A/N:

Welcome to the newly written chapter! I hope you'll enjoy this even though it's shorter than what I used to put up!

Title: Forbidden Attraction

Author: MarieCarro

Genre: Drama/Romance

Rating: NC-17

Summary: To Edward Masen, Bella Swan was nothing more than his daughter's best friend, but that all changed when they both applied for the same weekly writing course. Suddenly, she didn't appear to be the young girl that had played with his daughter since her family moved in next door. What will Edward do when he realizes that he's developing a very forbidden attraction for a woman twenty-five years his junior? AH

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter Word Count: 4, 002

CHAPTER 13

"I just landed. Gonna meet up with Dad, but I wish it was you picking me up."

Bella's text made me smile and I put my work to the side so that I could reply. "Maybe not today, but after this summer, that's the way it will be."

At least, that was what I hoped. This summer would be our make or break, and I was truly rooting for the first one. I wanted us to work, but I wasn't fooling myself by believing this summer wouldn't present us with new issues to deal with, and if those issues turned out to be too great for us, only time could tell.

My phone buzzed again. "Yeah? About that, when do you want to do it?"

"Whenever you want to, I'm here. I'm planning on telling Alice today that I'm seeing someone. Lay down the groundwork, so to speak. Maybe you should do the same with your parents." The message was long enough to be an essay, but we didn't have the time to write back and forth, as was evident by her next text.

"Sounds good. Have to go. Dad's here."

I pocketed my phone and looked around the cafe I'd chosen to have the necessary conversation with my daughter, and I instantly spotted her outside the door before she came inside.

"Dad, what's up?" she asked, somewhat confused. "Why did you ask to meet here?"

Her confusion was understandable. In the past, we'd always had serious conversations in the confines of our home, and while I still would have preferred to have talked to her at my place, I knew her initial reaction to what I had to say would be more subdued in public.

I gestured toward the chair opposite of mine. "Please, sit down. I need to talk to you about something."

She frowned as she sat down. "What is it?"

I took a deep breath as I tried to formulate the words in my head. "Well, you see, I wanted to talk with you about how you would feel if your Mom or I were to start seeing other people."

Her entire body tensed up. "You mean, like, dating?"

"Yes," I said. There was no use in wandering around the subject. I needed to start treating my daughter more like the adult she was and not the teenager she often acted as.

"Why do you want to talk about that?" she asked and looked away from me. "You guys just divorced."

I reached out with my hand to take hers, but she pulled it out from under my grasp, and I knew she felt hurt that I was talking about dating someone else than Mary. "Honey, it's been six months," I reminded her carefully. "I understand how this makes you uncomfortable, but your mom and I both need to move on."

"Mom hasn't spoken of dating anyone, so why do you want to?" she asked defensively.

I knew through common friends that Mary had gone on a few dates, but not with the same man, and that was most likely why she hadn't talked to Alice about it.

"What your mom does is up to her," I told her softly. "I want to know how you will feel."

She leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms. "I don't want you to do it," she said defiantly. "I don't want to see you with anyone but Mom."

"I know you don't want to," I acknowledged. "But your mom and I won't get back together again. I need to know if you will accept that I have moved on."

A lonely tear slowly slid down her face, and I hated seeing it there. I would never enjoy hurting my daughter, but I was telling her about life and the unavoidable events it sometimes presented. I knew she was still clinging on to the childish hope of a reconciliation between me and Mary, but she had to understand that it would never happen.

Not now that I had Bella, and I was not about to let that girl go. Ever.

"You're talking as if you're already seeing someone," she accused, and I sighed because it was now or never.

"That's because I am."

Her eyes narrowed. "What?" she asked even though she had clearly heard me. "So all this talk about how I will feel about it was just a technicality?"

I leaned forward on my forearms. "Alice, it's not just a technicality. I do want to know how you feel about it."

"Why? Will you stop seeing this … person if I say that I don't like it?" she challenged.

"No, I won't," I told her honestly. "You're my daughter, Alice, and I love you more than anything, but you're an adult now, and it's time I start to live my life for myself again. Had you still been a child, it would have been different. Dating would most likely not have been on my mind."

A sniffle escaped her. "Who is this person you're seeing anyway?"

I attempted a small smile. I knew I couldn't tell her about Bella today. She was already upset about me dating, so this wasn't the right moment. "I will make sure you two meet, eventually, but for now, I think you need to just get used to the idea of me seeing another woman. Okay?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. Or whatever."

We decided to leave that conversation there, and while I had hoped that we could stay in the cafe and talk some more about her, and if there was anything new going on in her life, she told me that she needed some time and left.

I didn't have any other errands in town, so I decided to just go home, but I made sure to send a text to Alice where I told her where I'd be, and that she only had to call if she needed to talk.

It was still early in the afternoon, but the conversation with Alice had drained me mentally, and I lay down on my couch to rest my eyes. It became more than just resting, though, because I fell asleep, and while my back hated me for it, the wake-up call I got was worth it.

Bella's soft hands combed through my hair to gently rouse me and the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was her lovely smile.

I smiled back before pulling her down for a kiss.

"Mm," she hummed against my lips. "Hey, sleepyhead."

"Hey beautiful," I replied and kissed her again. A satisfied hum escaped me. "I've missed you so much. Seven weeks was too long."

"I agree," she whispered, and when I sat up, she promptly straddled me to remain close. I certainly wasn't complaining.

The jingle of keys in her hand behind my neck made me smile. "I take it you like your gift," I said, referring to the spare keys to my apartment in her hand. I'd put them in an envelope addressed to her and sent it to the Swan's house so she'd be greeted by it when she came home.

I'd been worried that she'd think it was too fast to give her a key, but I'd waved that thought away quickly, and the kisses she gave me now told me she definitely didn't think it was too fast.

"Unlimited access to your place where I can surprise you after work by waiting in your bed, naked?" she asked sultrily. "Hell yeah, I like it."

I groaned when the image caused my cock to stir, and she giggled when she felt it. "You're such a tease," I told her, but she instantly shook her head in disagreement.

"It's not teasing if you're planning to follow through," she said before grabbing the back of my head to pull me back for another kiss, and then her hands traced around to slide down my torso until she reached the hem of my t-shirt. As she pulled it over my head, she lightly scraped my skin with her nails, which caused me to shudder.

She was wearing a skirt since it had been a hot summer's day outside, and my hand massaged her bare thigh before I decided I couldn't wait any longer to feel her and I moved it in between her legs to press against the damp fabric of her underwear.

"Mhm, yes," she moaned and her own hand shot down to press my fingers harder against her.

"You're already wet, aren't you?"

"I hope you're not complaining," she retorted around another moan that mingled with mine when I pushed the fabric aside to touch her without the obstruction.

"I'll never complain about that." I was already painfully hard myself and I longed to bury myself inside her, so with movements that were trembling with our need for each other, we were able to get my pants unbuttoned and out of the way. We were too impatient to do anything about her clothes, so they remained on, her underwear simply pushed to the side.

Our sounds as we connected echoed around the apartment and intensified the emotions running through our bodies. We were already worked up by our reunion, so it didn't take very long before the both of us came undone.

In our orgasmic haze, neither of us heard the front door.

"What the fuck?!"

The exclamation startled us both and we instinctively looked toward the sound, however, when we saw that it was Alice standing in the archway to the hall, we realized what a mistake that was.

"Bella?! What the hell are you doing here? Get the fuck off my dad!" she screeched, and Bella and I scrambled to get clothes and body parts back where they should be before we stood up from the couch.

Bella took a step forward with an apologetic expression, but Alice backed away and pointed accusingly at her.

"You're the one Dad's been seeing? Holy fucking shit, you slut!"

I frowned disapprovingly at my daughter's language. I knew she was shocked, but it didn't excuse her behavior. "Mary Alice, do not speak like that in my home," I reprimanded, and she turned her fiery glare at me.

"You! I can't believe you! You're fucking my best friend?! That is so disgusting!" Her eyes shimmered with tears, and as she got angrier, they spilled over and ran down her cheeks. "How long have you—shit, I … I can't..."

"Alice," Bella tried softly and took another step forward, but Alice held up her hand to stop her.

"Don't speak to me," she gritted through clenched teeth. "I don't want to hear a sound from you ever again."

Bella ignored her. "Just let us explain," she pleaded and remained calm despite the situation being anything but. It made me admire her even more.

Not everyone agreed with me, though.

"What did I just say?!" Alice screamed at her, but Bella didn't even flinch. "Is this why you divorced Mom?" she asked, turning to me.

"No, Alice," I told her. "Your mom and I grew apart a long time ago. Our divorce was inevitable."

My daughter was unfortunately too lost in her anger to listen to reason. "Why are you so determined to ruin my life?" she yelled at me. "First, you tell me I can't go to L.A, then you divorce Mom, and now you're screwing my ex-best friend! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

I was quickly becoming fed up with her behavior, and I stepped forward until I was between the two girls. "Alice, stop this childish behavior right now. You are almost twenty-one. Act your age."

She flinched at my raised voice, but she wasn't done. "I could say the same thing to you," she said, somewhat calmer, but still with a defiantly immature tone.

"We can have this conversation when you've calmed down and can act like the adult you are supposed to be. Stay if you want, but I'm gonna drive Bella home."

I looked at Bella over my shoulder, and she followed me past Alice into the hall, but as she passed my daughter, she made one last attempt.

"Alice, I know you feel betrayed right now, and I'm sorry you had to find out this way, but—"

"I'm never gonna forgive you for this," Alice hissed. "You are dead to me, you little whore." She whirled around on her heels and stormed out of the apartment before I'd even reached for my car keys.

Bella buried her face in her hands and groaned. "Well, that went great," she mumbled and I enveloped her in my arms. She gratefully pressed herself tightly against me and wound her own arms around my waist. "How are we possibly gonna save this?"

"I doubt we can," I told her honestly. "Baby, I know this isn't ideal and not at all how we planned to do this, but I don't think we have a choice anymore." I kissed the top of her head and sighed. "I think we should tell your parents tonight. Before they accidentally hear it from someone else. Alice has most likely already called Mary, and I'll have to deal with that, but I want to be there for you when you tell them."

"Dad will punch you in the face, you know," she said and tilted her head up to look at me. "I don't want to see him break your face, but I appreciate that you want to be there. And I also, selfishly, want you to be."

"If Charlies charges at me, I'll just hide behind you," I joked and she laughed at me.

"You need me to protect you, huh?"

I caressed her cheek lovingly. "Always."

A smirk stretched across her face. "And how are you planning on reimbursing me for this protection?"

"Are as many kisses as you want and my love payment enough?"

She sighed mockingly. "I guess it will have to do."

"Then allow me to start payments right away," I said and gave her a kiss that was more than a peck but less than what we otherwise shared.

"You'll have to do many payments if that's all you can offer," she pointed out with a slight pout.

"I'll give you a larger sum once this mess has been cleared up," I promised before leading her outside so that we could grab the bull by its horns and tell her parents about us.

However, halfway there, my phone started to ring, and to my chagrin, the display told me it was Mary calling, and I glanced apologetically at Bella before showing her.

"I can ignore it," I told her.

She shook her head in disagreement. "No, it's better if you talk to her first. It might cause less drama that way. I'd hate for her to storm into my parents' house while we're there talking to them just because she sees your car out in the street."

I realized that she was right, and I knew that while I had this conversation with my ex-wife, I wouldn't be able to drive. I allowed her first call to go to voicemail because I knew she would call again, and it would give me time to pull off the freeway and find someplace to park.

I chose the first cafe I could find and parked outside before turning to Bella. "Why don't you go inside while I talk to Mary? I'll come get you when it's done."

But she was shaking her head before I'd even finished. "Not a chance in hell. I'm gonna be here for you just as you will be there for me with my parents. I'm not gonna say anything because it's your conversation to have, but I'm staying."

A deep, resigned sigh escaped me, but before I could argue against her, my phone rang again. Bella grabbed my hand in hers and squeezed, and I truly appreciated her support.

With slight trepidation, I answered the call and placed the phone at my ear.

"Yes?" I said instead of pleading ignorance by giving her my normal greeting. Both of us knew why she was calling.

"Is it true, Edward?"

I closed my eyes at the tone of her voice. It was eerily calm, and I had been married to the woman long enough to know that she wasn't only angry. She was pissed off, and scared, and nervous. It was all there, in her voice. "You've talked to Alice?"

"Yes, Edward, and I'm freaking out. I mean, what am I supposed to believe here? Our daughter calls me beyond upset and tells me this incredible story of how she walked in on you having sex with Bella Swan. Please, tell me it's not true."

"Do you want me to lie?"

I could almost hear Mary clench her jaw through the phone. "Edward..." she cautioned, warning me to take this seriously.

Little did she know how serious I was. "Well, do you? Because if you do, then yeah, I can tell you that Alice made it all up."

There was silence on the other end for a long time, but I could hear Mary's breathing, so I knew she had not hung up. "What are you doing?" she asked, almost tiredly. I had not expected that. I had expected her rage; her screaming and accusations. This was different. "She's a kid, Edward. She's younger than your daughter. What are you thinking?"

I scrubbed my face with the palm of my hand and took a deep breath. "It's not a spur of the moment fling, Mary," I explained.

"I know," she said, shocking me again. "You're not the person to do such impulsive things as having flings. You analyze yourself blue, and you always have, but that's what worries me. How can you have looked at such a situation and not seen how wrong it is?"

Movement next to me caused me to look over at Bella, and while I knew it was impossible to explain to anyone, let alone my ex-wife, what was between us, just looking into her deep-brown eyes made it so obvious to me. "Because it's not wrong to us," I told Mary. "When we're together, we don't think of our age difference."

Mary stopped me. "Spare me the details, please."

I rolled my eyes in annoyance. "I don't mean 'together' in that way, Mary. I mean when she and I talk; when we're in the same room reading different books; when we talk about poetry and writing. Bella and I have a lot in common that seems to be forgotten just because we're not the same age."

"It's not 'just because'," she pointed. "A ten-fifteen-year difference could have been acceptable, but it's twenty-five years. You were older than she is now when she was born."

Mary's observations and worries were understandable because the situation was new to her, but as she had stated, she knew what kind of person I was, and how I looked at every angle of something before going forward. "Bella and I have gone through every pro and con with a fine-toothed comb. Believe me, Mary. Both of us are very aware of what we're doing."

"Even Bella?" she questioned. "She's so young? How can she possibly know that she wants to be with you like you want to be with her? If Alice can't decide on college, how can Bella make such a life-altering decision?"

I had waited for her to make the comparison between Bella and our daughter, and I was so relieved when I could give her a good argument against it. "You know that Bella and Alice are two very different people. Didn't you say once yourself how Bella acted much older than her age?" I reminded her of a conversation long ago when Charlie and Renée had bragged over the hedge about the colleges Bella was considering while Alice had not even mentioned continued studies after high school.

"Yes, but that was different," she replied wearily. "I didn't mean that she's mature enough to get involved in a sexual relationship with a man old enough to be her father."

"Maybe not," I agreed. "However, I believe she is mature enough to make decisions for herself. Besides, it's not as if I'm forcing her to be with me. Bella is free to leave the relationship if or when she wants."

Once again, movement to my side caused me to look at Bella. She was shaking her head passionately, and I gave her a reassuring smile to tell her that I knew what she was feeling and that I wasn't expecting her to want to leave. I was just saying those things to appease Mary.

"That's reassuring, I guess."

"You didn't actually believe I was pressuring her, did you?"

"No," she said. "Not really, but this is new to me, Edward. I don't really know what to believe."

"I understand," I said and nodded to myself. "And because I know how difficult it is for other people to accept Bella's and my relationship, I need to ask something of you."

"What?" Mary sounded increasingly more exhausted with every second.

"Please make sure that Alice doesn't spread this further than what it has to be spread, whether it's on her Facebook or through text."

"Why would she do such a thing?" she asked defensively. "Alice is smart enough to know some things need to be kept quiet about."

"Yes, she is, but she is also hurt and feels that Bella has betrayed her. And it wouldn't be the first time either."

Mary was quiet again as she thought about that. "What do you mean?"

I sighed. "I found out recently that it was Alice who started the rumors that caused that Stanley girl to move."

"What? Who said that? Why would Alice do such a thing? I don't believe it," Mary started spewing out, and I knew it was Mama Bear I was talking to now. However, her instant defensiveness also said quite a lot.

"Don't you? Think about it, Mary. You know our daughter better than anyone else. If she feels someone's done wrong against her, are you denying what she's capable of?"

"I don't care. She's my baby. My Alice, and I will protect her to the last drop."

"Of course, I'm not asking any different. I'm asking you to make sure she doesn't spread anything that she might regret afterward. Her dad's involved this time, and if this comes out, it will bounce back on her."

I heard a groan in my ear, and then Mary relented. "You're right. Yeah, I'll check to see she keeps quiet about it, but Edward, I am still worried about this. One conversation won't be enough."

"I know," I acknowledged. "However, I have to say, you're taking this a lot calmer than I expected."

"Let's just say our divorce gave me a new perspective. I know you're not using Bella, and I'm sure she's got some feelings for you. I'm not gonna interfere and tell you that you can't be together because I'm not your wife and I'm not her mother, but I'm asking both of you to be cautious. This is bigger than just the two of you."

I had never thought my ex-wife would be the voice of reason. I appreciated it nonetheless, though, because I suspected the next conversation would be much less pleasant. I didn't get along with Charlie Swan on his best days, so I couldn't even fathom his reaction when he found out what I'd been doing with his daughter.

A/N:

Charlie confrontation will be in next chapter! What do you hope will happen?