Chapter 2

Thanks for reading. If you want to read the original short story, look at my profile and find School is Out. There's a few stories there but the 3 shot is there. Glad you're reading.

Bella's POV

Bella shut the door and flicked the lock. She rubbed her hands over her face and let her breath out with a whoosh. What was she thinking, drooling over a man like that? She was a married woman! Married women did not lust over other men. Even if they were as hot as he was. Bella shoved off the door and headed into the house. As she passed by the mirror in the foyer, her eyes were immediately drawn to her chest.

"What?!" she gasped. Her eyes zeroed in on her hard nipples. She pushed her hands down the front of her shirt, as if to test the reality of the mirror image shining its headlights back at her. "Oh my gosh! How embarrassing!" she whined before drudging off to the kitchen. After flicking on the lights, she opened the refrigerator door and peered inside. Sadly, there wasn't much in there, so she grabbed the jelly and a jar of pickles. She made a PB&J sandwich, with some chips and a garlic pickle slice. A wicked grin spread over her face as she ate the pickle. Edward despised the pickles, as they gave her powerful garlic breath. He'd come in the house and try to give her a kiss, but the pickle was like a repellent. One whiff and he'd back up, insisting she brush and gargle with mouthwash.

Sitting at the breakfast bar, she nibbled on her less-than-exciting dinner. Charlie had bought her lunch at the diner in Forks so she wasn't starving, at least. While she should have been working on her next book, instead her mind wandered to the man that brought her home. His easy smile and careful manner. It was obvious he was trying not to scare her and she imagined him being really kind to everyone. She wished that he'd brought her home because he secretly desired her. "Ha! Right!" she admonished as she dropped her paper plate into the garbage can. She'd read too many romance novels in her lifetime. Her head shook side to side as she tried to jostle those thoughts right out of her head.

Bella glanced around to make sure everything was cleaned up before heading upstairs. Normally, she'd get ready for bed and sit with her laptop in her lap. For weeks, she'd done nothing but stare at the blank, white screen. For a change, she decided to take a hot bubble bath. Her luxury bathtub often sat untouched, since she didn't feel the need to spend much time in there when she hardly left the house. She turned the knobs on both sides of the faucet, running her fingers into the water, waiting for it to warm up. Once the temperature was bearable, she climbed into the deep tub. Her arms swished around her body as she tried to help the suds build up into a nice foam. Eyes closed, she leaned back and enjoyed the warm water.

No one was aware that their wealthy status had nothing to do with Edward's lousy lawyer skills. She was the breadwinner in their house. Edward flaunted their money around town and she was feeling pretty concerned about money since she hadn't been able to write a thing in 2 years. It wasn't that she wrote something she was unhappy with, or anything that could use a good editor. She couldn't come up with anything. It was frustrating. With the way her husband spent money, it wouldn't be long before they would have to start selling off things. This brought her mind back to her car. At first, she didn't want a flashy car. But, after she'd settled in to the death of her old Volvo station wagon and gotten used to her new car, she was pretty attached to it. It wasn't always a practical car for northwest Washington, but she really did love it.

Her mind started wandering back to Jacob. She pictured the way his muscles flexed as he leaned over the hood of her car. She was pretty sure he'd caught her staring at his ass when he asked her something and she didn't respond. She stood there like a fish out of water, her mouth practically open catching flies.

Groaning at herself, she slid deeper down into the tub. It didn't take long for her imagination to wonder what it would be like to have his hands on her body. She pulled her hands up to her small breasts and lightly caressed her nipples, which stiffened immediately. His hands replaced hers in her mind's eye. She grasped each breast, giving it a firm squeeze, imagining the hands that were on her were much larger and slightly rougher from the work he did. Moments later, her right hand slid down between her legs and she timidly ran her fingertip around her clit. She'd lost her drive when she realized that Edward was out screwing half the women he came into contact with. The desire that coursed through her was shocking. She continued on, picturing Jacob's body above hers, bringing her pleasure she hadn't felt in a long time. On she rubbed, getting lost in the feeling, she could feel an orgasm nearing and she grasped her breast roughly.

Just as she started to peak, she opened her eyes to see Edward watching her.

"Oh shit! Edward! You scared me!" She shrieked as she sat up in the tub.

Edward rubbed himself, as he grinned down at her. He leaned in. "Hey, sweet," he cooed. "Why don't I help you finish that up?" When he got close enough to kiss her, she exhaled nervously.

"Goddamn it, Bella! What did I tell you about those freaking pickles? Ugh. Talk about an instant hard-on killer!" Edward yelled as he stormed out of the bathroom.

Bella would've laughed at his exit, her pickle breath helping deflect his unwanted advances. Yet, he always seemed to make her feel like total crap instead. Wouldn't a man that really loved you kiss you even with nasty pickle breath? They'd been married for ten years, and he used to adore her. He would bring her flowers and take her out on dates. It wasn't like that anymore.

Maybe that's what her next book should be about. A sexy, hot cowboy that kissed his girlfriend even if she ate garlic cloves whole.

Mortified that he'd caught her taking things into her own hands, Bella pulled the drain in the tub and stood to rinse the bubbles from her body. She stepped out of the tub and wrapped her robe around her body. She opened the bathroom door and began to walk into the bedroom.

"Don't come to bed with that pickle-breath," Edward warned from the bed. She rolled her eyes and went back in the bathroom. Once behind the wall, she flipped her husband the bird. She opened her drawer and pulled out her toothbrush and toothpaste.

After taking care of her "breath," she walked into the bedroom again. "Edward, something is wrong with my car. I had to leave it at a repair shop in Forks. He said there wasn't any oil left in the engine. But how could that be? We take it in all the time to get serviced."

"What are you saying, Bella? That I don't take the car in? You've seen the repair bills. You know I have. I haven't forgotten that you're the one that controls all of the money around here. What do you think I'm doing? Paying for repairs that aren't being done?" He answered haughtily.

Dismayed, Bella turned on the mattress to stare at her husband. What was that about? She'd only informed him of the problem and he got all angry with her. "Edward, what's going on? I simply tell you something is going on with my car, and you get all huffy with me."

"Nothing is going on, Sweet. You get all pissy with me about your car not running and expect me to just take it? Who did you take it to anyway? I really hope you took is to that dimwit Dowling. I'd love to sue his ass for fucking up your car," he grinned widely, his eyes staring at the wall, no doubt imagining Dowling in court.

"I didn't think I was being 'pissy' with you. I calmly told you what happened and you got upset with me. Besides, I took it to a mechanic Charlie recommended. Black Auto Repair."

"Oh, that guy is such a boy scout. Never does anything wrong. Come on, Bella, I've got a reputation to maintain around town. Suing and winning against Dowling would be great for me."

"Well, sorry to disappoint you. I already signed the work order for Black's."

"Maybe he'll screw up this time," Edward shrugged, before he reached over and turned off his bedside lamp.

Bella turned over to go to sleep, annoyed with her husband. She didn't want him to try to find fault in something Jacob did. It sounded like he could sue the mechanic he was supposedly using to have her car serviced every month. How could it be out of oil? It ran for a while so there had to have been some oil in it. Exhaling through her nose, she closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

The next morning, Edward was gone to the office and Bella sat at the kitchen table, actually writing. She was excited because the words were flowing out almost magically. A story idea had popped into her head in the middle of the night. After she woke up, she worried that the idea would have been long forgotten. Yet, she was already on her 4th chapter and the overall story arc was in her head.

Sophia, their housekeeper, showed up and greeted Bella. She didn't say much to her since she was working and went about gathering her cleaning supplies. It was several hours and numerous chapters later that the house phone rang.

"Hello?" Bella answered, not checking the caller ID as she continued typing.

"Hi," a throat cleared, before the caller continued talking, "Is this Mrs. Cullen?"

"This is she," she stopped typing, a little thump in her heart and a thrill through her veins.

"Hey, this is Jacob, from Black Auto Repair. I'm calling about your car. I was able to put it up and the guys and I looked at it. I wish I could call with better news because that really is a sweet car," he told her.

"Oh no," she said, obvious disappointment in her voice.

"It's pretty bad. The engine seized up from not having any oil in the engine. In order to get it running again, it'll need a new engine. We could get a salvage one, but there aren't any in the state of Washington for sale. It would be pretty expensive to fix," he told her matter-of-factly.

Tears began to stream their way down her face. It was too much to think that she was going to have to buy a new car, and the car that she believed was being meticulously cared for wasn't being cared for at all.

Wiping the tears from her cheeks, she asked a few questions. "Does it look like something wasn't done right? Like they left a bolt out or put a hole some place? Did I run something over and not realize it?"

"From what I can see there's no damage on the undercarriage. So I would say you probably didn't run over anything. While I can't say for certain without being able to completely disassemble the engine, I would guess that there hasn't been any oil added. I took the oil filter out and it was in pretty bad shape. If you hadn't told me it's been serviced frequently, I'd say that was the original filter put in that car."

"What makes you say that?" She wondered aloud.

"Well, most cars have an aftermarket filter, unless you take it to the dealer. So, if you've been taking it to the dealer, they'll use the name brand."

"Jacob, what would you put in a car?"

"In my shop, we use an aftermarket brand."

Bella felt a tingle rush through her veins again, only this time it wasn't out of happiness. She was angry. How much money had she paid to have her car kept in shape every few months?

"Okay, well what do you suggest now?" Bella asked.

"You have a couple of options. I can search around the country for a salvage engine. We'd have to pay to have it shipped here and then it'd cost a bit for labor to remove and replace the engines. Another option would be to sell the car as is. It's a car a lot of collectors would want, even if they had to fix it. You could use that money to buy another car."

"I can't afford to fix it," she answered softly.

"One of my buddies owns a used car lot. I'd be happy to meet you there and help you pick out a quality car," Jacob offered. "Of course, you can look wherever you want. You can get a new car." He seemed to be sputtering and suddenly nervous.

"Actually, that sounds like a better plan. Are you able to arrange the sale of my car?"

"Sure, I can help with that too," he agreed.

"I think I'm going to have to wait until my car sells before I can buy a new one though. It's really going to suck without a car," she thought aloud.

"If you want, I can see if Quil has a car you can borrow for a few days," Jacob said.

"Really? You think he would do that? You don't even know me," she blurted out, without thinking about it. "I'm sorry, that was rude."

"It's okay. I wouldn't want you stuck out in the middle of the woods without being able to get around."

"In the middle of the woods?" She giggled. "I live in a subdivision, you know."

"And how close in the nearest house? A mile?" He chuckled, as he teased her lightly. She smiled into the phone. He was right, though. The nearest house was quite a walk.

"Okay, okay, you win. When do you think that could be arranged? My housekeeper is here today, but she only comes once a week."

"Why don't you come down when you can? I'll work it out with Quil."

"Sounds good. I really appreciate it, Jacob."

"I'm happy to help, Mrs. Cullen," he replied.

"Please, I told you to call me Bella," she said, her voice light, and quickly she realized, with a bit of flirtation to her tone.

"All right. Well, I'll see you soon then, Bella," he laughed.

She was smiling widely when she hung up the phone, as she realized he was flirting back at her. When she set the phone down, she glanced up to watch Sophia staring at her.

"The good news is I have a plan. The bad news is my car is dead. Are you able to give me a ride into Forks?" Bella asked, as she tried to pretend that her cheeks weren't flaming with a red tinge as she flushed with embarrassment. How much had the other woman heard of the conversation?

"Sure, Mrs. Cullen. Do you want me to finish up here or do you want to go now?"

"After you're done, then you don't have to come back this way."

"I should be ready in about an hour. I'm done in your room, if you want to go take a shower."

Bella glanced down at herself, to see her shirt was covered in crumbs from her toast and realized Sophia was right. She reached to clean things up, but the older woman told her to leave it.