CHAPTER 6

I woke up Tuesday morning still reeling from my conversation with Alice and Rosalie the night before. I decided that I'd take the day to get away from the bar and my tiny apartment until my shift later that night. What started out as one fancy coffee and just window shopping ended up being me falling in love with something I saw in a shop window. I knew I shouldn't walk in, but I did. I knew I shouldn't try it on, but I did. And I knew I shouldn't look at the price tag, but I did. It was more than I'd normally spend on one dress, but since I'd stayed put in one place with free housing and haven't had to drive to work, I'd been able to save a decent little chunk of cash.

I deliberated in the dressing room mirror for nearly twenty minutes, I'm sure. The shop girl checked on me twice.

The dress wasn't my typical style. I liked things dark, more flowy, and casual. This dress was white, tight fitted, and came to about mid-thigh. The sleeves were tight through the elbow and then came out to large asymmetrical bells. It was classy with a little bit of flair, and every part of me wanted to wear it every day until the day I died.

I thought about how cute it'd look with the pair of black suede booties I had, and I also thought about how I had absolutely nowhere to wear it to.

Eventually, I changed out of the dress and put my regular clothes back on. I marched up to the register and paid as quickly as I could before I lost my nerve.

After that, I put on my blinders and went back to my apartment, worried that something else may catch my eye and I'd spend way more money than I should.

I spent some time playing around on my guitar, messing with tunes and some lyrics that had been playing over and over in my head. I hadn't heard from the guys since we had played at Jasper's bar, and I knew we'd need to start practicing again and find some more venues soon. Part of me was a little worried that after the last road trip, the guys were ready to throw in the towel. Things always got tense after a long one, but it wasn't like them to stay silent for over a week.

I called my dad just to say 'hi' and let him know I was alive. He asked me when I would stop by for a visit, and I had to promise him that I'd stop by soon. He didn't sound convinced by that, and I felt a little guilty as I hung up the phone.

When it was time to get ready for work, I sadly pushed my guitar aside and walked over to my clean clothes hamper. I decided to switch it up that night and instead of jeans, I put on a higher waist denim mini skirt and cropped black tank top. I threw my hair in a messy bun, put on my favorite print shacket and some comfy shoes, and headed downstairs.

It was a typical, slow Tuesday with a couple of regulars laughing and talking around the bar.

"See James, I told you our girl was working today." One of them said as I clocked in.

"Well, I'll be. I guess she is, Paul. How ya doing, momma?" James greeted me.

I laughed. "Oh, just been counting down until I got to see your handsome faces again."

James and Paul were probably in their later sixties and my newly adopted grandfathers. They were some of my favorite regulars and in the week and a half I'd been in town, I'd grown quite fond of them and their antics.

"Don't play with an old man's heart, honey. It don't work like it used to, ya know?" James replied.

"Well, you oughtta get that checked." I told him.

He waved me off. "Naw. You sound like my wife. She's the reason I'm like this. All that butter and salt, trying to fatten me up so I can never leave."

"I'm gonna tell Ms. Vicki you said that." I threatened.

"Aw, hell. No need for all of that. No, this old man's going to keep on living how he's always been living. Beer, good food, and beautiful women." He winked at me.

I shook my head at him. "Can I get you boys another round?"

They both nodded, and I walked over to the cooler to pull out two beers. It was then that I noticed Edward was leaning against the back cabinet, next to the coolers. He was dressed casually again for the first time since the first night I'd met him, in faded jeans, a black long-sleeved t-shirt, and boots.

"Hey?" I greeted, but it sounded more like a question.

"Hey. I'm just keeping an eye on the place while Jasper and Alice are out of town." He explained. "And Carmen called in sick. I didn't want to leave you back here by yourself all night."

"Oh, right." I replied, briefly remembering that Alice had mentioned last night that she and Jasper would be taking a spontaneous romantic getaway for a couple days. I had still been so preoccupied with our previous conversation that I had forgotten. "Thanks." I told him softly before getting the beers out and walking them over to James and Paul.

And then it dawned on me. They could've put any one of the other managers in charge, but they chose Edward? Sure, he owned part of the bar, but he didn't even normally work here. That didn't make much sense to me.

Those not so sneaky bastards.

I set Paul's drink down in front of him, and I noticed that it looked like he was studying me. "Need something else?" I asked him.

"Any ol' boy scoop you up yet?" Paul asked.

I forced a laugh, hoping it sounded genuine. "Who's asking?"

"Well, I have a grandson about your age…" He trailed off.

James scoffed. "She doesn't want your grandson, jackass. She'd be wife number three. Why'd you want to put our girl through that?" He rolled his eyes and then looked at me. "But honey, I have a grandson on the oilfield… makes real good money. And he gets his looks from me."

"I don't know, James. He seems a little out of my league." I teased.

"No, no. I said he gets his looks from me, not that he looked as good as me."

I laughed. "Oh, alright then. I'll think about it."

"You do that. And let me know." He said, pointing at me with a stern finger.

"I will." I promised him.

I happened to glance over at Edward, and he was watching the exchange with a slight smile on his face. I looked away before he could catch me staring at him, but I briefly wondered what he was smiling about.

Another customer walked up to the bar. "Hey B, can I get whiskey coke?"

I nodded and made her drink while making small talk. "There ya go, my love." I said sweetly and handed her the drink. "I'll put it on your tab."

She smiled in thanks and then walked back over to where she was sitting with some friends.

I added the drink to the computer and then quickly typed a text to Alice, hiding my phone from the customer's view under the screen.

Subtlety isn't your specialty. What the hell?

Her response was nearly instant.

Never said it was baby doll. Now stop texting at work. I hear the boss working today is a real uptight asshole.

I huffed, shoved my phone back in my pocket, and folded my elbows on the bar. After a minute, I felt someone lean on the bar next to me.

"You're quite the celebrity over here."

I looked over to see Edward smirking down at me. I shrugged with a smile. "Well, I am amazing."

"It's hard to be humble." He joked.

"When you're perfect in every way."

He laughed. "Mac Davis fan?"

"That I am."

He looked over my head at James and Paul. "You know, you're just encouraging them when you egg them on like that." He commented.

I laughed. "I know, but I don't mind. They're like my sweet, alcoholic grandpas. And if coming in here and teasing me and giving me a hard time makes them happy, I can at least play along for a while."

Edward looked back down at me with the same smile he had earlier.

"What?" I asked him.

"Can I be brutally honest?"

I arched an eyebrow. "When have you ever not been?"

"Touché." He smirked.

"Go on."

"I wasn't expecting you to be so… nice. I was honestly preparing myself to possibly break up another fight."

"Oh my God, why does everyone think I'm not a nice person? You. Rosalie. I'm a nice person." I insisted.

"Well, and this is just a theory, but your natural defense mechanism is definitely flight. We've established that quite a few times, but when you're backed into a corner, I think the only way you know to protect yourself is snark and eye rolls… and apparently, an occasional fist to the jaw."

"So, what you're saying is that you, Rosalie, and ex boyfriends bring out the worst in me?" I asked sweetly.

"Or that there's certain people that make you confront parts of yourself that you don't want to, so you take it out on everyone else instead of dealing with the root of the issue."

I rolled my eyes.

"Exactly." He smirked.

"No one likes a know it all, Edward Cullen. And why do you think you're so right, anyway?"

He laughed. "I minored in psychology in college."

"Ugh." I groaned. "Of course, you did. Let me guess your major. Political Science?"

"Economics."

"Yikes." I had a long history of hatred with economics. It was the one class in college that I barely scraped by in. I took it the spring of my freshman year, and I hated every second of it. From the teacher and his goofy knit beanie to the fact that I was physically sick with anxiety taking the final exam.

"What's wrong with economics?" He laughed.

"It's pointless. Supply up. Demand down. Vice versa. Why complicate it?"

"I sense some unresolved trauma." He joked.

"Yeah. There is. And his name is Bob Banner, and I still hate him and his damn twenty five question, worth half of your letter grade, final exam. With every fiber of my being."

Edward pressed his lips together, trying to hold in a laugh. "Why'd you have to take econ in the first place? What was your major?"

I looked away, slightly embarrassed that I actually did have one thing in common with his ex. "Fashion merchandising." I muttered.

"Yikes." Edward quoted back to me with a smile.

I rolled my eyes. "What? Unresolved trauma?" It came out before I could stop myself, and I internally cursed. I probably wasn't supposed to already know that he and Tanya had broken up.

He ignored my comment. "Why fashion?"

"I didn't know what I wanted to do. I got a scholarship to LSU, and I kind of just picked something to start in until I got everything figured out. I actually really liked it. I had decided to stick with that degree so I could come back to Texas and work in the market in Dallas before I… before I dropped out."

A couple of customers walked up, and we got caught in a rush for about ten minutes before the bar was calm again. I thought my conversation with Edward was over, so it caught me off guard when he asked me another question.

"Did you like Baton Rouge?"

"I did, actually. I don't think I ever saw myself staying there forever, but it would've been nice for four years. I had joined a sorority and made a lot of really good friends. I got a job at a little jewelry store about ten minutes from campus. It was fun while it lasted."

Edward looked contemplative.

"What?"

"You just keep surprising me." He commented.

"Why?"

He shrugged. "A scholarship to a four year university. A major you liked and plans for a steady career. A job somewhere that wasn't a bar. A sorority? I don't know. It just seems like a very different person than the one you are now. It's hard to imagine you'd give all that up for a guy you barely knew and then turn to a life of drifting."

I smiled sadly.

I hadn't thought about my year at college in a while. It was only a few years ago, but it felt like ten. I could barely remember who I was then. I was just this shy kid from Fort Worth that got dragged to Rush week by her roommate. And the more people I met, the more I found my voice, and the more I wanted to be more than just a shy kid from Texas, used to living in her big brother's shadow. But then I met Jacob, and my judgment got cloudy.

"I was just dumb and naive. He was my first semi-serious boyfriend, and when I first met him, I just got so infatuated with his life. The rodeos and the traveling. I just got sucked in, and I was so in love with the idea of him making it big one day that I ignored every bad thing about him. The drinking and drugs, the staying out until morning, the flirting with other girls, the verbal beating I'd have to take day in and day out. I just kept telling myself that it'd get better after he got the next buckle. That he'd get closer to where he wanted to be and that he wouldn't be so stressed out anymore. But it just… didn't. And when I did wake up and realize he was the problem, I just moved on to the next cowboy, and it was the same story. When I finally got away from it all, I decided that I didn't want to lose the freedom I had by being on the road all the time, so I joined the band, and now I'm here."

"You know some would argue that a steady income and comfortable life could get you more freedom." Edward commented softly.

"You're just saying that."

"Bella, you go to all of these amazing places and meet all of these interesting people, but you're in survival mode the entire time. I'm assuming you stay in cheap motels when you get enough money to afford one, so it's not like you can get a peaceful night of rest. I get that it sucks to pencil things in and change plans because of a job and responsibilities, but don't you think that traveling would be so much better if you could actually relax and enjoy it?"

I had never thought about it in that way, and I realized then what Emmett had meant the other morning, 'You're not free. You're surviving.'

He must have seen the realization hit me because he continued, "You've obviously been in survival mode for a while now, and it's easy to see why. So, just slow down for a minute. You're in Fort Worth close to family with a reliable roof over your head, a flexible job, and at least a bar full of people that obviously care a great deal about you. Enjoy it. And stop worrying about what might be waiting for you in the next town over because I promise you, it's not going to be any better than what you have right now."

I wasn't sure what it was about that moment, but when I met his eyes, it took every ounce of willpower I had not to pull his face down to mine and kiss him. Thankfully, we got another rush at the bar and stayed busy with customers for most of the night. I couldn't get my conversation with Edward out of my head the entire time.

When we got to last call and the remaining customers trickled out, Edward locked the door as I started balancing the register. I was concentrating so hard that I hadn't noticed Edward looking over my shoulder as I counted the money in the register. I jumped when I turned around to bring the cash to the safe.

"Jesus Christ." I muttered and walked around him. "You need a bell."

He smirked and started wiping down the bar.

I walked around and put all the chairs up on the tables and shut off all of the lights except for the ones over the bar. When I finished, I clocked out and started gathering my things.

"Hey, before you go, come with me. I want you to try something." Edward said.

I nodded in confusion and followed him down the hall to Jasper's office.

Edward motioned to one of the chairs in front of the desk, and I sat down as he walked over to Jasper's private stash of expensive liquors. He pulled out a decanter of what looked like whiskey and poured a little into two norlan glasses. He walked back over and handed me one before sitting down in the chair next to me.

"Have you ever had bourbon that cost you more than seventeen dollars a bottle?"

"Honestly? I don't think so." I laughed.

He smiled. "Try that."

I looked at him apprehensively.

"Just try it." He laughed.

I smelled it before taking a small sip. I coughed a little. "Fuck, that's smokey."

"it is." He said and took a sip from his own glass. "Do you like it?"

"I don't not like it." I replied and tried it again. It wasn't nearly as intense after the initial shock wore off.

He laughed.

"So, you're a whiskey snob?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "I've just come to appreciate quality over quantity."

"Yeah, that's definitely something a snob would say." I teased. "Let me guess, after a long week of lawyering, you go home to your downtown apartment, pour a glass of expensive whiskey, light a cigar, and watch the peasants off your balcony while whatever type of spaniel dog you have sleeps at your feet?"

He made a face.

I laughed.

"For the record, I know this doesn't make it any better, but I have a standard poodle, not a spaniel."

I laughed even louder. "You have a poodle? Edward, no. You do not."

He rolled his eyes. "They make excellent duck dogs, Bella."

"Duck dog? You don't hunt." I accused.

"As a matter of fact, I do." He replied, almost sounding offended.

"You are literally the old rich businessman in every CMT movie, E." I laughed.

"I don't know why you say that like it's a bad thing."

"Because they're always the bad guy."

"They are not." He retorted.

It was silent for a moment. "What's your dog's name? Remington?"

"No, her name is Winnie."

"As in Winchester?" I smirked.

"Yes." He admitted in a groan.

I laughed and put my empty glass on the desk before standing up. "Thank you for your help tonight. And the drink. Will you be here tomorrow?"

He nodded.

"Then I'll see you tomorrow. Have a good night."

"I'll just walk out with you." He said, standing up.

He let me walk in front of him as we walked towards the side door. I'm not sure why, but I stopped and waited on him as he locked it and double checked to make sure it couldn't open. He turned towards me, and I looked up at him. And there was that feeling again.

I realized I needed to get out of there soon if I didn't want to do something drastic and stupid. He was two days post breakup, technically sort of my boss, and way out of my league. And despite what Alice thought, trying anything with Edward was a recipe for disaster.

The side door was only about a yard away from the steps to my apartment, so I slowly began backing away from him. "I'll see you tomorrow." I told him again in a whisper and turned to walk up the stairs.

"Bella?"

I swallowed and turned back to him. "Yeah?"

He took hold of one of my hands and gently pulled me down two steps so that we were eye level. Slowly, he leaned in, seeming to give me a chance to back away. I couldn't. I was frozen. His lips touched mine, and I quickly snapped back into reality. I dropped my purse and let my hands find the small curls at the nape of his neck. He pulled away before it could get too heated and gently removed my hands from his hair with a smile.

"I do hope you can find a reason to stay in Fort Worth for a while." He said softly before kissing my hands and turning to walk to his car.

I shook my head and continued up the stairs to my apartment. When I got inside, I shut the door and slid down to the floor against it. Still in a trance, I pulled out my phone and texted Alice.

You weren't wrong.

Again, her reply was almost immediate. Told you.

A/N I know what you're thinking: seems like he's moving a little fast there... patience, bebs, patience. It all comes out in the wash. Until the next one.