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Chapter Seventy

After Alice purchased Jasper's staple gun, I asked her to drop me off at my mom's house.

I didn't necessarily feel comfortable being there, but it was fine. It would have to be because I needed the rest of my things and it would be nice to drive the Jetta over to Edward's place.

Or was it our place?

I guess in a way it was. But I wasn't paying rent. Not yet, anyway. We'd have to talk about that.

With Edward on my mind, I called his cell and left a voice mail saying I'd be at my mom's for a while if he wanted to stop by, otherwise I'd see him later.

An hour into sorting through Renee's things, I heard his voice downstairs calling out my name.

"Up here," I yelled from the loft area upstairs.

"Hey, baby," he said as he moved from the last stair, surveying the mess I had created.

I had three piles of shit in the middle of the room. One for items I was sending to Renee, one for items I was donating, and one for items that were just...shit. Stuff that would be thrown into the trash.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor, I stared up at Edward's smiling face, crisp shirt rolled up to his elbows and disarrayed hair.

I almost immediately retracted my thought about no counter sex. That just seemed like punishment towards myself and, well, my days of being masochistic were over.

"You look like you're thinking hard about something." He grinned easily as he sat next to me on the floor.

I pushed my hair over my shoulder and gave him a sly smile as he leaned over and kissed me hard, both hands on either side of my face.

It lasted a beat too long, leaving me breathless and wanting more.

Always wanting more.

"Wow." I pulled back and blinked rapidly. "What was that for?"

"What? I can't kiss you?" He pouted and kissed me, once more, sweetly.

"Of course you can." I shrugged and lowered my eyes. "How was work?"

"It was fine," he said, almost immediately changing the subject. "How was Alice?"

"She was..." I knew I had to choose my words carefully. "She was Alice."

"That makes perfect sense," Edward agreed seriously. "I hope she wasn't too much though."

"So. Work?" I asked again.

Edward searched my face for a moment before his lips curled into a smirk. "Bella."

"What?"

"Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"You obviously know something. If you want to ask why I didn't go back to work after lunch, then ask. Don't play games," he commanded and brought his hand to the back of my neck before rubbing my head. "You trust me."

"I know I do." I practically moaned as tendrils of my hair fell around my face, blocking my view of him. "So. Why didn't you go back to work?"

"I can't tell you."

"You just said I could ask."

"But I never said I would tell you," he pointed out and I rolled my eyes.

"Fine."

Edward laughed and produced those eye crinkles that always seemed to put me at ease. "What if it's some huge birthday surprise and it's going to be ruined because you're being suspicious?"

"That's fine. I don't even like surprises anyway. The one time I had a surprise birthday party, I got pantsed near the end of the night. Underwear and all. I hate surprises and I hate birthdays and I don't like you being sneaky."

From the way I was acting, one would assume I was about to celebrate my fifth birthday.

I needed to get a hold of myself.

Fast.

"Hey. I'm not being sneaky." Edward sounded slightly offended.

"Well you're being something."

"Yeah? So are you and it's definitely not eloquent," Edward teased and I narrowed my eyes. "Come on, baby. Just play along."

"Okay. Let's talk about rent."

Edward flinched. "Okay?"

"I'll pay half of everything," I said quickly. "And no, don't give me that look."

"It's really not necessary."

"Yes, it is."

"Let me take care of you," he whispered, sending shivers down my spine.

Good, heart bursting shivers. Not the shivers you feel when walking into a haunted bed and breakfast.

"I'll pay for half, end of story."

Edward scoffed. "You don't need to pay half of the rent, Bella. You need to just go back to work and maybe school. If that's what you want to do. You can, you know. Do that. If you want. You don't have to worry about paying for stupid shit. I can help."

Of course, he would always try to help.

"You're already doing too much. I pay half or I'm leaving to find some cheap place to live. With roaches. And...only one light bulb. Maybe even a few suspicious stains on the wall."

"You wouldn't dare." Edward laughed and used his strength to force me to sit in his lap. "You couldn't even say that last part without gagging."

"Hey. I have a bad gag reflex."

"That does not bode well..." he looked down.

"A real comedian." I wrapped my arms around his neck and felt him grow hard beneath me.

He groaned and brought his lips to my neck. "Good thing I love you because you are one nosy girl."

"Ha. Good thing I love you because...because-"

Edward squeezed my leg and laughed. "Look at you- so head over heels for me you can't even speak."

"Lame jokes. That's what you have. Now, about you not being at work..."

"Bella. Come on."

"No, I was just going to say I had asked one of your employees where you were. That's how I knew you weren't there."

Edward lifted both eyebrows. "Okay?"

"You may need to fire that kid with the shaggy hair," I said while rolling my eyes. "I think I freaked him out earlier at the store. I don't need him running around town accusing me of being crazy."

"What on earth did you do?" Edward asked, looking all too amused.

"Nothing. There was just a lot of...huffing on my part. And, I may have been talking to myself. I don't know."

"If I hear any rumors I will gladly pistol whip someone for you," Edward said confidently.

I stared back with skepticism. "Do you own a gun?"

"Well, if I fire Shaggy then I'd have an extra pricing gun. That may work for the whipping."

I laughed a little too hard and said, "Sometimes you are very odd."

"You laugh an awful lot for someone who claims I have lame jokes."

"I love you and your lame ass jokes," I finally admitted.

Edward looked satisfied. "And I love your and your nosy ass."

He better.

A/N: Thanks for reading. Birthday chapter soon and I promise there will be no paper cuts or bad wigs.

Bed and Breakfast. go. read. love.