Later that evening Edward dropped Bella off at home, though he was reluctant to do so. They'd spent most of the day in bed, talking and making love. Even when they talked, they couldn't stop touching each other's bare skin.
He'd left the bed long enough to order Chinese food and once again to slip on his pants and retrieve it when the delivery boy arrived. She'd laughed at his food selection and then they just ate in bed, laughing and talking about nothing in particular.
He couldn't remember the last time he'd been so happy and relaxed.
When the day started to draw to a close and the shadows in the bedroom grew longer as the sun began to set, they made love one more time, taking their time to bring each other pleasure. Throughout the day that they had become more comfortable and familiar with each other, he began to understand to understand where she liked to be touch and what things he could do to draw the best response from her. He figured out that there was a spot on her neck that was especially sensitive to his kissed and that she had a heart shaped birthmark on her lower back.
She also learned a lot about what he liked and didn't, finding out that he as ticklish if her fingers trailed too close to his armpits or behind his knees.
It had been a perfect day of exploration and togetherness.
Edward had wanted her to stay, but since they both worked in the morning, they knew it wasn't possible. So, as the sun completely disappeared and night descended on the nation's capital, they reluctantly left his bed, got dressed, and gathered her things before he drove Bella home.
When he dropped her off at her doorstep they had kissed for a while and promised to have lunch together the following day before he left, a goofy grin on his face.
Only a few moments after Edward dropped her off, Bella heard a knock on the door and she hurried to open it. "What'd you forg….Oh! Jasper!"
Jasper stood there, hands in the pockets of his coat. "Hey, Bella. Is Alice here?"
Jasper had been trying to reach Alice all day long, but she hadn't answered her cell phone once. He knew she was angry. After dinner at her parents' the night before, they had had the worst argument that they'd ever had. She had asked him to go to a party function in a couple of weeks as her official date. He'd declined feeling that it wasn't the right time. Jasper had recommended waiting till after her father announced his candidacy for the party's ticket and even suggested that they might wait till after the primary elections.
She'd blown a gasket and had gone off on him, talking about how she had put up with his bullshit for too long. Alice had never liked that he didn't acknowledge their relationship in public, she had hated that he let people draw conclusions about his relationship with Bella, but she said she put up with it because that's the way Jasper wanted it and she loved him. He had asked her for more time and when she'd told him time was up, he'd gotten angry and left.
He'd regretted it almost as soon as he pulled away from the curb, leaving her standing in the snow, but he'd decided to give her the evening to cool off.
When he'd tried to call Alice that morning, she hadn't answered. He'd tried again throughout the day and had even stopped by her and Bella's place a couple of times, but no one had answered. He'd decided to try one more time in the evening and Bella had answered.
Bella frowned. "She left this morning for her trip."
Jasper's shoulders slumped a bit and he looked at Bella through tired eyes. "I thought she wasn't leaving till tomorrow."
Bella worried her lower lip and shrugged a bit, not knowing exactly what to tell him. "Would you like to come in?"
Jasper sighed as he made his way into the apartment and he went to plop down onto the couch. "She's not answering her phone," he said dejectedly.
"I figured," Bella said as she locked the door. "You want a drink?"
He nodded and she went to the kitchen and got the vodka out of the freezer.
"She still planning to be gone for two weeks?" Jasper asked.
"Far as I know," replied Bella.
He nodded and leaned his head against the back of the couch and closed his eyes.
Bella nudge his leg as she held out his drink to him. "You look like shit, Jazz."
Jasper took the drink and sighed. "I feel like shit."
Sitting across from him Bella curled up on the loveseat. "Yeah, well, you should."
Jasper looked up and glared at her for just a moment before he sighed and nodded, sipping at his drink.
"She thinks you're stringing her along," said Bella.
He frowned. "I'm not." He noticed Bella arching a brow at him. "All right, maybe I am, but the timing has never been right."
Bella sighed. "Jasper, the time is never going to be right."
He frowned and looked at her as she continued. "Alice love you, there's no doubt about it, but how do you think she feels knowing that you won't acknowledge that you want to be with her?"
"I'd do anything for Alice," Jasper argued.
"No," Bella frowned, "you wouldn't." She held up her hand and stopped him from arguing. "If you would you would have come out as a couple by now. You know that's what she wants. Hell, Jazz, the Senator and Mrs. Cullen know about the two of you. Your family knows. Who else matters?"
She noticed a look on Jasper's face and she frowned. "Wait, your parents do know, don't they?" Bella asked.
Jasper shook his head and winced as Bella cried out, "Jasper Whitlock, what the fuck is wrong with you?"
He sighed and shook his head. Bella had met his parents a couple of times. His father, Grant Whitlock III, was CEO of a large oil company that had begun to dabble in other military contracts during the inception of the U.S. military involvement in the Middle East. He was not only a major player in Texas, but on the national stage as well. It wasn't surprising to find Mr. Whitlock on the cover of a newspaper standing next to the Texas governor or some high ranking military official.
Jasper's mother, Barbara "Barbie" Whitlock, was the perfect Texas wife with her large teased perfectly coiffed hair and long red nails. Her job seemed to be spending Mr. Whitlock's money and throwing charity events. Jasper had told her once that she did this so she could feel she did something useful with her life. He was close to his mother and said the outward, icy demeanor was just a façade and that she really was a loving, caring woman who had just suffered from his father's neglect for too long.
They had never approved of Jasper's deciding to enter politics as a permanent career move after graduating law school. They had expected he would enter the family business. A Whitlock had been at the helm of the business since the original Grant Whitlock had struck black gold in the fields of Texas decades ago. Grant Whitlock IV, Jasper's older brother, would have been the fourth man of such a name to head the company if he hadn't died in a car accident when he was in his mid-teens.
Yes, Jasper's parents, and especially his father, were not the most understanding people, but Bella still didn't understand why he hadn't told them.
She watched as Jasper shook his head. "You don't get it, Bella."
"No, obviously I don't," she said angrily. "Does Alice even know that you haven't told your parents about her?"
Jasper shook his head and Bella frowned.
"Well, fuck…"she said with a sigh. Alice was going to be even more pissed whenever she found out. "Why haven't you told them? It's not like Alice comes from a bad family or that she's an embarrassment or anything."
"I know that," Jasper said in frustration and stood up as he started to pace the living room.
Bella watched him, not knowing what to say anymore.
"I was engaged," Jasper blurted out.
Bella just blinked.
He sat down and sighed dejectedly, "I was engaged to be married."
"I…kinda figured that's what you meant," now Bella wasn't sure she wanted to hear the rest of what he had to say, feeling it was a betrayal that he was telling her instead of Alice, but before she could stop him he launched into the story.
"Her name was María Hinojosa. She and I were both undergrads at UT at the same time…" Jasper launched into the story of how he'd met this María in one of his Spanish classes at the University of Texas at Austin. They'd gotten close pretty fast and before he knew it he was vacationing with her family in Mexico and she was accompanying him home for the holidays. His parents had approved of the relationship when they'd found out who she was. María's father had even helped him get into law school, something that he felt he hadn't earned on his own.
"Wait," Bella said, "Hinojosa, as in Congressman Joe Hinojosa, head of the House Committee on Appropriations?"
Jasper just nodded.
"Oh," Bella said, just looking at him with wide eyes. "So you got engaged before you graduated and left to Stanford. Did you break it off while you were in law school then?"
Jasper just frowned and when he looked rather ashamed, Bella groaned. "Shit, Jasper, please tell me you haven't turned Alice into the other woman."
He blinked and quickly denied it. "What? No! No, it's not like that. María and I started to drift apart while I was in law school. I mean, I was in California and she was back in Texas working on her master's degree. Neither of us was in any real hurry to plan a wedding and then I accepted the job with Carlisle and met Alice, well, that kind of sealed the deal for me and we broke it off."
"I take it your parents weren't pleased," Bella said.
"That's…putting things mildly," Jasper agreed.
She sighed and shook her head. "You're going to have to tell them. Hey, at this rate they might end up having a daughter-in-law who is the President's daughter. I'd say that's a bit of an upgrade from some old committee member's daughter."
Jasper scowled. "I don't care about that. I mean…I do care about the Senator achieving his goals, I mean I don't care…"
Bella interrupted him, "I know what you mean."
He sighed and nodded. "What do I do?"
She shrugged. "You start making things right."
"How?" he said, a desperate tone at the edge of his voice.
"You don't hide your feelings from anyone anymore, including Alice. You know you're going to have to tell her all this and that she's not going to be happy."
He nodded and leaned his head back on the couch closing his eyes again.
"Keeping work and personal relationships separate when they're so fucking intertwined at every step is impossible, isn't it?" Jasper said tiredly.
Though she knew he was talking about himself, she couldn't help that she should take heed of his words.
When she stayed quiet Jasper opened his eyes to look at her. "Shit, I'm sorry, Bella, I didn't mean…" he sighed and let his words trail off. "Masen's a good sort; it's just none of us can understand why he chooses to work for Volturi is all."
"I'm sure he has his reasons," she said quietly.
Jasper nodded and looked at her. "You really like him." It was a statement, not a question.
Bella nodded and smiled, thinking of the day they'd just spent together.
"Good," he said with a bit of a smile, "you deserve to be happy. He seems to do that for you."
"Thanks, Jazz," she said with a soft smile.