Buxom Blond Beauty

I kissed my bed when I got home from Shreveport. I just flopped down and literally kissed it, mumbling about how I missed it. And how it was my baby and I loved it. Yeah, well, I didn't have a pet. I had to love something in my apartment.

In the end, I came home with around nine thousand and Alice was about five hundred in the hole. I didn't ask how and I didn't want to know. But, just watching her lose made me lose the desire to play for a while. It's all fun and games until someone can't pay the electric bill.

Not that Alice couldn't, but if I played as badly as she did... Well, that would have been a different story.

When I finally tore myself from my bed to check my email, I had only one that really caught my attention. It was from Edward.

It was titled Stupid Ass.

I'm sorry I was such a stupid ass on the phone Saturday night. I had a couple of beers and hadn't eaten anything. I don't hold my liquor very well. I hope I didn't make you feel uncomfortable. Not that what I said wasn't true, I just know I should be careful of our boundaries. I hope that you can forgive me.

I hope that you have a wonderful time and please let me know when you get home safely. Alice says I'm a worrier and in this case, I agree... I just want to make sure you're okay.

Sorry, I'm rambling. I'll stop now.

I laughed. Poor Edward. It only seemed fair to put him out of his misery, so to speak. He seemed to feel so bad and there really wasn't a need to. Taking my phone I crawled back into my bed and dialed his number.

"I made it home safe," I said in way of greeting.

"That's good to know," a female voice said. A sultry deep female voice. What the hell?

"I'm sorry, I guess I dialed the wrong number..." I trailed off.

"Are you looking for Edward? Hold on."

What in the world was this woman doing at his place so late at night? Jesus, had my dream come true so quickly?

And why was I so mad? I didn't have any right to him. I mean, I was attracted to him and we did share a night together, but what was that? Nothing in the world to such a handsome man.

All these thoughts happened very quickly. Before I could spew any of those angry venom-like thoughts out loud, I heard Edward say, "thanks, Aunt Carmen," just before he took the phone. "Ello?"

"Edward," I breathed out, feeling my cheeks heat up.

"Bella! Oh! Um, hi! How are you?"

"Fine. I just wanted to let you know that I got home okay. I didn't want you to worry," I mumbled, feeling totally embarrassed by the whole thing. "You seem busy. I'll let you go."

"No, no. My aunt was just about to go. Let me walk her out and I'll be right back," he said quickly before pulling the phone away from his ear. "Buenas noches, tía. Gracias por la cena. Tan bueno."

I didn't know he spoke Spanish.

"Te amo. Ser un buen chico," came her reply.

"Siempre," he laughed before bringing the phone back up to his ear. "Sorry, back."

"What did you have for dinner?" I asked in way of letting him know that I spoke Spanish as well.

"Oh, um, she made me some turkey with mole. It was really good," he said, becoming shy for some reason. "Habla español?"

"Soy Texana" I laughed. "I thought it was required."

"I was just hoping you'd speak a little for me," he admitted. I bit my lip and felt my face heat up slightly. "You know, it's always good to keep in practice."

"Practice, sure," I replied. "Anyway, why are you speaking Spanish with your aunt? Didn't want me to hear the whole sordid conversation?" I teased him.

"Well, she's Hispanic, for one. She's more comfortable speaking Spanish. She's my Mother's late brother's wife. They met in Mexico City and he brought her back here. Since he's passed she's decided to go back home," he said a bit sadly.

"That sucks," I said quietly. "Are you close?"

"She's my favorite aunt. That's okay. It just gives me an excuse to go visit Mexico. Always wanted to and never have."

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked him gently. There was a silence between us for a moment before he answered.

"Maybe one day, but not right now. You're sweet to ask though. Um, anyway, while I had you on the phone I wanted to ask you something."

"What's that?"

"Alice said something about you wanting to celebrate Halloween and well, I'm playing at a club that night. I'd love to see you again and I was wondering if you girls would want to come along. It's a speakeasy theme. I'll be doing ragtime music. Should be fun."

"What?" I said surprised, shaking my head to clear the fog that the idea of Edward in gangster garb brought on. Then I really thought about his question. "Yeah, okay. Sure. I'll talk to Alice about it."

"Really?" He said slowly before getting a little more excited. "Really! Alright then. Fantastic. Talk to Alice and we'll work out the details later."

"Okay," I giggled at how excited he was. It was really cute. He was cute. "Um, well I'm exhausted. It's been a long weekend. I have a lot of work to catch up on tomorrow so I'm going to head onto bed."

"Alright, love," he said cheerfully. "Sweet dreams."

Gah, why did he have to say it in that sexy British voice? Every damn time, too! It certainly didn't inspire me to go to sleep, but that night I didn't have much choice. I just passed out.

"OH! Good, so he finally asked you!" Alice giggled beside me on the step machine. I was going to put an extra twenty minutes on my workouts for the rest of the week. I had gained two pounds after my weekend at the casino and I was determined to get that off and more. "If he didn't, I told him I was. He's been talking about it for a week now. So do you want to go?"

"Sure. I mean, it gets two things off my list. Halloween and Dance club."

Alice began to snicker, shaking her head. "Bella, it's not just a club. It's a gay club."

"Gay club?" I asked in surprise. "Why is Edward playing there?"

"I asked him the same thing. Apparently, he wasn't going to work on Halloween at all but they offered him extremely good money. He said it would pay the rent for a month, so who am I to argue?"

"Hm," I replied, not really knowing what else to say.

"So, what do you say? Perfect opportunity."

"What will I wear?" I asked.

"Um, DUH! Do you really have to ask? It's going to be the roaring twenties theme. It's practically a built-in choice." She rolled her eyes. "Next week we will go to a costume shop and get everything we need. This is going to be SO MUCH FUN!" She squealed.

"Oh, my god! My wife is a drag king," Jasper said sarcastically after we came out in our costumes the following week. Alice decided to be a gangster. Complete with pinstripes and fedora. She even shoved a sock in a pair of boy shorts. When she asked me if it was too big I almost died from laughter. How often does your female best friend ask you if her make-believe penis is too big?

I was wearing a red and black flapper costume, with fishnets and tiny little heels. Alice was all excited because she said I crossed another thing off my list but I told her no. When I wrote heels I meant four inch break your neck if you fall heels. I would not be wearing those to a club though.

"Jasper, what do you think of Bella's? Alice asked, making me turn around slowly. "Look! It's a size twelve! Doesn't she look amazing."

"She does..." He trailed off, looking me over slowly. I felt like a showpiece.

"But?" Alice said, rolling her hands.

"Her hair isn't right." He frowned. "I mean, you look fucking hot, Bella, but your hair needs to be different."

"You sure you don't want to join us at the gay club?" I asked Jasper with a raised eyebrow. He smirked as his cheeks flamed slightly.

"I said you look hot. I'd do you. Jesus, ladies, don't ask me questions unless you want to hear the answers," he said, stomping off.

"I hate to admit it, but he's right. Your hair just isn't the style," Alice said, tapping her finger to her lips.

"I'm not cutting it," I said, "and I don't want to wear a wig. It'll just have to do."

"Hey... I've got an idea," she smiled wickedly. I was instantly frightened.

"What?"

"Dye your hair a crazy color for Halloween! What's a better excuse? Oo, what color should we do? Red? Purple? Blue?" She started to go over the ideas in her head, pacing around me.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa..." I said, slowing her down.

"It's on your list! You want to, don't you?" She said, cocking her hip to the side. The action looked funny in the suit. Very female. Maybe we should switch costumes. I certainly didn't feel girly.

"Well, yeah. I guess. But purple?"

"I'll make an appointment at my salon for tomorrow! That way it'll be ready for the party. Oh, that'll be awesome!"

"I'm picking the color," I warned her.

"Of course."

"And make another appointment for the day after Halloween, so I can dye it back to a normal color."

"Aw! But why?" She whined. "Why don't you stay a funky color for at least a week?"

"Because I have a business to run and a ton of client meetings next week. I don't want to look like a Christmas tree," I argued. "I didn't say how long my hair would be a strange color."

"Blond? Your crazy color is BLOND?" Alice nearly shrieked the next day as we got ready for the party. The hairdresser had even styled it so that it was pinned up in the back and it looked shorter with cute little finger waves. I liked the style. The platinum blond? Not so much.

"I said I was going to pick," I raised an eyebrow at her as I put on my lipstick. I put it in that pouty, not in the corners, style of the twenties. My eye makeup was thick, my eyelashes heavy with mascara.

"Everyone dyes their hair blond. It's not crazy," she pouted as she combed back her ultra slicked back black hair.

"I didn't say it was crazy for everyone. But blond for me? Insanity," I snorted as she rolled her eyes. "Hey, it's just for a day anyway. It's going back to brunette tomorrow."

She placed a red carnation in her lapel, straightening her jacket before adjust her sock. "Yeah. I say you should have done it in red at the very least. Fire engine red to go with your dress."

I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "Ready when you are," I answered after I placed some black crystal bobbles in my ears, matching the necklace I was wearing. The silly thing actually went down to my waist. It was kind of cute though.

I heard the front door slam just as we came out the hallway from Alice's bedroom. Jasper just stood there, gaping like a fish as he took in my appearance.

"Wow."

"Wipe the drool from your chin," Alice smirked, leaning against the wall.

"You're blond," Jasper said, pointing at my hair.

"Like it?"

He nodded stupidly before his mouth opened and closed again.

"Oh! Jasper thinks the buxom blond Bella is a babe," Alice teased him. "I see how it is."

"No. I mean, yeah. She's, you're, hot. I'm just- wow, shocked is all. I didn't expect that. Honestly, wow. Edward is going to-"

"Don't warn Edward," Alice said, shaking her head. "I want to see his face. It'll be priceless."

"You know, I thought you didn't like my hair," I said, turning to Alice.

"I never said that. I just said that it wasn't crazy. You're totally hot. Remember what I said about being lesbians? It totally goes double now," she said, patting me on the backside before putting an arm over my shoulder. "So, come on, darlin. Let's go party," Alice said in her best Goodfellas voice.

"Hold on! Hold on!" Jasper called to us. "I need to take a picture before you leave. Honestly, do you think I'll let you out of the house like that without photographic evidence?"

We posed stupidly for him, me leaning into Alice with one leg kicked up and my lips puckered as she tried to look macho. I asked if I could get a picture of him kissing Alice but Jasper told me no. There was no amount of teasing that would have changed his mind either. He loved his wife, but not enough to kiss her while she had a sock shoved down her pants.

As we drove up Edward called my phone. I could hear the music playing from inside her Porsche, the same music pounding through the speaker. "Hey! I've got you on the guest list. Just walk up to the bouncer and tell them that you're with Cullen. That way you don't have to wait."

"Okay!" I shouted back.

"I'm going to be on the second floor. The show's about to start."

Show? Well, that was going to be interesting to see. I had no idea what was going to happen, but I sure it would be a new experience.

The bouncer gave me a twice over, a large smile on her face. My cheeks instantly heated. "Cullen."

"Oh, right. You're with the sexy redhead. He told me that two beautiful girls would be coming up. He wasn't lying."

Alice giggled, giving her best flirty smile. "Aw, thank you. You're so sweet."

I looked at her and she batted her eyelashes at me. Ah, I saw how she was going to play this evening. I snickered, leaning into her. "Well, you girls have a good Halloween! Enjoy!" The bouncer said, ushering us inside.

A heavy metal cover of This is Halloween blasted through the sound system, people moving together as one. It was hard to tell one from the other. Everyone was dressed up, mostly in flapper wear. There were some random others, but tassels were everywhere.

"Let's go get a drink and then head upstairs. Edward said it would be starting at nine," Alice shouted over the music.

I ordered a cranberry and vodka and Alice ordered a beer. The bartender was super cute. Tall, dark, and handsome. He was wearing dress pants and suspenders, his hair slicked back a lot like Alice's. He winked at me as he twirled the bottle of vodka in the air, giving a heavy pour in a plastic cup.

Oh, yeah. It was going to be a fun night.

When we headed upstairs was when the gangster speakeasy theme really kicked in with the decorations. The place was dark and smoky and waitresses were dressed as cigarette girls. A piano was set up on a stage to the side and I couldn't imagine the shy Edward being comfortable being put on display like that.

"Come on! Let's go up front!" Alice said, scooting her way through the crowd to a somehow empty table. A lot of the tables up at the front were empty, surprisingly.

As soon as we sat, the lights got even dimmer as a spotlight focused on the front of the stage. "Hello Everyone!" A very effeminate voice called. But when you saw the person that belonged to the voice, it was obvious that they were born a male. Big hair, big fake breasts, bad makeup, and a gaudy dress- a drag queen to a T.

Oh! Oh... that's what kind of show it was going to be. When I realized, I started giggling. They must have been paying Edward some very good money to be playing here tonight.

"I am the divine Lady Mary. But, you may call me Goddess if you must. We have a very special show for you tonight. Before we get started, I'd like to introduce our piano player and eye candy for the night... the extremely handsome Edward Cullen!"

The entire crowd screamed and wolf called as he came over to the piano.

Any fantasy I had about him in a tux did not do him justice. He was beyond handsome. He was fucking sexy. I drooled. I'll admit it. Gah and his red hair was perfectly slicked back in that style.

Nom... nom... nom...

"Edward is very talented," Lady Mary said, walking over to the piano, "with his hands." The crowd whistled. Edward turned a flaming shade of red. "And he's humble too! Just to let everyone know, there is a tip cup on the piano if you feel the need to show your appreciation for such a talent. Edward, say hello!"

"Ello," he mumbled into the mike. The entire crowd screamed.

"Oh, and did I mention that he was ENGLISH! Yum. Doesn't get much better, now does it?" They said, just as pleased as punch. "But don't bother the boy too much. He's straight. What a crying shame. Trust me… I tried!"

"I don't think they'll be able to offer Edward enough money next year for him to do this again," Alice snickered. "I've never seen Edward this red before."

"Poor thing," I giggled.

"My goodness! What a beautiful audience we have tonight. All dolled up! And just to see little old Lady Mary. I am honored," the announcer said, before going to different audience members. She teased them, toyed with them, and taunted them in good humor about their clothes or their dates.

This is when I realized why the front tables were mostly empty. "And looky here! Two very lovely ladies. And let me tell you," Mary said, looking down my ample cleavage, "she is all woman. What is your name my very blond beauty?"

"Um, Bella," I breathed quietly as my cheeks heated to a fiery level. Edward's head snapped over in my direction and his eyes went huge.

"A beautiful name to fit a lovely lady. And who may I ask is your gangster?"

"Alice!" She nearly shouted proudly. Mary laughed.

"Well, you're not shy at all, now are you? I bet you're a hellcat in bed. Is she, Bella?"

"I want to know when she's not a hellcat," I answered vaguely, earning cheers from the audience. I watched Edward smile slightly, his eyes casting a glance over to me shyly.

"Woo! That's exactly the kind of guests we want. The feisty ones!" Lady Mary as she walked up to the stage. She made some sort of signal with her hand and Edward began to play as other background music came on. It sounded like Gershwin, not that I was positive. "Mm, because you know the lady likes the feisty! I hope all of our flappers and gangsters enjoy the show tonight because it's going to be a scream!"

Then Edward began to play another song. I knew it right off. Most people did. This time it was just him. A soft voice came before the curtain opened, exposing probably the most beautiful drag queen I had ever seen. Not that I saw many. But, I was jealous of how pretty she was.

"Summertime and the livin is easy... the fish are jumpin and the cotton is high... your daddy's rich and your ma is good looking..."

After the first song, people came up to give Edward tips, flirting with them as they did. Poor thing. He was so embarrassed. They weren't just tipping him though, but the singers. The next singer came on, singing actually one of my favorite songs of all time. Not a lot of people knew it, but I did.

My mother's son in law, by Billie Holiday. And I had to say, I hoped the singer did it justice.

"Here," Alice said, handing me a five dollar bill. "Go give his to Edward."

"Why me?" I asked, looking at the folded up money.

"You know why you."

"No."

"Go."

"No."

Then she gave me that evil I'm not going to give up until I win look and I sighed. "Go give him the money."

"This is so high school," I groaned as I stood. It was like passing a note before we went to the buses or something.

I walked up slowly to the stage, climbing the two stairs to put the money in the cup. He didn't look at me as he played, his eyes closed as he focused on the music in his head. I leaned in close and whispered in his ear. "You play beautifully."

He almost messed up. Almost.

"Thank you," he whispered so softly I probably wouldn't have heard it if I hadn't been looking at his lips. "You look so fucking gorgeous. My god, Bella. You take my breath away."

"Edward," I stuttered and he smiled over at me shyly.

"If you can compliment my music then I can compliment your beauty. Do you want to sit with me a moment?"

"I don't think I should," I shook my head. "Besides, don't want to scare away the tips."

"Oh, yes, please. Please scare away the tips. They scare me," he smiled. "Just through the end of the song and then I'll leave you be."

"Just through this song," I agreed, sitting next to him. I bit my lip as the person came out onto the stage, beginning to sing. They weren't bad. I sang along very quietly.

Edward's lips twitched as he leaned over, breathing in my ear softly. "You will sing for me one day."

"I'm a horrible singer," I laughed. He just shook his head. I leaned into his side, singing along. "Ain't got the least desire to set the world on fire, I just wish you'd make it proper and call my old my papa..."

"You amaze me," he said quietly as the song came to an end. "You constantly surprise me." He leaned over and lightly kissed my bare shoulder. "Go have fun with Alice. I'll see you after the show."

I stumbled my way down the stage, a stupid little smile on my face as I came to sit beside Alice. She snorted, rolling her eyes. "You fight it and you fight it, but you're not going to win."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Ah huh. Lie to yourself. That's fine. I'm just going to go get another drink. Want one?" She said, standing up.

"No thanks. Not right now." I shook my head.

I sighed softly as I laid my head on the palm of my hand, watching Edward as he played another song. I didn't know this one, but it still had a nice beat.

"Hey there, sweetie. How are you doing?"

So many things off the list this chapter.

Also, Edward in a in twenty's style tux.

Reviews are motivation! Sends lots, please!

Thanks for reading!