Rating: M
Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer of Twilight fame, owns it all, I don't,
I own 3 toothbrushes.
A/N…Special thanks go to T and A for being the best betas ever.
Apparently my Emmett story hit the queasy hard this past week. My apologies for those with sensitivities. For those of you that found the humor in it, I don't apologize and I'm glad you found the laughter in it. It was college!
Thanks to all of you that write reviews to my story. They mean an lot to me and to all FF authors, so please show your love to the authors that put their stories out there for your enjoyment.
CHAPTER 15
Bella
We are laughing so hard I am crying. I try to gracefully crawl out of the tub but fail miserably and keep slipping down the side, splashing water over the already slippery deck turning it into an ice rink. I turn to look at Rosie and see she is literally crying with laughter. Even Edward is laughing at my futile, yet comical, attempt to get out of the tub and Jasper and Alice are in hysterics as they hold onto each other for support so they won't slip off their seats in the hot tub. And then there's Emmett, watching all of us stoically.
I finally make it out of the tub safely and say through my tears, "I think I've had enough." And a new round of laughter breaks out.
I head inside to take a quick shower and then change into my jeans and an oversized sweater before going back downstairs.
"Anyone else need to take a shower, we have three of them?"
Everyone scatters wanting to wash off the hot tub water and soon we all meet back downstairs at the bar. I was sobering up a bit so I put on the kettle to make hot toddies. As I am doing that I look out the window and see big, huge snowflakes the size of silver dollars falling past the window.
"Anyone up for going outside to play?" I ask while putting on my Sorels.
"Hells yeah!" Emmett shouts out. The next thing I know we are all bundled up and having a huge snowball fight in the street.
I find my first target and throw a snowball directly at Jasper but he turns and looks directly at Alice thinking she's the culprit and runs after her.
"Jazz… Jazz… no, Jazz, it wasn't me. I swear." She screams as she runs away from him.
"Come here, Alice." He demands, smiling at her.
"Darn it Jasper I didn't do it." She repeats herself through her tinkling laughter but he isn't hearing it. He wants to play with her.
He finally catches her and grabs her by the waist, spinning her and dumps her into a snowbank and proceeds to thoroughly make out with her. I love seeing my sweet Alice so happy. I turn around and look for my next victim.
That's when I witness Emmett pummel my Edward with not-so-tiny snowballs. They are the size worthy of a snowman's head. That boy has some seriously huge hands. When I see Emmett throw those monstrosities at Edward, I feel the need to protect him and throw a few at Em myself and even get a good shot at Rosalie for good measure. She snaps her head around and sees me aiming my next shot and I have to dodge her onslaught.
We are making so much noise that the neighbors come out to see what the ruckus is and pretty soon all the kids on the street have joined the fight. At this point we are using anything we can find for cover. I look up at the night sky and all I see are snowballs flying through the air and in every direction, some even hitting each other and exploding mid-air.
I sling a shot at Edward, catching him right on the back of his head. He quickly snaps his head around to see who threw it so I pretend that it wasn't me but sneak a peek at him which gives me away. Yep, at that moment he knows it was me and starts marching toward me. I start walking backward and turn to run but he catches me, grabbing me by the waist and tumbles with me into the snow, making a quick snowball and holding it over me.
"Please don't rub snow in my face Mister. I have a boo boo right here and it will hurt." I say in a little girl voice and pointing at my injuries.
He kisses me and says, "I'll never hurt you little girl. I only want to make you feel good." That's when that sexy smile of his appears and I can't help but try my best to kiss it off his face. That is until someone brings out the sleds.
"WooHoo! Sleds." I yell and jump up to get a ride on one.
We spend the next hour with the neighborhood kids sledding down the street and with an endless supply of snow, the fun lasts forever. Everyone is having a blast but I am quickly running out of energy so I find Edward and tell him that I need to go in. After we get inside, we put the living room back together and I make a pot of coffee while Edward gets the fire going again. We curl in the corner of the couch and snuggle with each other staring into the hypnotic fire simply enjoying the silence. This is heaven to me; at Lake Tahoe with a handsome and sexy man, cuddling in front of a romantic fire. This is perfection on many levels.
"Hey Bella, instead of us coming over here for dinner tomorrow, why don't you come to my place and let me cook for you?" Edward says, gently running his hand up and down my shoulder.
"What about the others?" I ask, leaning my head back so I can see him.
"I'm pretty sure they want to do their own thing as well." He says adjusting me so that I can see him better. "You all can drive to the condo and they can go out from there. I think I heard Em say he wanted to take Rose out and Jasper had something he wanted to do with Alice. You can meet up with your friends afterward so you won't be alone overnight. How does that sound?"
"Sounds perfect." I say, lying back against his chest, feeling completely protected as he wraps his arm around me.
Emmett, being the bull that he is, comes barreling through the door with Rosie in tow followed by Jasper and Alice, who are already holding hands. I smile at them, loving that Alice has found someone as wonderful as she is.
We all sit around the fire with mugs of coffee and hot chocolate when Jasper says, "Bella, would you mind terribly if Alice and I cancel on you for dinner tomorrow? I would like to take her to the top of the mountain for dinner and spend some time alone with her." He was talking to me but looking adoringly into Alice's eyes.
"Yeah, me too Bella. I want to take my girl to Incline for dinner." He says, rubbing his hand along Rosie's thigh.
"Absolutely you guys. Just please drive safely, okay? You will have my precious cargo with you" I say, smiling at them all.
We all fell into comfortable silence when I look at Jasper.
"Hey Jazz, what exactly do you do at the winery anyway?" I ask him.
"Well, a lot of things really. I am technically the CFO and am responsible for the accounting, finance, forecasting, strategic planning, job costing, legal, property management, deal analysis and negotiations, investor relationships and partnership compliance and private and institutional financing of the wineries and subsequent business investments." He says with a smile, taking a deep breath.
"Wow, that's quite a mouthful" I said with a smile. "And lots of responsibility on your plate. Do you happen to need a personal organizer to put your life and home in order? I happen to know someone." I say smiling at Alice.
"Oh, Jasper I bet you do need help don't you? I do everything from your boxes to boxers." She says scooting close to the edge of her seat.
"No wait, you still live with your parents don't you? I guess you won't need my help after all." She says remembering he doesn't have a house.
"I'm sure your mother takes excellent care of her home and keeps it very organized." She says.
Jasper leans forward to whisper in her ear, "Alice, I will start building my home tomorrow if means you will be near me everyday." Everyone in room can see her blush at his whispers and she glows when she looks in his eyes.
"I can help you with that too." She says, giggling.
I jump when Edward's phone rings and after he looks to see who it is, he answers, "Cullen. Thanks." And it was over just like that. That was the shortest phone call I have ever heard.
He looks to Emmett and Jasper and nods his head just once and they do the same in return.
"What's going on?" I ask Edward and then look at Emmett and Jasper.
"Nothing." He replies, cinching his hold around my waist.
Then Rosie steps in. "What the fuck is going on Emmett? I want to know."
"Edward, you better tell her before she breaks off our engagement." He says, smiling down at her and she smacks his arm laughing at him.
Edward loosens his hold, and kisses my temple. "I had Jacob checked out to make sure he had returned home and that was my contact saying he's at his house in San Francisco. I want to watch him while you are here so you don't have to worry and feel you have to constantly look over your shoulder." He tells me.
"Or so you wouldn't worry." Alice speaks up, smiling at Edward.
"So we all wouldn't worry." Edward says, returning her smile.
"Okay guys, let's let these ladies get their beauty sleep shall we?" Edward jumps up and takes me by the hand and leads me upstairs to my bedroom. He then shuts the door and lays me across my bed, lying down next to me. He just holds me, nothing more.
"I had fun tonight, Bella." He says, tucking his face into my neck.
"Me too. I don't want you to go." I say, holding him tighter to me.
We lay there on our sides and look at each other and then he lifts his head to kiss me goodbye. I lace my hands through his hair and pull him in for a deeper kiss and when he moans I feel the butterflies in my stomach. I throw my leg high over his and he grabs hold of my thigh pulling it up higher on his hip and presses himself into me. He takes his nose and gives me an Eskimo kiss before standing to leave. I have to giggle at him though because he has to adjust himself. He opens the doors leading outside and steps out to cool off. His brothers would probably never let him hear the end of it if he walks down those stairs with noticible wood in his pants.
He takes hold of my hand and then opens the bedroom door, yelling loudly, "Okay brothers, let's go." And with that we go downstairs to join everyone else.
After thirty minutes has passed, I finally ask, "Where are Alice and Jasper?"
Rose nods her head in the direction of Alice's bedroom and at that precise moment they come out all flushed. They look down at us from the top of the stairs as we watch them do the walk of shame. Based on the mumbling I hear from Edward and Emmett, Jasper will never hear the end of it.
Rose, Alice and I say our goodbyes and decide to clean up the mess tomorrow. We pour ourselves some coffee and sit side-by-side on the couch in front of the fire. What a night!
"So…" I say, wondering who will start first.
The next thing I know the three of us are acting like high-schoolers talking at the same time and talking over each other about how excited we are that we have found three of the most wonderful men in the world and how lucky we are. Then it gets quiet.
"Alice, did you fuck Jasper?" Rosie asks, never afraid to get to the heart of things.
"No! Maybe. No. Ok, yes." She says covering her face with her hands and we all start giggling like little girls.
My cell phone starts to vibrate in my pocket.
E: oh, Bella. I am falling for you bad.
B: i will be right here waiting for you.
E: dream about me.
B: for the rest of my life.
E: goodnight.
B: goodnight, Edward.
I clutch my cell to my chest and sigh. When I open my eyes, I see my two best friends in the all the world doing the exact same thing. We giggle and run upstairs to bed.
~BD~
I wake up after 9:00 in the morning, a rarity but something that was well needed and I can't help but chuckle at the thought that I finally slept in on my vacation. I get up, shower and go downstairs to tackle the mess from last night. But just as Edward had done, so did Alice. So instead of a mess I was greeted with a fresh pot of coffee and a cheesy omelet.
"You are the best ever Alice. Thanks so much for doing all this. You should have waited though, I would have helped you. But you do have a little bit more energy than the rest of us, huh?" I kiss her cheek and wiggle my eyebrows, teasing her about her quickie with Jasper.
"Oh Bella, I can't thank you enough for introducing us. I have never met anyone like him. He's good and kind and gentle and smart and fucking fantastic in bed." She says, blushing.
"I'm really happy for you Alice." I say sincerely, hugging her.
"So what's on the agenda for today? What time are you having dinner tonight?" I ask.
"Jasper said 7." She tells me.
"Ok. Well, why don't we all drive to the condo together around 6? Sound like a plan?"
She agrees and calls Jasper to share the information. I sit at the breakfast bar and dig into my omelet when Rose comes downstairs. "Breakfast is over here, courtesy of Alice."
After I stuff myself, I go to start a fire and notice that someone has brought in a large supply of firewood for us.
"Alice did you bring in this firewood?" I ask her.
"No. Jasper, did you bring in the firewood last night?" She asks him over the phone.
"No, he said Edward did." She says, smiling at the kindness.
I sit there smiling into the flames and I look over at Rosie. She just grins at me and nods her head. I take a deep breath, thanking God for the day that black SUV pulled up beside me.
We decide to just hang out and read, listen to music, talk and decide what we want to wear tonight.
Rosalie's cell phone buzzes and she reads, writes and smiles and then writes some more, giggling. I'm so happy for her.
My cell phone vibrates.
E: hello beautiful. did you sleep in?
B: hello to you handsome. I did. until 9. you?
E: i couldn't sleep for thinking of you.
B: i'm blushing.
E: i know. what time are you coming tonight?
B: what time do you want me?
E: last sunday.
I had to smile at that.
B: i'm bringing the girls with me, so about 6:00?
E: sounds great. we will have cocktails with everyone before they leave. see you then.
B: can't wait.
We decide to indulge ourselves with a spa day so Alice gets on the internet and finds a day spa. She makes reservations for all of us to get manicures, pedicures, massages, and bikini waxes. I really wanted a facial but decide on a body scrub and a Brazilian instead.
"I get only Brazilians, you will love it." Rosalie says.
"I wonder if Jazz would like it. Maybe I should get one too. I think I will." Alice says excitedly.
"Honey, all men like their pussy bare" Rose says.
By the time we get home, feeling smooth as a baby's butt, we have time to take a short nap. So I set my alarm for 4:00 and fall into a restful sleep. The alarm comes all too soon and I stretch long and hard and notice my body feels a lot better than it did this morning. That massage really helped. I bounce downstairs to get a glass of Edward's wine and find Alice and Rose already having a glass.
"Hey guys. This is good wine isn't it? It's Edward's private reserve." I say, swirling my wine around in the glass.
"I can't believe the three of us are actually having dinner with the owners of Volturi Wineries. And one of us has already scored a peek at the goods." Rosalie smiles over the rim of her glass at Alice. "Give us the details, Alice, so Bella and I will know what to expect." She says and we all three start giggling.
"That's right bitches. You slackers won't get anywhere wishing. I went in for the kill. And let me put it this way, he is fucking huge! It took him five tries to work it's way inside, but once he did, Holy Mother of God, you guys." She starts laughing at us, blushing. Every once in a while our mild-mannered Alice lets us know what's going on.
"Edward won't make love to me until my injuries heals but if you guys stay away long enough, I might be able to talk him into it tonight. So this house is available to you if you need it." God we sound like a bunch of slutty college sorority sisters.
"So, what are you and Edward going to do when we get back home? Are you going to continue to see him? We live about an hour away so it's not like you, well we, can just drive over and have a cup of coffee, ya know?" Rosalie says.
"I know, because even though it's only an hour, in real time that can mean anywhere to an hour and a half to a two hour drive. It'll take some effort for sure, but he said we would figure it out next week." I say, looking down. "I'm going to go get ready. Meet you right here at 5:30 okay?"
I take a long hot bath and relax, thinking about him and what the possibilities are. Is it possible that I could be falling in love with him so soon? The practical side of me is saying it's too soon. The logical side is saying it could happen. The woman side of me is saying fuck yeah, but my gut is warring with all of them. My gut is what usually wins in the end. It wants me to be happy but it's also saying back off of this. But for right now, I am on vacation so I am going to have some fun. I'll deal with the consequences later.
I meet the girls downstairs as planned and Rosalie, as usual, is stunning in a multi-colored bandage V neck mini dress with black stilettos accenting her endless legs. Emmett is about four inches taller than her so she can enjoy wearing her heels without towering over him.
Alice is wearing a dove gray banded dress with a lace overlay and matching heels. "Alice you look beautiful. I've always loved that dress on you. I can see why Jasper is so smitten with you already." She giggles and gives me a hug.
"Edward is going to fall in love with you for sure when he sees you, Bella, if he hasn't already. That dress fits you like a second skin and you look beautiful in it. I remember the day I picked that dress out for you, I thought it would take me forever to get you to wear it." She says, and I hear her tinkling laughter.
Alice brought me a black spandex mini dress with long sleeves and a scooped neck along with my black Jimmy Choo peep toe heels. I have my hair up in a messy twist so Edward can have easy access to my neck which he loves to kiss.
"Are we ready? I told Edward we would be there at 6:00." We get our wraps and bags and walk out the door and that's when we notice that someone has shoveled the walkway for us. I must tell Mrs. Cullen that she did a wonderful job at raising these men.
We are greeted by three of the most handsome men I have ever seen. Emmett answers the door and immediately grabs Rosalie and starts chewing on her neck.
"Fuck Rosie, did you want to go to dinner or go back to your place all night because you look fucking sexy as hell in that dress." She wraps her arms around his expansive chest and sinks her tongue in his mouth. He dips her again.
Jasper grabs hold of Alice and eye fucks her for what seems like an eternity before he can speak a coherent thought. He then gives her one of the sweetest kisses but yet it spoke of his pure lust for her.
I glance around the room and find Edward standing at the window that overlooks the mountain, with one hand in his pocket and a Chivas in the other.
Now that's a man right there.
He is wearing black slacks, a dark charcoal button down and a black blazer, with his sex hair waiting for me to run my hands through it. The look on his face sets me on fire as he slowly looks at me from the top of my head to the tips of my peep toes. He puts his drink down on the table and walks across the room toward me. He then reaches his hands to my face, cupping my cheeks before giving me one of the most sensual kisses I have ever had.
"Bella, Bella, Bella. What am I to do with you?" He says quietly, just for me to hear as he leaves a trail of kisses down my neck.
"Mmm, baby you smell good." He begins kissing my ear, which just so happens to be my weak spot.
"Edward, you need to stop that. That's my weakness right there." I then bury my face in his neck, taking a deep breath. "Mmm, I love that." I say as I breathe him in. I love the way he smells.
"I would know your scent anywhere now." I say into his neck.
He smiles and leaves me in a heated mess and goes to the bar to make our cocktails.
"What a beautiful view you have of the mountain at night." I say looking out the window.
He brings me a dirty martini and stands next to me as I watch the skiers coming down the hill. "You should see the view from my bed." He whispers in my ear. He has a look of want and desire on his face as he stares directly into my eyes. Holy hell this man is sexy.
"I can't wait." I say, feeling the quickening of my heartbeat.
Rosalie, being her fabulous self says, "Okay, which one of you is going to get lucky tonight by being the one that shoveled the sidewalk today?"
"Me" They all said in unison, raising their hands.
We all start laughing, and as it turns out it was Emmett. Rosalie had told him we were all going to be taking a nap and then bitched about how deep the snow was in the driveway. Emmett decided drive over and shovel it for her. He was rewarded with a long and loving kiss from Rosalie.
"Thank you, Emmett." Alice and I say simultaneously.
"I love this music you have playing, Edward." I say, turning to him.
"That's Edward playing." Jasper says which earns him a glare from Edward. I take Edward's hand and stroke his long fingers, thinking that they made this beautiful music.
"It's really lovely, Edward." I kiss his palm, placing it on my cheek, putting my hand on top of his.
"Okay, we have to go. You all have a good evening." Emmett says, pulling Rosalie up with him. Jasper and Alice get up to leave as well, we say our goodbyes and Edward shuts and locks the door.
"I thought they would never leave." He says, pulling me up by my hand.
He walks me to the window that overlooks the mountain and asks me to dance. It is one of the most romantic moments of my life. We dance and he holds me so close to him, laying his cheek against the top of my head. He feels so good and I feel so safe and as much as I try to fight it, I feel loved.
Edward lowers his brow to mine and says quietly, "Bella, if I don't stop right now we won't make it to dinner." His lips barely touch my skin before he continues, "When I make love to you, I want to take my sweet time without any outside interference and right now I can't guarantee that Emmett won't try to walk in on us and I simply can't have that."
"Edward…" Is all I can say through my shallow breaths.
He then takes the rest of my breath away by kissing me tenderly and sweetly. When he steps away and out of my arms, I try to pull him back.
"Edward, I can't wait any longer." I pull at him, almost begging him. "Every time you touch me, I need you." I am near tears for the want of him and he is denying me.
He takes the two steps to me and wraps his arms around me, squeezing me tight. "I promise you Bella, as soon as they leave there will be nothing to keep me from you." That thought alone causes me to shiver in his arms and I can feel him smile against me. He places a light kiss on my lips, "Let's have dinner, alright?"
He escorts me into the formal dining room where the table is already set and dinner is warm and ready for us. How did he do that?
"Is there someone else here with us, Edward?" I ask, looking around.
"Charlotte, my housekeeper, was here but she's left." He kisses the base of my neck as he pushes my chair in.
He pours chilled Pinot Gris into our wine glasses and toasts, "To Mondays." He says.
"Why Mondays?" I ask quizzically.
He leans across the corner of the table and places his hand on top of mine and says, "Because Monday is the day I met you and Monday is the day I will have you." I think God must have let one million butterflies loose in my stomach at that moment.
The wild mushroom ravioli with tarragon wine sauce was so fantastic. I could definitely get used to eating like this, and the wine he paired with it was perfect. Edward pleases my inner goddess by serving a decadent chocolate molten cake. It was so rich and gooey that we had to share, which made it very romantic, especially since he fed me. I loved the way he kept intentionally getting chocolate sauce on my lips so that he could lick it off, which, of course, lead to a sumptuous chocolate flavored kiss. My favorite kind.
After dinner, we took our coffee to the living room and sat in front of the fire. He surprises me when he says, "Tell me about Jacob."
"There's not much more to tell you that I haven't already said. I was deeply in love with him for three years and I thought we were happy. I walked in on him and Jessica having an animalistic moment if you will, and my life changed completely. I wasn't the same after that." I look down into my coffee and take a sip.
"Has he always been violent?" He asks.
"No. Never. Not once." I reply. "We rarely even fought to tell you the truth. That's why I thought we were happy. I was anyway. Apparently he wasn't."
"Bella, he will not lay another hand on you." I can see the promise and determination in his eyes. "If I have my say in the matter, no one other than myself, will ever touch you again."
We stare at each other as I realize what he has just said and he bends down to kiss me, solidifying his statement.
"Have you ever been in love?" I ask him.
"Yes." He says sadly. I knew with that one word it was a difficult subject for him. I wasn't sure he was going to share it with me but he starts talking, "Leah. I loved her and we were to be married. But like you and Jacob, I wasn't enough for her and she found someone else to please her."
"I can't imagine you never being enough for anyone." I say, looking down at my lap.
I listen to the heartbreaking story of his life with Leah and how it unfolded and how it ultimately ended. As he is talking it suddenly dawns on me how he walked in and found me on my knees in front of Jacob. It had to have affected him somehow, brought him back to that time when he walked in on Leah. Tears begin to fall from my eyes and he grabs hold of me, confused by my reaction.
"How awful for you to find me like that." I say through my tears.
He holds me tighter and chuckles, "I will confess that it did cross my mind, but she wasn't at knifepoint either. I have never been as scared in my entire life as I was at that moment Bella." He reaches over me and pulls me onto his lap, rocking me and holding me tightly.
"How are we going to do this when we get home?" He finally asks, still holding on to me.
"I don't know. I don't know about your schedule but mine is awful. I rarely get home before 9:00, but that is mostly self-inflicted. I have no life. I schedule Rosalie and Alice in on the weekends and an occasional coffee before work, but I have no time for myself."
"The same with me. When it's crush time, I don't have much free time at all. Although being the boss, I can get away more easily than you. I have Emmett and Angie. They can help ease some of my workload, but Emmett won't appreciate that if he intends to marry Rose." We both chuckle at that. "I believe he is very serious about that by the way."
"I can see that Rose is very taken with him, but to be honest with you, Emmett isn't the first man to want to marry her. I can only venture to guess that you have a lot of women that want you for just your name and wealth. Rose suffers the same in that when they see the successful business she has, they want a piece of it. She's very aware of her surroundings." I tell him. I don't want Emmett to get too emotionally involved to only be let down in the end, crushing him.
"I don't want to get involved in their relationship and would rather they work it out themselves." I finally say. We both agree that we will not interfere with Jasper or Emmett's relationships with my friends.
"What about us? How will we do this? I would want to see you more than an occasional weekend." He says, rubbing the back of my hand with his.
"I honestly don't know Edward. I could drive to you when I can, I would gladly do that, but there would be no spontaneity to us at all."
"Well, I guess it's time I put that helicopter I bought to good use. Because I have several businesses in the city, I have a car there already. I rarely go there though because they practically run themselves, but now I have incentive to visit them more often. I have even thought of getting an apartment there, maybe now is a good time. Does that help a little bit?" I nod my head. I know I should be happy about this, but I have seen the stress this type of distance puts on a relationship before. "I will do whatever it takes Bella." He says to me, stroking my jaw.
"Me too. I will cut back on my hours. At least on the days you and I have plans. Or maybe I can work it out to take three-day weekends. If I have to, I'll quit in order to see you Edward." I say jokingly, smiling up at him. I want him to know how important he is to me.
"Okay, let's just start with that and if it gets to be difficult, we will do what we need to do to adjust things and make the necessary changes. Sound like a plan?"
I nod as he adds with a smirk "And of course there will be a lot of emailing and texting."
I smile, thinking how much I already love his texts. We then take a few moments to enter each other's information into our cell phones. Now we know everything we need to know about each other including both personal and work email addresses, birthdays, home and work addresses, land line phone numbers and direct work lines. We aren't going to leave anything out.
"You have a birthday coming up. Should we make advanced plans for you to come to my house for that weekend?" I smile at him excited at the thought of having a date with him, even though it is five months down the road.
"Absolutely. Let me put that in my calendar so I won't set appointments over it." We both enter the date into our phones.
"About Monday?" I begin, "What do you want to do? Rosalie and Alice are staying the night Sunday now because your brothers aren't leaving until Monday. I don't know what their plans are but we can make ours for Monday evening. I'm going to Reno late Monday morning to visit an old school friend and will be gone most of the day. Would you like to come to my place for dinner?" I ask him.
"That sounds good. I will miss you on Monday. Maybe I will hit the hill for half of the day while I am missing you." He says pouting. "We can go skiing on Tuesday?" He asks.
"Sounds perfect." I reply.
We sit in front of the fire, listen to music and get to know one another on a more personal level. We talk about our families, where we grew up, where we went to school and how I want to go back to law school. I have less than a year to go to get my degree and it would be silly of me not to finish. I have law in my blood and I love it. Corporate law is my niche. Edward is very encouraging when I tell him I want to pursue my education.
"What school did you attend?" He asks.
"Standford. I was going there when Jacob and I broke up. I just couldn't do it. My focus was destroyed. I was devastated, Edward, and I couldn't go back. I just haven't forced myself to take the initiative to return. I wound up pouring all my energy into my job and it became comfortable I guess.
I could have been an attorney by now. A damned good one too. I'm good at it, especially contracts and negotiations."
"I will support you in anything you decide to do Bella." Edward says, breaking the silence.
"If I quit my job and went to school full time I could graduate, take the bar and be done within a year; two max." I think out loud. "It's definitely something to think about."
And with that, Jasper and Alice walk through the door and my private time with Edward is over. They get a cup of coffee and join us in front of the fire.
"How was dinner?" I ask Alice.
"It was fantastic, but the company was better." She says lovingly to Jasper. He smiles at her as he rubs her arm. "We had the Chateaubriand and dessert and dancing. It was wonderful." She says, bouncing on the edge of her seat. She grabs Jasper's hands and pulls him into her arms and they start swaying to the music playing. When my cell phone rings it startles us all.
"Hey, Rose."
"Em and I are at your place so don't wait for me, but give me about another 30 minutes, okay?" She says, laughing at Emmett in the background.
"Are you alright?" I ask.
Alice comes running over to sit next to me.
"Yes, we didn't go to dinner. I took Emmett up on his offer and come here instead." I could hear Emmett trying to kiss her so she couldn't talk.
"Okay. Alice is here now, so we will see you in a bit. Thanks for calling Rose." I hang up and see that everyone is looking at me in anticipation.
"They didn't go to dinner. They went to the house instead." Everyone starts laughing and Alice jumps up to continue her dance with Jasper.
"I can't believe my brothers have had their women already." Edward says to me.
"Monday." Edward whispers in my ear.
"Monday." I say, smiling at him. "I can't wait."
"I think you should go before it gets too late and I will see you for lunch tomorrow. We will be over at 1:00, alright?" He says holding my face in his hands.
"All right, Edward. Where are we going?" I ask.
"Sunnyside." He replies.
"Oh, good. I love it there." I say, clapping my hands together.
"Let's go best friend. Edward thinks I need some beauty sleep. I can't see why with this shiner I have." I say to Alice.
Alice walks up to me, "Bella, you are one of the most beautiful women I know. There is nothing that can take that away from you." Tears well in my eyes and I hug her tight.
Edward walks up and gives her a hug, "Well said, Alice." He says as he kisses her forehead.
We say our good nights and by time we get home, Emmett is already gone and Rosalie's light is off so Alice and I say goodnight and go to bed as well.
As I get into bed, my phone vibrates.
E: you looked very beautiful tonight. it was difficult for me to turn you away, i need you to know that.
B: it was difficult to be turned away. i have never wanted you as badly as i did tonight. don't ever do that again.
E: i won't. i promise.
B: monday. 6:00. sharp. don't be late.
E: never. xox
B: I wish those were real.
E. they are. goodnight.
B: night.
~BD~
Sunday morning we wake up and head to the coffee shop that Edward introduced me to the other day to have coffee and a muffin. It's nice to just hang out with Rose and Alice.
"That is one fucking man." Rosalie starts. "He's smart, he's kind, he's a gentleman and he may come off as a goofball, but when it's just him and I, he is all man and he makes me feel like I am all woman. And can that boy fuck. I didn't have to do a damn thing. It was all about me and I have never had that before." She reminisces. "However, he did say that the next time he wanted a little bit more interaction on my part but for last night, he wanted to make it about me." Rosalie has a glow about her, but then again, she was just thoroughly fucked the night before.
"What about you Bella? Did he come through for you?" I blush and for the first time, I don't want to share the secrets between Edward and I with them, but I know there is no getting around it.
"No. Not yet." I say blushing.
"Why not?" Alice asks sympathetically.
I am crumbling my muffin into little pieces as fine as sand before saying bashfully, "He wants to wait. He wants to wait until he can have me alone. So we have a date on Monday night for dinner."
"Well, if he's anything like Jasper and Emmett you have a real treat ahead of you." Alice says, grinning at me.
I don't want to talk about it anymore so I change the subject, "The guys are picking us up at 1:00 for lunch. Let's go take a walk and check out some of the shops, shall we?" Alice claps her hands together and jumps up skipping to the door.
Rosalie links her arm in mine and kisses the top of my head, "He really is falling for you. Emmett told me last night." I smile at that and she tugs on my arm as we walk onto the sidewalk for some shopping time.
We find some fantastic clothing stores and have fun picking out jeans, sweaters, hats and I find a couple of summer dresses. I also buy a cashmere sweater that I want to wear on my lunch date and a new pair of skinny jeans to go with it. I then buy a short black leather jacket that shows off my "fine ass" for his visual enjoyment. I will make him regret turning me down last night. After spending way too much cash, we walk back to the truck and head for home to get beautiful for our boys.
They arrive right on time, as usual. I wasn't quite ready when they get here so I hurry and put the finishing touches on my hair and zip up my black leather knee high boots and run down the stairs and watch Edward as he watches me.
He has that look in his eye again.
Uh oh.
A/N… Remember to hit that review button down there and tell me what you think. Oh, be prepared for some citrus next chapter. Edward's POV he is very, very good to Bella. Finally.