Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters involved in the wonderful books and incredible movies, but Heidi's Parlor is all mine! (he-he-he!)
Chapter 10 – The Hook
BPOV
The headlines across the globe should read "Edward Cullen is a Sex God!" When I noticed that Jasper grabbed the wrong books, I thought "Damn it Jasper! Can't you follow simple directions?" When Alice started reading the book OUT LOUD, I was thinking, "Shut up, Alice! This is humiliating enough as it is!" but when I saw the reaction it had on Edward, I could have climbed into the back seat and kissed them both!... except they were pretty worked up themselves and that would have been a little awkward. Ick!
When we made it into the room and he mentioned needing a cold shower. I have to admit, I lost it. There was no way I was going to let that erection go to waste! We both needed release, so why not just… help each other out? This was the perfect opportunity! I kind of unceremoniously jumped him. I probably should have tried to seduce him or something, but I wanted him NOW!
When I managed to get his pants down, and got a look at the wonders that were hidden underneath, my girly parts wanted to do a happy dance! He was hung like DANTE!! Part of my mind wanted to say "Hey, did you know that you are hung like a professional?" but the rest of my brain squashed that and settled with a "Shut up and fuck me!" Short but to the point. No need to beat around the bush… unless that is what they are calling it these days! Hmmm!
After I had an orgasm so fantastic that it made my teeth numb, we moved onto the other bed. I snuggled up with him to keep from falling out of the little bed. I was thankful that I didn't have to sleep in the wet spot on the other bed. He was warm and comfortable. I could feel him playing with my hair until I fell asleep. It was a slice of heaven.
The next morning, I awoke to the phone in the hotel room. Damn that thing's loud! Edward reached over and answered it. That is when I realized that we were facing the other way and he was spooning me.
In a gravelly voice, he said "Hello…. Oh hey, Jazz, what's up?... Ok, no problem. We'll be right down." He hung up the phone. "Bella, that was Jazz. He said that they are going down to breakfast at the restaurant on the first floor. They wanted us to meet them down there. After breakfast we are going to go ahead and leave, so make sure you pack up your stuff." He got up and went to the bathroom.
When he came out, I was sitting on the edge of my bed, digging through my bag. He reached in his and pulled out some clothes. "Do you want to shower first?" He asked.
"No, you go ahead. You can get ready faster than I can anyway."
He nodded his head and stepped back in the bathroom. Eight minutes later, the bathroom door opened. He tossed his toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, yesterday's clothes, and last night pajamas back in his bag and was ready to go.
"Do you want me to wait for you?" he asked as I walked into the bathroom.
"No, you go ahead. I'll be down in a few minutes." I said as I shut the door behind me.
I turned on the water and stepped out of my nightgown. On the other side of the door, I heard him say. "See you downstairs."
I took a deep breath and looked at myself in the mirror. "Ok, Bella, it's time to make your move!" I told myself. "Yes, we had sex, but that was only because Alice had him so worked up with that damn book that he couldn't stop himself! If she hadn't been reading out loud, nothing would have happened. You want him to want YOU! If you want to be more than just friends, even friends with benefits, than you have to up your game, sister! If you are going to catch this fish, you first need to dangle the bait, and when he least expects it, set the hook!"
Ok, first step: Bait preparation! I climbed in the shower. Ten minutes later, I came out scrubbed, shaved, shampooed, and conditioned. I slipped into some black boy shorts and dried my hair. As usual, when I dry it, it becomes a frizzy mess. I added some spray on 'leave in' conditioner and used my flat iron to straighten it out. I never bother with this thing at home because it will only rain outside and my hair will get frizzy again.
I pulled on a stretchy white tank top that had a built in bra. I stepped into a pair of black Capri's and slipped on a black short sleeved top that was made of eyelet lace. I left the top unbuttoned to show off how the tank top clung to my body. It really showed off my breasts. I slipped on some black sandals and touched up my toenail polish. I added some light jewelry and a little make up. With a splash of perfume and one more look in the mirror, I was ready to head down to breakfast. Bait is ready, time to dangle!
I stuffed everything back in my bag and carried it with me downstairs. The restaurant had a nice view of a sunny little courtyard. I saw the three of them sitting by the window. Edward had his back to me. Alice was the first one to notice me coming.
"Hey Bella, over here!" She waved.
Jasper looked up and whistled, "Damn girl, what happened to you?"
Edward turned around with a look of confusion on his face. When he spotted me, his mouth dropped. Ok, I admit, maybe I was strutting a little, as I approached the table, but it was worth it to see him drool!
"Hey guys. Hey, Edward. Sorry it took so long." I said as I took my seat. "Anything good for breakfast? I'm starving."
Alice, Jasper, and I talked while I ate breakfast. Edward just stared. Alice told me that she was keeping my book for the rest of the week. Apparently they found it to be very "inspirational". Alice also said she was going to order a few copies for her stores. She thought they would go well with the rest of her product line.
When it was time to leave the hotel and head to LA, Edward finally spoke, "You look really good, Bella… I mean, you're better than good… you're beautiful!"
"Thank you, Edward." I said with a smile. Jasper and Alice climbed in the backseat of the car, leaving Edward and I to load our stuff in the trunk, "Hey, Edward, about last night. I'm sorry I jumped you like that. I hope this doesn't make things weird between us. I know we are just friends and you are not interested in me in that way. Besides, we are all probably going our separate ways once we get on the ship anyway, right?" Dangling the bait! Here fishy, fishy, fishy!
He got a confused look on his face and was just about to speak when I turned and walked away, climbing into the passenger side of the car. He stood there for a minute and then came around and to get in the driver's side. He turned to me and said, "Bella, wait, I…"
Jasper interrupted, "Edward, people are waiting on us to get out of the way. Will you go, already! We can talk on the way."
Edward pulled out of the driveway and headed onto LA without finishing his sentence. There was quite a lot of traffic between San Francisco and LA. It ended up taking longer than we expected, but we still got to the cruise terminal in plenty of time. We gave our luggage to the porter who was going to load it up on the ship for us and went to stand in line at the ticket counter. Once our paperwork was processed, they gave us room cards and explained that we used them for everything. We needed to keep them with us at all times because they were used as door keys, for charging things on the ship, we even used them when we got on and off the boat.
Before getting on the boat, they led us to a tropical looking back drop and took our pictures. We were all tired of standing around, and were ready to get on the boat, so Alice suggested we all do a group picture to get through the process faster. The photographer positioned Alice and I in front with Jasper and Edward standing behind us. Jasper had his hands on Alice's hips and she was leaning back against his chest. The photographer told Edward to step a little closer to me. He assumed the same position as Jasper, with his hands on my hips, so I leaned back against him and smiled for the picture.
When we got on the ship, there was someone to direct us to our rooms. Alice and Jasper had a balcony stateroom on the Veranda Deck (8th floor). Edward had an interior stateroom on the same floor, on the opposite side of the ship. I had a balcony stateroom on the Promenade Deck (10th floor). We climbed into the elevator with some other passengers. When the elevator stopped on Deck 8, Alice and Jasper stepped off. Edward looked like he was torn between getting off the elevator and finding his room, or staying on with me.
"Come on, Edward," Jasper said, "This is your floor. Let's find your room."
Edward reluctantly stepped off the elevator, but stood there looking at me until the door closed. I felt something in my chest ache as the elevator continued to rise. What if we really do go our separate ways now that we are on the boat? I really hope we don't, but it is a big ship, so it would be easy to go our separate ways and not find each other again.
My room was nice. It had a king size bed, a small couch, a TV, a small desk, a nightstand, and a little balcony with two chairs. When my luggage arrived in my room, I pulled out the thin air mattress I brought with me. One of the ladies that worked at the police station with my dad had warned me that the beds on these ships were hard as rocks. My room steward helped me set up the air mattress and made the bed over the top of it so it would be ready when I needed it. She was a nice lady from Uzbekistan.
She warned me that we had a mandatory life jacket drill that we had to participate in when the boat left port. She showed me the program of events for the evening and explained how to get to the formal dining room, where I had an assigned seat. She also explained that I could eat at any of the other restaurants on the ship without having to sit at an assigned table. She was very helpful. I liked her a lot.
I looked through the ship's map and decided I would wander out and try to find my way around. The deck had several bars, a night club, a casino, a coffee bar, several restaurants, a basketball court, a ping pong table, a game room, a gift shop, a jewelry store, an art exhibit, mini-golf, a jogging track, a spa with a workout room, a big water slide, and I don't even know how many pools. I even found a day care for little kids. There were families everywhere. I stopped at one of the bars and ordered a drink.
"Miss Bella! I didn't know you were going on this trip!" I turned to see Brittany Jamison waving at me. Her mother was an English teacher at the school.
"Hey, Brittany, it's good to see you." I said giving her a little hug. "Where are your parents?"
"They're wandering around here somewhere. There is a club for teenagers that's supposed to meet in the game room later. I was just trying to find it so I don't get lost later." I grabbed my drink and escorted her to the game room.
"Thanks, Miss Bella, you're the greatest!" She gave me another hug and disappeared.
I wandered out onto the sun deck and took a seat on one of the lawn chairs. This would be the perfect place to read, if Jasper had brought the books I asked for. Maybe they have an interesting novel in the gift shop.
"There you are! I thought we lost you." It was Alice. "Hey, I didn't ask what dining room you were assigned to. We are in the White Pearl Dining Room. What about you?"
I looked down at my room card, "Black Pearl."
"Same as Edward. Oh well. We don't have to eat in there if we don't want to. I was thinking about checking out the spa packages. Would you like to come?"
"Sure." I followed her down to the spa. Twenty minutes later, we had reservations for body wraps and sea salt scrubs for Wednesday afternoon.
We found Jasper and Edward sitting in the sports bar watching highlights from various games that were played last week. Jasper was drinking a beer and Edward had a scotch.
"Hey baby. Would you like something to drink? They're having a special on some fruity thing with an umbrella." Jasper asked Alice.
"No, thanks." Alice said, sitting beside Jasper.
Edward turned to look at her then spotted me and smiled "Hey, Bella. Looks like you already have a drink. Would you like to sit?" he asked as he moved over.
I took a seat beside him. "So, how are your rooms?"
Edward said, "Mine is a tiny interior room with two microscopic twin beds in it. Alice and Jazz have one with a balcony, a king sized bed, and a couch. I threatened that I was going to crash on their couch if I started getting claustrophobic, but they didn't seem too cool with that." He laughed.
"You'll be swimming with the fishes if you think you are sleeping in my room!" Jasper said pretending to have a pirate's hook, "I will make ye walk the plank!"
I laughed at Jasper's silliness. "I have a balcony too. It's nice. I met my steward. She is really sweet. Hey, Alice said you are in the Black Pearl Dining Room. So am I. What is your table number?" I said reaching for his card.
"215. What is yours?"
"I'm at 213! We will be sitting at tables that are pretty close together. Have you been down to the restaurant yet?"
"No, we went to our room, started walking around and ended up here. I bet you have already memorized the layout of the entire ship!" he teased.
"I wouldn't say I know the ENTIRE ship, but I'm working on it." I giggled.
"Good, then you can be my own personal tour guide."
The thought of spending the entire cruise escorting him from place to place gave me a warm feeling inside. We sat there for a little while talking about the ship and things we wanted to do that evening. Apparently a comedian was going to be performing that night after dinner. We all agreed that we wanted to see him.
A few minutes later, we were told to go to our rooms for the drill. We agreed that after the drill we would meet back in the sports bar. The drill seemed to last FOREVER! I thought it would never end! Afterwards, I went back to my room to put my life jacket back in the closet. I went to the restroom, ran a brush through my hair that somehow managed to still be straight! California air is great for my hair! I touched up my makeup and was just about to head to the sports bar when I heard a knock on the door. I shut off the light to the bathroom and went to see who it was.
"Are you coming down to the bar with us?" Edward was standing in my doorway with a sexy half smile.
"I was just heading down." I said stepping back into the room to grab my room key off the little coffee table in front of the couch. When I turned around, Edward was standing directly behind me.
"Your room is nice. Have you been outside yet?" He said heading for the balcony door.
I followed him outside. I hadn't even realized that the boat was moving. There was a breeze, but not too bad. The sun was starting to set beneath the water. It was absolutely breathtaking. I stood there with my hands on the rail, looking at the colors in the sky, thinking about how much my mother would have loved to see this, when I felt warm hands on my waist. Edward was standing behind me.
He leaned down and whispered, "The sunset is beautiful, Bella. Why does it make you sad?"
"I was just thinking about my mom. She would have loved this. She always dreamed of taking a cruise to some exotic location and watching the sun set over the ocean. My dad was always so busy that they were never able to take a real vacation, and then she got sick. The closest she ever got to this were the beaches near La Push." I reached up and wiped a stray tear from my cheek. "I'm doing this for her. She always told me that I was too much like my dad for my own good. Before she died, she made me promise that I would live my life while I was still young enough to enjoy it."
"Don't cry, Bella. Just because she is gone, doesn't mean she isn't enjoying the sunsets. I imagine her view is even better than this one." He pulled me closer against his chest and said, "Look… do you see the dolphins?" I looked down into the water and sure enough, there were four dolphins swimming along beside the ship. I smiled.
I felt his fingers run through my hair as he said, "The others can wait if you want to stay a little while longer."
Without a word from me, he moved to sit in one of the chairs and I took the seat beside him. We sat in silence watching the sun go down and the stars come out. When the sun disappeared over the horizon I turned to look at him. He was staring at me with an intense longing in his eyes. He reached up and placed a hand on my cheek as he leaned toward me, his green eyes smoldering. I could feel his breath on my lips and just when he was about to kiss me, his cell phone started ringing.
"Shit!" he said looking down at the blasted device. "It's Jasper…. Hey, Jazz… No, I found her… yes. We're on our way now, save us a seat… Ok, we'll find you." He hung up the phone. "They are saving us a seat for the comedian. They said the place is filling up fast. We need to go."
He opened the door to go back into my room and said, "Hey, your bed is much thicker than Jazz and Alice's."
"It's an air mattress. These beds are really hard, so I brought the air mattress to make it more comfortable since I will be sleeping on it for a week."
He sat down on it and said, "That's a good idea. I will have to remember that next time."
We went down to watch the comedian. He was great! I laughed so hard I had tears running down my face! After the show, we wandered down to the buffet to grab something for dinner. The food was really good. Jasper and Alice went for a stroll to look at the stars, while Edward and I headed for the piano bar.
The piano player was fantastic! We had a blast drinking and singing along with the guy. He had a long list of songs he knew, so we were making requests right and left. The waitress was doing a good job of keeping our drinks coming, and before I knew it, I was sitting on the bench beside the piano player, singing into the microphone while Edward laughed.
"Come on, let's get out of here." Edward said as he took my hand and led me out of the piano bar.
We walked along the deck holding hands. We walked out by the pool and realized that they empty the pools at night time and cover them with big nets. Interesting. He led me up to the sun deck and pushed two lounge chairs together so we could sit. "Bella, I had a really good time tonight."
"Me too, Edward."
"I'm glad we started talking. I have worked at that school for four years and I never realized what I was missing by not going to the library."
"Well, you weren't missing much. I only started working there two years ago."
"Really? It's such a small school. I wonder how we managed to go two years without running into each other."
I chuckled, "Edward, we ran into each other all the time. You just didn't pay any attention to me."
"No way!" he said holding up a drunken finger. "I only found out your name a few months ago!"
"I know, Edward, but I have always known yours."
We sat in silence for a little while, just looking up at the stars, and then he said, "Bella, I want to buy you things… Is that wrong? You look good in clothes and I like you with hair!"
What? Ok, he has had WAY too much to drink! Does he mean that I look better with clothes on than I do with them off? When have I ever NOT had hair? I looked over at him and his eyes were closed. Shit! He can't fall asleep out here. I have to get him back to his room.
"Edward, come on. Let's get you to your room." I said shaking him a little. He got up, so I walked him to his room and put him in bed before heading upstairs to my own bed.
On Tuesday morning, I got up and went to a gym show then I went to look at the artwork in the gallery. I grabbed a Panini for lunch and then went down to the casino to play on the slot machines for a little while. I played a quick game of Bingo then headed to the Black Pearl for dinner. I met the other people at my table. There was a family of three, a couple, two single guys, and myself. Everyone was really nice. There were two other chairs at the table, but those two people didn't show up for dinner.
The food was even better than I expected. I had lobster and asparagus, some scalloped potatoes, a salad, and molten chocolate cake for dessert. One of the guys at the table was telling me about the library. I didn't even know the ship had one! He said that when people bring books and leave them behind, the ship puts them in the library for others to read. I decided I would go look for it after dinner.
The library was small, but had a pretty good selection of love stories and war novels. There were even a few children's books. In the center of the room was a huge globe. I was looking at the globe when someone walked into the room.
"Miss Bella!" It was Brittany. "I found you! Mr. Cullen has been looking all over the place for you. I told him you were probably hiding in some corner with a book. It figures you would find the library!" She laughed. I noticed a group of girls standing behind her with big smiles.
"Hi Brittany, I see you made friends." I said nodding to the other girls.
"Yes. I met them in the club. They are from everywhere, but we still have a lot in common. Mr. Cullen said that if we find you, he will give us twenty dollars worth of tokens for the arcade. You're not going anywhere are you? I mean, we have to go tell him where you are so he'll pay up. If he comes in here and you're gone, he's going to think we lied."
I grabbed a book off the shelf and took a seat on the leather sofa. "I'll be right here."
"Great! You totally rock!" she said as she scurried away with her friends.
A few minutes later, I felt a presence and looked up to see Edward standing in the doorway. "I was wondering where you disappeared to. I had to send out a search party."
"Well, they found me." I said as I sat the book aside. "I missed you at dinner."
"I had Chinese on the buffet. Was the food good?"
"It was delicious! They have this molten chocolate cake that is to die for!"
"Are you going to watch the show tonight?" He asked as he sat beside me.
"No, we had a pretty late night last night. I was thinking about sitting here and relaxing for a few minutes and then going to bed early."
He looked disappointed. "Oh." He looked down at his feet and said, "But, Bella, I just found you. You can't go to bed now." He looked like a little boy pouting.
"Surely you haven't spent the entire day looking for me. What have you really been doing?" I said with a soft smile.
"I woke up with a hangover, got some food and then took a nap. I finally got out of bed around lunch time. I went looking for you, but you weren't in your room. You weren't at any of the pools. You weren't at the spa. You weren't playing mini golf or basketball. You weren't in the casino. I checked the sun deck, but couldn't find you. I even checked the day care, just in case you had some strange urge to go play with kids!"
I felt my heart swell a little. Maybe he really did spend the day looking for me. "Well, you have me now, what would you like to do?"
His smile lit up his entire face. "They are showing a movie in a little while. Would you like to go see it with me?"
"Sure, what are they playing?" I asked.
"I have no idea." He said, "But it doesn't really matter as long as you're going with me."
"Are Jasper and Alice going?"
"Nope, just the two of us." He gave me a wink.
"Really? Without a chaperone?" I said pretending to be innocent.
"Absolutely, and I am turning my phone OFF!" I laughed as he pulled out his cell phone and turned it off before shoving it back in his pocket.
On our way to the theater, he turned to me and said, "Bella, may I hold your hand?"
I smiled, "Yes. Why do you ask?"
"Well, when I was looking for you today, I started thinking that we kind of got things a little out of order. I want to do this right. The first step is for us to hold hands. I am taking you to the movies. It's not the optimal setting for a first date, but it will do for now."
I swallowed hard. First date? This is a first date? Like for real and everything? WAHOO! Finally! It looks like the fish is nibbling!
"Bella, are you alright? This doesn't bother you, does it?" He seemed so unsure of himself. I guess my silence made him think I was uncomfortable.
"No, I'm fine. It's just… I didn't expect you would want to take me on a first date." I said honestly. I really thought I would have to work much harder for this.
"You are a beautiful woman, Bella, and I really enjoy your company. I may have had my head up my ass for a long time, but I am better now. Maybe this will work out. We won't know until we give it a try." he said as we walked hand in hand through the ship. We passed people that we knew from the school and stopped to say "hi" but never once did he let go of my hand or act like he was ashamed to be with me. I wonder if he would feel the same way if he knew about Heidi's.
When we got to the theater, we sat in a loveseat near the center. He put his arm around me and I snuggled close to him. A man came by with a camera and took our picture. He told us that the pictures would be ready the next day. They would be posted near the gift shop, if we wished to purchase them.
When the lights dimmed and the movie started, I glanced up at him only to see him looking at me. "You are supposed to be watching the movie." I whispered.
"You are much more interesting than any movie and much more beautiful than any leading lady could ever be."
I blushed. "Then why bring me to the movies if you aren't interested in watching it."
He leaned close, so he could whisper softly, "Because it gives me a chance to sit in the dark with my arm around you for two hours straight."
This made me smile. In all the times that I went to the movies with Mike, never once did he ever make me feel like I was more important than the stupid movie. I was just there to get him drink refills and hold the popcorn bucket.
Edward did exactly what he said he was going to do. He watched me watch the movie and kept his arm around me the entire time. When it was over, he walked me to my room and gave me a slow passionate good night kiss. No tongues or heated making out, just a slow soft kiss that was laced with everything we could not say to each other. It left me giddy and breathless.
Before I shut the door, he said, "May I take you to breakfast, Bella?"
I said, "Yes. See you at 8:30?"
"Yes, I'll come get you at 8:30. Would you like to go swimming after breakfast tomorrow?"
"Sure. It sounds great. I will wear my bathing suit under my shorts tomorrow."
"Sleep well, love." He leaned in and gave me another soft kiss before walking away.
I shut the door and sighed… He called me love! The hook is set!
A/N – Happy Tuesday!!! I hope your day is going well. Sorry but this was another relatively smut free chapter. We have to have them every now and then. This one made me smile. I hope you like it. They had their first real date!!! (Doing a girly happy dance around my bedroom now – give me a minute…) Ok, I'm back!
Ok, for those that are keeping track, here are the updated stats: 376 Reviews and 597 people following the story through alerts and favorites (this doesn't include all you closet pervs that haven't signed up yet – (It's free and painless! I don't know what you're waiting for!)
Don't forget to post reviews when you read chapters that you enjoy. It makes the writer's feel good. I mean this for ALL the stories you read, not just this one!
As always, a special thanks goes out to NoWayWithWords for all the wonderful things she does. She is the sparkly chick in the puffy dress that showed me the yellow brick road. I am just the silly girl running around in the rocking red fuck me pumps!! Sometimes journeys can be fun when you party with lions, scarecrows, and a tin man! (Please forgive me… I have had the music from the Wizard of Oz stuck in my head for the last few hours! I think I am quite possibly going insane!)
See you next Tuesday!
A Little Distracted
13