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LadySharkey1 rocks my world by being the most amazing, kick-ass beta I could ever imagine.
6.
Edward had to admit that of all the long and never-ending visits to his sister, this one was shaping up to be not so very tedious at all. In fact, he was finding himself to be quite entertained by this particular little trip to the seaside.
And the reason, of course, was his sister's feisty little babysitter.
Chuckling as he remembered the showdown with that little minx the day before, he stretched and got up. If there was anything he liked about staying at his sister's beach house, it was the fact that life was so laid back there. It was boring, of course, but it also had its advantages. He could get up whenever he wanted, do whatever (and for the most part: whoever) he wanted, and eat whatever and whenever he chose. No Aro breathing down his neck; no fans screaming underneath his hotel room window; no paparazzi lurking in the bushes.
Or, at least, not yet.
Choosing to forgo a shower, he quickly threw on some jeans and a hoodie before opening the French doors to his ground floor bedroom and stepping out onto the deck. It was another thing that always drew him back to his sister's beach house: the peace and quiet that lay at his fingertips whenever he stepped off the deck and into the rugged landscape of the dunes.
No one to judge him.
Nobody who wanted shit from him.
Nothing to tempt him.
On a typical morning, he'd take his guitar with him and settle in some quiet spot to try out some new tunes. With his style of music being more on the mellow, folky side, he always needed to strip himself completely back to the bare bones and shed all the attitude and detachment he needed in order to survive on the road. He needed bare the rawness of his heart if he wanted to write from it.
Right then, though, writing was as far away from his reach as it could be; his mind still too troubled and unsettled to form words. Deep down, he knew Aro was probably chomping at the bits for him to write from this state. With the negative press surrounding his trial and prison sentence, a Folsom Prison 2.0 would probably turn his fuck up into a nice little cash cow for the record company and maybe make them forget why they were pissed a him.
Edward, however, wanted none of that.
He knew the whole world was watching; eager for him to fail at life completely, slowly circle along the slippery slope of addiction, scandal and an untimely death or find either love or religion and pull himself out of the festering swamp of failure.
Though he couldn't see himself do either of those things, deep down Edward really wanted to get out of the funk he was in, though he knew the actual likelihood of that happening was slim to none. Making something out of his life would require strength, perseverance and self-sacrifice and those qualities were all ones that were severely lacking in his arsenal. Because, after all, it was so much easier to fall further into destruction than to actually build a good life out of the ruined parts fate had given him.
Sighing, he tried to let the rhythm of the waves and the wind clear his mind as he stared at the Atlantic ocean; or at least quiet it enough for him to decide what it was that he really wanted.
Coming around a particularly high sand bank, though, his eyes fell on the last thing he probably should have been occupying himself with.
The nanny.
She didn't see him, sprawled out as she was on a blanket, her feet high up in the air and swaying to a rhythm only she could hear as her eyes were trained to her Kindle. She must have had been drawn to the dunes for the same reasons that he had been, enjoying the peace and quiet of a breakfast in the dunes before the kids would be up and demanding her attention.
Feeling all sorts of conflicting and confusing feelings in that moment, Edward pushed on, tearing himself away from the enticing vista in front of him as he pressed on with his walk. He couldn't deny his mind often ventured back to the small, frail female with the fiery tongue, splayed across a checkerboard blanket nearby.
When he finally made it back to the beach house after his walk, the whole house was in an uproar; his sister running around barking orders as he kids and their nanny scrambled to bend to her wishes.
"Ah, there you are!" she acknowledged him as he stepped inside the house. "We're leaving for Manhattan soon. I've got a lot of stuff to do and Bella's taking the kids to the zoo today."
He smirked, watching as the nanny's faced paled in the distance. Unlike his sister, she already had a firm handle on how Edward's mind worked. And unlike his sister, she knew that offering an explanation like that was as good as extending an invitation.
"Mind if I tag along?" he asked, struggling to hide his grin as he caught the change in the nanny's mood with one eye. "It's been ages since I've been to the zoo." Packing on the extra charm he wrapped an arm around his sister, "Besides, I'd love to spend some time with my niece and nephew. It's been so long…"
"Uncle Edward's coming?" Jasper asked enthusiastically as he joined the rest of the family in the foyer. "Awesome!"
From that point on, he knew his sister wouldn't put a stop to his plans. "Fine," she acquiesced, though be it far from enthusiastically. "But if you cause any trouble for Bella or for the kids, I'm going to kill you in your sleep."
Grinning, he remembered some of the times she'd made that threat over the years. Growing up together, they'd always had a strong bond, both due to what had happened in the past and the way their lives had turned out since then. It had been a running joke between them to make that particular threat whenever they wanted to let the other know they were serious. "Wouldn't have it any other way," he replied, trying once again not to grin as he caught Bella's murderous look.
Obviously someone didn't want him to tag along.
Catching up with her at the car, he quickly scanned his surroundings to make sure nobody was watching or listening before he leaned in muttered, "Someone obviously doesn't want me to tag along. What's the problem, little mousy? Afraid you won't be able to resist my charms?"
The flare of her nostrils made him chuckle as she stared at him like an angry little kitten, her hands balled into fists by her side. Ignoring his taunt, she narrowed her eyes into tiny slits as she hissed, "Just act like a decent human being for a change and we won't have any problems getting along."
Dropping her purse into the trunk of the car, she took her seat up front with the driver, leaving Edward even more intrigued and suddenly hard as hell as he scrambled to get into the back and hide his little problem before his sister or the kids would notice.
All through their drive, Edward tried not to stare at the person sitting directly in the front of him, but even though she barely managed to stick out from above the leather seats, he found his eyes kept on drifting back to where he knew she was sitting.
What was it about her that enraptured him so much?
She was pretty but not the kind of beauty he usually went for and, on top of that, she was about as difficult to get a handle on as a pan full of popping popcorn. Plus, he was pretty damn sure she hated his guts.
After dropping his sister off at some Upper East Side haunt for the ladies-who-lunch crowd, the driver brought them deeper into New York. As he dropped them off right next to the entrance to the Bronx Zoo with a promise to pick them up within fifteen minutes of their return call, Edward suddenly realized what the fuck he was doing. He was going on a day trip. To a zoo. With people probably recognizing him and wanting to take his picture. And on top of that he would have to play nice all day because he was sure the nanny was going to snap and feed him to the fucking lions if he actually did something that would hurt the kids.
Hell, he'd probably let her since his sister and her kids were some of the few people in the world he actually gave a damn about.
Things got off to a good, though be it tense start. Only a few feet into the zoo, Rose was pulling Bella's arm in the direction of the camels. And while Bella watched a jubilant Rose and a slightly grumpy Jasper, he quickly dashed into one of the gift shops to purchase a hat that would at least hide some of his face from the crowds.
As they got into one of the carts of the Wild Asia Monorail Edward couldn't help but maneuver himself so that he would be next to Bella while Jasper and Rose rode up front. "Hold on tight, little mousy," he whispered as the train set of, enjoying the little shiver his words caused. "We wouldn't want to see you get hurt."
Bella huffed, wishing the kids weren't there so that she could give that smug asshole back as good as she got. Being as it was, she just leaned forward, engaging the kids in a lively conversation about the animals on show while she felt Edward's hungry gaze travel over her body before resting on her butt. It felt dirty, but she would have been lying if she claimed it left her cold.
All in all, Edward had to admit that he enjoyed himself immensely that day. Apart from a couple of teens who came up to him somewhere near the gorillas, the intrusion of fans and other gawkers was minimal throughout the day and, as he started to relax, he realized how much he'd missed doing stuff like that. When he was still a kid, his grandparents hadn't taken them to the zoo, and the few trips he had been allowed to make under the watchful eye of his sister or his nanny, had been restricted to the Central Park Zoo. After all, his grandfather would have had a conniption if one of his charges would have set foot in the Bronx.
Besides, the company was great. Jasper and Rose loved walking around and seeing all of the animals as much as he did, and while the nanny's behavior towards him did thaw a little bit once she realized he wasn't going to whip out a needle and inject heroin into his arms in front of the kids, that didn't stop him from riling her up every chance he got. As much as his mind screamed 'danger' whenever he saw her, he found himself inexplicably drawn to her. And it wasn't just to toy with her and see how long it would be until she reached her breaking point. Or ply her with alcohol and empty flattery until she spread her legs and let him fuck her.
No, he wanted to get to know her.
Thoughts?