A/N: Let's keep on dancing, shall we?

Chapter 8

At 8:30 that night, I was putting the final touches to my make up. I was dressed in a red, tight little dress that Alice and Rosalie had gotten me on my eighteenth's birthday. It still fit me perfectly, though my parents would have said that it was at least 5 sizes too small.

I put down the eyeliner and scrutinized myself in the mirror. Damn, I looked good tonight. My hair was working with me for once, hanging down my back in loose, soft curls. I'd used a little more make up than usual, framing my eyes with a thick stroke of black eyeliner. Before I left the bathroom, I gave myself a little wink in the mirror.

Yes, I do those kinds of things. So sue me.

We were going to a bar instead of a club for once. I figured I needed to be able to talk to the men, and not just have them grinding up against me, if I were to find a fitting contestant. Emmett had a friend who owned a bar called Nerimon, and he had invited us to come there and get free drinks the entire night. I wasn't the kind of girl to say no to one free drink, let alone to as many as I could throw back for a night.

Rosalie and Emmett picked me up a couple of minutes later, and I couldn't help but to smile when I saw the two of them together. Rose usually didn't fall for a guy this quick, but I could easily tell that Emmett had gotten under her skin in just under a day. What can I tell you, the guy is smooth. Or maybe Rosalie was just getting soft, I'd have to talk to her about that later.

When I got down to the car, Emmett stepped out to open the door for me. I knew he was just doing it to impress Rosalie, but it was kind of cute.

Emmett's eyes widened when he saw me, "Good God, Bella. What the hell are you wearing? Or scratch that, what the hell are you not wearing?"

I laughed, "Just a little something."

"Little being the keyword."

I wiggled my ass a little as I passed him, and he groaned, "Damn, I'm gonna have to beat the guys off you tonight, I just know it."

"Hey! There will be no beating my admirers. I need them for my project."

"You are one sick motherfucker, Bells. But I guess that's why I love you." Emmett chuckled, opening the door for me to climb in.

"Oh, blimey, you're making me blush, good sir." I said in a poor impression of a British accent, sliding into the car. Rose turned around in her seat to give me a kiss on the cheek.

"Hi honey, you look amazing." she gushed, "Emmett just took me to this great restaurant down town, they had the best sushi I've ever eaten!"

I rolled my eyes, "Darn it, girl. You're already so whipped."

Just as she was about to object, Emmett got into the car, smiling hugely at us both. "How lucky am I, being out with the two hottest girls in town?"

Rose and I shared a look, and then I shook my head. "You're one lucky son of a bitch, Emmett. And you'll be even luckier if you get us to the bar some time soon, so I can start getting Rosalie drunk for you."

"Okay by me!" Rose sang. Emmett laughed appreciatively and started the car, heading towards the bar.

We got there about 15 minutes later, and Emmett went to find his friend while Rose and I grabbed a booth in the centre of the place. I'd already gotten one phone number from a guy when I'd gotten out of the car, but his hair was kind of weird and he didn't wear socks in his shoes, so I had thrown the note he had given me into a trashcan the first chance I got.

What? I was picky, and the guy I choose would have to compete against Edward in hotness, so there was no being nice tonight.

"Let's get cracking, then." Rose smiled, looking around at the people surrounding us. We had a good view from where we sat, and I could spot a few guys who at least looked good at a distance. I'd have to get a closer look at them later.

Emmett joined us then, he had three glasses of beer with him, which he handed to us before taking his seat.

"Okay, Bells. How do you wanna do this? Actively search, or let them come to you?" Rosalie asked me, wiggling her eyebrows. We'd done this little game quite a few times before, when one of us, or all of us, hadn't gotten laid in a while and needed something stat.

"We should do the hundred to start with, just as a warm up and see what we have to work with." I suggested. Emmett looked confused, so I guessed he hadn't heard of it. "It's a game, we sit here and then we decide how many out of a hundred guys that we would sleep with."

"Oh, like in Sex and the city?" Emmett asked, beaming.

"Way too freaky that you actually know what I'm talking about." I said, shaking my head.

"What can I say, a man can learn a lot from that show."

"I bet you can…" I tried not to laugh, but when Rose started I kind of couldn't hold it in. Emmett looked a little embarrassed, which only made the situation more fun.

"Okay, okay, let's do this." Rose took a sip of her beer to sober up. Or sober down, depending on which way you chose to look at it. "What about him?"

I looked to my right and saw who she meant. He was a tall, blonde haired man with a tad too much muscles for my taste. I wasn't really in to bodybuilders; I preferred lean, toned muscles.

"Uh huh, too Arnold."

"I see what you mean." she nodded, continuing her search.

"Wait, you girls don't like muscles?" Emmett looked surprised, and also a bit disappointed. I patted his shoulder, giving him an encouraging smile.

"Of course we do, but when they start looking like Mr. Bodybuilder 2010, it's kind of a turn off. You're safe though, don't worry."

"I'm not sure if that was meant as a compliment, but I'm gonna interpret it as one."

I'd forgotten how fun it was to tease Emmett, I really hoped he would come here more often and the way he was looking at Rose had me pretty certain that he would.

Taking another sip of my beer, I put my focus back into the game.

A dark haired man in a black suit with a little too much facial hair walked by, eyeing both me and Rose with interest.

"No." I said, scribbling down a no on the paper.

"Yes" Rose said at the same time, earning a glare from Emmett and a raised eyebrow from me.

"What?" she held her hands up, "I like a man with a little scruff. It tickles nicely."

I rolled my eyes, and then caught sight of man number 3.

Tanned skin, blue eyes, strong jaw line and well groomed hair. It would have worked if it hadn't been for his hobo outfit. Don't get me wrong, I like it when men dress casually, but this was just too much. His clothes looked kind of dirty, and that was not okay in my book.

"No." Rose and I said at the same time, putting down another mark under the "No" column.

Long, lean, great clothes, clear skin and nice smile walked by, and I would have put him in the "Yes" column if it hadn't been for the fact that he was sipping on an appletini and had manicured nails.

"Gay." we echoed again, making a mark. Emmett seemed to be confused, he reached up to look at the guy who was now standing by the bar, chatting with another man who was wearing skin tight jeans and a pink scarf.

"Damn, you girls are good." he laughed, gulping down the rest of his beer.

"What can I say, we've been around for a while. You pick up on the signs pretty fast if you know what to look for." Rosalie explained.

"Yeah, but we're nothing compared to Alice. She can just take one look at a guy from behind and know if he's straight or not. Her gaydar if off the hook." I was really impressed with Alice's ability, it had come in handy at many occasions.

The search went on, and in 25 minutes I had 46 'No' and ½ 'Yes' on my list. The half yes was because of a guy who had great hair that kind of reminded me of Edwards. I hadn't revealed that little detail to the others…

"32 'Yes' and 12 'No'." Rose declared, and then frowned when she saw my list. "Hey, you're making me look like I'm easy. What's up with the lack of yes over there? What about that guy with the leather jacket? He was totally your type."

I shook my head, "Too short."

"Short? Bella, he was at least one head taller than you. What do you want, a basket ball player? 'Cause then I think we're in the wrong place, we should hit that sports bar down the street instead." she went on, appearing dead set on finding me a man.

Have I mentioned how much I love Rose? She's so committed; she'd make a perfect girlfriend for me if I was into that.

"Here is fine, I just want a guy who's a bit taller."

Emmett let out a low whistle. "Wow, you're not picky at all. It's a mystery to me why you're still single when you're so open minded and shit."

I smacked his arm, a bit harder then necessary. "Hey, I'm not picky. He was too short, and I didn't like his… socks. Okay? Can we move on?"

I heard Rosalie sigh while Emmett grumbled about socks, but didn't pay them any attention. A 'Hell Yes' had just walked in to the bar, and was coming towards our table.

Bingo!

"Handsome, broad shoulders and wearing a designer suite coming up." I said in a low voice, smiling at Rose. She was a pro, so she didn't turn around to look like other girls might have. Instead she winked and started up a conversation with Emmett so that I was free to talk to the guy.

We made eye contact, and I gave him a smile that meant he could come over. The guy looked better and better the closer he got, and I drew in a sigh of relief. Finally a winner!

I brushed a stray hair from my face, and leaned my chin in my hand so that I could look up at him from under my lashes. I'd found that guys really liked that move, and for this man I was willing to go all out.

He stopped right by our table, and gave me a sexy smile.

Everything would have been perfect if he hadn't opened his mouth.

"Hey, gorgeous. I was just wondering if it hurt?"

"If what hurt?" I asked, sitting up straight.

He wiggled his eyebrows in a very un-sexy manner, "Well, when you fell down from heaven."

Rosalie practically spat her drink out over the entire table. Emmett quickly patted her back to help her from choking on her beer, though he couldn't help but to laugh the entire time.

Yeah, even Emmett recognized cheesy when it delivered a line like that in front of his face.

I looked at the guy, he seemed slightly taken aback by Rosalie's behavior, but still hopeful. I thought it best to put him out of his misery.

"You know what, pretty boy? Hearing that line hurt, or rather, it made me kind of nauseous." I gestured with my thumb towards the bar. "You can leave now, and take my advice. Never, ever say that stuff to a woman again, okay?"

He mumbled something I didn't catch and then took off, his face more red than my dress.

"Harsh, Bells." Emmett commented, though he looked impressed.

"Uh huh, not when it comes to sleazy pickup lines like that one. I believe in a firm hand when it comes to that kind of shit."

Rose agreed with a nod, "She's right. I would never have gone for that shit, no matter how hot the guy was."

"You thought he was hot?" Emmett's face was priceless. I rather hoped that Rose would take it easy on the guy. He was clearly in over his head.

She shrugged, "Sure. I guess he makes number 33."

I snickered as she scribbled down on the paper. Emmett had better step up his game if he wanted her, she was a mean single girl and she wouldn't change her ways until a guy actually put his feelings out there and asked to be exclusive.

Perhaps I should give Emmett a hint about that.

Then again, maybe not. That guy could figure it out.

"Bella, what about that guy by the bar? To the very right? He's been checking you out for a while now, I think you should go for it. He's at least a few inches taller than Edward."

I stared at her in panic. Fuck no, she did not just say that. What was she, a freaking mind reader?

Rosalie snickered while Emmett was jumping up and down, chanting "what? what? what?" and looking from me to Rose with a excited gleam in his wide eyes.

"Dear God, kill me now…" I mumbled.

"Oh, lighten up Bella. I know you too well to fall for this crap. You could simply have brought a picture of him and asked people to call if they knew someone who looked like him." she said, and Emmett seemed to get the picture now. "Or" she continued, "you could have just gone straight to the point and called Edward to ask if he wanted to fuck."

"You are so far off." I tried in vain, hoping to salvage some of my dignity.

"Honey, sometimes I think I know you better than you know yourself. You're not gonna find what you're looking for in this bar."

I stood up, narrowing my eyes at her. "Yes, I am. In fact, I see what I'm looking for right now, so if you'll excuse me."

Grabbing my bag from the table, I headed off to the bar where a good looking man was standing with a drink in his hand. It was one thing knowing what my deal was, but it was a wholly other thing to have it pointed out by someone else.

This guy I had been checking out actually made it onto my 'Yes' list. I just hoped he would stay there after I had the chance to talk to him.

Please don't be a sleaze ball, please don't be a sleaze ball…

"So." I said as I paused right beside him, smiling invitingly. "What's a girl gotta do to get a drink around here?"

The man beamed, and I think I could actually see all his teeth. Creepy.

"Howdy there, little Missis. What's a pretty gal like yourself drinking on this fine evening?"

Oh god…

I cleared my throat, laughing apologetically. "Erm, I just remembered I'm in AA. Sorry."

Turning around, I saw Rosalie and Emmett watching me. Damn, I couldn't give up yet. What about that guy Rose had seen? I made my way through the crowded bar, heading for the other side.

There he was! I checked him out from a distance, he looked a bit young but I noticed with relief that he was wearing clean clothes, had no appletini in his hand and didn't look like he was from Texas. At least he didn't have cowboy boots, but I'd just learned that not all men from Texas had.

One would think that they could at least were a sign around their necks to give a girl some warning.

"Hi." I smiled when I reached him, overdoing it a bit by winking at him. Hell, I was on a mission and the clock was ticking.

The man eyed me appreciatively, "Hi there." he said, and I exhaled in relief. No weird accent, and he hadn't tried for a tasteless fucking pickup line yet. "I'm Gordon."

I took his outstretched hand, "Bella." I used my most pleasant voice, laying it on thick for this one. "How about you buy me a drink, and we can get to know each other?"

To my surprise, Gordon blushed much the same way that the sleaze ball had done. He scratched his neck and laughed a little, looking nervous.

"I'm kind of not old enough to drink."

Ah, hell no!

I turned on my heel without another word, heading back to the table. Without sitting down, I motioned for them that we should go and then walked towards the exit.

"Giving up?" Emmett asked as he and Rose joined me outside.

"Yes." I stated, "I need to get out of here before I end up on a farm in Texas or in jail as a child molester. Don't ask." I added, just as Emmett was about to open his mouth. "I just want to go home and sulk."

"That's highly uncharacteristic of you, Bells. But whatever you need, we're here." I gave Rose a weak smile as Emmett unlocked the car, and then got in the back seat.

If it was the last thing I'd ever do, I would get back at Edward for this. It was all his fault that I couldn't find a man. Getting back at him would make me feel better, I reasoned.

But I couldn't shake that little voice in the back of my head that kept saying that getting on my back for Edward would be more profitable.

Screw this, I thought. I have a date with my tequila bottle and Mr. Rabbit tonight.

oOoOoOo

Sunday morning. An empty bottle of cheap tequila on the table, a half eaten package of Oreo's on the floor and a broken Rabbit in the trashcan.

Oh, and a wet and sore Bella in the bathtub, experiencing a mix of head ache and stomach ache that was anything but pleasant. And also, add a bad case of carpel tunnel to the mix. Splendid.

I had passed out in the bathtub around 5 in the morning, after getting the idea in my head that I couldn't sleep in my bed because it still smelled like Edward.

The bathtub didn't smell. Or, well, it kind of smelled of tequila, but I was fine with that. Tequila was my friend. Tequila made shit better, but I was fucking disappointed that tequila hadn't been able to fix my broken hooha. Apparently, she would still only listen to the call of Edward's fun stick.

As I began to wake up, I heard a knock on my door.

"Go away…" I mumbled as I tried to pull myself up by using the shower curtain. I half fell out of the tub, and rubbed my eyes for a minute. Damn, it was way too much light in here. I should put them out and go back to sleep. That was a good idea.

Just as I was about to flip the light switch and crawl back into my resting place, figuring I could use the now broken shower curtain as a blanket, I heard the knock again.

"Fucking pricks, fucking waking me up and fucking with me. Fuck…" I kept grumbling as I stumbled towards the door, scratching my forehead. I used the walls to keep my balance since my floor had decided to be really freaking wobbly this morning, and stopped by the hallway mirror to glance at myself before I opened the door.

Oh, crap. I had make up under my eyes, a red mark on my cheek from sleeping on the shampoo bottle all night, and my hair was full of cookie crumbles. I was quite the sight, if I might say so myself.

The person behind the door knocked again.

"Alright, alright, I'm fucking coming." I half yelled, trying to pick some of the crumbles from my hair. Since I didn't want to toss them on the floor, I put them in my mouth instead.

What? I was still drunk, I was allowed to do that shit.

I was just reaching for the door when it struck me. Was I wearing clothes?

Looking down, I saw that I was indeed dressed in the same outfit as last night, only now, I had the red dress on backwards. How the hell did that happen?

I quickly grabbed my blue picnic blanket from the shelf, and draped it around me.

Just as I pressed the handle down, there was another knock.

I flung the door open, "What?" I spat, and then froze on the spot.

Fuck no, fuck no, no, no.

"Good morning, sunshine. You're looking… tasty. Is that Oreos in your hair?"

"Edward." I grumbled, cursing myself for not getting one of those holes in the door that smart people had. "What the hell are you doing here this early?"

He laughed, and I mentally picked up my baseball bat and beat down the fucking butterflies that were doing their happy dance in my stomach.

"First of all, it's 2:30 in the afternoon, so I would hardly say 'early'."

"Yeah? Well, I guess that depends on when you went to bed." I interrupted, pulling the blanket closer around me. "Get to the point, I have a date with my shower."

"Good to know." he smiled and nodded, making those butterflies do the samba. I picked up my mental gun this time and shot the motherfuckers.

"Any way," he continued, leaning to the side to glance into my apartment. "I hope I'm not interrupting something. I just wanted to come by and leave the blueprints for my place, Emmett mentioned that you had requested them."

My eyebrows hit the roof, "Emmett said that?"

That nosy, backstabbing, piece of-

"So what did you do last night? Party for one?" Edward asked, changing the subject. I groaned internally.

"I went to a bar, and then I went home and got drunk on tequila, ate cookies and killed a rabbit." I figured honesty was the best way to go. "Are we done?" I added, crossing my arms over my chest.

Edward held out a paper bag with several rolls sticking out. I reached for it, careful not to touch him. I was like a fucking drug addict, give me one little dose and I'll be all over that shit. Better to be careful.

"I guess so, if you don't want me to come in for coffee or tequila?" he still held on to the bag, and I tried to tug on it to make him let go.

"Sorry, no can do. The tequila is gone and the coffee machine and I are at war."

"Really? Do you want me to try and negotiate a truce?" he winked suggestively, and I almost gave in before I remembered everything that had happened. Hell to the no, he was not setting foot inside my door.

Client, yes. Friend, no.

"You know what, I'm kind of busy." I kept tugging on the bag, getting more and more annoyed by the second. "If you would just let go of the bag, I could get to work on these."

Edward laughed and ran the hand that wasn't holding on to my bag through his bronze hair. I shifted my stance, preparing to fight him off if he tried to sneak past me.

"You know what, I'd prefer if you didn't work on my apartment plans while you're hung over." he gave me a blinding smile, but didn't let go. "Who knows, you'd probably put the shower in the living room or something, and I'm not really into that new age, artsy kind of shit."

"Watch it, or I'll put the toilet in your kitchen." I snapped, and tried to jerk the bag from his hands. Damn, he was strong, I couldn't snatch it.

It didn't help my resistance that he kept looking at me with those hypnotising eyes, and that I could smell his intoxicating scent in the air. Wonder what type of shampoo he used…

"I could live with that." he snickered, and then his hand touched mine, probably deliberately. His finger reached out to stroke the back of my hand, and that was it. The end of my resistance.

I let go of the bag at the same time that he did and threw my arms around his neck as his hands snaked around my waist and held me against his chest. We tumbled backwards until his back was against the opposite wall of the hallway, and our mouths locked in a frenzy of eager tongues and hungry lips. I tugged on his hair to bring him closer to my face so that I could deepen the kiss even further, and he complied. Truth is he didn't have a choice. I was practically pulling his hair out by the time.

Our fevered kissing continued, and for once he seemed to be happy being the one pushed up against the wall. At least he didn't try to change position, which worked perfect for me. The blanket fell off my shoulders, and I should probably have thought something about the fact that I was standing in the middle of the hallway with my dress on backwards and my tongue down a man's throat in the middle of the day.

But I didn't. I was too busy kissing Edward Cullen and feeling every part of my body come to life. And I do mean, every part. Hooha was back in the game.

His hands roamed my back, and his kisses became even more urgent as I pressed my hips to his, noticing with pleasure what my presence did to him.

A loud gasp suddenly broke through the bubble we were in. I snapped my head to the side and saw that my neighbour, old Mrs. Dermot, was standing outside her door, her hand over her heart and a shocked expression on her wrinkled face.

That little interruption was all it took for me to get my head straight and realize what the fuck it was that I was doing. I took a step back, bent down and picked up the bag from the floor. Edward's eyes followed me, and I could see that he was still breathing heavily, his mouth slightly open. He was so fucking gorgeous, it wasn't even funny. With his freaking sex hair, the buttons of his dark green shirt half way undone and that crooked, panty dropping smile on his lips, he looked better than any man should be allowed to look. It wasn't good for my sanity.

"Bella, what…" he began, but I kept stepping back until I was inside my apartment again.

"I-forgot-to-feed-my-cat-sorry-have-to-go" I rambled, then turned and slammed the door shut.

Leaning against the door, I pounded my fists on my head over and over. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…" I chanted, pissed off at myself.

Yeah, way to get back at him Bella. He looked really crushed.

Sighing, I pushed off the door and wobbled to my bathroom. Great, so now I wasn't just hung over, I was high on Edward Cullen too.

Peachy.

I peeled my dress off and tossed it on the bathroom floor, and then gathered the broken shower curtain in my arms and threw it to the side. Emmett could fix that later, he fucking owed me after this.

When I had gotten into the tub, I turned the hot water on and just lay there until it was filled all the way up. Then I took a deep breath and sank down so that my head was under the water and stayed there.

Until about 7 seconds later when I ran out of air.

When the water was getting cold and I was starting to look as wrinkled as Mrs. Dermot, I dragged my ass out of the tub and started searching for a towel. When I pulled the huge blue towel around me, I remembered that I had left the blanket out in the hallway.

Grumbling to myself, I tiptoed over to the front door, leaving a trail of water drops behind me. I opened the door slowly and glanced around, half expecting Edward to jump out at any minute.

He didn't though, and when I looked down I saw that the blanket lay folded right next to my door, a folded note on top.

I picked the blanket and the note up and closed the door, then threw the blanket onto the shelf and unfolded the paper with wet fingers.

Always a pleasure meeting you, Miss Swan. See you tomorrow.

Edward.

"Tomorrow…" mumbling to myself, I picked up my phone and pressed speed dial. It took a minute before he answered.

"What up, girl?" Emmett chirped, and I hated that he sounded sober. Emmett was never sober when I was hung over, there must be some weird glitch in the universe right now.

"You, fucktard, are coming over here in 15 minutes to fix my shower curtain. And bring bagels." I hung up the phone and walked to my bedroom, then fell onto the bed and began cursing men, tequila, Texas, blueprints and shower curtains.

God, I hated Sundays.

Especially since they were followed by Mondays…