Chapter 10

Here Comes The Regret

Bella

My eyes are instantly assaulted by the blaring sun as I crack one lid open and try unsuccessfully to shield the glare behind my fingers. Sunlight and a bad ass hangover never go well together. I've got to be dreaming, or maybe not. I could be dead. It's not an unlikely scenario. I squeeze my eyes shut as the pounding in my head intensifies, and I try to remember what the hell had happened last night. I give up trying to remember and slowly move under the cover of warm, soft, plush blankets until my feet hit something solid.

"Holy shit!" I yelp, trying to adjust my eyes and focus on the solid figure nestling against me and failing miserably.

Sitting Indian style at the foot of the bed, with his chin cradled in the palms of his hands, is a small boy not more than five years old.

"Ooh, you said a bad, bad word," the child tsks, shaking his head back and forth.

I quickly pull the blanket up to my chin, mentally chastising myself for cursing in front of a small child.

"Where am I?" I squeak, my eyes bouncing around the room.

"At home," the little boy replies.

"Um, who's home?"

"My home. Duh!" The little boy responds with a dramatic eye roll as if it's the most obvious answer ever.

"And, who are you?"

"I'm Tyler. And whoooo are yoooou?" the child asks, still holding his chin in his palms.

"I'm Bella. I think. Shit," I reply, not quite sure what the hell's going on.

Without a moment's thought, I swing my legs over the side of the bed. At my attempt to break myself from the confines of the blanket, my leg gets caught in the sheet which sends me on a short trip onto the floor.

"Ahh!" My scream comes out more like an impaled hyena as I hit the floor with a hard thud. "Son of a…"

"You okay, lady?" Tyler asks, climbing off the side of the bed. "You want some pupps? Pupps are soooo good! Pupps will make you feel better. Stay there. I'll go get you some pupps."

"Look, if you could just tell me where I am, that would be super. Ahh, damn it!"

"You say a lot of bad words, lady. You need a time out," Tyler tsks again, bending down so only I can hear him. "My sissy says the bad word shet sometimes, but I don't tell on her. Nope. I won't say nothin' 'bout your bad words okay, lady?"

If I wasn't in such of a clusterfuck right now, I'd more than likely scoop the kid up, stick him in my pocket, and take him home with me. He's that damn adorable.

But first, I need to find out where home is.

Before I can respond to the young boy, the sound of heavy footsteps outside the bedroom door starts to freak me out, and as soon as it flings open, I feel all the air abandon my lungs at the sight in front of me.

It's Edward and he's standing in the doorway, wearing a pair of navy blue cotton sleep pants that sit low on his hips, accentuating the firm, tight muscles of his six-pack, and showcasing the delicious 'V' below his navel. My eyes linger a moment too long as my heart rate begins to speed up with my eyes glued to his mid-section.

All thoughts are quickly abandoned as Edward's deep, rugged voice penetrates my ears, and for once I'm glad to see him.

"Tyler, didn't I tell you to stay out of here?" Edward asks the little boy. "I told you that Bella needed to sleep, didn't I?"

Tyler drops his head, sticking his bottom lip out in a pout, looking like he's about to cry. Noticing the child's sadness, Edward makes his way over to Tyler's side and crouches down, letting his forearms rest on his knees, getting eye level with the boy.

"Look, buddy. There's no reason to get upset okay? It's just sometimes I really, really need you to listen to me, and this was one of those times. Okay?" Edward's full attention is on the small child as he waits for him to respond. "Do you understand?"

Tyler looks up at Edward and sniffles back a few unshed tears. "I'm sorry, Funcle Edwerd."

Edward's smile is blinding as he ruffles the boy's already messy hair. "It's okay, buddy. Why don't you go down stairs with your sister so I can talk to Bella. I'll be down to get you some breakfast in a minute."

As Tyler reaches the bedroom door, he turns and looks at me. "Do you want some pupps, lady?"

"I would love some pupps, Tyler."

"How 'bout you, Funcle Edwerd? Want some pupps?"

"Go ahead and see if we have any, buddy, okay?"

"Okay. Bye, lady."

As soon as Tyler closes the door behind him, I fight the urge to steal a glance at Edward who is still in a crouching position next to me. When I finally lose the fight, I slowly rake my eyes up his perfectly sculptured torso, letting my gaze drag over his well-defined pecks, and across his neck. When I finally make it to his face, it dawns on me that something is different about him. Something is seriously different about him.

"You shaved."

"I did."

"You're beard is gone."

"It is."

"Why?"

Pausing for a moment, he says, "It was time for a change."

Still a heaping pile of limbs on the floor, right where I landed not minutes earlier, I catch Edward's eyes roam over my body. I hadn't even taken the time to notice the fact that I'm only dressed in my white cotton panties and a black t-shirt with the words 'Rough Riders "We ride em' harder and longer"' on the front of it. I follow his line of sight as his gaze is now fixed in the direction of my legs. When my eyes snap down in the same direction, I notice my left leg is bare and uncovered all the way up to my pantie line, and the only thing keeping my mid-section unexposed is the bed sheet that's haphazardly strewn about.

It's been a while since a man has seen me in only a pair of underwear and I wonder for a brief second what Edward's thinking. Not wasting a minute, I grab the bed sheet and cover myself up.

"Nice underwear," Edward says, gracing me with one of his perfect, pantie-busting grins. "White's really not your color though. I think you're more of a cherry red kinda woman."

I chuckle uncomfortably and decide that now's a good time to bite the bullet.

"What happened last night?"

Until Next Time...

OzellaMarie