The Letter
Part Eight
"Alice?" Bella answered her phone on the last ring, recognizing the area code but not the number. The caller hung up; hopefully, they'd call again. She made a note to check with Alice or Jasper later.
Distracted, she wasn't sure what to pack for her stay with Edward after finishing with the police. His rental would be warm, but in case he was a blanket hog, she needed something other than her shorts and tank top. Then again, he could warm her up.
You have it bad. Stop thinking of an Edward-induced happy ending.
It had been too long; a simple fact. While Edward was rather handsome—smoking hot, really—there was something else undeniably sexy about him. He didn't even hesitate to remove Will from a possibly deadly situation, instead of trying to be her white knight. The scene of him and Will holding each other, chanting "She's going to be okay," made her warm all over.
They had to find a way to keep their relationship, in whatever capacity, going after the holidays. Will thought the man was an elf, though; she wondered about that.
Her brother was smart. Too smart. He stopped believing in the tooth fairy when he turned five, though that may have been because their mother tripped over a toy in her haste to make a clean escape.
Edward knocked on her opened bedroom door. "Ready?" The fear she'd seen when he looked at her after the trouble with Alec was still prominent in his features. He tried his best to cover it with a brilliant smile. She had to find a way to make sure that reached his eyes by the end of the night.
"Almost, where's Will?" She grabbed a pair of red lace panties, noticing Edward's gaze on them. He swallowed hard when she stuffed them into her bag.
Happy Endings or not, she had a taste for nice underwear.
"Your parents and Will went ahead. Your mom insisted on making something to eat because she was too frazzled to sleep now." He laughed, shaking his head. "Your father and Will shared a look, so I'm guessing she's not much of a cook."
"Understatement." She disappeared into her master bathroom to get her toiletries. "Don't worry, they'll convince her to bake instead. She's surprisingly really good at that."
Edward stared a hole into her bag, wanting to know if there was more lace inside. It took some control to not react to his vivid imagination. He almost managed, but the second she walked out of the bathroom with a tiny silk robe draped over her arm, there was no stopping the blood rushing south.
She looked at him, concern and confusion combined to tighten her brow. "What's wrong?"
"You're beautiful." You lost your ability to talk now?
She smiled at him, the first real one since the fear and adrenaline of earlier, but it fell. "Thanks, but how is that wrong?"
He cursed under his breath, and in less than four strides, he was in front of her.
Bella wanted to step back, to look into those gorgeous green eyes that seemed to darken the closer he got.
"It's not wrong, but it is distracting." His brushed a fingertip along her warm cheek, his thumb doing the same to her bottom lip. "They're expecting us soon." She looked at the bed and then him. "There's not enough time for me to explore you."
He caught her before she stumbled into his chest, her knees going a little weak. Between the loss of adrenaline, the look in his eyes, and his words, it was a wonder that she was still capable of staying upright.
"Besides," he whispered, kissing her forehead. "There's no rush, Bella. Remember that, I'll be here tomorrow, next week, next year."
The worry she felt about possibly losing him after the holidays disappeared, leaving her soft, warm, and inviting. Her fingers clung to his sweater and met his eyes. "That's really good to hear."
One side of his mouth tipped up, and it was really unfair how much he made her weak in the knees and did other things to her. She loved how he could be unsure one second but confident in himself, in them, the next. "You sound pretty sure of yourself."
His brow tightened, and she immediately regretted her words. "Tell me you feel this." He bent to kiss her cheek, his soft lips lingering. "There's a connection here that goes deeper than physical, Bella."
"Yes, I do feel it." When had her voice gone breathless?
His hands, larger than she expected spanned her entire back with ease, pulling her closer. The evidence of the physical pressed against her stomach, but it was the look in his eyes that did her in.
"Though the chemistry is exhilarating." His nose skimmed along hers. "May I kiss you, Bella?"
She recognized the darkened color in his eyes as passion, but the softness meant familiarity. It really did feel like he'd been a part of her life since forever. "Yes."
Then he thanked her, just a whisper above her lips. He had to hold her up as he kissed her. First soft, lingering presses of his lips, then deep strokes of his tongue against hers. All the while, his hands brushed along her back, teasing all her exposed skin. Tingles traveled in the wake of his warm fingertips.
"We should go," he whispered, peppering her neck with tiny love bites and kisses.
"Yes."
She ignored the smug look on his face as he grabbed her bag, perturbed that he didn't seem as affected. So why not level the playing field? She led the way down the stairs, but at the foot, she looked over her shoulder, noticing just where his eyes had been—her ass.
"They're blue by the way."
He groaned.
.
.
.
"Hey, did you call earlier?" Bella checked her phone as Edward and her family converged in the kitchen. Alice had left a few text messages to call her immediately.
"You should know how much this call is costing me," Alice whined, but not really meaning it.
Bella paled. "Tell me you're not on the way?"
"Of course, we are."
She started to pace in Edward's foyer. "When you say 'we', who do you mean?"
"What's wrong? I thought this is what you wanted. What he wanted. Whatever you said to Dad the other night, it worked. We're all coming to see Edward."
Bella groaned and proceeded to tell Alice everything that happened earlier and that they were all staying with Edward due to the danger. And how, in essence, it could put a target on Edward.
"Isabella Marie Swan, how could you not tell me the shooter was still on the loose?"
Shit, Bella thought; she did avoid mentioning that. "We have two problems. There's not enough room for all of us here. I'll call Tanya, see if we can stay there."
"Why not see if she can take my family, but my parents would want to stay with Edward." Tanya and Alice had met on a few occasions, because a girls' weekend wasn't complete without her two best friends.
"I'll have to share a room with him." She didn't want to assume, though it had been implied earlier. How would her father take that news? She was a grown woman, but it didn't mean he'd like it.
"Such a hardship," Alice quipped. "I'm guessing things are going well with you two."
"Your brother is the sweetest, hottest man I have ever come across in my entire life."
"Hotter than Reece from Vegas?" Of course, Alice would mention the hot fling she had with a stripper on their weekend stay in Las Vegas during one of their trips.
"Most definitely." Bella had to fan herself just thinking of their last kiss.
"Wow, and gross, that's my brother." Alice laughed and told her what time they should be there. "Are you going to tell him we're coming?" It was obvious that not even Alice was sure how Edward would react.
"I have to warn him."
And her brother, because once Will realized that Edward had family, the jig was up. He'd know Edward was not one of Santa's elves.
AN: Oh no, will there be a way to explain the appearance of Edward's family? Thanks to kyla713 for your help with the chapter. Thanks to my amazing readers, the coffees you've sent me, I'm writing more than ever. What to update next?
