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LadySharkey1 rocks my world by being the most amazing, kick-ass beta I could ever imagine.

Chapter 24

Men are from Mars, women from Venus. Obviously.

"You look gorgeous."

I spite of how far I'd come moving on—and away—from Edward, his remark still made me blush. "Thanks."

"So…" He looked as uncomfortable as I felt, scratching his head as we both followed Charlie until she'd slipped into his apartment and out of view. "Hot date tonight?"

Sighing I shook my head. "Can you…can you not ask me about this stuff?"

"Why?" He wanted to know. Because, of course, him dropping the matter would be far too convenient for me.

"Because I can't help but wonder whether or not you want to know just because you're interested or because you want to weed out the guy's flaws so that you can come in and make things awkward between us!" I blurted out, my eyes widening as I realized what I'd just said. Not that I was sorry about it because, well it was the truth, wasn't it? It was just that I didn't mean for him to know just how little I still trusted him. Not when he was trying so hard to move on.

"Wow." Scratching the back of his head again, his eyes were everywhere but near my face as he mumbled. "Yeah…I can see why that makes you not want to answer any questions about him. I want you to know, though, that I never meant anything by it. I was just…ah…trying to be friendly, I suppose."

"I know," I lied, "but with all the baggage we're carrying between us, I think it would be best if our love lives didn't become topic of discussion until they become relevant to Charlie's upbringing."

"So he's not…"

"No," I answered, hoping my short answer would silence Edward. If my relationship with Liam was a topic I didn't want to discus with him, the fact that Liam had yet to meet Charlie was a subject I was even more reluctant to bring up.

Especially since I hardly even knew how I felt about it.

I mean, Liam and I had been dating for quite some time by then, and Charlie had come up countless times during that time. Still, there wasn't a bone in my body ready to take the next step; ready to introduce the two of them and start bringing him around the apartment more.

Liam...he was my down time; my time away from all of this drama. I wasn't so sure if I'd like it if my escape started invading my everyday life.

But then again…wasn't that what was supposed to happen when a single mom entered into a relationship with a new guy? Wouldn't it be expected of me to start letting him into my life more?

Ugh! This whole relationship shit is more difficult than I wanted!

"Bella?"

I blushed, remembering that Edward was still standing there, a bemused look on his face as he gazed at me with one side of his lip curled slightly upwards. Jackass. "I'm sorry…I…uhm…I have to go," I stuttered, the blush on my cheeks was epic if the burn of my skin was anything to go by.

"Okay." He looked slightly disappointed yet resigned as he crammed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "You're still good to pick her up tomorrow morning?"

I nodded. "I might be a little later. Around elevenish?"

"That's okay," Edward replied. "I don't have anything else going on tomorrow and my shift doesn't start until four in the afternoon. I'd be happy to keep her if you're running late. Just let me know."

"I'll be there around eleven," I reiterated, not quite liking the sad tone of his voice or the way he seemed to be accommodating my sexy times with Liam. More likely…the way he seemed to be almost too accommodating…

I didn't linger. After kissing Charlie goodnight and making sure she had everything she needed, I was back on my way; the radio blaring pop songs as my car sped along the familiar road to Port Angeles.

To Liam.

He was smiling when I pulled up in front of his house, his arms wrapped around me before I was out of the car. "I missed you," he breathed into my hair, his hands strong as they pulled me up, my legs wrapping around his waist almost automatically.

"Silly man!" I chuckled, my laughter trailing off into a moan as he did that thing with his lips against my neck; that thing where they nibble slightly without going caveman and leaving a mark, but all the while igniting a fire in the pit of your stomach. "You just spoke to me this morning!"

"And how am I supposed to be satisfied with just talking to you when I had you in my bed last weekend?" He whispered, my skin breaking out in Goosebumps. "I know how your skin tastes and how you bite your bottom lip when you come. I want to see that…feel that. All the damn time."

Okay, that settles it. "Inside, now!" I commanded, rolling my hips against his for friction, another breathy moan leaving my lips as I felt how hard he was for me.

We were slightly late getting to the restaurant in time for our dinner reservations; the hostess smiled knowingly at our slightly rumpled and thoroughly fucked appearances as we rushed inside. Seriously, you could have baked an egg on my cheeks as Liam explained that we'd been held up by some pressing matter. Yeah, I'd say his matter had been very pressing indeed; hitting me in all the right places.

Fortunately, she understood enough to still let us have our table.

"How did things go in Forks?" Liam asked, as soon as we were settled and had ordered our wine.

I smiled, peeking at him from over the edge of my menu. "The same, I suppose. He's still trying very hard to undo the damage he's done to his and Charlie's relationship, and I'm there by the sidelines, hoping things will turn out right this time around."

"You still don't trust him?" he wanted to know, his head slightly cocked to the side as he gazed at me. I wish I could know what's going on in his mind when he's looking at me. Is he scared I might go back to Edward?

"I don't," I admitted. "Part of me hates myself for it, but the other part hates him even more for getting me to this point…making it so that I have to weigh every suggestion he makes just to see if maybe there isn't some sort of hidden agenda."

"Yeah, I can see why that really sucks," he commiserated, closing his menu and putting it back on the table, his hand reaching out for mine.

"Yeah," I repeated. "And the worst thing about it is that there's no way I can escape this. Having a kid together means we're stuck with each other one way or another and lately…I feel trapped." I felt like such a traitor admitting it. Not so much because Edward made me feel trapped—I mean, that was the truth wasn't it?—but because it made me feel so guilty towards my daughter. Saying stuff like that, it was like I didn't want her or somehow resented her for the situation she'd landed me in.

Which just wasn't true.

"I'd never want to trade it in if it meant I wouldn't have Charlie," I spoke, voicing my thoughts, "but sometimes I just wish I could make it all go away…go back to the way it was before Edward made his way back to Forks."

"I don't think that's so strange," Liam mused.

"Isn't it?" I argued, taking a sip from my wine as soon as our waiter had filled my glass, the conversation halted as we placed our food orders. "Because he's trying so hard to show he's serious in grabbing this second chance by the horns, yet sometimes…sometimes it feels to me like I don't want Charlie to be around her dad…like wishing for things to go back to how they were is just some jealous urge to keep her all to myself; and that when she's always so happy to see her dad again."

"Bella…" The pressure of his hand broke through the misty haze of tears in my eyes. "You have to stop doing this to yourself. You're not jealous, vindictive or any of those other things you're putting into your head." Sighing, he went on. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to keep some distance from Edward after everything that's happened. In fact, I think you're an even better mom for being cautious."

"Thanks." I smiled, his words hitting a note but still not quite getting through to that nagging part of me that would always keep questioning my actions in all of this. "So…let's change the subject before he manages to ruin this evening as well?"

He nodded and gladly complied, the conversation shifting to his work and how he'd been negotiating contacts with some of the sawmill suppliers, which meant that he'd gotten caught in all sorts of sticky situations in the woods.

"I envy you!" I giggled after he'd told me about getting lost in the woods and stumbling upon this beautiful cottage that had been halfway absorbed by nature. "As much as I love baking, there are times when I feel so stuck, being indoors all day!"

"Oh, yes, I remember you telling me you were quite the tomboy when you grew up!" Liam chuckled, taking a bite from his food. "So you're not scared of a little bit of mud?"

"Nah!" I snorted. "The only time I've ever been scared in the woods was when I was six years old and Edward and I snuck out early at night for a midnight adventure hike through the forest. We used to do that kind of stuff all the time with my dad, but he was at work and we were stupid enough to think we could just skip off into the woods by ourselves." I smiled, shaking my head. "We were about five minutes in when we realized we were completely lost in a place that looked fucking scary and the only weapon we were carrying was a flashlight."

"So, what happened?" Liam asked, his eyes lit up and his body leaned forward so that he wouldn't miss a thing.

"We climbed up a tree and tried our very best not to cry until about half an hour later we could hear our dads calling our names." Shaking my head, my mind was transported back to that tree branch and the way Edward's arm had been wrapped around me protectively while I shook with fear. "They were so pissed off!"

"I can imagine!" Liam nodded. "I guess that was the end of the midnight adventure hikes?"

"Nah!" Shaking my head, I paused to take a sip of my wine. "Dad liked those hikes far too much to stop them. He's even doing them with Charlie now and they have just as much a fun as we used to have."

"It sounds like a blast!" Liam mused. "I'd love to join them sometime. Maybe next time?"

Almost choking on a bite of food I looked at him with panicked, watery eyes. "Next time?"

"Yeah…uhh…" Looking a little flustered, he wiped his hands on his napkin, stalling for time before he explained himself. "I've been thinking about where I want our relationship to go and…well, I'm just going to put this out there: I think it's time for me to meet Charlie—your daughter, I mean, not your dad. Though if you wanted me to meet him as well…"

"Oh." It was all the sound I could produce in my state of panic. The first thing that sprung to mind was to yell 'no' and tear off like my ass was on fire, even though I knew that would be a particularly childish thing to do.

"But apparently you don't think so," Liam interpreted my lack of eloquence.

"I don't…I haven't really thought of it." It wasn't an outright lie, since before Edward brought it up that day, I really hadn't put much thought into it. Not seriously, at least. "I don't think now's the right time to do any of that and…I'm not ready."

"Look." He sighed, putting his utensils down as his eyes locked with mine; big, open, honest. "I know that with everything with Edward and Angela so fresh in your mind, the timing wouldn't be ideal but I want us to keep moving forward and this, I believe, is the next step." Putting his hand on the table, palm upwards as an open invitation, he went on, "I'm more than willing to let Charlie and you dictate the pace in this but I do think that if we want to make this work in the long run, now is the time for me to start popping up in her life…for her to get to know me."

I knew where he was coming from—hell, if I'd have been in his shoes, I would probably have said the same. And yet there was something holding me back; something that caused me to fold my hands in my lap instead of putting them in his. "I really don't think that's a good idea right now. Not yet."

Sitting back up, my heart hurt as I watched him retract his hand, the look on his face a mixture of frustration and a hurt I was responsible for. "Tell me: where do you see us next year?"

Blinking, I needed to take a few seconds to form a coherent reply. "I'm not sure. I think…I like where we are now and I haven't really thought about it, to be honest."

"I thought so." He smiled sadly, downing his wine in one big gulp before he spoke again. "I don't want to pressure you or add even more stress to your life but, at the same time, I'm going to have to stick up for myself here. I'm in this…" He paused, his eyes boring into mine with a startling honesty. "I'm in this one hundred percent. I'm so ready to settle down and start a family, and I can see you in that picture with me—you and Charlie. I wasn't lying a while ago when I told you I was willing to wait for you, but I'm not going to wait forever—not when I'm beginning to doubt if you're on the same page as I am."

From what he was saying, I was beginning to doubt that as well. For me, all of this had just been about an escape. A really nice escape but not something I'd even stopped to consider being long-term. Of course, I knew Liam was a nice guy and I could see that my future with him would be just that—nice, steady; free of drama—but was I ready for such a future?

No way.

"I know I've given you a lot to consider," Liam went on after a while. "So how about I go settle the bill and try not to act surprised when I get back here and find you gone; because you kinda look like you wanna bolt."

I chuckled nervously at his ability to read me. "I would have said goodbye first…I think. But yeah, as you said: you've given me a lot to think about and I think I need to do that right now."

He nodded, his face sad as we both rose to hug and kiss, though there was already a distance between us that hadn't been there before. "Call me?"

"I will."

"But not today. Not tonight," he begged, as if he already knew what my reply would be if he forced his hand.

I nodded, my lips trembling as I forced out, "In a few days."

I cried all the way back to Forks, already knowing in my heart that there was only one reply I could give him. Sure, I could take a few days to think about it but I had no doubt in my mind that the answer would be the same.

No.

As much as I wanted to give him a different answer, I knew it would be an outright lie if I did. Where he could see a future with us in it, all I could see was the next day…the next date. I couldn't do this to him, not any longer. I wasn't that person, even if I'd gotten scarily close to being exactly that. I'd selfishly gone on and let things go this far but this was the end for us.

He was simply the right guy at the wrong time.

I wasn't even home two minutes before the doorbell rang. For a moment, I debated not opening the door. I just wasn't up to seeing anybody. But then, of course, Rose's voice rang out over the incessant sound of the bell. "Bella! I know you're in there, I can see the lights on!"

Okay, apparently my attempt at stealth failed before it was even launched.

"What's up?" I asked, opening the door only to have her storm past me in her usual, kick-ass-and-don't-take-numbers way.

Her eyes narrowed as she stopped to look at me. "Why are you crying? Hell, why are you even home? Did something go wrong?" her eyes took on a panicked look as she stepped closer. "Charlie?"

"No, Charlie's okay," I answered. "As far as I know she's having fun at her dad's."

She smiled understandingly. "So things went less than stellar in Port Angeles?"

"Can we save it until tomorrow?" I begged. "What are you even doing here? You knew I was out, didn't you?"

Nodding, she explained. "I was driving through and I saw the light come on in your living room so I stopped because… Well, I have the most amazing news. Two pieces of news actually but they're both amazing!"

"Okay," I snorted, not ever having seen Rose this…ecstatic before, unless she was talking sex. "This is not going to be about Emmett's penis is it? Because I've already heard more than enough about that to last me a lifetime!"

"No, this isn't about Emmett's dick," Rose was quick to assure me, "or at least…not directly."

I arched a brow. "Okay, and that's supposed to make me feel better?"

"I'm pregnant!" she blurted out, followed up by another statement I'd never thought she'd make, "and I'm getting married!"

Blinking my eyes in shock for the second time that night, it took a few seconds before the message finally got through and I squealed as I launched myself at her. "Oh, hell, Rose! What the fuck?"

"I know, right?" She giggled, wiping her eyes. Wait a minute…Rose is crying? "But I'm so fucking happy! Emmett is….everything!"

I hugged her again, my tears mingling with hers as we awkwardly stumbled upstairs, both of us knowing we were in for a genuine all-night slumber party.

What Rose would never know, though, that mixed in with my happiness, were bitter tears of regret.

Thoughts?