Chapter 3 – Getting to Know You

I want to be a cowboy's sweetheart
I want to learn to rope and ride
I want to ride o'er the plains and the deserts
Out west of the great divide
I want to hear the coyotes howlin'
While the sun sets in the West
I want to be a cowboy's sweetheart
The the life I love the best

-Cowboy's Sweetheart by Patsy Montana

The next day...

The drive back tot he ranch after picking up Carlisle was quiet one. Jasper could tell that his friend had something on his mind.

"Carlisle? Is everythin' all right? Ya sure have been mighty quiet all mornin'," he asked.

"Sorry Jasper, I was just thinking about yesterday... at the arena."

"You did great, you took first place," Jasper stated. "You rode an awesome bull."

"I know," he sighs.

"So what is it about yesterday that has you..." Jasper starts to ask but stops and then it dawns on him. Bella too, was awful quiet last night. When he tried to ask her, she would just brush him off. He was beginning to wonder if all their heavy thinking was connected somehow. Right before he had pulled Carlisle over the fence, I could tell that he had taken a shine to her.

The only way he could figure it out if his theory was valid, he would have to ask in a subtle way.

"Hey man," Jasper glances over at him.

"Yeah?" He turned his head to look at him.

"Did you see that brunette sitting by Alice in the stands last night? She was cute lil' thin', wasn't she?"

Quickly Carlisle looked way, blushing, "I... uh..." he swallowed, "I saw her."

"She was a looker, I can say that for her. And if I didn' have Alice..." Jasper trails off.

He must have hit a nerve or something. He noticed that Carlisle whipped his head back around, his voice had a hard edge to it. "If you didn't have Alice you would what?" he dared him to finish that sentence. His friend's eyes were flashing darkly at him.

Although he was hoping to get some kind of reaction from him, but he did not expect that kind of look. Jasper thought for a moment that Carlisle was going to hut him or something. He tried to back peddle a bit "Uh... Nothing. I would absolutely do nothing! Ya know Alice is my everythin'." He hoped that he sound sincere enough to mollify him.

Jasper pulled up to ranch gate and stopped for a moment, putting the truck in park. He turned towards Carlisle, "I didn't mean to step on your toes or anythin'," He pauses for a moment. "Do ya know her?"

"It's okay, "Carlisle looks away, pinching the bridge of his nose. His eyes had lost the harsh look from moments ago when her turned back to face Jasper. "Look man, I'm sorry for snapping at you like that, I had no right to do that." Looks down at this hands, " And to answer your question, no. I don't know who she is, but I do wish I had gotten a chance to meet and get to know her, though." He wistfully answers.

Smiling to himself, Jasper thows the truck back in gear and makes his way to the house where the barbeque was being held in the back yard. With his suspicions confirmed, Jasper knew Carlisle would be surprised to see the girl of his dreams at the party and that Bella would most likely feel the same.

If there was one thing the Brandon's knew how to do, it was how to throw a barbeque. Being from Texas or at least Mr. Brandon was, they had the usual Texas fare. They got your basic brisket, chicken and sausage (hot links). Potato and macaroni salad, along with coleslaw, roasted ears of corn, baked beans and corn bread. If that doesn't fill you up, try the desert table filled with chocolate cake, pies of all kinds especially pecan, fresh peach cobbler, banana pudding and homemade ice cream, just to name a few. And to wash all this down gallons of sweet tea and cases of beer. They would do any Texas barbeque joint proud and Jasper could testify to that!

Bella had just come out of the house carrying some pies to the table, when she saw Jasper pull up in his truck. "Alice," she hollered, "Your lover-boy is here!"

The little pixie dashed out of the house almost knocking the pies out of Bella's hands. With a bit of a sigh, Bella made her way to the table holding the deserts, placing the pies down carefully. She couldn't fault her for her excitement towards seeing Jasper. If he had her own cowboy, she thought, she would feel the same way. But alas, all she had were memories of some ice-blue eyes looking at her from underneath a safety helmet in the shape of a cowboy hat.

Turning back around, she noticed Alice and Jasper talking to a tall, blond man. Making her way back to the kitchen, Alice waved her over to where they were standing. "Hey Jasper," Bella said giving Jasper a hug.

"Darlin', I want you to meet a friend of mine... Carlisle Cullen." Jasper motioned to the man next to him. "And this is Isabella Swan." With that, Jasper pulled Alice to him and stepped back to watch.

You could see the recognition in their faces as their hands met. Being the gentleman that Carlisle is, he brought her hand up to his lips placing a kiss on it. "Ms. Swan. It is a pleasure to finally meet you."

When he did that, it was all she could do to keep from passing out. "Same here, Mr. Cullen." Like the night before, his eyes held her captive.

"Please call me Carlisle... Mr. Cullen was my father." He genuinely smiled at her.

"It's Isabella, ...my friends call me Bella," she just about stammered. Bella made no move to remove her hand from his.

They just stood there for a moment; intently staring at each other. The world around them seemed to fade away.

A shared look passes between Alice and Jasper. He just grins and nudges her.

"You know what, Bella... Jasper's gonna help me get the rest of the stuff and put it out. Why don't you and Carlisle just go and..."

That was all Carlisle need to hear from Alice. Still holding her hand, he led Bella to the swing at the end of the porch. Sitting there, the two swapped stories. Bella told him about her graduating high school and about the her trip her and the trip she and Alice would take to Texas to go to college.

The whole time he sat there quietly, listen to her story. Their hands constantly touching, she could feel the calluses on his hands from the ropes he uses. She thought that they gave him character. When it was his turn, she found herself scooting closer to him; her leg brushing up against his. His voice mesmerized her with it's British accent. It just turned her insides to goo!

Let see... I was born and raised in small village not far from London. My mother died when I was really young, so that left my father to raise me. I was an only child and we only had each other, no other family. He was the vicar at the village church until he passed away a few months ago; that was when I came to the United States to become a cowboy." He grinned at her.

"I'm so sorry about your father," she said with a sad look on her face.

"Thank you," he said, patting her hand. "He's in a better place."

She was quiet for moment, thinking about Charlie and what she would do if something ever happened to him. With a shake of her head to clear it, she just had to ask him about his reason for coming to the states.

A cowboy?" she asked dubiously.

"Yes, a cowboy." Carlisle looked down at their hands for a moment before looking back up at her smiling. "You see, I spent a lot of time alone growing up and they used to show these old westerns from the U.S., you know, Bonanza and my favorite, Gunsmoke on the telly and I was captivated by that life style. I did some research online and found that the Volturi Brothers are the best there is for learning how to rope and ride. So I sold everything and came to the U.S. to live out my dream."

"Did you always want to be bull rider?" Bella asked.

"Not really, that came by accident. When I got to the Volturi ranch, it was just to learn how to be a cowhand and work the stock. One day, I was assigned a different horse than what I usually rode and what I didn't know at the time when I saddled and mounted him, that it was the wrong one. Instead of getting a well seasoned horse, I ended up with one that was still in the process of being broke!" He watched for Bella's reaction to that.

She pulled away from him with a gasp and covered her mouth in shock. "Please tell me you didn't ride it!"

"Actually, I did. I managed to stay on to the shock of the head wrangler, Felix," he laughed. "When he saw how well I managed not to get myself killed, he asked me if I was interesting in bronc and bull riding. I have to say, it was one of the most exciting things I had ever done and the adrenaline rush from it was addicting, so I agreed to give it a try. I found that bull riding was more exciting than bronc. Now I work on their ranch to pay for the bull riding lessons."

"So how many competitions have you enter so far?" she asked.

"Uh... one," he answered her a bit shyly.

"You mean to tell me, that this weekend was the first time you rode in an event and you even out rode some of the top riders?" She could hardly believe that he was still a greenhorn when it came to riding. "Your not lying to me, are you?"

"I am most certainly telling you the truth my dear, Isabella," he said leaning in closer to her face, his eyes not leaving hers.

His face was close enough to hers that she could feel his breath. I wouldn't take much she thought, to press her lips against his. She no sooner got that thought out when she felt his lips upon hers. The world around them seemed to just melt away.

Carlisle pulled back shocked, when he realizing what he had done. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to seem so forward."

"Really.. Carlisle." Bella smiled at him. "Do you see me complaining?" She leaned back into him for another kiss.

He brought his hands up, caressing her face as he closed the gap between them, only this time he wanted more. Slowly he ran his tongue across her lips, asking for entrance. Bella was more than willing to let him in. Carlisle's hands trailed down her face, neck, shoulders and arms, to come to rest on her hips. Doing so, he pulled her into a more comfortable position, his lap.

Bella's emotions were all over the place; never had she ever felt like this before. She brought her hands up to run through the hair at the back of his head as she nibbled and licked his jaw, working her way back to his lips.

They were lost in their own little word til someone came and burst their bubble. Alice had her reasons for doing so. Noticing that it was starting to get pretty heavy over on the swing and with more people starting to arrive, she didn't think that they would be wanting to put on a show for all the world to see.

"Hey you guys," she said, finally getting their attention. "Lunch is ready, just thought you would like to now!" Smirking as she watch the blush cover Bella's face.

Bella hid her face in Carlisle's chest for a moment, before turning back to her friend and giving her the ol' stink-eye, "Thanks, Alice." She could feel Carlisle chuckling into her neck as he buried his face in her neck.

Mrs. Brandon came up the porch steps right then, giving them a knowing smile. She had seen the whole PDA thing, but would never tell Bella. What it was to be young and in love, she thought to herself. The older woman just kept on smiling as she made her way to the dinner triangle. Grabbing hold of the clangor, she rang it all the while hollering "Y'all come'n get it!"

Carlisle eased Bella off his lap and stood up. With a kiss to the top of her head, he placed his at the small of her back and guided her over to the table that was laden with food.

After filling their plates, they joined Alice and Jasper at a picnic table under a shady tree. Sitting side-by-side, they held hands under the table the whole time they ate. They even shared a bowl of banana pudding, fighting over who got the last vanilla wafer!

Soon the band stared playing and everyone got up and danced. Bella even taught him how to do the schottishe and the chicken dance. As they did one of the slow dances, they found themselves wrapped up in each others arms.

As they moved, Carlisle bend his head so he could whisper in her ear, "Isabella," he preferred it to Bella, "Is there someplace we can go, someplace more private?"

For some reason, Bella blushed at the thought of being alone; thought she couldn't deny the appeal of it.

Taking his hand, Bella led him to one of the barns. Since all the horses were turned out to pasture for the next day or so, no one would be coming around to disturb them. She found a couple clean horse blankets and handed them to Carlisle as she climbed the ladder to the hayloft.

Seeing what she had in mind, he followed along right behind her enjoying the view!

Bella took the blankets from him, laying them out on the loose piled hay. Laying there beside each other, things started to get heavy between them. Soon one thing lead to another and it wasn't long before they were down to their underthings. Hands that first began roaming over the material soon found their way under them.

Before long, even their underthings had disappeared. Their explorations of each other continued with their mouths, tongues and fingers finding all the little nooks and crannies. Bella was enjoying the way Carlisle could use his tongue to make her body quiver all over. He crawled back up her body, kissing it all the way. His tongue plunged into her mouth as it fought for dominance. "My dear, sweet Isabella. Please let me be inside of you." he asked, kissing down her neck.

Bella wasn't sure if she was ready for that big step. Not that she wasn't a virgin anymore, but she hadn't known him for very long. But still, there was something about him that she couldn't explain. She felt embarrassed to ask him this one question, "Do you have any protection with you?" Bella's face turned red and it ran all the way down her chest. "I'm on the pill, but I just don't want to take any unnecessary chances."

"Don't worry, Sweetheart. I would do nothing to jeopardize your safety, even though I am clean." He reaches for his pants to get his wallet.

"It's just that..." She buries her face in her hands. "I can't afford an 'accident' to happen right now.

Carlisle works quickly rolling on the condom. He lays back down, covering her body with his. "I understand, Sweetheart, I really do. I'm not ready for something like that either," he says kissing her.

Bella seemed to calm down with his words and kisses as they made love slowly. Neither one felt the need to rush. It was all consuming for the both of them.

Eventually the time came that they need to get back to the party. He helped her down the ladder, making sure she wouldn't fall.

Walking hand in hand they talked about anything and everything. They joined back up with Alice and Jasper for awhile more, before the party broke up.

He escorted her back to the house, kissing along the way. "Can I come calling on you tomorrow for a date?" He asked.

"I'm so sorry, Carlisle. Alice and I are leaving for Texas in the morning." Tears were pooling in her eyes. Even though they had just met, it was killing her to leave him.

Crestfallen, he asks, "What time are you leaving?"

"About nine o'clock. Will I see you before I go?" The tears now streaming down her face.

Cupping her face with is hands, he wipes away the tears with the pads of his thumbs, "You won't be able to keep me away!" and with that their lips meet for the final kiss of the night.

A/N: Hope y'all enjoyed this installment of Rodeo Drive. Don't worry my dear Bell, hopefully things will work out for our two love birds...maybe.

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