Chapter 4

A/N: Holy crap guys! Thank you so much for your excitement and reviews of this story. It really makes us happy. We love every review. Thank you to our AMAZING prereaders Maplestyle, SassyNoles, and 2brown-eyes, they give us great suggestions and comments. Also thank you to Alice'sWhiteRabbit because she helps us make this readable. Love all you girls. So, onto the story, let's see what Bella has to say.

Songs- Poker face by Lady Gaga, I want it all by Karmin

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BPOV

When I moved to Seattle, I never imagined that three weeks in I would be a stripper, have an insanely hot boss, and female friends I felt a real bond with. Being able to go to a job every night where I got to hang out with girls I liked, and also got to let out the sassy, sexy side of myself that I had spent the last 21 years trying to hide, was something I never knew I was looking for.

I had done things in the past week that I never could have seen myself doing, but I had immensely enjoyed them at the same time. Since the night I had helped Rose give Edward a lap dance, I could swear Edward was attracted to me. I mean for God's sake, he licked my nipple. I shivered thinking about the feel of his mouth on me. But he was still his same cold, distant self, maybe more than usual. It was starting to wear on me.

I had really liked the white cowboy outfit I'd worn that night, so I decided to wear a different variation, going back to my dark roots. I was wearing black assless chaps, a tiny black thong, a sequin and silver-accented bra, glove-like black sleeves, a black cowboy hat, and black lace-up boots with a stiletto heel. My lips were deep cherry red and my eye make-up was minimal and understated. I heard soft footsteps rushing toward me while I was finishing getting dressed. I looked to see Alice practically vibrating, and I wondered what she was so excited about.

I had taken to calling her pixie or Nightingale. I rarely used Alice anymore. Rose had become Ro or Glitter, and I was B or Belladonna, only Edward called me Bella when he didn't call me Belladonna. Emmett just always called me B or little one. I wasn't really surprised by the fact I was starting to consider him a friend. I didn't like that he did whatever Edward asked without questioning, but I just assumed that was the relationship they had. I was kind of a brat, and I didn't plan on changing that. Edward just made it too easy to frazzle him.

The surprising friendship for me was the D.J., Jasper, or Jazz as we called him. He was always super calm and let nothing bother him. He also had an incredibly sexy smooth Texan accent. I think there was something going on between him and Alice. They were always staring at each other when the other wasn't looking. I think they did nothing about it because they worked together. The sexual tension between Emmett and Rose was so thick I started to get aroused around them. I think they also didn't act on anything because of that same reason—mixing work and pleasure almost always lead to disaster.

"What's up, pix? You look like you're about to explode."

"I just talked to Jasper, and he asked me out on a date." She squealed.

I jumped up and hugged her. We were jumping up and down, squealing, when we heard a throat clearing from the doorway. We both turned and saw Edward standing there, just leaning against the doorjamb. He had a small smile turning up the corner of his mouth, but it was his usual cocky smile, not 'cause of any happiness.

"Nightingale, can I have a minute with Belladonna. Glitter was looking for you."

She nodded at him, kissed me on the cheek, and left to go find Rose. "What's up, Mr. Cullen?" I rarely called him Edward out loud. He started walking around the space in the room

"I just wanted to see how you were feeling. It's been about a week, and you've gotten a lot of dancing experience with Glitter and Nightingale. Do you think you're ready to strike out on your own? Glitter said she thinks you are?" he asked, his cool demeanor driving me crazy.

"Well, then why are you asking me. Ro knows what I can do better than you. I've barely seen you since that one night," I replied, trying to goad him.

"Just because you don't see me, doesn't mean I don't see you."

"That's kinda creepy, Mr. Cullen. Are you back there in your office getting off to all the naked girls in here?" I asked, raising one of my perfectly sculpted eyebrows. I knew I was pushing, but like I said, he made it easy.

"Are you really asking me if I'm back there jacking off? Been thinking about my cock, Bella? I know you felt it against your ass your first night here. Do you imagine what it'd be like to touch it?"

I was stunned at the turn our conversation had taken. Even though he was my boss and the things he was saying should have been highly inappropriate, I couldn't stop the image of what may be under those fitted slacks. Though I was a virgin, I had seen my fair share of porn, and I knew what a dick looked like. I must have been standing there too long because Edward's voice broke through the haze.

"Are you thinking about it right now?"

I got close to him and started playing with his tie. "How can I think about something I've never had? But I would be so curious to see what you have under that hood," I told him, looking up at him through my lashes.

His eyes flashed to mine, and the cold demeanor slipped for just a moment before the mask was back again. "What else have you been thinking about?"

"What you taste like," I said, hating how breathy my voice had just become.

Edward groaned low in his throat, and I swallowed hard. "Wait, what do you mean something you've never had?"

Ah, he had picked up on it. Well, shit, it was go all in time now. "I'm a virgin."

His eyebrow shot up in surprise. A myriad of emotions crossed his face before that fucking emotionless mask won again. Somehow, in that moment, I knew he was going to say something that offended me. "Well, that's unfortunate because I don't fuck virgins."

Yep. It was like a slap in the face. I stepped away from him and turned, hoping that he didn't see the hurt in my eyes. "If there's nothing else, Mr. Cullen, I really should get to work. Have a nice night," I said and walked out of the dressing room without a look back at him. When I made it near the front stage, I found Alice and Rose.

"Hey, B," Alice said excitedly. She took in my face and her face fell. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head and saw Edward walking toward us. "Nothing. I'm fine, pix."

She glanced over toward Edward, raised her eyebrow, and then shrugged her shoulders. "Okay. Let me know if you need to talk."

I nodded.

Edward got Rose's attention and started talking to her. I studiously ignored him completely. "I like your outfit. It's kinda like a whole angel theme."

"That's what I was going for. I like this cowboy outfit a lot more than that white one. And holy shit, I'm so proud of your shoes. Not having a hard time walking in them anymore, are you?"

I laughed and shook my head. I did a straight drop to a crouch and rolled my body back up. Since we still weren't open, I pulled her over to the pole with me. I looked over at Rose, and she winked at me over Edward's shoulder, causing him to turn and look at me. I grabbed the pole by the top with one hand and the middle of the pole with the other hand. I did a pirouette, then went into a reverse sun kiss, which was just a turn around the pole in reverse with my legs spread. Then I brought my legs together and went into a chair spin. I brought my legs down, did a body roll, turned away from the pole, and did a fan kick. Then back to my feet. Alice clapped, and I smiled brightly at her.

"Jazzy, turn a song on!" she yelled to Jazz. He tipped his hat and pushed some buttons, and "I Want It All" by Karmin came on. Alice grabbed my hands and pulled me close to her, and we ground with each other for a few beats of the song. I turned and pressed my ass to her groin, and we started to sway together. I grabbed one arm to glide along my collarbone and hold me to her. We continued to sway, and then she rolled down to the ground and went under me between my feet. She stuck her tongue out so only I could see, and I laughed. She grabbed the pole at the middle and nodded to me. Alice had taught me after hours how to do an inside skater tandem trick. We both put our hands near the top, with hers just below mine. We both turned toward the side and started to walk around it in the same direction. We both hooked our inside leg around the pole and used our outside leg to give us the momentum. We came out of the spin and hugged each other, laughing. Rose screamed woohoo, Emmett whistled with his fingers loudly, Jasper cheered, Lauren and Victoria—two girls who were jealous of me—just stood there with their arms crossed, but the cherry on the top of the whole sundae was Edward. He looked shocked and turned on. I gave him a sassy smile and winked at him. He looked a little angry and stalked off to his office.

Rose joined us on the stage, and Alice showed her how to do the trick we just did. The first time, they ended up kicking each other. I was close to tears from laughing at them by the time they were able to pull it off well. Alice jokingly said she preferred to dance with me.

"Boo, you whore," Rose teased.

"Hey, you can't blame her for picking the obviously superior dancer, Ro."

Rose came up behind me and swatted my ass. I blushed bright red and turned to look at her in shock.

"Are you blushing, B? That's fucking adorable," Rose joked.

Alice got an evil smile. "I think she liked it, Ro."

"You guys are sadists, and no one else is smacking my ass again," I said loudly. It just so happened that Edward was walking by the stage at this point. He turned sharply and looked at us, eyebrows raised. We three just smiled at him cheekily. He gave us all a cocky smirk and continued in the direction he had been going before. "Jesus, that was embarrassing," I replied. Alice and Rose just laughed. I sighed and rolled my eyes. I really did love those too like they were my sisters.

Rose went over how tonight was going to go. Apparently, Edward wanted all three of us to dance together after the other girls had taken the stage, then we could prowl the floor for people who may want lap dances. Rose told me that any private request for me went through her because she had to run them by Edward since I was still fairly new. I agreed because what was I going to say?

We opened in the normal fashion, and the girls started taking the stage one by one. I watched Rose and Alice from backstage. I knew Edward was out there somewhere, and I had no interest in being around him more than I needed to be at the moment. Once all the girls had performed, Rose, Alice, and I took the stage. We ran through what we were going to do before we opened.

We all took our spots and waited for our musical cue. "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga started, and the three of us walked toward each other to the beat. I put my hands on Rose's shoulders, pulling her closer to me, and Alice came up behind me, gripping my hips. We kind of pushed and pulled on each other, and then started to grind up on each other together as one. Alice pulled my hair to bring my neck back and licked along my collarbone while Rose rolled her body down to my feet, and then back up.

As all I had on top was a bra, I unclasped it, and Rose pulled it off with her teeth. I ripped Alice's breakaway shirt off, and Alice unbuttoned and removed Rose's shirt. We were all dressed in different variations of cowboy outfits. Our outfits were close to the same but different colors. Rose's blonde hair was in low pigtails, mine was loose, and Alice's was up in a high half-bun.

We all got close enough to kiss, but right before we did, we broke apart, and each of us went to our poles doing the routine I did earlier. We each grabbed the pole at the top with one hand and the middle of the pole with the other hand. We each did a pirouette, then went into a reverse sun kiss, brought our legs together, and went into the chair spin. Bringing our legs down, we did a body roll, turned away from the pole, and did a fan kick while pulling up to sit on the pole. Alice and I did the table, which was us just hanging horizontally. Rose got all super fancy and inverted herself and spun down, then we all dropped to our feet and our song was over.

There was thunderous applause, and I could no longer avoid the eyes I had felt watching me the entire performance. I saw Edward's outline, but because of the lighting, his face was completely in the shadows. I was locked in place, staring at him while Alice gathered the money that had been thrown on the stage. She grabbed my arm and pulled me off the stage. We got our tops back on, and Rose told me that she would give me my tips at the end of the night. I was excited because I had only gotten tips once or twice at the end of the night because I still hadn't had my solo dance yet.

We broke apart to go walk the floor. There was a large party that was in here tonight because they were all in a group, drinking like it was their last night on earth. Rose called to me, and I turned to look at her pointing at Emmett. He was doing a dorky dance to the music and miming that he was pole dancing. I laughed out loud. "Ow, shake it baby!" I yelled. He gave me his big, dimpled grin and blew me a kiss. I mimed catching it and putting it in my pocket. I turned to continue making my way back up to the front but ran into someone. I almost fell again, but warm hands caught me by my elbows and kept me from falling. I was looking at this guy's chest. I could tell he was very toned beneath his shirt. I looked up, and my God, the man was gorgeous. Not as pretty as Edward, but he was damn close. He had stormy gray eyes. His straight nose fit his face perfectly. There was scruff above his lips and all along his jaw. I kind of wanted to lick it. His lips were soft, pouty, and a pink color. It took me a minute to realize he had asked me a question.

"Wh-What?"

He chuckled and it was like warm caramel—I just wanted to melt into it. "I said are you okay?" he said in a deep timbre.

"Oh, yeah. I'm sure I ran into you; I can be pretty clumsy." Shut up, Bella, I told myself.

"Oh, well the pleasure is all mine. My name is Alec," he said.

"Belladonna."

"Oh, very nice name. Dangerous, alluring, poisonous," he complimented me.

I looked at him for a moment before he answered my unanswered question.

"I'm Italian. I'm very well aware what that name means," he replied.

"Oh. That makes sense."

"May I be so bold as to say that I found you the most attractive of the three who were up there? Your smile is beautiful." This just caused me to smile. "Ah, see, that right there is a thing of beauty."

"Thank you. You're really too kind."

Rose came over to me. "Looks like you made a friend, Belladonna. Who is this?"

"This is Alec. Alec this is Glitter."

"Nice to meet you," he said, giving her a kind smile.

"So, Alec, are you here tonight for business or pleasure?"

"Mostly business, but Belladonna here has given me pleasure I hadn't expected. Could I ask you for a private dance?"

"Belladonna is still training; she's new, so I would have to run this by the owner. Give us a few moments."

Alec nodded and went back to sit with his friends. I waited for Rose to lead me to find Edward, but he just appeared, scaring the shit out of me.

"Glitter, go comp that man's drinks for the night and offer him a different dancer. Bella and I have some things to discuss. We'll be in my office, but I promise you will regret disturbing us." This was the first time I actually saw Rose look afraid of Edward, and the look on his face said that he wasn't to be questioned or trifled with. He grabbed my arm roughly and marched me to his office. He flung the door open, and I tried to pull away from him. He shoved me in the room and shut his door.

"Edward, let go; you're hurting me."

I saw a flash of concern cross his features. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, and then exhaled. When his eyes opened again, they were still a stormy green, but he didn't look ready to murder me. "Are you okay?" he asked, coming closer to me, and I flinched away from him.

"Don't touch me. What the fuck is wrong with you, Edward?" I asked. I really wanted to know what this man's damage was. He was so back and forth. So off and on. He may have been devastatingly handsome, but I had a feeling that wasn't the only devastating thing about him.

"You were flirting with that customer."

I looked at him completely dumfounded. "Isn't that what I'm supposed to be doing? You know, get them interested so they'll ask for a private dance."

"Generally, yes. But you aren't allowed to do private dances for them," he almost mumbled.

I raised my eyebrows at him. "So, who am I supposed to do them for?"

"Me."

I laughed at this. I completely busted up and bent over at the waist to catch my breath. "You've got to be shitting me."

He got right into my personal space. "You find this fucking funny?" He looked pissed

I swallowed heavily and shook my head. He was super close to me, and I could smell his alcohol-scented breath. I knew the smell, Jäger and peppermint schnapps, but he wasn't drunk. I knew that much. He brought his hand up to my cheek and ran his thumb across my lips. "God, I just want to devour your mouth," he almost whispered, and then his lips slammed into mine, his hands weaving in my hair. My eyes widened before I closed them and moaned. I shoved my hands into his hair, and he pushed me until I was right up against his desk.

He continued to kiss me, claiming me, devouring me, nipping my lower lip, and soothing it with his tongue. This wasn't a lover's kiss. It was wild, raw passion. I had never been kissed like this before, and I could feel my panties start to dampen. I slid my hands from his hair and scratched down his chest over his shirt.

I felt his erection against my stomach, and the alarm bells went off in my head. I pushed him away from me gently, disengaging my lips from his. I just stared at him, and in that moment, he took my breath away. His lips were swollen from our kiss, his hair was a mess, and he was panting heavily. He went to kiss me again, and I shook my head, stopping him. He looked confused, and I wanted to let him continue to kiss me, but my feelings were still smarting from earlier.

"You don't fuck virgins, remember?" I asked, spitting his crass comment back at him.

Recs:

Those Days Were over- 2brown-eyes: As children we spent our summers as fishing buddies that became childhood sweethearts. College led us on different paths until fate had them collide once more. He was no longer the boy I remembered from carefree summers—those days were over.

Divergence of Nature- Maplestyle: There is a long-standing debate over nature versus nurture. For the Cullens and the McCartys, it's one they discover changes their lives irrevocably.

Also follow Cullenlvr83 or jgaff for our individual stories. There are some good ones.

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A/N: So, that happened. How are we feeling? Leave a review and let us know your thoughts, concerns, questions etc. See you all next week. Our schedule is changing to Tuesday and Friday. Make you sure to follow us if you haven't already. Love you all!