is to an upscale downtown restaurant tonight at seven. Bella had told me last night how to dress, and I had never been gladder I had packed one of my fancier suits for occasions like these. It had crossed my mind to leave them back in D.C. at my parent's house for now, thinking I would have more time to build my portfolio before events such as these were booked into my schedule.
"So that means you won't be asking her out this weekend?"
It bums me that I won't be seeing her this weekend, but I remind myself that meeting with the Calls has to be my priority for now.
"Bella's actually heading to her parents this weekend." There is a yearly festival back in her hometown that she never misses, so it helps to know that even if I did want to take her out this weekend, she would turn me down because of her plans. "So nothing this weekend, no."
"Sorry, man."
I shake my head, and my phone vibrates against my ear with another text from Bella. She's been sending me pictures of the festival, each message giving me a look into this new state where I live. I put Brady on speakerphone so I can scroll through the pictures at the same time, getting a kick out of the things Bella finds interesting.
Each picture is another insight into who she is, and I feel like I'm getting to know her better with each text.
"It's fine. I've got her number," I tell him, and it really is exactly that.
Fine. These baby steps will suffice for now.
-m-
The next week passes by in a blur.
The meeting I had Saturday night with the Calls went extremely well. In fact, it went so well they've been in my office all week, looking through my files and portfolio to get a better idea of my work and how it would fit with the image they are in search of for their company. They want me to design a website that would not only bring incoming traffic but would keep them returning as well.
They're friendly, Mr. Call and his team, but fierce and effective when it comes to getting what they want. They're fair, yet I've had to bust my ass to make sure what they want to see is up to their standards. I've stayed at work until the cleaning crew told me to go home because I was in their way. I had forgotten a meal here or there because I had completely lost track of time—and worst of all? I hadn't had a chance to get to the library once this week.
Not once.
Not even for a quick hello, and it bothers me more than I realize. Talking to her when I have a free minute helps, even though it's quick and between meetings or between hours spent working in front of my computer screen. She's been helpful, knowing how important the Calls are, and even had a pizza delivery sent to my place on a night she knew I was still crouching at my desk at home.
It all comes to a head Thursday of that week when I think I've finally convinced them I'm the man for the job.
"You've got talent, Mr. Cullen." Mr. Call says, sitting in our conference room after I've finished yet another presentation of how I can benefit their company. "You've impressed us this week."
I'm sitting across from him at the long table, along with my boss, Mr. Banner, and the rest of Call's team.
I hope he doesn't see the huge exhale of breath I let out that I hadn't realized I'd been holding. "You have no idea how grateful I am to hear that, Sir."
He nods slowly in appreciation.
"Come out to our headquarters in Vegas," he continues. "I want you to see us firsthand."
"We'll have Heidi arrange for travel and lodging," Mr. Banner agrees, reaching for the phone in the center of the table to call our secretary to begin scheduling our flights out. "Edward?"
I know him asking me is polite, but it goes without explanation that I am to agree to Mr. Call's request. I don't hesitate to answer him.
"Absolutely," I reply, offering Mr. Call a firm and confident handshake. "I'm looking forward to seeing it all in action."
Mr. Call eagerly shakes my hand in return.
"Us, as well."
Heidi works fast, securing us a late flight out that night. Mr. Banner is ecstatic, both for himself and for me, and sends me home to quickly pack what I would need for a few days in Vegas. I've been there before, though I think the reasons are vastly different as I'll be going with my boss this time and not as a member of a bachelor party.
I don't think I'll be watching a stripper open a beer with her ass cheeks this time around, but hey, you never know.
What happens in Vegas…
I'm zipping up the last of my luggage when my phone vibrates with a text from Bella. I have a little over an hour before my shuttle to the airport picks me up at the office.
Vegas?! Happy for you and only twenty percent jealous.
Her response to my spontaneous trip has me laughing as I close up my place for the next few nights, making sure all windows and doors are locked.
I'm looking forward to it, not gonna lie.
Even though our trip is mostly business, sipping on a tropical drink with an umbrella in it by the pool wouldn't suck.
I would be too! How long?
Just a quick trip. I'll be home late Sunday. At least Banner is giving me Monday off.
There's a good chance I'll probably have fallen over from exhaustion by that point, but I am grateful for having a day to recharge so I could start fresh Tuesday morning.
Oo! Monday's my day off too.
No matter how tired I'll be by then, I don't think I could turn down a chance to finally see her again. It had been almost a week since our night at the bar, and glancing at my clock, an idea pops into my head.
You working now?
Yup. Closing tonight.
The library is a block away from my office, and instead of waiting, I call an Uber to take me to my office a little earlier than planned. The shuttle would be picking Mr. Banner and me up at the office to take us to the airport, so when the Uber drops me off, I leave my things at my desk and head over to take care of the final and most important thing I need to do before I leave.
It's a quick walk, but I feel like time is against me. I don't want to be late for Mr. Banner, but I also need to see Bella one last time before I fly across the country. I check my watch one more time and speed my steps on the sidewalk that connects her library to my office.
Now that my hard work is almost behind me and I can almost see the finish line ahead, I can see clearly again – and Bella is the only thing I see.
"Biographies," Jess says with a smile, her eyes not leaving the computer at the front desk. I didn't tell her I was coming, but the fact that Jess knows I'm here for Bella only makes me walk faster to find her. I know where the biographies are by now, even though I've only been here twice; Bella and I must have passed it on the impressive tour she had given me that one time.
Regardless, that is where I find her. She's stretching up to almost the top shelf, focused on whatever task had brought her to this empty row to begin with, so she doesn't see me coming.
Just as she turns around and spots me, I see her face brighten.
I only see it briefly, though.
Faster than she can utter a single word, I close the space between us and press my lips to hers, my eyes closing. The rest of the world turns off as I use one arm to wrap around her waist, pulling her flush against my body. My other hand reaches for her face, my thumb resting against her cheek, my other fingers resting in the delicate space between her neck and below her ear.
She gasps into my mouth, completely unprepared for my visit, let alone for my kiss, but she doesn't falter.
Instead, she melts.
Where she melts, I burn.
Her lips are soft, so soft I demand more. I'm probably not as gentle as I had planned to be, but it's hard to rein myself in when she's kissing me back the way she is. Her hands grip the neckline of my shirt, pulling me down to her so strongly that we stumble back into the books behind her.
It doesn't stop us.
Her lips on mine are the fuel I've needed the past year; it's what I've been missing my whole life. The tip of her tongue gently dancing with mine makes me tighten my grip on her waist, my fingertips feeling the stretch of skin that is visible only because we've collided in such an embrace that we forget where we are and what is around us.
We must realize this at the same time, both of us pulling apart reluctantly to look around. Our foreheads touch when we see we're completely alone.
We try to regain our breaths in our little row, far away from anyone or anything. The only thing that matters is the small kisses she gives me that are slowly bringing me back to life. The trail of kisses I leave down her neck has her hands knotting in the hair at the nape of my neck.
"Something tells me you're not here to return your books," she quietly pants as I find my way back to her.
"Definitely not," I answer, again taking her lips against mine. I sigh into her mouth when she tangles her arms around my neck, loving the way she has to stand on the tips of her toes in order to reach me. Her movement makes her stretch her torso against my own, so I have no choice but to slowly wrap both arms around her waist, my hands running up and down her back as our lips wreak havoc on one another once more.
"You should," Bella says when we part. Her lips are swollen and her eyes heavy, and it makes me want to cancel my whole trip to Vegas and stay with her. "They're late."
She doesn't let me answer her, instead reaching down to pull my face to hers again.
"Is there a fine to pay?" I ask when we come up for air again. Now that I've started, I don't know if I'll ever be able to get enough of her.
When one hand slides beneath my shirt, resting against my stomach with her eyes full of want, I know the answer.
"A hefty one." She whispers. "It's ten cents a day for each day you're late."
"Mighty steep," I reply, the smiles on both of our faces deliriously happy. "How will I ever repay you?"
She takes a moment to think.
"I'll cover the cost. Take me out for dinner instead."
She sends me off to Vegas on fire.
-m-
FINALLY!
Now that these two have crossed that line, it's on!
Couple of things: If you're looking for something new to read, check out The Truth in Transience by DaniDarlingxx. I preread this one for her and let me tell you, you're in for something great!
Also, check out DarkStrip, a new collab from JGaff and cullenlvr83!
Also, be on the lookout! I started a new story, a collab with my gal JGaff. Nothing has been posted yet, but we'll be posting teasers starting this Monday. Give us a follow on our new author page, JM Jill. You won't be disappointed in what we have planned for our upcoming story! Join my group, Lily Jill Fics, to keep up with the latest!
Next up: Masen. I miss him. (I admittedly have a soft spot for him. I hope you do, too!)
See you soon!