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"I'm gonna show Bella around a bit."
"Have fun, kids. And Edward, congratulations on the design. Can't wait to see this one hit the floor."
"She's nice," Bella whispers as we head to the stairs.
I chuckle.
"Where are you taking me?"
I pull open the heavy door at ground level. The familiar cacophony of buzzing saws and boisterous camaraderie greets us. "Workshop."
Carefully skirting the perimeter with an extra wide margin, I find Emmett at the edge of the floor giving instructions to one of his men. He looks over, huge grin spreading beneath his safety goggles.
-o-
Flipping the goggles into his hair, Emmett approaches, tugging off his right glove and extending a beefy hand to Bella.
"Hey, I'm Emmett. You have to be Bella."
Impressive, suave, not embarrassing—
"The girl who brought an untimely end to the Pisa."
Fuck my life.
"The guy who gooped my Edward's sex hair."
And again.
It strikes me suddenly that these two haven't nearly exhausted the arsenal of humiliations at their respective disposals. Standing idly by is not going to prevent such mortifying topics as jean shopping or hair modeling from being trotted out right here on the workshop floor.
-o-
"Well, we're in the middle of the grand tour, so we'll leave you to get back to it, Em."
"Sure," he smiles agreeably. "Just take it easy, you two. You know we're very proud of our safety record down here." Emmett waves a hand toward the digital display showing '354 accident-free days…and counting'.
I roll my eyes and slip my arm behind Bella, who takes his teasing good-naturedly. "Very nice to meet you, little brother."
"Likewise, hot hairdresser."
Back in the quiet of the stairwell, Bella puts two and two together. "Wait, he's married to Rosalie?"
"Go figure," I chuckle.
A/N: Okay, E's been officially embarrassed by everyone now! XXX ~BOH