Ok, so a lot of you are very curious about the story behind Edward's tattoo. You get to hear all about it in this chapter. And. . . a few other things happen, too. LOL Thank you so much to everyone who is reading and reviewing :)
"Sit still woman, before I poke you in the eye with this comb."
"Sorry," I huffed, sitting on my hands to stop them from fidgeting.
"Tell me what this fine hunk of a man looks like," Seth said as he spritzed my hair with some sort of shine-boosting product that he'd brought with him. "I got interviewed by a bottle blonde who needed her roots done so badly I was cringing. It was actually very distracting."
I laughed, knowing how much that would have bothered him.
"Well, he's kinda tall, I think just under six feet. His eyes are green, and he's got killer lashes, too. His hair is this crazy color that's red and brown and auburn all mixed together, but it really suits him," I said with what I'm sure was a dreamy sigh. "And he's got this jaw, ya know that strong, sharp, kind that you just want to lick?"
My eyes met Seth's in the mirror and he grinned.
"Oh, honey, I most definitely know that kind."
I loved Seth. He was my go-to guy for opinions on all things involving fashion and sex. Alice was like a sister to me, but for some reason I really wasn't all that comfortable having in-depth conversations with her about the size of a guy's dick. And our tastes definitely differed when it came to clothes. Her personal style was very cutting edge and in your face, usually involving tons of bright colors. It one hundred percent worked for her and she pulled off looks I don't think anyone else could. But her style was definitely not mine.
So it was Seth I usually turned to when I needed advice on everything from what to wear on dates and the pros and cons of dating a guy who waxed his pubes. A self-proclaimed man whore who identified as being bisexual when he fell madly in love with Jake, Seth was always happy to offer his opinion if I came to him needing advice. I'd been talking to him about ordering a certain brand of vodka for the bar when Alice had bounced over and told me that Jasper had indeed found her after the wedding and asked her out for dinner. She had happily said yes, admitting that she thought he was quite good-looking and his laid back demeanor was charming. In turn, I had told Alice about Edward asking me to have coffee. Seth demanded both primping rights and details, dragging me upstairs to my apartment and going through my closet.
"Ok, I think this look is perfect for a coffee date; casual, but feminine and pretty," Seth said as he stepped back from me.
And he was right, like he always was. It was warm out, so I wore a pretty, lilac-colored cotton sundress, the halter style top partly covered by a short-sleeved lacy cardigan in ivory, paired with pearly ballet flats. My cheeks were a subtle rosy pink, my eyes defined with smokey gray shadow and mascara, and I wore my favorite plum-colored lip gloss.
I eyed the slightly tousled bun that Seth had tamed my hair up into; a few wavy, wispy, lengths fell around my face.
"It doesn't look like I tried too hard?" I asked him. "I mean this is only a meet up for coffee, it's not like an actual date-date."
"Bella, you like him, right?"
"Yes."
"Then shut up and trust me. And, when he does get around to asking you on a date-date, I get to help."
I opened my mouth to respond, but just then my intercom buzzed. I walked over to the wall and pressed the button.
"Yeah?"
"Bella, Detective Cullen is here." Jake stated.
"I'll be right down, thanks."
Seth accompanied me down in the elevator, determined to get a look at Edward. I literally felt my heart jump in my chest when the doors opened and I saw him standing over by the front desk, looking at something on his phone. His head lifted and he smiled at me as we exited the elevator.
"Oh, honey. Marry him, and marry him now," Seth murmured, and I elbowed him in the side. Subtly, of course.
Edward did look amazing, I had to admit, in dark jeans and a long-sleeved light blue dress shirt. I felt a slight pang of disappointment that his arms were completely covered today.
"Hello, Edward. This is Seth Clearwater, the best bartender in the city and also Jake's boyfriend. Seth, this is Detective Edward Cullen."
"I'm the cute one," Seth said shamelessly, shaking Edward's hand. "Nice to meet you, Edward."
"You too, Seth."
"Well, you kids have fun. Don't bring her home past curfew, Detective."
And with that Seth strolled away, but not before throwing a wink at us over his shoulder, which made me smile and shake my head.
"Excuse him," I said to Edward. "He's actually quite lovable, when he's not being a pain in the ass."
Edward laughed.
"Shall we go?" he gestured towards the door.
The coffee house that Edward had chosen was within walking distance. He ordered our coffees after asking how I took mine -one sugar, one cream- and brought them to where I'd found a vacant table by the window.
"I've never been here," I said as he sat across from me. "Even though it's close by, I've never stopped in."
"I've had breakfast here a few times, they do a killer lox bagel."
I took a sip of my coffee and surreptitiously watched his lips as he did the same. Lord, that man had the most sensual lips.
"So, before I get into the story of my tattoo, I wanted to talk to you about something," Edward said, leaning closer to me so he didn't have to talk loudly over the chatter of the coffee shop.
"Okay?"
He was silent for a few moments, his eyes dropping to the table top as he ran a hand through his hair, mussing up the bright strands. He looked nervous. Then he took a deep breath and seemed to win some sort of internal struggle. He sat up straighter and his warm green gaze met mine.
"It occurred to me, after I texted you last night, that perhaps I should have been more forthcoming with the real reason for wanting to meet you today."
Well, that wasn't what I was expecting.
"The real reason?" I repeated, eyebrow raised.
He nodded.
"I've been going back and forth over this, but I've always felt like I can read people fairly well. So, I want to be truthful."
"Go on," I said, puzzled.
"Bella, I did not ask you to have coffee with me today to discuss my tattoo. Well, it's not the main reason, anyway, although I will be happy to-"
"Edward," I interrupted. "Could you just do me a favor and spit it out?"
"I like you, Bella."
I sucked in a quick breath at his words, unable to help it. His green eyes were as intense as ever as he studied my reaction. My inner twelve year old was bouncing on her bed and screeching he likes me he likes me he likes me! But outwardly I remained calm, because it sounded like there was a 'but' coming up.
I opened my mouth to say something - what, I had no idea - but he shook his head.
"I realize that you have been through an extremely traumatic experience and perhaps what I'm hoping for is literally the very last thing on earth you are interested in right now. Remember when you asked about my compass tattoo and I said it was to remind me to trust my instincts? Well, this is one of those times I feel like I should. Like I said, I've always been good at reading people, and what I'm picking up from you does give me hope that, uh . ." He broke off and cleared his throat, sitting more forward in his seat.
"What exactly are you picking up from me?" I had to know before he continued.
"Interest," he said after a long pause. "What I'm picking up is that you might feel the same attraction for me that I feel for you, the same one I've felt getting stronger every time I see you, the same one that led me to ask you here today for coffee because I was too chicken to ask you on a real date when I saw you last night and I completely used your questions about my tattoo as an excuse to see you again," he finished in a rush.
I blinked at him, considering everything he had just revealed.
"Your people-reading skills are pretty spot on," I finally said, my voice quiet as a hot blush bloomed on my cheeks. I had to look away from him, from those jade eyes that seemed to see completely inside me. I turned the coffee cup around and round between my hands, only stopping when he nudged my foot with his beneath the table and spoke my name softly. I took a deep breath and glanced up.
His smile was wide, and my heart sputtered in my chest.
"Yeah?" he questioned softly
I nodded.
"And this is something you'd be interested in. . . pursuing?"
"Yes."
"Will you have dinner with me tomorrow night?"
"Yes."
He let out a laugh and ran his hand through his hair again.
"Well, damn. I thought it might take some convincing on my part, but that was pretty easy."
"Why did you think it might take some convincing?"
"Oh, a couple different reasons. First and most obviously, because of everything you've been through, like I mentioned. I thought maybe after what Chaser did, you'd be swearing off men forever."
I thought about that for a moment.
"I can see how a person in my position might be tempted to do that. But, I've never really been one to dwell on things, ya know? It's just not who I am. What happened, happened. But, it's done and over, why should I change my whole outlook on life because of it? What I've learned is that just because bad things happen, it doesn't mean good things won't."
Edward smiled and reached over to take my hand in his. His long fingers were calloused, but gentle as they closed around mine.
"I really like that you haven't let difficult circumstances dictate how you live your life."
I really liked the way his hand felt; all big, and warm, and a little rough.
"Um, what were the other reasons?" I asked.
He raised his eyebrow at me in question.
"You said there were a couple different reasons that you thought you might need to convince me," I clarified, distracted by his thumb as it rubbed softly against my palm.
"Well, I got to thinking that even though I was pretty sure you were feeling the same, I wasn't sure you'd be interested in a cop."
"Oh shit, is this allowed?" I asked, all of a sudden realizing there might be rules about stuff like this."I never even thought about it, but would it be some sort of conflict of interest?" I gestured between the two of us. "Can this happen?"
"If this was an open and on-going investigation, then no. But, my work as the detective assigned to the case is over, aside from some paperwork. Officer Wilcox killed Chaser in self defense with loads of evidence to back that up, so no bad guys to catch there. The Cyber Crime unit is now handling the investigation as to how that device ended up in your elevator system. So, to answer your question? Yes, this can happen." He smiled slightly as he said that. "What I meant was, the two of us lead very different lives, come from very different backgrounds. I wasn't sure if the differences would be too much."
"Does it bother you?" I asked him. "That we, as you said, live very different lives? Does it make a difference to you?" In my experience, some men were intimidated by my wealth and some were not. I didn't peg Edward for the former.
He shook his head and squeezed my hand.
"No. I wouldn't be interested at all if I thought you were just a spoiled rich girl, only concerned with things that money could buy. But, I don't get that from you at all. From everything I've come to know, you work very hard and are completely dedicated to your hotel and your staff. You have wonderful relationships with your brother and your friends, you're smart and funny as well as gorgeous. I'm interested in getting to know you more, learn things that maybe other people don't know. And, I hope you're interested into getting to really know me, too."
One thing that he said in particular stood out, and maybe it really was vain of me, but I couldn't help it.
"You think I'm gorgeous?" I asked softly.
"I think you're stunning. Even from the very first time I saw you, at the hospital."
I scoffed. "Oh yeah, I was really attractive, puking in a trashcan with a black eye and stitches."
I tried to pull my hand from his, but he held on tighter, making me look at him.
"Bella, you can think whatever you like, but I'm telling you the truth. Yes, you were injured and overwhelmed. But, that didn't stop me from noticing how soft your skin looked, or how your dark hair was so shiny and your lips the prettiest shade of pink. It was a challenge for me to remain completely professional while taking your statement; I was outraged that something so awful had happened to you and I was twisted up inside because I was immediately attracted to you, then felt awful for even thinking about that when you'd been through so much. I felt so guilty, but I couldn't help it. The feeling was there immediately and it's only gotten stronger."
I was speechless. His eyes were alight with a fire and intensity that was quickly becoming familiar to me. My heart thudded in my chest, and heat immediately flooded my body. Tendrils of flame writhed between my thighs and licked at my suddenly tight nipples. I swallowed hard.
"And Bella? Now that your eye has healed properly, I can tell you that the beautiful brown reminds me of caramel and chocolate. Two of my very favorite things, just so you know," he said, his voice low.
His gaze dropped to my lips and I instinctively licked them. I wondered for what seemed like the thousandth time how it would feel if his lips were to cover mine, how he would taste if his tongue filled my mouth. This man could arouse me with just his words, as much as any of my previous lovers could using their hands and mouths and dicks. It was insane. He hadn't even said anything sexual, but it was his eyes, that look in his eyes, that promised wicked and decadent things if I was brave enough to go there.
Edward seemed to realize that I was feeling slightly overwhelmed. He squeezed my fingers gently and offered me a smile.
"So, my tattoo."
I nodded my head, encouraging him to talk while still completely aware of the fact that he was once more rubbing small circles on the palm of my hand.
He took a deep breath.
"When I was eleven, a girl named Tanya moved with her family into the neighborhood. We had moved to Davis Island and my mother was better by then, but everything that had happened definitely impacted my life and I just wasn't the happy go lucky, outgoing kid I had been before. Our backyards were against each other and we became friends. Tanya's parents were, well, suffice to say she did not have a happy home life. Her father drank a lot and her mother was more concerned with trying to placate him than she was with taking care of her daughter. They were wealthy and very concerned with appearances. Tanya was lonely and so was I. We were two kindred spirits."
"We became closer and closer and when I was thirteen I got up the nerve to kiss her. It was terrible," he said with a laugh. "Definitely not what I'd envisioned, and that's when we decided we would just remain friends. Best friends. The year after that, she finally confessed to me that she was gay. She couldn't tell her parents; they were extremely old fashioned and would never accept her lifestyle. All she wanted to do was turn eighteen so she could access the trust fund her grandmother had set up for her, and then she was leaving. She wanted to see the world and live by her own rules. She was an amazing artist, very talented at sketching and painting, and ultimately her goal was to become an art teacher and share her love with the world."
Edward picked up his coffee cup and took a sip, looking pensive before he continued.
"Mermaids were something she was obsessed with. Ever since we were very young. She was just enchanted by them, their beauty and all of the fairy tales and folk lore that made it seem like they lived just a wonderful, idyllic life under the sea. She told me all the time how she wished she could just magically become a mermaid and swim away from all her problems. I used to tease her a lot about it."
"When we were seventeen, her parents found out. That she was gay, I mean. Tanya had invited this girl she liked over to her house because her parents were supposed to be gone for the whole evening. But they came home early and found the two of them. . . well, they found them. There was a huge, horrible fight and Tanya was grounded from leaving the house except for school. She would sneak out at night, though, and meet me. She'd have bruises and I knew it was from her father. I was really worried about her, about what was going on at her house, but she just kept telling me that she would be fine in a few months, after her birthday, because then she would leave. She was planning on going to California. She knew her parents would never, ever be okay with the way she wanted to live her life, but she was doing it anyway."
His voice trailed off and the fingers still gripping mine became tighter. I waited, knowing he was going to tell me something that was obviously upsetting to him.
"About a week before her birthday, she snuck over to my house in the middle of the night. She was pretty banged up and I wanted to call the police, but she begged me not to, begged and pleaded. She said that if her father was arrested she would have to stay and talk to the cops and deal with her mother's anger and she just didn't want to do any of that. She only wanted to go. That night, we swiped a half empty bottle of vodka from my father's liquor cabinet and took it down to this place we liked to go. It was a park with a little pond, only a few blocks from home, and in the day time there were ducks and you could feed the fish, but at night it was deserted and we would go there a lot just to talk and hang out. It was our place. We drank that vodka like the stupid teenagers we were and talked about how it would be so great when she could finally just leave. I'd promised her that after I graduated I would come and see her in California and we really thought everything was going to be just fine. The world was our oyster, ya know?"
He took a deep breath.
"After the vodka was gone, I tried to convince her to go back to her house. I would help her sneak back in and she could sleep it off and be one day closer to her freedom. She cried and said she didn't want to go home. I knew how much trouble she would be in if she got caught and I did everything I could think of to convince her but she just kept crying and saying no. I finally decided to just pick her up and carry her home. She was so drunk and she let me, all the while rambling about how she really was a mermaid, how her legs disappeared when she went in the water. We got to her back door and she hugged me and I watched her as she went inside. I waited for a while to see if any lights would come on or anything that would indicate she'd been found out, but everything stayed dark and quiet so I went home and went to bed."
"The next morning my mom came to wake me up and the look on her face was so horrible. I thought something had happened to my dad, but then she started crying and told me that Tanya's body had been found in the pond."
"Oh, no," I whispered, squeezing his fingers with mine. "Oh, I'm sorry, Edward."
"Apparently, after I left her, she had went back there on her own. Her parents claimed she was suicidal and had done it on purpose, but I knew that wasn't true. She'd been so close to getting everything she wanted. She would have never taken her own life."
Edward straightened up in his seat and took a slow breath. I could see that telling this story had been hard for him, even all these years after it had happened. I couldn't help but try and imagine him at seventeen, dealing with such an awful loss. It was really and truly tragic.
"Anyway, years later, on her birthday of all days, I dreamt of her. I was going through big changes in my life; my job as well as a particularly nasty break up, and I was under a lot of stress. I dreamed that she was a mermaid, a beautiful and happy creature, and I talked to her just like old times, telling her all the stuff that was happening and she gave me some really good answers," he broke off with a laugh. "I know that sounds insane since it was a dream, but it's the true."
"I don't find it that crazy," I said, remembering how vivid and real the dreams I'd had about him had been. "Dreams are sometimes where our hearts tell the truth."
He nodded.
"I woke up peaceful, but thinking about how much I just fucking missed her. I missed my friend. So I decided to get the tattoo in her memory. I wanted to be able to see her happy and beautiful, like in my dream. I had a photo of Tanya and took it to Rosalie and, well, you know the rest." He gestured to his sleeve-covered arm.
I ached to see the beautiful mermaid again, now that I knew.
"I'm really sorry you lost your friend, Edward. That must have been devastating for you. The tattoo is a beautiful tribute, though. Thank you so much for telling me the story."
"I, um, I haven't told very many people. Jasper and Rosalie, obviously, and my parents know, but I don't make a habit of explaining it to anyone."
"Well, I'm really glad you did."
Edward's phone went off just then and he withdrew his hand from mine as he sat back to answer it. I picked up my now lukewarm coffee and took a sip.
"Cullen. . . Yes, sir. . . .Yes, on my way."
He slid the phone back in his pocket and pushed his chair back.
"I'm really sorry, Bella, but I have to go. Even though I'm technically not on duty today, there's been a break in one of the cases I'm working. I have to get to the port."
I waved him off with a smile, knowing how unpredictable his job could be.
"It's okay, no worries."
"Can I call you later?"
"Of course. Uh, do you think we will need to reschedule tomorrow night? Because of your case?"
"No, no, that should still be fine."
Edward stood up and then surprised the heck out of me by leaning down and pressing a kiss to my cheek. His lips were so warm, but then they were gone far too soon.
"Mmmm, you smell amazing," he said huskily before standing upright. "Talk to ya soon."
And with one more smile, he was gone, striding quickly out the door and out of sight. I sat for a few more minutes, trying to calm my racing heart that had kicked into high speed when his warm breath brushed my skin as he'd spoken close to my ear.
So there you have it! A sad story, to be sure, but a beautiful tribute. And also, THEY LIKE EACH OTHER! There's going to be a REAL date! Do we love Seth? I love him. Oh, and little bit of an Alice/Jasper update in there, too! Let me know what you're thinking :)