Chapter 7
With a Herculean effort, Edward pulled his lips away from Bella's and feathered kisses across her closed eyes. Desire was pulsing through his veins, creating an ache that he knew would not go away anytime soon. He closed his eyes and shuddered as Bella ran her hands up his back as she tried to pull him even closer.
"Houston," she whispered, "we have a problem."
"And what's what?" he whispered against her ear, nipping it lightly and smiling at the shiver that ran through her.
"I don't live alone."
"Mmm-hmm." He nuzzled his face into her hair and inhaled her scent.
"And you don't live alone."
That stopped him.
"You're right. That is a problem." He pulled back slightly and cupped her face, running his thumbs lightly across her cheeks. Her face was flushed, he could feel the heat from her face with his hands, and her lips were pink and swollen. She gazed at him, her eyes heavy lidded with desire, and with a groan he gave into temptation.
Beneath them on the stage, the band played on. Jacob was still singing, practically snarling the lyrics as he watched the entwined couple in the shadows upstairs. He knew he had no claim on her. No claim at all, but she had helped him find a memory that had been all but forgotten. He wanted to see her again.
Bella gasped as Edward's hands roamed over her hips, and cupped her rear to pull him against her. She involuntarily swivelled her hips against his aching groin, making them both groan again at the delicious friction.
This time they both broke apart, standing mere inches apart as they struggled to get their breath.
"Jesus, Bella I …" Edward swallowed thickly. He felt like an out of control teenager. The air between them hummed with arousal as they stared wide-eyed at each other. "What the hell do we do now?"
Bella laughed at that, and ran her hands through her hair, pushing it away from her face.
"I'm not sure, but going our separate ways tonight is going to be quite the challenge."
"You said it." Edward sighed. And to think he'd been so pleased to have his family staying with him for a while.
Bella gave him a crooked smile. "Well I guess this is going to really give me great incentive to find my own place."
Her comment had the effect of distracting him from watching the way her hair moved across her shoulders as she spoke. His eyes shot to hers, smiling as her words sank in.
"You're going to be staying?"
"Yup." She stepped closer to him again, sliding her hands around his hips and into the back pockets of his jeans. She squeezed his ass, making him yelp in pretend surprise. "Think you can handle that Cullen?"
"Well, it'll be difficult."
"Oh really?" she pouted, and he couldn't resist dipping his head to taste her lips again.
"Yeah." He rubbed his nose against hers.
"Difficult huh? Is like that another word for hard?" she squeezed her hands again for emphasis, surprising a breathless laugh out of him.
"Woman, you're making things very hard for me at the moment."
"Hmm, can't have that. May I should stop tormenting you for a while and we can enjoy the rest of the set."
Edward took a deep breath, which turned out to be a mistake. He inhaled a lungful of Bella's scent, which seemed to be hardwired to his groin. God! He hadn't been like this with a woman since … well … ever, really.
Bella released him with a grin and turned back to lean on the balcony railing again.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to focus on the band below. Her heart was racing, and she struggled to calm her breathing. She could feel Edward's body close to hers, and it was all she could do not to turn and wrap herself around him again. What the hell was she doing? Her brazen behaviour earlier was completely out of character.
You've just been kissing Edward Cullen.
Mr Edward 'Sexiest Man Alive' Cullen. This sort of thing did not happen to women like her. Perhaps that was it. The whole situation felt totally surreal. Any minute now she expected to have a director step forward and say 'Okay great, that's looking good. The lighting is all set. Now if we could get the female stand-in to step aside we'll get the real candidate to come in'. She would look over, and some Hollywood beauty would weave into Edward's arms.
She sighed.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Edward wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to his side as he brushed a kiss against her temple.
"Well, I was wondering now much longer I'll be asleep. This has got to be a dream." She couldn't help herself. She tilted her head to the side so that he could drop soft kisses along her neck.
"You always include loud rock bands in your dreams?"
"Um, I guess not."
"Hmmmm." He kissed her ear, chuckling as she shivered. "And do you shiver like that in your dreams."
"Oh god." Her eyes fluttered closed as she lost herself to the sensation. "Wait, what was the question?"
Edward laughed and hugged her briefly, before relaxing against the railing. He kept an arm around her waist, occasionally rubbing his thumb in slow circles against her shirt. The slow caress spiralled through her abdomen and drilled deeper.
They stayed there together for another hour, finishing their wine and applauding loudly at the end of each song – Bella more enthusiastically than Edward. At the end of the set, Jacob pointed up at the balcony with a big smile as Bella hollered along with the rest of the audience. The band made their way off-stage and the resident DJ promptly started up some more music. The dance floor stayed full as the capacity crowd began to dance the rest of the night away.
Bella struggled to hide a yawn as she glanced at her watch. It was nearly midnight, and her article was due in the following afternoon.
"Are you getting tired?" Edward wrapped both arms around her, rocking them both slightly as he nuzzled the side of her neck. He seemed to like doing that, Bella noted, and she certainly liked being on the receiving end.
"Mm-hmm."
"What a pity."
"I said I was tired, not dead from the neck down!" Bella replied, making Edward laugh in response. She could feel the rumble of his laugh vibrate through her. Delicious.
"Well, I guess we should probably go." This was admitted by a very reluctant Edward.
Bella collected her things, and they made their way downstairs.
"How did you go?" Mike greeted them as they appeared behind the bar. "Everything okay up there?"
"Definitely," replied Bella with a grin. "Thanks for giving us a bit of space up there Mike, it was really appreciated."
"Anytime, just make sure you keep coming back, okay?"
Mike's smile was friendly as he said this, but his expression conveyed more than just a hint of interest. Edward gave him a brief smile, and draped his arm around Bella's shoulders as they turned to leave.
"Where are you parked?" Edward asked once they were out on the sidewalk.
"Actually I was a bit cheeky." Bella answered. "I got Angela and Ben to drop me off because they were going past. I figured that I'd be catching up with you, and I didn't know what we were going to be doing … "
Her voice trailed off. Edward had reached out and was running his fingers through her hair. He looked up, and smiled when he saw the half-dazed look on her face.
"You were saying?" he prompted.
"Mm? Oh yeah. Right." She took a moment to collect herself, and then continued in a rush. "So I didn't know what we'd be doing and I thought it would be silly to catch up with two cars, and uh, maybe you could give me a lift home?"
Edward moved his hands through her hair to caress the nape of her neck.
"I'd be happy to." He leaned closer. "But are you really ready to call it a night just yet?"
Bella looked at his eyes, and said the first thing that came to mind.
"Oh hell no!"
Edward threw his head back and laughed.
o * o * o * o
They had instinctively avoided the usual LA hotspots, and had managed to find themselves in a 24 hour diner. There were hardly any customers, and so they sat in a booth, absently holding hands as they spoke.
"So what got you interested in writing?" asked Edward.
"What a question, that's like asking how long a piece of string is," Bella teased before considering her answer. "I guess … well I don't know really. I've always been surrounded by books, so a passion for language and storytelling has been a theme throughout my whole life."
She had been staring at Edward's hand holding hers as she spoke, and now took one of his hands in hers, gently running her index finger over the lines on his palm.
"Everyone has a story to tell," she continued. "Everyone has made a unique set of choices, and been in contact with different people. Countless decisions and encounters that all form the tapestry of their lives, and I think it's incredible to be able to get people to talk about that." She winked at him. "Some are just a bit more famous than others."
"That's a really interesting answer." Edward mused. Most of the journalists he'd met seemed to go about their job as if it were a clockwork process. They were always worrying about deadlines, trying to find the right sound bite. He'd never heard someone describe their job as a privilege before, and he would see by the thought that Bella had put into her answer that she genuinely meant it.
"How about you?" Bella was looking at him expectantly. "What got you started?"
Edward chuckled. "You mean you haven't read that before?"
She shrugged. "Oh sure, there are all sorts of interviews out there. You started doing a bit of teenage modelling and kind of fell into the industry, but what's your gut reason for sticking at it?"
"Not sure really, it seems like something that has just evolved. I guess it was a way for me to become invisible."
His words sank in and they both started laughing.
"Invisible, by becoming one of the hottest stars in Hollywood? Wow, I'd love to see what you would do if you really wanted to fly under the radar." Bella snuffled with laugher.
"Well, okay so maybe that came out wrong" Edward agreed. "But don't you have moments when you wish you were someone else?"
"I think everyone does." Bella commented.
"Well I guess acting produced an opportunity for me to do that all the time."
"True. And now you find yourself in the position where no-one knows the real you."
"Well, I wouldn't say no-one …" Edward ventured, as he lifted Bella's hand to his lips.
o * o * o * o
Edward parked his non-descript silver Volvo at the front of Angela's apartment building, and switched off the engine.
"So," he prompted.
"So," agreed Bella.
They glanced at each other. They were faintly illuminated by the streetlights that shone into the car, and seemed to move towards each other at the same moment.
Their lips met in the gentlest of kisses, before Edward drew back, cupping her face and gazing at her with eyes that seemed black and luminous. He leaned forward and used his tongue to lightly tease her mouth open, dipping inside to taste her.
Bella's head was swimming, while a small, rational part of her mind was telling that she wasn't drunk, and was most definitely not dreaming. Edward's mouth was making her crazy with desire, and she all but wept at the knowledge that for the foreseeable future they had no privacy to enjoy what was obviously developing between them.
Edward pulled her closer, stopping when a soft "ouch" from Bella halted progress.
"What is it, what's wrong?" he said breathlessly.
"Handbrake." They exchanged a look of mutual frustration and then laughed quietly.
"Dammit." Edward ran a slightly shaky hand through his hair. "The gods must hate us this evening."
"And how," agreed Bella. She was trying to straighten her shirt and get her breathing under control. "I haven't necked in a car since Senior Prom."
"Really?" Edward gave her a look. "And who was the lucky guy?"
Bella tried to look shocked. "You're seriously not implying that I'm the kind of girl that'd kiss and tell."
"Of course not."
"Well then." She reached out and ran a finger across his bottom lip, which he promptly nipped.
"I guess this is where we call it a night." Edward said, the reluctance all too evident in his voice.
"Yes. And I can't say that I'm happy about it."
"Neither am I." he confessed. "But I'm sure we'll work something out."
o * o * o * o
Angela was sprawled on the couch with a tub of ice-cream (since her Edward delivery she'd proclaimed she was addicted and forever loyal to cookie-dough commotion), a few trashy magazines and a movie on TV. She looked up when a somewhat dishevelled Bella let herself in.
"Hey" she said by way of greeting.
"Hey yourself."
Bella walked towards the couch and flopped down onto it with an air of dejection. Without saying a word, she reached over and grabbed the tub and spoon of Angela, and began eating.
"Ohhh, something's not right. Should I get the whiskey?"
"It might be an idea," mumbled Bella, her mouth full.
"Crapski. What happened?" Angela sat up and gave Bella her full attention, pushing the magazines off her lap and sitting cross-legged on the couch.
"It's more like what didn't happen."
"Right. Clearly I have to get us something to drink, and then you're going to tell me absolutely everything"
So she did.
Half an hour later, Bella was on her way towards getting drunk, and Angela was right behind her.
"So you're telling me," Angela summarised, "that tonight you interviewed a hot and upcoming band in a club, then hooked up with the Sexiest Man Alive, took him upstairs to keep away from the rabid fake tit brigade, THEN you had a totally hot make-out session there AND in his car afterwards."
"Correct." Bella grimaced as she knocked back another Jaegermeister shot.
"And then you left. You actually, honest to god, physically, got OUT of the car and walked inside."
"Correct"
Angela paused and looked at her friend with an expression of heartfelt sympathy.
"Honey, if you're this miserable, then he must have the bluest balls on the planet."
"Woah." Emmett had been heading towards the kitchen when he saw Edward open the front door and come in. "What the hell happened to you?"
"Nothing." Edward threw his keys onto the kitchen bench and opened the fridge, helping himself to a beer. He tilted the bottle at Emmett. "You want?"
"Yeah, why not."
The two men opened their beers and swigged silently.
"So. Bella. What happened Bro?"
"Nothing happened." Edward took another swig and avoided his brother's gaze.
"Well something did or didn't happen. You look like shit."
"Look, we had a great night out and then … yeah well here I am."
"So … I take it you guys … " Emmett trailed off and raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah."
"But you didn't … " this time Emmett let his hands do the talking.
"No."
"Jesus, why not? She didn't want?"
Edward ran an exasperated hand through his hair. "Oh she wanted."
"But you didn't want?" Emmett was getting confused.
"More than I've ever wanted anything."
"So why the no … " Emmett let his hands do the talking again.
"In a word .. houseguests."
"Oh." Emmett had the grace to look guilty and crestfallen.
Edward sighed.
"It's not your fault man. She's staying at a friend's place, so we had nowhere to go."
Emmett thought for a moment, and then his face brightened. "What about a hotel?"
Edward shot him a dry look. "Too seedy. Bella's not the kind of woman you haul off to a hotel for the night. Give me credit for having a bit more class than that."
"Right. Sorry."
They chugged their beers again, and stood in the kitchen lost in thought.
"So," said Emmett after a pause. "No action south of the border then."
"Nope."
"So … uh .. that's gotta leave you feeling pretty .. uh … "
"Yep."
"How the hell are you going to get through your next date with her, assuming there is a next one?"
"It's called," said Edward slowly through gritted teeth, "acting."