Thank you to dellaterra and MDtwiwriter, just in general
oOo
As the afternoon went on, they got more relaxed with each other. They laughed quite a lot, and Bella's heart always seemed to flutter whenever Edward's eyes crinkled in mirth. There were light, little touches, by chance, always easy. His fingers on her arm, her hand on his shoulder. Once, as they were standing side-by-side, their pinkies touched. Instead of pulling their hands back, they let them remain, a tiny connection none of them was ready to acknowledge.
Bella took a bathroom break at one point, and when she was washing her hands and looked in the mirror, she noticed that her normally pale cheeks were rosy. She smiled at herself.
When she returned, Edward was leaning against the doorway of one of the exhibition rooms. She noticed that his shoulders were broad, and then, she noticed that his bum looked very firm. He turned around right at that moment, and a blush crept up her cheeks.
And she was almost sure that he had noticed her checking him out, which made her blush more. She knew how she hated whenever men eyed her like that, like a piece of meat, and to her, it was every bit as sexist if it went the other way round.
But maybe he had not noticed, for his smile was genuine as he approached her.
"Would you like to tackle the Sainsbury Wing?" His smile grew deeper. "Or would you, like me, love to sit down and have a cup of tea?"
"Yes," Bella sighed. "Yes to the tea."
"And maybe a piece of cake," he mused.
"Mmm, I love cake," she murmured as they made their way down the hall.
"You do?" There was a sparkle in his eyes.
She nodded furiously. "Of course! How could you not? Don't you?"
"What kind of cake?" he asked instead.
"Any kind of cake, really."
"You don't look like you're eating cake all day," he remarked.
She shrugged, and didn't reply. She didn't notice how Edward's expression changed, because she was busy looking at the floor as they walked.
"Bella?"
She looked up.
"I'm sorry, did I…" He cleared his throat. "I didn't mean to say anything…" He stopped walking altogether, and raked a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry. I just seem to fuck up with you all the time."
"It's okay," she said. She placed a hand on his forearm. "Really," she said. "It's okay. Let's go and have some cake, okay?"
oOo