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Chapter 3 - Embarrassment

Bella entered Venus's small breakroom and moved to the sink. She fished a thermometer out of a drawer and proceeded to get the water she needed to 98 degrees, then walked briskly back to the office, careful not to spill.

Facing the door yet again, Bella steeled her nerves against what she would likely see once she went inside.

Edward's back was to her, and she almost dropped the bowl in her hands at the sight of him. His rust-colored sweater lay neatly folded with the rest of his clothes, and she let her eyes follow the lines of his lean-muscled back, to a small but perfectly curved ass that she wanted to squeeze the hell out of… preferably while he was on top of her.

Shit.

These were not professional thoughts at all, but there was no stopping them. She licked her lips as her gaze traveled down his long toned legs.

Powerful thighs, she thought, blushing at the path her mind had taken.

"Are you gonna come in and shut the door?" Edward asked without turning around to face her. "Or were you planning to just stand there and stare at me for the foreseeable future?"

Bella's eyes snapped shut. "I'm… I was just…" She released a sigh. "Sorry." Opening her eyes, she managed to close the door and set the bowl of water down on the desk without spilling. It felt like quite a feat with a naked Edward Cullen less than five feet away from her. "Why didn't you use the robe?"

He shrugged, turning toward her. She kept her eyes averted for the moment, desperate to cling to some shred of her dignity around this man. "I didn't see the point, really," he said. "You're going to see it all anyway."

He was smirking. Again. She could tell without even looking at him.

Bastard.

Another deep breath helped Bella force calm through her body. She would not let him see the effect he was having on her—not after everything.

Affixing a pleasant but indifferent expression onto her face, she turned fully toward him, and shock flitted across Edward's features before he smoothed them out again. "Let's get started then," she said, proud of herself for not letting her eyes glance down below his waist... yet.

Edward fidgeted… actually fidgeted, one hand skimming through his already unruly hair as he looked anywhere but at her. After palming his neck for a brief moment, both hands moved down to cover his junk before he finally let them both fall back to his sides.

Maybe he wasn't quite as sure of himself as he wanted her to think.

This time, she smirked, breathing out a short laugh through her nose and then letting out a noisy sigh of relief. "Thank God you're nervous too," she said. "I was beginning to think you really were some kind of demigod sent to Earth to make women swoon and then melt their panties right off."

Edward cocked an eyebrow at her, one side of his mouth pulling back up. "I'm sorry. Could you repeat that?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Shut up. You know what I mean."

"No," he said in a nonchalant tone, putting on a show of furrowing his brows and scratching his head. "I don't think I do. Rewind to the melting-panties-off part again?"

Bella tried not to smile. She really did. But it couldn't be helped. She never wondered why she'd liked Edward so much. There were some guys in her past who, once she was over them, made her question why she'd ever liked them in the first place.

But not Edward. He was smart and funny and so passionate about becoming a pediatrician. They'd bonded over their shared love of '90s grunge bands, having grown up listening to them because their parents did. They'd cracked up together, volleying Tropic Thunder quotes back and forth. And he'd actually listened to her when she talked, something not many guys his age did, she'd noticed.

"Yeah, yeah. Make fun all you want," she replied. "You know exactly how good-looking you are."

Both of his thick eyebrows climbed up his forehead. "You think I'm good-looking?"

"No," she deadpanned. "Not at all."

He nodded, a phony look of sadness on his face, his arms folding inward and hands coming to rest on his junk again. "Makes sense. After all, you did puke all over me when I tried to kiss you." He let out a dramatic sigh. "Obviously I disgust you."

The color drained from Bella's face before it burst into flames at the mention of that night. She'd been nervous about her first college party and had consumed more alcohol than she'd realized, which later decided to make a reappearance all down the front of Edward's clothes and shoes when he'd finally, finally leaned in to kiss her.

She had hoped with everything in her that he'd somehow forgotten about that part.

Bella cleared her throat. "We should get started. Uh… Sorry. I'll just be another minute. I need to go reheat the water."

"Hey, you okay?" Edward said, reaching an arm out to her but letting it fall before touching her.

"Oh, yeah. Fine." She forced a smile. "Be right back."

Bella did her best to shake off the hot prickles of embarrassment that had washed over her when he'd brought up the incident between them. It was the single most humiliating experience of her life, and he'd joked about it.

It shouldn't have come as a surprise, she realized. He'd never tried to get in contact with her again, so he clearly hadn't wanted to kiss her even half as badly as she'd wanted to kiss him. Having their one and only night together end in that way was no big deal to him.

She mentally kicked herself. They'd finally gotten to a somewhat comfortable place in there, and she'd freaked out again.

That night was ancient history, she reminded herself. He'd dated since then. She'd dated since then. Why was she clinging to this so much?

Bella breezed back into the room with a smile on her face after giving herself a pep talk and deciding she was totally over it.

Totally.

"Okay," she said, placing the bowl of warm water on the desk again and picking up a large hard-plastic tube. "Ready to finally get— Oh…" She'd turned toward him and let her eyes follow the trail of dark hair that led down his taut stomach, to that defined V of his hips, noticing he'd gone soft.

"Sorry," he mumbled, cupping himself fully again and reaching for the robe that hung from a hook near the door. He held it loosely in front of his body. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked. "I feel like I upset you or something. I was just kidding around. I thought…" He trailed off, running his free hand through his hair, but Bella knew what he meant. He thought they'd gotten past the initial awkwardness and could joke around with each other.

"No, really." She swiped her hand through the air. "I'm perfectly fine. I really did need to go reheat the water. It has to be at 98 degrees." She glanced down, and Edward shifted uncomfortably. "So if we want to get the show on the road, you'll need to… uh…" Her top teeth sank into her bottom lip and then slowly released it. "Do you want the DVD now or...? Oh," she breathed out as she saw him lengthening again right before her eyes.

Without conscious thought, Bella licked her lips, and her hand twitched at her side in much the same way Edward's cock twitched, accompanied by a soft groan from him.

She wanted to touch him. Without her gloves.

Swallowing the saliva that had filled her mouth, she turned back to her workstation. "If you're uh… fully erect, I'll go ahead and mix the molding powder in with the water."

The only sound she heard for a few seconds was her own unsteady breathing.

"I'm ready," he said.

Was his voice huskier than it'd been a minute ago, or was that just her own lust clouding her thoughts?

Bella worked fast and poured the mixture into the tube, which had been pre-cut to the specifications given by Edward beforehand.

As she approached him, she couldn't seem to look him in the eye, so she watched his chest expand with his deep breaths.

He had a really nice chest—solid and smooth with just a smattering of dark golden hair.

Bella swallowed thickly again and glanced up at his face. She was pretty sure the look he was giving her qualified as... smoldering.

Move over, Flynn Rider.

A giggle burst out of her at her internal musings.

Edward's eyebrows shot up. "Something funny about my dick?"

Definitely not, but Bella couldn't answer him. She couldn't stop laughing either.

When Edward's hands went to his hips and he released an annoyed huff, she happened to glance down to see his cock bob comically with his movements.

She doubled over then, losing complete control and cracking up, tears gathering in her eyes.

This whole situation was just so absurd, and it was all catching up to her.

Edward picked up the robe again. "Look, I don't appreciate being laughed at while I'm naked," he said. "Not cool, Swan."

"Sorry, sorry," she rushed out, finally able to pull in a sufficient breath. "It's just… This whole thing… Us… It just struck me as funny all of a sudden. But I'm being unprofessional, and I apologize." Calming herself, she gingerly took the robe out of his hand, relieved to see he was still aroused. "We need to get you in here before it sets up." She cocked her head at him. "How did you stay…?" She pointed upward to indicate him still being erect and then instantly dropped her hand, feeling stupid.

He shrugged. "Your tits were bouncing around while you were laughing."

Bella's eyes about bugged out of her head. "Oh... Well…" She shrugged. "Okay, whatever works."

Edward let out a soft laugh through his nose, and she let herself look at his face. They were standing so close together now, and she could see that his relaxed smile went all the way up to his eyes, crinkling them in the corners and lighting them up with happiness.

Was he truly happy to see her, as he'd said?

Focusing back on the task at hand, she centered the tube in front of Edward's erection and pushed forward until his entire length was encased within.

He moaned, deep and throaty.

It was a normal occurrence. The molding mixture was warm and squishy, but this was the only time the involuntary sound had made her clench around the hollow ache between her legs.

"Try not to move," she whispered, still holding the tube against his body. She then bent down carefully to remove the inevitable spillage from around the base of the tube and the floor.

Her gloved hands brushed over the skin of his balls and inner thighs, and she could actually hear him gulp. She saw his toes press hard into the floor and start to curl under. She may have let her hands linger a touch longer than necessary before standing again, coming almost nose to nose with Edward.

"All clean," she said.

"Bella…"

Her eyes fluttered closed under his intense gaze. "Not much longer now. It only needs a couple of minutes to set… up…" Her last two words came out as nothing but breathy whispers as she felt one long warm finger trail over her collarbone and then descend to skim the soft skin just at the top of her cleavage. Her lips parted, and a low moan escaped her. It seemed to make him even more brazen, and his finger curved and traced the swell of one breast, then the other.

"So soft," he murmured.

Bella opened her eyes, because she needed to see the look on his face. His green eyes were following the path his finger was taking over her skin, and he appeared to be in awe.

"Wh…" She released a heavy breath as his finger stilled right at the top of the valley between her breasts. "What are you doing?"

Though her voice was breathy and soft, Edward dropped his hand, contrition taking over his face. "I'm sorry. I just… had to touch you. I mean…" He gestured at his body. "I've been naked in this room with you for at least a half hour, and you just… You're still so beautiful, Bella. And those gorgeous tits…" He trailed off, staring at them unabashedly.

Bella swallowed hard and cast her eyes down at the tube she was holding. Edward's touch wasn't unwelcome, but she just couldn't get over the fact that he'd never tried to contact her after the night they'd spent together. They hadn't had a chance to exchange numbers before… Puke-gate happened, but regardless of that and the fact that she'd avoided him, he could've easily gotten her number from Emmett. If he had just reassured her that everything was okay, then she could've been okay. Instead, he'd left her to wallow in that humiliation—the look of horror on his face, the sound of his friends and countless girls, girls she knew were much prettier than her, laughing at her.

How could he be so casual about it now? Should she just let it go?

Bella shook her head to herself. She felt like she couldn't. Not without knowing why.

She had a surge of confidence as she held Edward Cullen's dick in her hand. Sort of.

She raised her eyes back to his soft green ones. "Why didn't you ever try to talk to me again after that night?" she asked. "Did I just imagine all of that between us? Was the vomiting really that much of a deal-breaker?"

Edward's eyes widened at her in surprise. "Seriously?"

"What?" she asked, irritation clear in her tone.

"Emmett didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Uh…" Edward palmed the back of his neck. "You should probably talk to him. I… uh, actually did want to get in touch with you, but…"

Exasperated, Bella asked, "But what?"

"Since I'm sort of..." He glanced down between them. "...at your mercy here, just… talk to him. If you still want to talk to me after that, then… yeah. I'd really like that."

His soft smile and the clear adoration in his eyes made Bella want to forget everything that had happened and just jump him right there. But she was at work. And apparently she had a giant man-boy to interrogate.

She gave him a small nod. "Okay, I will. Um." She pointed down. "This should be ready. I'm going to go on out. Just slide it off slowly and leave it on the desk. There's lotion and tissues in the top drawer if you want to… uh… Yeah." She flashed him an awkward smile, her mind conjuring up unbidden images of his large hand fisting his cock and stroking it, his head tilted back, neck straining and voice groaning his release.

Letting him take hold of the tube, she felt her cheeks warm even further as he brushed his fingers over hers. The heat that invaded her hand and traveled up her arm made her knees weak again.

"You have my number on my info sheet," Edward said, tipping his head toward her clipboard, seemingly oblivious to the effect he was having on her.

She nodded again and stepped to the door, trying like hell to hold it together.

"Bella," he called to her just before she left the room. "Please just remember that I was a dumb kid, okay? And Emmett was a scary fucker, even back then."

Her brows knitted together in confusion, but she uttered an "okay" anyway.

"And just know that if you don't call me, I'll understand. But after seeing you again today… It just brought everything back, and…" He sank a hand into his hair. "Sorry, I probably sound like an idiot. My point is, I'd really like to see you again."

"You would?"

"Very much, yes."

A shy but pleased smile spread across Bella's face and once again, she quietly said, "Okay," before slipping out the door.

Thank you for reading!