I DREAM OF RAINBOWS

Disclaimer: The Cullen's, the Swans, and most of the characters mentioned in the story that are known from Stephanie Meyer's beloved Twilight Saga, are all hers and hers alone. I neither have nor wish to pass them off as mine. I do appreciate the fact that she did bring them to life and allows us to play with them in our imaginations. The only thing I will claim is the current storyline.

The awesome and talented dowlingnana searched out my errors and corrected them.

It totally surprised him when he heard the unsuspecting voice on the phone. A smile quickly spread across his face as he agreed to what the caller was asking him.

CHAPTER 58: DECISIONS

"Edward, I heard from the hotel personnel about your kind thoughts to meet me at the airport. Sorry, we missed each other, however, since you're here at the same hotel how about having dinner with me in about an hour?" Bella offered.

"I would be absolutely delighted. Thanks for the invitation." Edward responded with a sugar-sweet tone of voice. He didn't want his miffed attitude about how his lost opportunity to meet up with Bella at the airport to interfere with how his interactions with Isabella Swan proceeded.

With a slight sigh, Edward tosses back his drink and leaves the hotel bar heading for his room. He felt that his luck was about to take a turnaround since Bella had called him with her invitation.

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Bella was glad that she was able to contact Edward, she really wasn't looking forward to dining by herself. Also, this gave Edward a chance to prove that he was on the path of reforming his attitude towards women; at least, that's what she was hoping.

Bella called down to room service with her choices for dinner that was to be served in ninety minutes time. She had been out enough with Edward in L. A. to know what he liked to eat. After that she went into her bedroom to take a shower and to get ready for Edward's arrival. She wanted to look nice for her guest without overstating her mixed-up emotional reaction to the man.

In other words, she didn't want to give him the wrong impression of what she was offering. Bella wanted to maintain a friendly relationship with Edward until she was surer of his attitude change. Also, to make sure that he was feeling the same about her that she was feeling about him; emotionally and sexually drawn toward the man. However, she didn't want to enter a relationship that was unstable; one that was built on one-night stands or fuck buddy status.

Time passed swiftly without Bella really being aware of its passage until her attention was brought to that point by the knock that she heard at her door. Glancing over at the clock and then taking a quick look into the mirror to make sure she was ready Bella went to answer the door. She knew that it was Edward with still a half-hour left before their dinner would be arriving.

She opened the door and stepped back far enough to allow Edward entrance into her room. Once he was inside and the door closed, she invited him to be seated, then polite, unimportant conversation began until their food arrived.

"Bella, you seem a bit uncomfortable with my presence. Can I ask you why without you taking my question the wrong way?" Edward questioned since he wasn't able to decide what was causing Bella to be so, or at least, appear to be so guarded in his presence tonight. He wasn't aware of anything that he had done or any gesture that he had made that would make her feel so uneasy with him.

"No, Edward, I'm not uncomfortable being with you. I'm just kind of tired from the flight. But after learning that you were here and all that you tried to do to greet me at JFK, I knew that I needed to contact you. What you did was sweet and adorable." Bella told him with a small smile on her face. Then she leaned over and gave him a small peck on the lips.

Edward frowned a little at Bella's use of the words sweet and adorable where he was concerned. No one had ever accused him of being that before. It made him sound like he was less than a man, and that didn't sit well with him. He was a man through and through and that front was what he presented to the world, especially in the business world.

Once dinner arrived, Bella told him, "I know I didn't ask what you might prefer for dinner, but after being out with you enough times I felt that I know what you might like to have to eat."

After Edward saw what was being served for dinner, he smiled and agreed that Bella was right about what he liked.

Conversation during dinner flowed with ease without any more discomfort appearing from Bella. She wasn't sure why she had been so nervous in the first place because Edward's attitude was just as pleasant and endearing to her now as it had been back in L. A.

With enjoying each other's company, Bella and Edward were unaware at first of just how late it was getting. Time seemed to have forgotten their existence.

Edward realized how tired Bella must be when she tried to hide a yawn. He rose to take his leave with telling Bella goodnight, However, Bella wasn't ready to call an end to the evening; not just yet and she couldn't understand why she was feeling that way at that particular moment. She was enjoying Edward's company too much. Then she reasoned that perhaps Edward might be tired since he also had flown in that same day.

She saw Edward slowly moving towards the door, almost as if he wasn't wanting to leave either. Bella followed him to the door and was reaching out to open it at the same time as Edward when both of their hands collided with each other. Both of them feeling what seemed to be an electric shock, and this wasn't the first time they had felt it. Neither had an explanation for such a reaction.

Each quickly jerked their hand back as if they had been burnt. They looked down at their hand before lifting their eyes to look at each other. And, again as if acting as one, each opened their mouth as if to say something, but just as quickly closed their mouth without a word passing their lips.

Still with no words being spoken, the two continued to look at each other and without thinking about what they were doing, slowly began moving toward each other. Bella and Edward reached out for the other and as their bodies came together against each other, Edward slipped his arms around her body and pulled her even closer while Bella raised her arms to circle around his neck to pull his head even closer as she threaded her fingers into his hair and grasped it tightly bringing forth a soft moan from Edward.

Both came together in a searing kiss that neither gave conscious thought of ending, however, the need for air won the battle that forced them to part slightly to be able to breathe. Then without thought they came together once more in another passionate, heart-stopping, breath-stealing kiss. Not stopping to think about what he was doing Edward swiftly swung Bella around to where she was pinned against the wall next to the door without either breaking their hold on the other.

Bella hiked one of her legs up around Edward's waist which prompted him to reach and bring her other leg up on his other side. With her legs around his waist, Bella tightened the grip so she wouldn't slide and felt Edward growing hard in just the spot that she needed.

It was the sound in the hallway of other guests in the hotel returning to their rooms that snapped both Edward's and Bella's attention back to what was on the fast track of quickly getting out of hand.

Rapidly disengaging from each other with Edward assisting Bella to regain a firm standing as she placed her feet back on the floor. Bella was speechless because of what she had almost allowed to happen and how she had behaved.

Poor Edward was upset because of how quickly things had almost happened with him having very little control over things, especially his emotions.

Running his hand through his hair and then pinching the bridge of his nose, Edward told Bella without looking directly at her, "I'm sorry for getting so carried away like I did. That wasn't my intention when I accepted your dinner invitation. I had no intentions of taking advantage of you or taking this time together in the direction that it was going.

"I hope you'll forgive me and not let it ruin the friendship that is developing between us?" And with that said Edward didn't pause as he walked to the door and left leaving an opened mouth and a stunned-looking Bella behind.

Bella knew that what had almost happened wasn't a one-sided situation; it had taken both of them to implement such action. Also, it wasn't anyone's fault since it was clear that they were both attracted to each other. However, Bella was disappointed that they weren't able to go any further, although she knew that it would not have been a wise decision for either of them right now. She knew that she was feeling frustrated as hell, sexually, but she couldn't let that be the deciding factor of any actions she took where Edward was concerned.

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Edward returned to his room wondering if Isabella Swan was feeling as frustrated with how things had taken such a turn as he was. He didn't want to have to stop and was indeed finding immense pleasure in holding Bella in his arms and the feel of her body resting in just the right areas, especially after she had hiked herself up around his waist. That is until he was brought back to his senses.

At the same time, he had to admit to himself that it was fortunate that other noisy hotel guests had brought both of their attention back to what was fast getting out of control.

He was sure that Isabella felt like being more than just a friend, but he wasn't sure, anymore, how he was feeling towards her. Edward knew that his emotions were so mixed up with what he was now wanting from Bella. Did he still want just one night with her to be able to put her in the same class as he did all of his other conquests or was, he moving towards wanting more? After that thought enters his mind, the question pops up as to what more would a deeper relationship entail. This situation as it stood now was something that would be on his mind the rest of the night and, for some time to come.

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Back in L. A. several people were wondering how things were going in New York. Bella had talked with Alice earlier and with her dad, but nothing since then. Both Alice and Rosalie were curious as to how the dinner invitation had gone and what type of ass had Edward made of himself.

It was driving them crazy not knowing, but they had decided to wait until Bella called them with news of what Edward might be up to.

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Neither Jasper nor Emmett had told their parents that Edward had followed Bella to New York, but they did tell them that he had gone to take care of some personal business.

Carlisle told the two to leave their brother alone so Edward could have time to work out his own demons. That hopefully that was why Edward had taken some time off; to sort himself out to be more like the man he had been raised to be.

Both Carlisle and Esme had been worried for a long time about Edward and the casual approach he always took toward women. The way young girls in his school years and then later in the business world, how women reacted to Edward's looks did nothing but spoil him and helped to lead him to the attitude that he now possesses.

He didn't disrespect them, but he refused to give them any sort of acknowledgment or commitment after having spent time with them. He had, over the years, become a total manwhore. That type of behavior has caused great concern to his parents.

In a way it is what has influenced how Edward had been treating Isabella Swan from the first meeting until recently. What managed to change Edward's attitude is unknown, but his parents prayed that it was a permanent change.

Only time would tell.

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Bella was kept busy with the conference and Edward decided to go see some friends that resided in New York, so he never saw Bella again after that first night of their arrival. But after a couple of days, Edward grew restless and decided to return to L. A.

He didn't let anyone know that he had arrived back home. All that he wanted to do was to have some quiet time to see if he could sort out his feelings towards Bella, however, even a couple of days on his own at home didn't do anything to bring him closer to an answer. Edward decided to return to work and just showed up at the office to everyone's surprise.

A/N: Edward is a very confused individual right now. He knows that he's feeling something for Bella, but do you think that he'll figure it in time? And Bella needs to come to accept how she's feeling about Edward, but the big question is how much will she take of his nonsense before blowing him off altogether?

Thanks for reading and looking forward to hearing from you.