Disclaimer: S. Meyer owns all things Twilight. I just decided it was time to shake things up a bit in her characters' world. And I wanted a bitchy Bella, so here we go!

Oh, and all of the references used in this story in relation to the advertising and marketing company and accounts are only used here for entertainment purposes; no copyright infringement intended.

Thank you to the following people: Flyaway Dove, my wonderful beta extraordinaire; angelicwish, who has gone above and beyond the call of duty to provide this insecure writer with feedback; Lita for making me beautiful banners and being awesome in general; and last but certainly not least, to Jen – she makes me smile all the time.

Now some of you might have wondered why I decided to tell these last couple of chapters from Edward's perspective. It was deliberate. I needed a little space – out of Bella's screwed up head. She was making me angsty. So bear with me, one more chapter from Edward, and maybe we'll see what Bella makes of all this.

Chapter Thirteen: The mason

EPOV

Waking up in an unfamiliar, hotel room bed with a hell of a headache and an aching back: not ideal. Waking up to realize that there's a beautiful woman lying next to you (and not just any beautiful woman): pretty much ideal in my world.

Bella was still sleeping soundly when I woke, and it afforded me yet another opportunity to study her without words, dirty looks or tempers interfering. At some point while I was sleeping, she had discarded her sweater; the white KOL t-shirt she wore was pulled snugly over her curves. She slept with one arm over her head, and her other hand was still clutching mine. I brought my face close to hers so that my nose was touching her cheek, took a deep breath and closed my eyes. God, she smells so good.

Realizing that I quite possibly did not smell as good, I released her hand and slid out of bed without waking her. Quietly I snuck into the bathroom and hurriedly splashed water on my face, brushed my teeth and ran my fingers through my hair. The bedhead would not be tamed, however.

Silently I crept back to bed, and seemed to have managed it successfully, until I placed my arm across her body and wrapped my fingers around hers. Bella stirred and I held my breath, uncertain of her reaction to me. Even though we weren't as close as before, I felt her heart rate increase and her breathing accelerate as she took in her surroundings. Should I pretend I'm still sleeping? Say good morning? Jump out of bed and get as far away as possible, before she screams? None of these options helped me a damned bit, however, when she rolled over to face me.

"Hi," she offered groggily. My heart thudded in double-time when I realized she wasn't going to scream, at least. With my arm still draped over her – I was too scared to make any sudden movements – I replied with a croak.

"Hi."

"Did I talk more in my sleep after that first time," she asked. Exhaling in evident relief when I shook my head, she slid her hands under her pillow, and smiled. She smiled! "That's good. Sorry about all of that. But I don't think I've ever slept so well…in my life. Usually when I have a nightmare, I can't fall back to sleep at all. But…"

Bella didn't finish her sentence, and once again, I didn't press her to finish it. Hopefully she would have told me that sleeping with me was the best sleep she'd ever had. But I didn't ask. Then she grimaced and closed her eyes again.

"Ugh, too many martinis," she griped. "I don't care if it's Grey Goose. Too much vodka equals a hangover for me." Then she opened one eye to squint at me, and then both, as her brown eyes grew wide. Oh shit.

"Oh my God, what time is it?" She bolted up in the bed and frantically searched for a clock. Seeing that it was eleven-fifteen, she gasped, threw back the covers and swung her bare legs over the side. Apparently Bella had removed her jeans at some point as well. I tried to avert my eyes when she stood up, but couldn't avoid catching a glimpse of blue satin before the t-shirt fell over her ass. Her very nice, tight, perfectly shaped ass.

"Bella, it's Sunday," I said, trying to look at anything but her. "Remember you said that we could sleep in?"

She groaned and flopped back onto the bed.

"Right – it's Sunday," she answered quietly, rubbing her temples. Bella scurried under the covers and turned to face me again. Her eyes were clear and anxious, and asked the question that I had avoided until this moment. But surprisingly she didn't inquire if I still wanted out.

"So I agreed to sleeping in, and that's what I plan to do," she said, almost obstinately. "We have all day, right? Work can wait, then." And then she grabbed my arm, wrapped it around her once more, and closed her eyes. Had this not been the strangest thing that had ever happened to me while in her presence, I would have laughed aloud. Here we were, two people, formerly self-proclaimed enemies, sharing a bed. And she wanted more time in it, with me. What the fuck? My male brain was about to explode.

"Bella?"

"Mmm-hhmm?" I could tell from her answer that she was close to sleep again, and decided that if I didn't ask now, I might never have the chance.

"What are you afraid of?"

"Everything," she said dreamily. "You…me…us…being hurt…love…spiders."

"Bella?"

"Mmm-hhmm?"

"I promise that you don't have to be afraid of any of those things," I offered. "Not even the spiders. You're safe."

Bella opened her eyes, and they were wet with tears. Her brow furrowed, she blinked a few times, and then she offered me a knowing smile that melted any remaining vestiges of ice in my heart. Tentatively, she removed one hand from under her pillow and reached up to rest it against my face. This time I didn't flinch when I felt the shock; neither did she.

"Edward. I…thank you," she said. "I just don't…I don't know if I can…"

I shushed her and moved my hand to smooth her hair back before resting my fingers under her chin.

"Bella, it's okay," I reassured her. "You don't have to explain anything else, or say anything else. You've given me so much in the last twelve hours; you have no idea."

There I was, laying myself bare before her. Essentially I had shown my hand, and now she could destroy me. She was an intelligent woman; my comments had been received clearly. This was crossing the line for certain, but I didn't care anymore. I was too invested. Truthfully, I had been from the day I met her. Hopefully now she understood that.

The realization that my feelings for Bella ran much deeper than I previously cared to admit exploded before my eyes, and I was blinded with the white light of my revelation. My ears rang, my mouth went dry and I gasped like I was being buried alive by the rubble. And then someone reached out and pulled me out of the destruction.

As if she were reading my mind, Bella closed the remaining distance between us, and captured my lips in a kiss that shattered my world.

It was tender and fierce, warm but hard, and it contained so much passion, hope, fear and anguish that I winced. Bella poured herself into me with that kiss, and in return I kissed her with everything I had. Pulling her face to mine, I felt her tears spill over and drip onto my thumbs as I held her there with me. She broke away with a choked sob, and pulled back, keeping her hand on my face.

"Edward, oh my God, I'm sorry," she gasped. "I shouldn't have…it's not right…this is wrong." She bit her lip as the tears continued to fall, quicker than I could wipe them away.

"Bella, easy now," I began. "Did it feel wrong?" She just looked at me, blinking back tears. Gently, I pulled her to me once more, our faces a mere inch apart. I dabbed at her eyes with the edge of my t-shirt before continuing. "In case you didn't notice, I kissed you back," I submitted. "Please don't regret it. I don't."

It's just…I don't know what this means," Bella said. "I'm not good at this Edward. You know I don't do this well." In response, and to comfort her, I kissed her nose and then her forehead.

"Please don't worry about that right now," I said. "Maybe you just haven't been given the chance to see how good you really are at this. I'm willing to be your Guinea pig." She looked down at my chest and laughed, and the glorious sound filled the hotel room.

"You're willing to be a participant in my study," she asked playfully. "Long, tough hours, most likely lots of weekend and holiday work, little to no sleep and meager compensation for your time?"

"Absolutely," I answered with a grin. Bella laughed again and wrapped her arms around me, as if it were the most natural gesture in the world. And then I rolled us so that she was on top of me. Suddenly I remembered just how little we both wore from the waist down, and right on-cue, Bella blushed.

"Kiss me," she said.

I complied, gladly.

As we kissed, I let my hands wander from her waist up to her neck and shoulders, and I gathered her hair away from her face and draped it over her back. With my fingers, I memorized the curves of her back, waist and hips. And then I stopped and waited. Bella deepened the kiss, urging my mouth open with her tongue and tilting her head to get better access. She sighed as I returned the favor, and wove her hands through my hair.

Admittedly, I was restraining myself. I wanted to be a gentleman about this, but it was like pushing a ten-ton stone up a hill covered in ice – a losing fucking battle. My dick, apparently fed up with all of my restraint, acted like it was going to rip through my boxers. Then Bella moaned into my mouth as she pulled on my hair, and I nearly came right there.

"Are you trying to kill me Bella?" I said with a groan. I rolled us over again so that she was underneath me; with certainty she saw the fire in my eyes now, and felt me against her stomach, and she bit her lip so hard it turned white around her teeth. Fuck, that's sexy. As if to answer me, she lifted her hips to mine, and my aching erection came into contact with her pelvis. The new angle must have afforded her the full compliment of my dick, and her eyes grew wide; then she smiled at me devilishly and licked her lips.

"Ugh, you are trying to killme," I said. "Not that I'm complaining."

Bella reached for me and pulled my top lip between hers, gently sucking until I captured her bottom lip with my own. Her lips were so soft – like little pillows. As we kissed, she removed her fingers from my hair and moved down my jaw, to my neck, and to my shoulders and arms. As her hands moved lower, so did her mouth, as she discovered my jaw line and earlobes, and then my neck. Bella licked and sucked her way down to the bit of chest that my t-shirt didn't cover. When her fingers reached the neckline of my shirt and tugged to expose more skin, I inhaled a ragged breath. And as soon as my brain registered a gentle suction at the base of my neck, I growled. Yes, I fucking growled.

"Edward, I don't have the strength to stay away from you anymore," Bella said in between hot kisses to my neck and earlobe.

"Then don't," I managed simply. As I leaned down to kiss her again, I let more of my weight press her into the mattress, and I nestled one of my legs between hers. Bella's arousal was evident through her satin undies, and she could, undoubtedly, feel me, now painfully hard, against her thigh.

In my mind I saw the last bits of my resolve crumbling, the man slipping on the ice under the weight of the stone. My hand found its way to her thigh, and I held her leg even closer against me as my nose traced a path from her collar bone up her neck and to the soft skin below her earlobe. After kissing the spot that I decided was one of my favorites, I took her earlobe into my mouth, sucked on it, and then bit down.

"Oh God," Bella moaned in reply. Our hands explored each other's bodies, and our lips did the same, but Bella made no move to remove any clothing, so I didn't push her. If she wasn't comfortable with us being together right now, I told myself I could wait (much to my dick's dismay). After all, it had been a rough night and we'd conquered some major hurdles in coming clean about our egos, and then admitting our feelings for each other (without saying the words, of course). It was a lot to deal with so soon; I knew that. But neither one of us could deny what our bodies craved.

As I kissed Bella's neck, my hand sought skin, and I lifted the hem of her shirt a bit and slid my fingers underneath. Her stomach felt taught but still soft, and I grasped her waist as my lips found hers once more. God, I want more of this. Much more.

"Edward, wait," she gasped, disengaging herself from the kiss. I didn't remove my hand, but loosened my grip. She slapped one hand over her eyes and bit her bottom lip so hard I thought she was going to draw blood. "Shit. I'm so sorry. It's just too much. Fuck."

The cursing did things to my dick that surprised me, but it didn't matter. With a sigh, I rolled off her, but pulled Bella with me so we were both lying on our sides, facing each other. I could see her lip trembling, so I carefully pried her fingers away from her eyes; they were red with tears that threatened to spill over. In an effort to put her at ease I shook my head.

"Bella, please don't worry, okay? I'm not going anywhere," I said; and there was the answer to her unspoken question. I wasn't going anywhere. We were going to work through this – together. I could work on taking down that fucking wall for as long as it took – one piece at a time. "The last twenty-four hours have been overwhelming. It's okay if you want to slow down."

"Edward, please understand – I do want this – you," she began. "God, you have no idea how much. But it feels like such a huge shift from where we were earlier last night, and I don't know if I can downshift that fast. I don't know what happened to me; it's like I don't even know myself anymore. I've been in that angry place so damn long. It was so much easier to be there. You have this indescribable effect on me, Edward. I've never told anyone the things I told you last night. Not even the girls know some of that. It's all so alien to me – all of it." She grabbed my hand and held it against her chest.

"I think I understand, Bella," I replied, giving her hand a slight squeeze. "We had a lot to say to each other; two months' worth of fear, resentment, misunderstanding and rivalry, not to mention a healthy dose of sexual tension." As I added the last part, I playfully tugged on her ear. "And technically, you are my boss, and with that comes a decent amount of consideration for the future. I've considered all of that, too, you know. So many times, I'd wavered between wanting to kiss you and wanting to tell you off. It always seemed like you were trying to bait me, to force a reaction. It's a difficult transition to make."

Bella looked at me, suddenly downtrodden, at hearing my struggles with her attitude, and then she looked down at my fingers. I laughed, and with my free hand I tilted her chin so her eyes were level with mine.

"Hey, that doesn't mean I don't want to see where this goes," I explained. God, this woman is a mess. If I meet any of those ex-boyfriends of hers I'd have a few things to say. "I'm just saying that I get it – we need to proceed with caution." She rolled her eyes at that statement, and then rolled onto her back with a groan.

"There should be blinking traffic cones all around me - 'Caution: Danger Ahead'," she quipped. "Who in his right mind would want this mess?"

"Well, I don't know about being right-minded, but I know I want this mess," I said, rolling on top of her again and planting a searing kiss on her lips. It seemed to distract her from her self-deprecation, and she twisted her fingers through my hair, pulling me to her. After a few moments of some of the hottest making out that I'd ever been privy to, Bella pulled away once more. "Right. Sorry," I said, smirking. "Still not ready?"

She laughed and swatted at me, but I rolled away and tumbled right out of the bed. We both had a good laugh at my expense, me from the floor and she from above, and it felt good.

Was I in my right mind? Was I crazy for getting involved with a woman who drove me to extremes?

Probably. But isn't life a bunch of foolhardy impulses? And I wasn't like those other fucking assholes who'd popped in and out of Bella's life. Truthfully, neither of us knew if a relationship was in the cards for us, but I was willing to try.

"You know, it would be so much easier if we just ignored this and decided to keep things the way they were," Bella said, interrupting my internal monologue. Before I could provide a rebuttal, however, she added, "But what would be the fun in that?"

Okay, I know you're all banging your heads against the wall right now. Nope – no nookie. But cut these two (and me) a break! We dealt with some heavy stuff in this chapter, and the last. I swear to you all that when it finally happens, you will ALL be rewarded for your perseverance!