Disclaimer: All recognizable characters still belong to S.M.

Thank you for spreading the word on our little lovebirds, the number of communities' added and new readers and alerts is amazing. I love it. And a huge shout out to Achlies because I have never been more touched, thank you.

And let's see, Jasper is off this weekend to play with Vanessa93Alice, have fun bb. Tell me where Jasper should visit next.

Today is my anniversary so my husband insisted it be a Jasper free zone (I can't imagine why) so I will be dying to read all of the reviews to get your thoughts on this chapter just as soon as I can, but if I want to keep my hubby (and I do, he's my own little cowboy and it was love at first sight, although there were no Penthouses involved, LOL) I will have to grant him this one wish. It's gonna kill me to not be tied to the computer to see them as they come in, so be kind and review for me so that I'll be that much more giddy when I do get to see them.

Only At Night

Chapter 10

Reciprocal Agreement

Jasper was indeed from Texas. The cattle ranch his family owned had been in the family since before Major Whitlock joined the Confederate Army. The long lost relative that shared his name actually worked the same ranch. I couldn't even imagine being in one place my entire life, much less the same place every generation of ancestors inhabited.

Jasper laughed at me when I asked if he actually slept in the same room as his uncle. That would just be too weird. He explained that the house he lived in was actually pretty new, his grandparents had built it when they were first married and his parents added to it shortly after they started a family.

The old family homestead still stood on the property though and was used as a bunk house for workers that chose to stay on the property. Jasper explained that his brother, Peter, ran the ranch now.

Listening to Jasper read the story of his uncle prompted spontaneous conversations that led to Jasper divulging details of his family history and his youth in a pretty comfortable and laid back manner. I didn't feel awkward asking him questions; most of them were raised by the book itself and Jasper explaining what things were still similar and how much things had changed.

For instance the size of the ranch; over the generations it had grown to the point that it straddled county lines and made up the vast majority of the geographic area of the town he lived in. That blew me away; the biggest piece of property I ever lived on was less than three quarters of an acre. I remember times with Renee when I was young that we lived in apartments with no yard and how much I wished for a yard and a swing set or tree house.

We certainly grew up differently. It was entirely obvious Jasper grew up privileged, but the penthouse and shopping spree already hinted at that. It was funny because without those two bits of information and without hearing the story of his family I would not have guessed it.

Nothing like HIM, he would certainly have fit in the privileged class, his father chief of surgery; mother head of the women's auxiliary, most ostentatious home in town. Everything he said, did, drove and wore screamed 'look at me, I'm loaded'. That was always one of the reasons I never felt good enough, never felt like an equal. In the end I guess he finally figured that out too. Jasper wasn't like that. SHIT, focus Bella.

"Hey, mind if we take a break, I'm starving." Jasper interrupted my wayward thoughts at the perfect time.

"Sure, I'm hungry too." My stomach seemed to agree as it then grumbled.

"Let's go out to eat, I am dying to get you out in public on my arm." Jasper teased.

"Umm, I don't really have anything to wear." I was not going out to eat in club clothes from the night before in the arms of a hottie. I did have limits. My day time persona and the night time one never crossed paths, I was not about to start now.

"Why don't we stop by your place and you can change and grab anything you might need for the rest of the weekend."

"That is a great idea, I actually have to do some reading and can't really afford to fall behind, and maybe I'll grab my books."

"Reading, books, for what?" Jasper looked confused.

"Oh, school. I am in school." Had I not told him that?

"Oh, I didn't realize you were still in school. Where do you go?"

"The University of Washington, here in Seattle." Jasper's face turned pale and his breathing became ragged.

"Um, is that a problem that I'm in school?" Oh bloody hell.

"Well, I don't know, please tell me you are not majoring in history." Jasper's hands ran up through his hair the way they do when he is nervous.

"What, no." He was making me nervous. "Jasper, what is it?"

"Bella, what are you going to school for?" Jasper's voice was cracking and he looked like shit.

"I am in my last semester of Law School. Why?" I can't believe he is going to be upset because I am in school, unless, he thought I was in undergrad and younger.

"I am pretty sure there is a policy prohibiting professors from dating students." Jasper began to smile again.

"What? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Bella, the main reason I have been in Seattle the past two months in the first place is because I have been in discussions with the University about accepting a job. It really would have sucked if I took a job and then found out you were one of my students."

"Oh, did you take the job already?" Shit, I can't stay in Washington, please God, no, don't do this to me.

"No, not yet."

"Are you going to?" Please say you don't know; please don't say this is your dream job.

"Well, the timing is a little awkward, I know we just pronounced our feelings and it would normally be way to soon for this conversation but I think we need to talk about that Bella." Jasper's expression carried every bit of the nervousness he must be feeling and it was nothing compared to what was going through me.

"Let's go to my house and I'll change and then we can go get something to eat and we can talk." Maybe there is some hope that he is talking to other places too.

Shit, the timetable for figuring out where this relationship is going just got put on the fast track. So much for taking it slow.

JPOV

Sitting behind the wheel of Bella's car with her directing me to her house my mind was scrambling to make sense of what was going on. She was in school here; thank God it wasn't in the History Department or even the college itself. I was about to take a job that would have required me to commit to living here for at least the next dozen years, if not permanently and if I were honest with myself it was mainly because of Bella. Had I not met her I would not have even accepted the subsequent rounds of discussions. What if she wasn't from Seattle or even Washington and planned on leaving after the semester. I had to know before I accepted a job. It seemed ludicrous to be asking her where she wanted to live but I couldn't take this job based on her being here if she wouldn't want to stay here. This was going to be an insane conversation. I can see it now, 'I know we have only known each other for a few weeks, and well, really don't know each other at all, but, so, Bella, should we move out of state together or do you want to me to move here for you.' Thank God I had not accepted the job yet.

Shit.

Damn it, way to get ahead of yourself douchebag.

Shut up, I know.

How did it never occur to you to confirm she actually lived here?

I said shut up.

"Take the next left." Bella was sitting quietly watching me. Did she know that I was freaking out?

I turned left into a residential area. The houses were very nice and the area was quite charming. It wasn't overflowing with mini-mansions that sat on barely landscaped parcels of land that were entirely too small for their house size like so many of the newer developments now days. Mature trees lined the streets and while the houses were modest they were impeccably maintained and landscaped for the most part. This was certainly an area of town comprised of working people who took pride in what they had. It reminded me of Bella's car; practical and well maintained.

"Turn right at the next stop sign." Bella looked nervous, did she not want me to see her house? Shit, did she have a roommate?

"Um, Bella, do you live alone?"

Nice time to ask, dumbass.

"Yes."

Bella seemed to mumble under her breath and I wasn't sure if I was imagining it or if she had said something.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" I looked at her and then quickly diverted my attention back to the road when she looked pissed.

"Fourth house on the right."

I put the car in park and came around to open her door. I offered my hand and she took it pulling her self out of the car. She stood digging in her purse. My eyes swept the front of her house and across the neighbors and back again as she continued to dig, probably for the keys I was holding. I smiled and held up the key ring.

"Looking for these?" I smirked twirling the keys.

She grabbed the key ring and marched off to the front door muttering and I had to stifle a laugh.

She unlocked the door and took a deep breath as she pushed it open. Then she looked around, sighed and looked at her feet as I walked in past her.

Damn it, she was self conscious about her house of all things. Shit, I was impressed she had her own home; most of my friends were still paying off school loans and living in crappy apartments with numerous roommates. I had no idea how she could afford law school and a home on her own.

Lord knows I couldn't have without the family money. Oh sure the full rides helped and the royalties were a bonus but I have never really had to pay for housing, or tuition and between the income the ranch generated, publishing royalties and my trust fund, money was just never going to be an issue for me. I knew it was a constant issue for most of my friends. I felt bad for them sometimes.

I would gladly trade it all for more time with my parents.

I probably never would have done as well in school if they had not died. At first school was a distraction to keep from dealing with the pain of their deaths. Junior and Senior years I pulled perfect GPAs much to the shock of my guidance counselor and Peter. Without my parents and with all the sacrifices Peter made for me there was no way I wouldn't give school everything. I felt like I owed it to them to make something of myself. It worked out for me, I found something I loved and I excelled at it. It could have just as easily gone the other way and without Peter it probably would have.

I looked into the living area and it was small but it was perfect. The décor was so warm and inviting. It didn't reek of cheap IKEA furniture or mismatched garage sale finds and hand me downs. The furniture was absolutely perfect for the room. There was a tan small scale sofa along one wall facing a fireplace with several pictures in classic silver frames. Holy hell, above the mantle set off on each side by a pair of Nambe silver candle sticks hung one of my all time favorite prints, Kandinsky's Reciprocal Agreement. Huh, I wondered if she knew the significance to "us" of that painting.

The hard wood floors were beautiful and like everything else I was beginning to find of Bella's, perfectly maintained. There wasn't a scratch or dust bunny to be seen. The area rug in between the sofa and fireplace was a modern geometric pattern of Brown and Tan with a splash of burgundy that matched the one darker wall behind the fireplace. The rest of the walls were a soft beige color.

In front of the window sat a matching chair and ottoman flanked by a floor lamp and side table covered with books. Over the back of the chair hung a burgundy throw and in the seat a coordinating toss pillow.

Interesting, no television. I loved this room. I could sit at that couch and rest my feet on the coffee table and read before the fire forever, especially if she was curled up beside me.

Bella led me into a dining room; the beautiful Maple table was covered with school books all lying open and pads of paper and sticky notes everywhere. I couldn't help but laugh.

"What?" Bella looked at me with disdain.

"Remind me to show you my office sometime, I think it might be identical, just replace the law books with history books." I laughed.

Her mood improved and she smiled.

Next stop was the kitchen. It was beautiful and had recently been redone. Tall Maple cabinets lined one wall of the room and newer stainless steel appliances made up the ideal triangle work pattern. The granite counters carried the earth tones through from the living and dining areas to the kitchen and separated the breakfast bar from the attached eat in area which instead of housing a table and chairs held a computer nook and book shelves with a television and upscale wicker loveseat. The sliding glass doors stretched across the entire back of the room and looked out over a beautiful deck overflowing with potted flowers and plants.

The deck had a small bistro style dining set and matching outdoor furniture still carrying through with the earth tones motif set into a conversation area around a fire pit.

"Oh, Bella, I absolutely love your home. It is perfect. Maybe we should just stay here." She smiled and looked up into my eyes, as if she didn't believe me.

"You really like it?" She bit that damn bottom lip and nearly drove me insane reminding me that I had not yet seen her bedroom.

"Yes, Bella, I love it, it is so warm and inviting." And where is that bedroom?

"Want to see the rest?" She looked up through her lashes as the rest of her face tilted down. Aww, she was going to play shy.

"Very much so." Don't jump her, don't jump her, don't jump her.

"This is the second bedroom; I just use it for, well, books."

An entire wall was flanked with bookshelves and a small work table. These were not school books. This room housed her eclectic collection of fiction, non-fiction, self help, poetry and an amazing number of classic literatures. My, this girl is well read. She would go ape shit if she saw the library in the ranch. I would have to make sure she got that chance. Huh, a whole shelf devoted to grief; the grieving process, death and dying, caring for loved ones, getting back to you. I wondered what the story was behind those as I ran my finger across the spines and took a peak at her. She quickly looked down diverting her gaze from me to the floor and I figured she wasn't ready. Fine, we'd get to that later.

"Wow, Bella, you really like to read don't you?" Ok that was just lame.

"No, they are all for show." She spun on her heel and walked out of the room heading to the door across the hall.

"Guest bath." She pointed as she continued walking.

"Smart ass." I chuckled.

She ignored my comment and opened the door to heaven. My Bella's inner sanctum, her bedroom; again it was beautifully but simply decorated. Her queen size bed sat in the middle of the room against the far wall and a matching Maple dresser and vanity sat opposite. The walls were an ice blue and the bedding deep chocolate brown. The mass of pillows with brown and cream and blue stripes tied it all together. Why was it that women always loved way more pillows than they could ever actually use? And why all the different sizes and shapes, I mean round ones, small square ones, large rectangle ones, what was the purpose of all those pillows? My mother had always done the same thing. The dark chocolate curtains framed the lighter blinds and were neatly kept behind the tiebacks. I finally noticed that the dresser was filled with candles. I could just imagine the lights bouncing off the mirror behind them and casting glorious hues over my angel as I made sweet love to her on that bed.

DO NOT JUMP HER, DO NOT JUMP HER, DO. NOT. JUMP. HER.

"WOW, Bella, you really have a beautiful home. I feel like I know you so much more just from peeking inside. I mean, it seems just so you."

"What if I told you a decorator did it all?" She grinned up at me looking quite smug.

She almost had me, but no, I knew better, this was all Bella.

"Then I'd ask for her number." I stalked towards her with a wicked grin and she turned and walked out of the room before I could catch her. Evil little tease.

"Seriously Bella, I love it."

"Thank you. Do you want something to drink while I go change and get some things together?" She seemed happier now.

"Sure, but I'd be perfectly happy staying here if you'd rather." I took her hand and pulled her closer so that she would know I meant it.

"Well, how about we stick to the plan for this weekend and then next time, you stay here?" There goes that lip again.

"Sure darlin', I'd like that a lot." I kissed the top of her head.

Bella handed me a soda and I went out to the deck to admire her flowers as she went to change and pack some things.

I loved this house but it wouldn't be big enough for both of us. I sat looking out at her yard and imagined little rugrats running around with big brown eyes and tons of dark brown hair.

Hmm, a lawyer, my Bella is smart. I like that. I wonder if she would ever want to give up the career and be a stay home mom. Not that it would matter to me, if she wanted to keep working it was awesome, but I was curious. God I hope she didn't want to work one of those 20 hour a day jobs. I would hate being away from her that much. Tyler worked at one of those big firms in Austin and he never had any time off. Lizzie broke off the engagement because she said she didn't want to be married to a paycheck.

What the fuck dude, why don't you paint the picket fence already?

Shit, I am so jumping the gun here. I can't help it.

I wandered back inside and looked at the photographs in the eating area. There was a picture of a police officer in uniform, a picture of Bella with a woman that just had to be her mother, a baseball player, the baseball player with her mother and a picture of Bella as a child with an enormous perch and a fishing pole. Wouldn't have pictured Bella fishing.

The pictures in the front room were of the same people at different times. There was a graduation picture of Bella with her mother and the cop. Hmm, maybe dad? But then who's the baseball player?

Then it struck me, none of these pictures were recent. Every one of them was at least five or six years old. In the graduation picture both the woman and the man were older than in any of the other pictures of them and there were no other more recent pictures of them. There was one more recent picture of Bella, it couldn't have been more than a year or so old, it was a candid and she looked so sad, so beaten down, so ALONE.

FUCK, where the hell where her parents. I had a very bad feeling in the pit of my stomach and knew; somehow I just knew her parents were where my parents were. She is alone, all alone.

"I'm ready." She called out carrying a bag and a backpack. She walked out and saw me looking at the pictures; the one of her with her parents at graduation in my hand.

"Oh, those are my parents." She reached out for the picture. "This is Renee and this is Charlie."

"You are as beautiful as your mother." Was she ready to tell me more? I let go of the picture once she had it firmly in her hand.

I looked up at her and saw the sorrow in her eyes as she put the picture back on the mantle and I knew I had been right.

"Thank you."

"Harrison and Margaret." I tried to smile warmly to her.

"I'm sorry." She looked at me confused.

"My parents, their names were Harrison and Margaret. I miss them very much." I could at least let her know she wasn't alone; I have had much longer to deal with that loss than I believed she had.

"Oh, so your parents are, um, are…."

"Yes Bella, my parents died when I was 16." Carefully I treaded now.

"Oh, my mom died when I was 18 just after graduation and my dad a little less than a year later." She looked straight at me as she said it, she didn't look away, didn't look down. I was so proud of her.

"I'm sorry Bella." I wanted her to open up and tell me everything but I knew it wasn't something you pushed. I hated when people pushed me for those details. But I would tell her every single one without hesitation.

"Well, we certainly have more in common than we could have known, huh?" And that was it for now, she had closed the subject. She is just not ready.

"Yeah, like that print, it is one of my all time favorites, imagine my surprise when I looked up and saw Reciprocating Agreement hanging there." I said pointing up above the mantle.

"You are kidding? I love that print." She beamed and her smile lit up the room.

"I sensed that, you don't have a lot of other art work displayed so it seemed like it must be important to you." I was beyond thrilled at the things we were discovering we had in common.

"Do you know much about it Bella?"

"Well, it's Kandinsky. The original piece was done in 1942. Music was always the main inspiration behind his work; I have always seen a multitude of instruments and notes in the piece."

"Bella, did you know that Kandinsky was a lawyer before he ever started painting?" I smiled.

"Yes and an author." She returned my smile with a knowing one of her own.

"Hmm, I think it is a sign, did I tell you I play guitar too?" She smirked and smiled again at my latest revelation.

"So, a reciprocal agreement huh?" She winked at me, teasing.

"Ready to go eat?" Her stomach began grumbling signaling she needed food.

"Yep. And Bella, thanks for sharing, well, a little bit of you with me." I kissed her hand as I took it in mine and led her to the door grabbing her bags for her.

"You too, Jasper."

BPOV

I took Jasper to my favorite little bar and grill, they had the best burgers and pub type food around. It was someplace that we could sit and talk for ages without worrying. I had a felling we were going to need the time if the issues I thought were coming hit the table.

Jasper seemed to like my choice and we slid into a booth sitting across from each other. Jasper reached for my hands and held them openly on top of the table. It was a little late for the lunch crowd and the place wasn't very busy. We made small talk about restaurants and bars while we scanned the menus and the waited for the waitress to bring our orders. Jasper said he loved Mexican food and I had some great ideas of a couple good places to take him to. It was actually odd that I wasn't weirded out by that thought.

Once the food came the conversation started to turn more serious.

"So Bella, you aren't from the Seattle area then?" Jasper seemed anxious to get this underway and we certainly needed to cover this ground sooner rather than later.

"Well, I was born in Forks, about two hours away, but my parents split up when I was little and I moved around a bit with my mom. Mostly I lived in Phoenix. My mom remarried when I was 16, a baseball player, you saw his pictures, anyway he travelled obviously and my mom wanted to travel with him. I was kind of in the way. So I moved back to Forks to live with my Dad. I came to Seattle for undergrad and stayed for law school, so even though I have lived in Washington for a big chunk of my life, I don't consider it home." Jasper sat and smiled at me so I kept on talking.

"I thought about transferring when my Dad died my freshman year, but I was on scholarship so I decided it wasn't worth it, I could ride it out and decide what to do after school. Then came law school and I couldn't afford to pass up a free ride. So I am still here."

"Wow, you got a free ride to law school?"

"Yeah, um undergrad too. That is probably why I have done so well in school, my Dad really couldn't have afforded it and when he died I didn't want to use the insurance money for something he could not have provided when he was alive so I just worked that much harder to keep the scholarship and saved the insurance money. I worked hard in high school so that he wouldn't feel guilty about not being able to afford college. Unfortunately, having no living parents probably helped in the scholarship review committee's eyes. I would have rather had my parents."

"I know exactly what you mean." Jasper squeezed my hand and I knew that he did understand.

"So, you are a teacher?"

"I have a PhD in History, and I have been writing and teaching college in Texas, but the next step is Professor, so I have been talking to several Universities about positions in the History Departments." Jasper seemed kind of young to have accomplished that much.

"Where else have you been looking?" Oh please say some place warm. I took a bite of my burger.

"Well, New York, Boston, California and, well, Washington." Jasper picked up a couple French fries and stuffed them into his mouth. It was so sexy when he licked his fingers.

"Hmm." I couldn't talk with the massive bite of burger in my mouth.

"So, Bella, do you plan to stay in Washington then or do you want to leave when school is over?" Jasper licked his lips but didn't touch his food.

I took a swig from my drink and put it down. "Well, honestly, I don't want to stay in Seattle. I do have an open job offer from the firm I am working at now, but they have offices all over the country so I was considering seeing if they would let me transfer or maybe just look for a job where ever I decide to live." I could feel my teeth grazing my bottom lip and fought it.

"Okay, so where do you think you want to live?" Jasper began grinning and that twinkle in his eyes lit up just a little more.

"Well, I am really sick of the weather in Washington, I don't like the cold or wet damp things. I miss the heat of Arizona so um…." My brain was working at four times the speed of my mouth and I knew I had to shut up for a second to catch up before I said something stupid. I took a bite of my burger and put one finger up to signal, just a minute, while I thought it through. Was he asking me if I liked any of the places he was looking at jobs? What if I picked one of those, would that be too forward. What if I said someplace he wasn't looking, would I be telling him I wasn't interested?

Shit.

"Where in California, Jasper?" There I said it.

"Stanford."

"Which job would be the best, the one you would choose if there were no other factors to consider, your dream come true?" I looked him straight in the eye and spoke as seriously as I could. I could work anywhere as long as it was not Seattle. The prospect of starting a new life somewhere with Jasper was scary as hell, but exciting as hell at the same time.

"Stanford." Jasper's smile widened and he reached for my hand across the table again.

"Palo Alto it is Jasper." I smiled up at him and he squeezed my hand.

"Are you serious? Maybe you better think about that some more, I don't want to rush you." He was absolutely giddy.

I realized right then I would never say no to this man. Hell, I didn't care if I ever worked, but that close to San Francisco and San Jose, plus Stanford if I ever wanted to teach, I knew I could find something.

"Fine, I'll look into a few things, when do you have to make a decision?"

"Soon, Stanford has already offered me the job and they have been patient, but I am going to need to tell them soon." Jasper shifted in his seat, looking all sexy and nervous.

"When would you have to be there to start working?"

"Before the end of the semester, I'll be expected to teach this summer and will have quite a bit of course work to prepare before the semester starts." Jasper resumed eating his burger.

"Okay, I'll talk to the firm on Monday and see what they say. I know they have an office in San Francisco. It can't be more than an hour drive from Stanford."

"Bella, you are going to just up and move to California with me, just like that?"

"Yes. Jasper, were you going to up and move to Seattle for me without even knowing whether I was staying here?"

"Yes."

"Well, I think it is better that we talked about it and chose a place where we both would be happy. Besides, I have a semester to finish and a bar exam to pass first, don't forget."

"What about your beautiful house?" Jasper looked sad.

"I'll sell it, of course." It's just a house.

"What about you, what about Texas?" He was moving regardless, it just seemed weird that he'd leave his family's ranch.

"Shit, Peter can't wait to get rid of me. He'll be very happy it is California and not Seattle though, he was not real happy to have to visit me in Seattle. He is like you, no cold, damp, wet things for him; he'll learn to love the moderate climate."

"Oh, uh, does your brother, um does Peter, does he know about me?" I felt a little foolish asking.

"Yes. Um Bella, this is going to sound kinda strange, but I'm just going to say it because I will never lie to you. He has known about you since the night we met." Jasper looked up at me gritting his teeth as if he were waiting for me to scream.

"Ah, the phone calls." No way, he called his brother to tell him he met a girl??

"Yeah, I um sort of panicked because, well, because I was crazy about you and I didn't want you to leave and I didn't really know what to do. I know, big loser, I called my big brother freaking out while you slept in my bed." God that man was hot.

"Oh Jasper, that is the hottest thing any one has ever said to me. Please take me home right now and make love to me."

"CHECK PLEASE."

What do you like better, the balance of sweet and lemon, the pure citrus of chapter 9, or the sweet relationship building and yes there were no lemons, no I'm not lying, go back an look if you don't believe me chapter 10????

Check out my profile for a link to the artwork in Bella's living room.