A/N: So the date is over, and we're back to reality (fanfiction reality, LOL).
Betad by the lovely Michelle Renker Rhodes
Most characters belong to S. Meyer
Chapter 20 - Mr. S and the Bid
EPOV
"Uncle Edward…"
Mel's voice sounded low and far away, small like a fairy in one of the twenty bedtime stories she'd had me read her in the past hour.
"Un-cle Ed-ward…" she sang.
"Mel, go to sleep," I muttered, eyes closed. My back ached from leaning up against her wooden headboard for the so long.
"I don't want to go to sleep yet, Uncle Ed. Can we watch TV again?"
I forced my eyes open and turned my neck sideways to look at my nine-year old niece – who should've been asleep over an hour ago.
I sighed. "You're a pain-in-the-ass, you know that?"
"Ooh, I'm going to tell Mom and Dad you called me that – unless…you let me watch TV with you for a little while longer!" she grinned impishly, bouncing on her bottom.
I stared at her. "Fine, come on. But as soon as we hear your parents rounding that hallway, you gotta jump back in bed or my ass is grass."
"Deal! You're so funny, Uncle Edward," she laughed.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm a riot."
OOOOOOOOOO
Forty-five minutes later, Mel was sitting on the floor with a half-gallon of ice-cream on her lap, watching one of her kid shows.
"Uncle Edward, who's older, you or Daddy?"
"Your father."
"And how about Aunt Rose?"
"She's the oldest, and make sure you tell her I said so."
"How come Grandma and Grandpa Cullen aren't around anymore?"
"You gotta ask your parents that, but basically it's because they're assholes."
"Oh. And how about Grandma and Grandpa Brandon? How come I've only met them once?"
"Again, ask your parents, but they're assholes too."
"Oh. So does everybody become an asshole when they get old?"
"Mel, don't say that word."
"But you just did. Uncle Edward, when are you getting married?"
"Never."
"Why? Because you don't want to become a grandparent and be an asshole?"
I sighed and looked down at my watch and then at her and the circle of chocolate ice-cream around her mouth.
"You're a pain-in-the-ass with the questions tonight, aren't you?" I reached out and ruffled her hair. She was beautiful and sweet despite the dirty mouth. And probably the only purely good thing in my life.
Mel shrugged, giggling and sticking another huge spoonful of ice-cream in her mouth.
"You have to answer them, or I'll tell Mom and Dad that you said pain-in-the-ass and asshole!"
"And I'll tell them that you repeated them," I counter threatened.
"But you'll get in trouble because you're supposed to be the adult," she smiled sweetly.
I stared at her and shook my head. "You're too smart for your own good, Kid."
Another giggle. "Now tell me why you're not getting married."
"Because females suck, except for you and your mom."
"Ooh, when you have a girlfriend and you're all in love with her and hugging and kissing her, I'm going to tell her you said that she sucks!"
"Go ahead," I smirked, "because that's never going to happen."
"Bet you it will."
"Bet you it won't."
"Bet you it will."
We heard voices streaming in from the hallway, and like a bullet, Mel ran off to her room.
Not that Jasper and Alice would've noticed anyway, not that night; all smiles from the second they walked in, eyes locked on one another with so much excitement radiating from them that it was hard to be around.
"She's been in bed for a couple of hours," I said, throwing on my jacket. "You guys had a good time?"
"We had a great time," Alice sang, sounding just like Mel.
I swallowed thickly and looked away from them. "Alright well, I'll let you two get on with the celebrating. Happy Anniversary and all that."
Alice blinked, skimming her eyes away from Jasper, and it was like she'd just realized there was someone else in the room besides them.
"Edward, do you want to stay over tonight? Neither Jasper nor I have to work tomorrow, and we can all hang out together and play Xbox. Come on! It'll be like when we were kids!"
"Or," Jasper said, "Ed can play Xbox while you and I play other games." He danced her in a circle around the middle of the room, whistling some crappy tune and making Alice giggle.
"No, thanks," I snorted. "I've got better things to do than listen to you both and your anniversary bumping and grinding going on all night."
"Come on! We'll keep it all on the dl," Al offered, resting her head on Jasper's chest and giving me the same impish grin her daughter had given me earlier.
"I'm not making any promises about that," Jasper chuckled, and shaking my head, I walked to the door.
Jasper and his happy whistling joined me in the hallway. "So did she behave?"
"Like an angel." I didn't mention the fact that their nine-year old seemed to have some serious blackmailing tendencies.
"Good, good. Thanks again. Ed," Jasper raked a hand through his hair, "you know I was just kidding. Stay with us. We'll break out the Mortal Kombat and-"
"I'm good," I smirked. "I've got plans tonight anyway."
"Yeah? What are you doing tonight?"
"Just hanging out with the guys."
He held my gaze. "You're not drinking, right Edward? We talked about-"
"Jasper, I haven't had a drink in a couple of weeks."
"That's great, Ed!" he smiled all proudly, gripping my shoulder. "See? You don't need that shit. In a couple of weeks, it'll all be out of your system. Hey, maybe I can speak to Em, see if he can hook you up with something, and you can finally quit that job at the bar."
"Yeah, we'll see. Look, I gotta go."
And then Alice appeared at the door, holding out a familiar bowl full of brown and white melted shit.
"Uhm, Edward." She lifted a brow. "Did you have fun eating your ice-cream with pink sprinkles in front of the TV while watching Wizards of Waverly Place?"
"I had a ball. You're raising a blackmailer; that's all I'm saying," I snorted, walking off. "Good night, Guys."
"Good night," they chuckled.
When I reached the end of the hall, Alice caught up to me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders, holding the ice-cream bowl out so as not to get it on me.
"She loves you so much, Edward. Thanks for spending time with her."
I swallowed thickly and nodded before pulling away.
The image of their dance around the living room stayed with me all the way down the stairs, out into the street, where I drew in a deep, hollow breath and closed my eyes against the weight of guilt before pulling out my phone.
"Yeah, Sam, it's me."
"Edward, bud, we've been waiting for you. Where you been?"
"I got held up, but I'm on my way. Which bar?"
"The one on Court and Adams. Hurry it up, Man; you gotta catch up now. And there are a couple 'a girls here who look just about ready to have some real fun."
I licked my lips, mouth watering, already tasting the smooth burn down my throat.
"I'll be there as soon as I can. Have a couple of shots ready for me."
OOOOOOOOOO
"What the hell is with the whistling?"
I ease my finger off the drill's trigger and crane my neck around to look at Emmett, lifting my goggles.
"What?"
"You're fucking whistling!"
"What?"
"Edward," Em snorts, "you've been whistling for the past hour. While you fucked around with the drywall, you whistled; while you sawed, you whistled. And now, you're whistling again! What's going on?"
"Hm," I snort, "Just some…tune I heard this weekend, I guess." And with a shrug, I replace the goggles and turn back to my drill.
OOOOOOOOOO
Later on, we're sitting over a couple of overturned crates having a smoke break. It's only my second smoke of the day. Maybe I'll text Bella later and-
"Alright, what the fuck is going on?"
I blink and look up at Em.
"What?"
"Dude, you've been staring down at the fucking mud and smiling for the past five minutes while that cigarette in your hand burns down to the stub. Now tell me what the fuck is going on!" he chuckles.
I look at him and snort and then take the last, long drag from my smoke before it does burn down to a stub.
"Mel's dance teacher…" I stare down at the ground and yeah, I guess I do smile.
"Yeah…" Emmett prompts. The curiosity in his fucking voice makes me look up and laugh at him.
"Man, you're like one of those nosey, fucking old ladies, who hang out at the corner all day looking for gossip."
"Just tell me what happened with Mel's dance teacher." He waves his hand to speed me up.
"We got together," I shrug.
"No shit!" He claps me on the back.
"Yeah. I took your advice and told her everything, and…she's okay with it."
"Get the…" he stares at me. "Shit. Look at that," he murmurs, voice full of awe. "Just goes to show you that there must still be some good women out there. I sure as hell ain't finding them, but hell, at least you did!"
"Yeah, I did," I agree. "I really did. She's…" I draw in a deep breath and stare off. So much shit going on in front of me – but I just see her. "She's just about as close to perfect as you can get."
I feel Emmett's gaze on me. "Oh fuck," he chuckles heartily.
"What?" I look at him.
"Oh fuck," he repeats with a grin, standing up and heading back to work, laughing all the way.
"What?" I ask, following him.
"I'm not saying it," he snickers.
"Saying what?"
"You know what, Man," he crows. Then he puts his ear protectors over his ears, flips up his goggles and points his drill my way. "But I ain't saying it."
He turns around and starts drilling, leaving me without an answer.
"Asshole."
He just keeps right on laughing and drilling.
With a smirk, I turn around.
And almost bump right into Mr. S.
I back up, and he looks at me, and I look at him, and he nods in greeting, and I nod at him.
He jerks his chin towards Emmett. "Your guy there got a minute?"
I turn around and tap Em on the shoulder to get his attention.
"Ed, now don't over think it, I'm just saying you use words like perfect to describe a female, and I start thinking you are in some deep fucking lo- Oh, hey, Mr. S, what's going on?" Emmett turns around and turns off the drill.
"Not much, Emmett. Going to be hanging around the site for the next few days, helping out some and making sure everything's good. Wanted to see how things were going for you and your guys."
This is the first time I've been this up close to Mr. S. His trailer is situated at the other end of the work site, and he doesn't usually stray too far from there. Looks about mid-forties or so, which means he's been doing this for a while for him to have the clout he's got. He's got dark hair and dark eyes, and as I look at him, I find myself thinking of Bella, of her dark hair and eyes…
And Emmett's saying something.
"…since you had a talk with him. Long as we're all following the same plans, we're all good," Emmett grins.
"Yeah, well," Mr. S smirks, "I know that Eleazar can be…very demanding, but it's our job to make sure we get the job done to the owners' specifications."
"And we will," Emmett assures him. He jerks his chin in my direction. "This here's my man, Edward Cullen. I mentioned him to you a couple of weeks back. He's my right-hand man on this job, and he'll be my right-hand man on any future jobs for which McCarthy construction bids."
Mr. S moves in, and we shake hands, dirty hands, but we're both doing the same shit, so it doesn't matter.
"Emmett says you do good work."
"Thanks."
He stares at me, then takes a look at the work behind us before moving his eyes back to me and then to Emmett.
"Alright, well, I'll let you get back to it." And he walks away.
OOOOOOOOOO
That evening at the meeting while Bree Tanner talks about the years of promiscuity that resulted from her addiction, I wonder about everything that Bella and I spoke about this weekend and once again marvel at how understanding she is, how accepting of me, and I'm…floored. I drop my head and steeple my hands over my knees, closing my eyes in thanks, lost in thought.
"Everything okay, Edward?" Carlisle murmurs.
"Yeah," I respond a bit shakily, head still down. "Yeah, everything is just fine."
When the meeting is finally over, I'm sure Carlisle notices how anxious I am to get going, but he doesn't question it. I'll tell him about Bella and me soon enough, but it's not a conversation I want to get into tonight. With Carlisle, every conversation has some deep, sometimes long-winded meaning, and I'm ready to get going.
Besides, tonight I'm still riding a high from this weekend. My heart pounds harder the closer I get to Bella's place. By the time she opens the door, it's ready to beat right out of my chest, and God, she's a sight for sore eyes - literally. In her yoga pants and off the shoulder shirt, she relaxes every single one of my aching muscles – well, almost every one.
Bella doesn't open the door all the way. Instead, she leans against it, furtively sneaking a peak behind her before giving me that grin, the one that I know for sure now she reserves only for me.
My grin. My dancer.
"We need a little privacy," Bella giggle-whispers. When I give her a quizzical frown, she gets on the tips of her toes and puts her mouth on mine, soft, sweet and warm.
"Mm." She closes her eyes slowly, as if savoring. "I missed you today."
"So did I," I admit. "What's with the-"
"You'll see," she smirks, and then opens the door all the way to let me in.
As soon as I walk in, Mel lets out a yelp that scares the ever living shit out of me.
"What the hell?" I jerk back. "You okay?" I ask.
She's standing up on the second level, holding on to the railing and smirking.
"I saw that!"
"You saw what?" I sneer.
"You know what," she says, crossing her arms. "Ugh, am I going to have to witness hours and hours of kissing and groping and crap now?"
"Mel," both Bella and I reproach in unison.
She rolls her eyes, but there's this…beaming smile on her face, all wide and bright as she turns and walks back into the room.
Bella chuckles. "She's been teasing me all afternoon."
I slide my hands around her waist and pull her in closer, sighing in god damn relief at the feel of her finally in my arms again, at her sweet scent and honey-smooth skin.
"Teasing you how?" I ask, kissing her bare shoulder.
"Teasing me by being…twelve, almost thirteen." Bella smiles while I cup her cheek and taste her lips again. "What did you and my uncle do this weekend? Are you and my uncle in love? Do you think he's cute? Do you think he's cuter than Adam Levine?"
I chuckle against her mouth. "Sounds like it was some kind of inquisition up in here tonight."
"You have no idea. You mean you didn't get the third degree last night?"
"Oh, she tried," I snort. "But I don't play those games. Look, I'll talk to her if she's making you uncomfortable."
She rests her forehead on my chest, kissing my heart before looking up with an impish grin. "Thanks, but I can handle Mel too. Besides, she's a smart kid. She knows just how far she can push without going too far."
"Yeah, she's always been too smart for her own good. So…you've got a thing for Adam Levine? That singing guy?" I raise a brow.
"Mhm," she grins in amusement. "He's a cutie."
"A cutie?" I smirk.
"Yeah. But I've decided that you, Mr. Cullen, are a definite hottie."
"So you've decided that, huh?"
"Yeah," she tilts her head up and moves in closer…
"Ugh! There you go again; more kissing!"
Bella and I pull away and look up at Mel, who shakes her head and walks off again.
But I can hear her quiet giggles as she struts away.
OOOOOOOOO
Bella's got food waiting for me again.
I've gotta take this girl out to a real dinner sometime soon. Not that her meals aren't friggin delicious as hell, but I don't want her thinking she's got to cook for me all the time. She deserves a nice dinner.
She deserves a few nice dinners. She deserves so much more than that, but I can't afford to take her to a few nice dinners right now, much less more.
So while she sits next to me in the kitchen and offers me her food and her smiles and we talk, my mind wanders to Mr. S, and I silently hope that the bid Emmett has planned for us on that office building job pans out so that one day soon, I can give Bella and Mel everything that they deserve.
OOOOOOOOOO
Mel's watching TV in the living room, and I've got one eye on her while I've got Bella pressed against the pantry door. If Mel turns around, she won't be able to see Bella from here, and I'll be able to pull away quickly, but fuck this is different from what we had this weekend.
My mouth moves hungrily with hers while her hands slide under my shirt and her palms are so fucking hot they're burning against my skin. I hiss into her mouth when her hands skim just over the hem of my boxers. I take her leg and hitch it over my thigh and now I'm pressed up right there, and she whimpers into my mouth when I grind into her.
"Take a look," she reminds me. So I check again, and Mel's still watching TV, so we continue. I circle my hips over hers, and she moans.
"You move those hips so well," she grins lustily.
"Yeah? I think I might need some more lessons," I say, pushing into her.
"Oh," she fists the hair on either side of my head, arching her back. "I'll give you all the lessons you want. Take a look again," she instructs me once more.
Ten seconds later she tells me to check again. And then again ten seconds after that.
After about the sixth request, I pull away, shaking my head because my head and cock are both confused and frustrated.
"I guess we should go home. It's getting late anyway, and Mel needs to get ready for school tomorrow."
Bella gives me a faint smile. "Yeah, you're right."
We stare at each other.
"This is going to be interesting to navigate," I smirk.
"It is," she chuckles.
I have no idea how the hell Jasper and Alice managed this with Mel around twenty-four seven. Not that I'm begrudging the kid, but I'm starting to see that this is going to take some…creativity.
OOOOOOOOOO
And the next few days are interesting to navigate. Mel doesn't go to dance on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but now that Bella and I are together and pretty close to each other during the day, it's hard not to think about her during work, to want to see her. We text back and forth a few times. I know she's busy with the studio as well as practicing for an audition she's got coming up next weekend, and I've got Mel, work and the meetings.
And now Mr. S has officially put out the Request for Proposals. Emmett and I have spent a couple of evenings taking a look at it and discussing some rough plans. Proposals have to be in by the end of the year for a job slated to start in early March, which means that we have a bit over two months to get our shit together and everything in place to submit a strong bid. I'm getting pretty psyched. Winning that job would mean bigger and better things for Mel and me…and more I can offer Bella besides sweet words that really get you nowhere.
So between work and Mel and plans for the RFP and Bella's busy days and audition practice, our long weekend becomes almost surreal now, a memory to hold on to, hard to believe we were actually able to spend so much time together without all the responsibilities and distractions of every day.
OOOOOOOOO
By Friday, I'm ready to spend some time chillin' with Bella regardless of twelve-almost-thirteen year-olds hanging around wide-eyed and nosy, and thoughts of bids and auditions and shit.
Plans for tonight? I text.
With you and Mel, unless you guys have something else planned.
Just checking. What are we doing?
Will I always be making the plans?
I thought chicks liked doing that stuff.
I'll let you get away with that answer – this time.
Good enough. So what's the plan?
Rent a couple of movies? I'll let Mel pick.
Good idea. Keep her busy, and then I can keep you busy.
My thoughts EXACTLY.
Smart woman.
LOL.
She's perfect, I swear. And though I know I'm going to see her in a few hours, I've got a sudden urge for her.
What are you doing during your break today?
I've got plans with my dad.
Alright. See you tonight then.
Ok. Can't wait.
Can't wait either, Bella.
OOOOOOOOOO
"What do you think?" I ask Emmett. He and I and a couple of our other guys stand there, staring. I mean, we're construction workers; it's our job to look and admire. A loud catcall erupts from one of the other guys.
"Beautiful."
"Fucking perfect."
"Look at that frame. So tight and firm."
Emmett rubs his chin back and forth thoughtfully.
"A fucking masterpiece. See, this is the kind of work we've got to present to Mr. S.," he says, reaching out and reverently stroking the wood frame. "Let's take pictures of this, so we can include it in the Bid when we put it together."
I nod in agreement, staring at the frame proudly because it is one mighty fucking beautiful job, and I'm feeling pretty smug about it. So while Emmett starts snapping pictures, I turn around and look at Mr. S's trailer on the other side of the work site. It's mid-November and it's pretty cool out today, but I'm sweating from a long morning of hard work. I wipe off a streak of dirt sliding down my cheek, all the while staring at that trailer and making plans in my head for the bid, as well as plans for how I'm going to treat my kid and my woman when we get that job...
The door opens, and I watch as someone dressed in a mid-length suede jacket, tight, clean jeans and pricey, pristine boots that haven't seen a drop of mud or a second of work steps out of the trailer.
My mouth twists into a sneer while I watch Eli cross his arms against his chest and stare off in the distance as if he's waiting for someone. Emmett is still talking to me, but I'm only half listening because I'm reminding myself that I promised Bella I wouldn't approach the asshole before talking to her, yet I know he fucked around with her somehow. I know that much, and it's taking a hell of a lot of effort to stay in place right now.
And suddenly, his face breaks out into this huge grin, teeth sparkling against his dark face, his entire demeanor radiating like the fucking world has just been handed to him on a silver platter, and I instinctively follow his gaze.
My eyes land on a girl wearing a long, sweater coat and high boots, and she's walking towards the trailer.
Bella.
Walking towards him.
A/N: Thoughts?
Thanks so much for your continued thoughts guys. They definitely spur me on. ;)
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Link to 'Stories by PattyRose' is on my profile page.
See you all Thursday!