previously...
"It's a second date, not a wedding." I responded. "Now can you two go? I'm quite tired and I have the early shift tomorrow."
They both held their hands up in surrender and snuck out of my apartment. I locked the door behind them and shut off the light before crawling into bed under the covers. I fell asleep quickly that night, thinking only about green eyes and the way Edward's lips felt against mine.
CHAPTER 8
Saturday passed slowly while I was waiting for Sunday, but it didn't escape my mind that not only did I have a date with Edward, but it would also make two weeks of being in Fort Worth. I was halfway through my deal with Rosalie and Emmett, and I was starting to feel conflicted on if I would stay when the month ended or not.
I had talked to the guys in the band after I got off of work, and they were eager to start practicing again but never mentioned taking any gigs outside of Dallas or Fort Worth. I had a feeling that my earlier suspicions were right and that they were all ready to start sticking close to home. I tried to be mad at them for it, but for the first time in a long time, I could understand where they were coming from when they started talking about their roots.
We made plans to start practicing again during the week, and I wondered what kind of intervention I might be in for. They all knew that if anyone was going to put up a fight to not traveling, it would be me.
On Sunday, when I finished my day shift, I tried to push down the butterflies in my stomach as I walked up the steps to get dressed for dinner with Edward. When I got to the landing in front of my door, there was a boutique bag sitting on the front mat. Confused, I picked it up and headed inside.
There was a note sitting on top of the clothes when I peeked inside the bag.
Sorry for being creepy. Consider this a peace offering. – Rose and Ali
I sighed and pulled out a short, flowy, jade colored dress with a deep v neckline, spaghetti straps, and an exposed back. It had a Free People label, and I tried to push out thoughts about how much they might've paid for it as I held the dress up to my body in the mirror.
I pursed my lips, debating, before I finally sighed and changed into the dress. It was gorgeous, of course. "Fuck it." I muttered and threw my favorite black chunky cardigan on top since it was chilly outside. Apparently, there was a price my forgiveness could be bought at, and it was designer hippie clothes.
I freshened up my hair and makeup before heading down to my car.
When I pulled up to the address of the apartments that Edward had sent me, my eyes widened.
I knew Edward did well for himself. He was a successful lawyer and part owner of a successful bar. He also seemed like the stocks and investments type. I was never under the impression that he didn't have money, but pulling up to a luxury apartment complex in downtown really solidified the fact that he was just way too good for me.
What does a twenty-eight year old established man want with a twenty-one year old trainwreck in a knock off Stetson?
I gulped and got out of my beat up Pontiac Firebird. It was the last year model to be produced, a 2002, and had been Emmett's high school car before it became mine. We both loved the thing, and I had yet to be able to part with it. But when I looked at it parked next to all of the other nicer cars around, I couldn't help but frown. She looked rode hard and put up wet. Poor girl.
After a deep breath and mental pep talk, I forced my legs forward to go inside and find Edward's apartment.
Edward opened the door in a pair of faded jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt with the sleeves pushed up. It was the first time I noticed a sleeve of tattoos on his left arm that started at his wrist and disappeared under the shirt sleeve. He was definitely turning out to be not quite as predictable as I first thought he was.
"Hey, you." He greeted me with a sweet smile and a gentle kiss, and just like that, the nerves and feelings of inferiority were pushed back to be dealt with another time.
I smiled back at him. "Hey, handsome."
Edward led me inside, and I looked around. His apartment wasn't huge, but it had enough space to be comfortable in. It had a nice sized kitchen with an island and barstools that was directly open to a smaller living room overlooking downtown. He didn't have much furniture or décor, but it all looked luxurious: a large cowhide rug, a cognac colored leather sofa against the wall facing a large television, a wooden coffee table, and an oversized velvet armchair tucked in the corner by the sliding door to the balcony. Other than that, the only décor he had was two shoulder mounts of trophy bucks on the wall above the television.
I sat down at one of the barstools as Edward went back to the stove.
"Where's your dog?" I asked, excitedly.
He chuckled. "Winnie! Here!" He called.
A large brown ball of fluff came running from the hallway off of the kitchen. The dog ran into the kitchen and stood next to Edward, tail wagging.
"Heel."
She immediately walked to his right side and sat by his foot, looking up at him with what I could only describe as a proud smile and adoring eyes. It was the cutest thing I had ever seen.
"Good girl." He cooed and then nodded to me. "Go see Bella."
She turned, saw me, and pranced on up to my barstool.
I cradled her face in my hands and scratched her fluffy ears. She hopped up and rested her front paws on my legs. "Well, you're so sweet." I said as I started rubbing her sides.
"Keep giving her attention like that, and she'll never leave you alone." He laughed.
"How could anyone not give her attention? You're such a pretty girl." I cooed.
"You'd be surprised." He muttered.
I had a feeling I knew who he was talking about, and I didn't acknowledge it. It was just another red flag I couldn't believe he had ignored. Who didn't like dogs? And such a well-trained dog at that?
"So, what's for dinner?" I asked, gently tapping Winnie's nose while she tried to catch my hand softly in her mouth.
"Steak." He answered simply, but knowing him, it was a cut of meat I would never even be able to dream about buying myself. "Speaking of, how do you want it cooked?"
"Well."
He barked out a laugh. "No ma'am."
"Please don't make me eat a rare steak." I begged.
"Bella, if I cook this steak well done, you'll be eating shoe leather."
"I prefer shoe leather to cows that still moo."
"You're being dramatic."
"I am not."
"Okay. What about this? I'll cook it to medium, and if you swear you really don't like it, I'll throw it back on the skillet."
"Fine." I conceded. "So… you're a whiskey and a steak snob?"
He smirked. "Well, I grew up on a cattle farm and worked at a butcher shop when I lived in Chicago, so I will admit this once, that yes, I have become a little spoiled on high quality."
"You were a butcher?" Honestly, what had he not done? I was starting to not get surprised at the things that surprised me about this man.
"I was."
"Any other interesting facts I should know about you? I mean let's just get them out of the way now."
He chuckled. "I'll think about it and let you know."
"Please do."
He turned away from the stove and faced me. "Do you want anything to drink?"
"Um, yeah. Water is fine."
He raised an eyebrow at me, and I realized it was probably the first time that I had ever drank anything non-alcoholic in front of him. In my defense, he had only ever really seen me at the bar besides our date the other night, and I'd never seen him drink anything besides alcohol either.
"I have to drive home, don't I?" I joked.
"Right." He agreed and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. He handed it to me and grinned a little. "So, any interesting facts I should know about you?"
I shrugged, playing with the label on the water bottle. "You know all of my stuff."
"Do I?"
"My talents lie strictly in music and bad decision making. And you've heard all about both of those from me."
"That's not true, Bella." Edward said seriously.
I was a little surprised by his change in tone, and I looked up to see his green eyes peering a hole into me.
He continued, "You're intelligent. And funny. And oddly good at taking care of drunk old men at the bar."
I laughed a little and looked back down at my bottle.
I felt Edward come to stand next to me, and he gently lifted my chin to look at him. "I don't know what those dumbass cowboys told you to make you think that you don't have anything to give, but you're worth a hell of lot more than you give yourself credit for. You have one of the biggest hearts I've ever seen, and you have a way of making everyone you talk to feel cared for and loved, like they're the prodigal child coming home. Which is why it kills me that you aren't able to talk to yourself the same way you talk to everyone else."
I looked away from him, blinking away tears and completely speechless.
I felt Edward's hand on my cheek. "Are you okay?" He whispered.
I shook my head slightly, still silent and avoiding his eyes.
He pulled me into a tight hug, and I hid my face in his chest, wrapping my arms around his waist. I felt his lips in my hair as I tried to fight my unshed tears. I refused to cry in front of him.
Trainwreck in a knock off Stetson.
I shook the thoughts away, sniffled one last time, and pulled away from his embrace. I immediately felt cold.
He rested his forehead against mine. "Hey." He whispered.
"Hi." I whispered back.
He lightly kissed my lips a few times before the timer on his phone blared, causing us both to jump and break out of our moment. Edward never walked away from me though. He only turned off the alarm.
"I'm gonna make you burn dinner." I said through a weak laugh, putting my hands on his chest and trying to push him away.
"There's plenty of delivery around here." He smiled crookedly and pushed my hair from my face.
I rolled my eyes, slowly starting to recover from my near breakdown. "You really got my heart set on steak, though."
"Is that right?"
I nodded.
"Well then, give me a minute to check on the sides and I'll start the steaks, alright?"
"Sounds good. I'm gonna get some fresh air for a minute."
He helped me down from the barstool, kissed my forehead, and swatted my ass as I walked away from him. I turned to him with wide eyes as I continued to walk away. He winked at me and went back to the stove.
I shook my head with a smile and grabbed my purse from the couch on my way outside to his balcony. I lit a cigarette and sunk down onto one of the patio chairs.
My mind was still racing from what Edward had said a few minutes before, and I still didn't know how to feel about it.
Every wall. Two weeks and he had shattered nearly every single one.
I wondered how he could know me so well or how he knew what I needed to hear even when I didn't want to hear it. I'd never been accused of wearing my heart on my sleeve. I wasn't one for long, deep, heartfelt conversations about feelings, and that was even before Jacob. I hated being vulnerable, and the idea of telling someone what was going on in my heart and head, let alone crying in front of them, made me feel physically ill. So, the fact that Edward could break through all of that so quickly honestly terrified me.
'I think you want the picket fence and the dogs in the backyard and the husband with a nine to five. I think you want all of it, and it scares the hell out of you.' Edward's words from the other day rang heavy in my ears, and I was left questioning everything I thought I was.
There was that sick feeling again.
I sighed. Picket fences weren't for girls with a crippling fear of communication and commitment. The world just wasn't made that way.
The sliding door opened, and I was so lost in my thoughts that I jumped when I heard it.
"The steaks are done. They just need to rest for a couple minutes." Edward said, leaning against the balcony railing.
"Okay." I replied and tried to give him a genuine smile.
He studied me for a minute. "You okay, bellbottoms?"
I smiled a little easier. "Yeah, I'm good, E."
He gave me his heartbreaking crooked grin and sat on the chair next to me. We sat in silence for a couple minutes, and he played with my lighter, flicking it on and off. I pushed the box of cigarettes towards him, and he shook his head with a small smile. "Nah, I don't need to start that again." He laughed softly.
"I think we would've gotten along well in your younger days, Cullen." I commented, taking one last drag from my cigarette before putting it out.
"I think we get along just fine now, darlin'." He laughed. "Come on, let's eat."
I frowned a little but stood up and followed him inside. He already had two plates made and placed at the barstools when we walked in. Besides the steak, he had made a salad, some type of fancy potato side dish, and garlic bread, and it all looked amazing.
He stared at me intently as I cut into the steak. It was obviously still a little too pink in the center for my normal liking, but I ignored it and took a quick bite.
Damn him. It was really good.
"So?"
I swallowed and took a sip of my water. "It's pretty good." I mumbled, not wanting to admit he had been right.
He smirked. "It's nice to have a dinner when you can actually talk and don't need to spend all night chewing, isn't it?"
"Humility is a virtue, Edward Cullen."
"It's hard to be humble, baby."
I rolled my eyes, trying to fight my smile. "Hey, do you have any ketchup?"
His head turned to me so quickly that I thought his neck might snap, and if looks could kill, I would've been six feet under in seconds.
I burst out in laughter.
"You're not even funny." He muttered, taking another bite of his food.
"I'm fucking hilarious, and you know it."
"What was that you were saying about humility?" He snapped.
I giggled and went back to eating.
After dinner, we ended up on the couch watching old Cheers reruns. I was cuddled into his side with my legs thrown over his lap, tracing the ink lines on his arm. Winnie was curled up in the armchair, sleeping soundly.
I suddenly felt very aware of where I was at the moment and how normal it was. Barely a month ago, I was sleeping in sketchy motel rooms and spending the majority of my time in the back of a van. And now I was curled up on the sofa with Edward, practically playing house.
I felt like a fraud.
I looked up at him as he watched the show for a couple of minutes, and he must have felt my eyes on him because he looked down and smiled at me. "What?"
"Nothing." I murmured and moved to rest my head on his shoulder and stare blankly at the television.
He kissed the top of my head and twined my fingers with his.
"It's late. I should probably head back." I said softly, sitting up.
Edward studied me for a moment.
I shifted my eyes away from him, afraid that he could see all of my thoughts behind them.
"I'll walk you to your car if you're ready to go." He said softly. His voice had a tone I didn't recognize, and it caught me off guard. I moved my eyes back to his. "Just tell me if you're leaving for tonight or if you're running."
My breath caught in my throat. "I don't know." I admitted in a whisper.
"Then stay." His voice was commanding but gentle, and his eyes burned into mine.
Before I even knew what I was doing, I was on top of him, kissing him deeply. It could have been minutes, or it could have been hours that we stayed just like that – with me straddling his lap and our mouths melting together. I just remember needing to be close to him. When we pulled away from each other, he pulled me down to lay on the couch in front of him and wrapped an arm around my waist, holding me close to him. I drifted off to sleep as the reruns kept playing on the television, and the last thing I remember was feeling his lips softly brushing against the back of my neck.
~ Coffee and Bourbon ~
I woke up alone in a bedroom I didn't recognize, and it took me a minute to register that I was still at Edward's apartment. I sat up and saw that I was still in my clothes from the night before.
Winnie perked up from the foot of the bed and slowly crawled over to me.
I gave her head a couple pets before I stood up and looked around. His bedroom was just as bare as the living room. His bed had white bedding and was on a modern looking, wooden frame. There were two black nightstands with lamps, a dresser that looked like it matched the bed frame, and a leather bench at the end of the bed.
I walked to a door that I thought might be the bathroom and opened it. When I saw that I was right, I walked in and freshened up as best as I could. I made my way through the bedroom, down the hall, and into the living room to get my things so that I could leave.
I checked my phone and saw only one unread message from Edward. I was slightly surprised that I hadn't gotten anything from Alice or Rosalie.
Good morning beautiful. I had to leave for work. Hopefully the coffee is still on when you wake up. Call you after my meetings.
I smiled and looked over to the coffee pot. It was still on, so I found a mug and filled it. I didn't see any cream or sweeteners. Of course, he drank black coffee. I snooped around some more and found some sugar at the top of the pantry and milk in the fridge.
It looked nice outside, so I went out on the balcony. I sat in one of the patio chairs, took a sip from my mug, and smiled. It was probably some of the best coffee I'd ever had. I pulled out my phone and texted him back.
Good morning handsome. I wish I could say I'm surprised that you're also a coffee snob.
His response was almost immediate, and I giggled.
You know it baby.
I leaned back in the patio chair and closed my eyes, still smiling.
I was glad I stayed.
A/N I know that an actual coffee snob probably wouldn't use a typical drip coffee pot, but good coffee is good coffee, right? Anyway, this chapter was a little cheesy, and if you're craving some drama, I hope the next two chapters will satisfy you. Remember when I said shit needed to hit the fan? Let me know what you think. Until the next one, bebs.
