Chapter 17

EPOV

The car pulled up to the back entrance of the restaurant. A few paps were milling around, but it could have been worse. I never understood how they always found me, but I guess people liked to talk. Unfortunately, that meant nothing in my life was private unless it was within the confines of my own house.

My leg bounced nervously as I sat in the car for a moment, hoping to calm my nerves. This was everything my teenage self had dreamed of—uninterrupted time with Bella.

"You ready, Ed? Jake radioed that they're here."

I blew out a harsh breath, raking my fingers through my hair. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, I'm ready."

Emmett grinned at me, and I snapped. "What?"

"It's just so cute, watching you freak out like this. I've seen you take fucking Victoria's Secret models out to dinner and you never bat an eye."

"Whatever, man," I mumbled, pushing my door open. Those women...they never affected me the way Bella did. They were gorgeous in their own right, but they weren't my type. I liked my women with thick thighs and an ass. And tits, fuck, did I like a good set of tits. I didn't care about stretch marks or cellulite. That made them more appealing to me, it made them real.

As soon as I set both feet on the pavement, the reporters—if you could even call them that—started yelling.

"Edward! Over here!"

"Edward! We saw Isabella walk in ten minutes ago. Are you here to meet her?"

"Edward! Is Bella cheating on her boyfriend with you?"

Typically, I'd flip them the bird, but I had somewhere important to be. So, I kept my head down and made my way through the back door and down the stairs to the kitchen.

As I stood in the entrance to the kitchen, my eyes flickered around the room, until I spotted her at the Chef's table. My breath caught in my throat as I took in the smile on her face. I would have felt some sort of jealousy at the way she was looking up at Liam, but I knew better. He might have been making her light up the way I'd always wanted her to, but he was happily married. He and his wife, Maggie, had just welcomed a new baby girl.

I lingered for a moment, enjoying the scene in front of me, but after a handful of minutes passed, I was itching to be in her presence.

Approaching the table, I caught Liam's eye. He turned to me, grinning. "Ah, you finally showed up. I got this beautiful girl seated and made sure she had the best, most expensive wine we offer."

I smiled, glancing at him before turning my gaze to Bella. "Good, nothing but the best for her. Sorry I wasn't here to pull out your chair for you, but..." I slipped into the chair across from her, and Liam disappeared back into the heat of the kitchen.

She shook her head. A nervous smile played on her lips instead of the easy one I'd see earlier. "It's perfectly fine. I appreciate you trying to make sure I had some privacy on the way in. Though I'm not sure anything involving you can be private."

"Oh, there's plenty that we could do in private, and no one would ever know." The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. And I might have felt bad—if it weren't for the way she rolled her eyes while a beautiful blush spread across her cheeks.

I watched as her tongue peeked out from between her lips, wetting them. She brushed her hair over her shoulder, her eyes darkening and her smile turning sultry. "That's saying if you could handle me, you know, privately."

I'd just taken a sip of my wine and nearly choked on it after the words left her lips. I didn't want to be that guy. I wouldn't sleep with her while she was with another man. But good lord, between the way her blouse showed just enough cleavage, watching her wet her lips and the words that followed through them...I was screwed. With the images that those few words conjured up in my head, I could have sworn my dick was made of steel.

I didn't even attempt to be discreet as my gaze traveled from her face to her chest. I sat back in my seat, taking a much more graceful sip this time. "There's never been a doubt in my mind—and trust me, I've thought about it a lot—that I couldn't keep up with you."

She stared at me for a long while after that, all humor drained from her face. I would have loved to know exactly what was going on in her head at that moment. Thankfully, she didn't leave me hanging for very long.

"I don't know what I'm doing here, Edward. I have a boyfriend, who I love. But here you are, and all these feelings from years ago have resurfaced. And then there's the fact that I don't know what you're expecting from me."

"I...I'm not expecting anything that you're not willing to give. If you just want to be friends, if you don't want to be friends, or if you want to be more than friends, the decision is yours. I didn't expect any of this to come up so soon, but when I saw you the other day, I told myself I'd try. If you told me to fuck off, I'd leave you alone, if you didn't…" I shrugged. "I don't know what I'm doing either. But for years, I thought I missed my chance with you, and now you're sitting here in front of me. You better believe I'm going to fucking try."

"You sure say 'fuck', a lot." She smirked, but as time passed, it faded. "This isn't easy for me, Edward. I've been with Seth for six, almost seven years. He's in Chicago with his dad, who's in the hospital. All of this couldn't have happened at a worse time. I feel like complete shit for how I'm feeling, but if you can walk in here and stir up so many emotions in me, in a matter of days...I don't know which way is up anymore."

I reached across the table, grasping her hand in mine. "There's no pressure. Like I said, if you tell me to take a hike, I will. I'll do this movie, and then you'll never hear from me again."

She chewed on her lip, staring down at our hands. "I definitely don't want that...but…"

"But you don't want to hurt him?"

She nodded. "I don't want to hurt him. He's an amazing man. He's helped me through so much, and he doesn't deserve me just dumping him because you've sparked something in me."

"He also doesn't deserve you staying with him because you don't want to hurt him."

Her head snapped up. "Why me, Edward? There are plenty of other girls that you could make happy."

I let my thumb trace over her knuckles. "You've asked me that before, you know? It was back in high school, and you didn't listen to me then. Are you going to this time? You've never taken the time to see how I see you...how I've always seen you. I think you're gorgeous. Beyond gorgeous, really. But appearances aside, you've always had a beautiful heart. You put up with so much shit, and you could be...bitter. But you aren't, and to me, that speaks volumes about who you are."

Once again her cheeks heated, and her gaze dropped back down to the table. "I can't give you any promises, Edward. I need to talk to Seth, I need to figure this whole thing out, and I don't know when that'll be."

I smiled at her. I hadn't exactly won, but she also hadn't told me to get lost. "I have no plans of going anywhere anytime soon. So you take your time—well, maybe not too much time—but when you figure it out, I'll be here."

And while she decided what she was going to do, I'd keep myself at the forefront of her mind. I'd continue to let her know what she meant to me. Now that I sort of knew where she stood—she was confused, but I'd gotten under her skin almost immediately—I definitely would not give up.

It might take a while, but I knew I could win her heart completely. And she was well worth the effort.