Rated M for adult themes and language.
Bella sipped on her coffee while listening to Damon's latest Parisian adventure.
He told her all about his recent visit to the Louvre Museum and how French bistros offered the best dining experience in Paris.
He made her want to book a ticket to Europe and explore the cosmopolitan cities he constantly raved about.
'If you ever get the chance to visit Paris, you have to go on a boat tour across the Siene River. It's amazing, especially at sunset.'
Bella smiled, picturing herself strolling along the streets of Paris with Jacob by her side.
Whoa! Where on earth did that come from?
As if on cue, Jacob's goofy face suddenly appeared on her iPhone's screen.
She set her cup down on the table and picked it up, her thumb hovering over the ignore button.
'I have to use the men's room so go ahead and answer it.' Damon smiled and rose from his chair, giving her the privacy she desperately needed. She hit the green button the moment he disappeared into the bathroom.
Jacob was making a habit out of ruining her dates and this was the last straw.
"Sorry. I'm not available right now. Please leave a message after the beep."
'Bells, where are you?'
"At none of your business dot com." She replied in a clipped tone.
Jacob growled in response, making her insides flutter.
'I want you to get in your truck and go.home.'
"Why? Jake, what's wrong?"
'Jared spotted a group of vampires headed to the flea market.'
Bella gasped in horror and almost dropped her phone into the coffee mug.
"I'm at the flea market."
Jacob cursed into the mouthpiece, and urged her to leave right away.
"Okay. I will." She reassured him, getting up in a hurry and rushing out the door.
Her heart was doing somersaults in her chest and her palms were sweaty. She was terrified to the point where she forgot where her truck was parked.
The crowded market made it even harder for her to concentrate on finding her beloved vehicle.
Three men clad in outdated western outfits appeared in her line of sight and she instantly knew they were vampires.
Her instincts told her to run but she held her ground and waited for them to walk past her but they didn't.
'Excuse me miss, do you know where the nearest blood bank is?' The blonde vamp asked her while eying her neck.
"Umm...I-I…yes…I do." She stuttered.
'Can you take us there? We need to donate blood to our cousin. He's in real bad shape.'
Bella swallowed thickly.
Fight or flight, Bella. It's your choice.
"Sure. It's not too far from here." She tried to remain as calm as possible as she led them past the parking lot.
They were extremely close to the tree line so all she had to do was lure them into the forest.
'Are you sure this is the way to the blood bank?' The bald vamp asked her while they crossed the street.
"Yes. This is a shortcut." She speed dialed Jacob's phone and stuffed it in the front pocket of her jeans.
'Hey, Anthony. Do you remember Washington's first railroad?'
'Damn right I do. It was built in 1851. Same year the New York Times was founded. I bet you didn't know this, darlin'.' Anthony nudged Bella's arm, causing her to flinch. She was freaking out on the inside. Big time.
The southern vamps were oblivious to her fear though, reminiscing about the good old days and providing her with a short history lesson as they delved deeper into the woods.
Bud, who turned out to be the leader of the group, was rather intimidating. He froze in his tracks once they reached the huge hemlock tree that was marked by none other than Jacob.
'What is that awful stench?'
Bella saw Jared jump out from his hiding place, followed by Quil.
They both lunged at the three vampires, effectively pushing her out of the way.
She hid behind the bushes and vomited all over the place, feeding her lunch to the dunegrass below.
Jacob's russet wolf breezed past her seconds later and attacked Anthony. He ripped the vampire to shreds and didn't stop until Quil and Embry told him it was all over.
The other two vamps were already beheaded and ready for barbecue.
In the meantime, Bella wiped her mouth with a tissue paper and struggled to stay upright. Her attempt at leading the vamps straight into the wolves' den proved to be successful.
She expected a BIG thank you from Jacob but the Alpha was NOT happy.
He phased back into human form without bothering to put on his cutoff shorts, causing Bella to avert her gaze as he stalked towards her with a murderous expression on his handsome face.
'I told you to GO home, not act as human bait, Bella!' He yelled, eyes glowing in anger.
"Don't raise your voice to me! I was only trying to help."
Jacob tugged on his short hair in frustration. 'HELP? You could've gotten yourself killed.'
"I KNOW!" Bella shouted in return. "That's why I brought them here, because THIS is your territory. It was the safest place I could think of."
'You're out of your FUCKING mind, Swan!' He seethed; jaw twitching as he did so.
"No. I'm a vampire magnet, Black! They approached me in the market SO it's not like I wanted to play Buffy the Vampire Slayer and ditch my date!" B glared at him, jabbing a finger into his bare chest. "Your stupid phone call ruined my day! Seriously. Why can't you just LEAVE me the hell alone! We're friends, GOT it? And…"
Jacob's hot mouth swallowed the rest of her words, his hands cradling the back of her head as he poured his anger into a very intense kiss.
Bella surrendered to the kiss like it was the most natural thing to do. Her lips followed Jacob's lead and soon, her hands were in his hair, pressing him closer to her trembling body. He groaned in response and nipped at her lower lip before sinking his teeth into the soft flesh.
Bella moaned into his mouth, feeling nothing but pleasure.
She barely had time to savor the moment since Jacob tore his lips from hers and cupped her face in his large hands, forcing her to look at him.
'Don't you ever pull shit like this again!' He warned her before storming off to his Mustang.
Jared approached her a while later and offered to drive her home. He high-fived her once Jacob was gone and told her she did good.
'Jake's going to kill me for saying this, but I'm really proud of you, Bella.'
"Really?"
'Yeah. You have guts and boy, does it rub Jake the wrong way.'
Bella smiled. She wasn't expecting Jared to speak his mind so freely. He was usually more discreet when it came to disagreeing with his Alpha.
"Nah, I don't have guts, Jared. I almost peed my pants back there."
'Yeah, but you didn't faint.' He pointed out.
"True, but I did throw up."
'Bella.'
"What? I'm a humble person and this is what humble people do."
'Fine, just do me a favor and keep Jake on his toes. Ok?' He grinned.
"Jesus. Leah wants me to ruffle his feathers and you want me to keep him on his toes. Any more requests?'
Quil dusted off his cutoffs then sidled up to Bella and laced an arm around her shoulders.
'Yep. I got plenty of requests.'
"I'm not your fairy godmother, Ateara."
'Ok. Then I have one request.'
"What is it?"
.
.
.
'Rub Jake the right way.'
The next morning…
'No offence, Swan, but you look like shit.'
Bella blew her nose a second time, causing Leah's face to contort in disgust.
"I'm sick, Leah, so get over it."
'Yeah, yeah. I'm not here to offer you a comforting hug.' Leah smirked. 'I'm here to take you out, so get your lazy ass out of bed and go get dressed.'
Bella sneezed, giving the she-wolf an incredulous look.
Surely she wasn't serious?
"I'm not going anywhere, Clearwater."
Leah sauntered over to Bella's closet and rummaged through her shirts.
'Yes you are. We need to celebrate your bad-ass behavior.'
"OH. Jake told you, didn't he?"
'Yep.' She nodded. 'He's still pissed.'
"I know. His curtains are closed."
Leah turned around and tossed a pair of red skinny jeans on the poster bed.
'He told me his wolf got angry.' She revealed. He's so very protective of you. It's quite touching if you ask me.'
"Touching? Wow. You're turning into a softy, Li-lo."
'Do NOT insult me, Swan.' Leah frowned as she examined the over-sized Captain America t-shirt.
It definitely did not belong to the petite brunette.
"That was a compliment, silly." B coughed into her unicorn pillow.
'Is this Black's shirt?'
"Yes."
'Put it on.' She chucked it over her shoulder where it landed in the sick girl's lap. 'We're going out and that's final.'
"But…"
'No buts or asses, Swan. I won't take no for an answer.'
Thirty minutes later…
"I like what you've done with Jake's shirt." Bella checked her reflection in the mirror. "It fits me better this way."
'Christ. I was right.' Leah sighed and folded her arms across her chest.
"About what?"
'About you and Black. You have this intense connection. It's so freakin obvious, even my clueless brother can see it.'
"You guys are delusional. Jake and I have zero connection."
'Don't bullshit me, Bella. I know about the kiss.' Leah divulged.
"OH."
'Yeah, I saw it in Quil's mind. He thinks its Oscar-worthy so give yourself a pat on the back.'
"Why?"
'Because our Alpha is officially pussy whipped.' She smirked. 'He's pretty adamant about pursuing you.'
"Pretty adamant huh?"
'Yep but I need you to give him a hard time. No pun intended.'
"Oh it's definitely hard." Bella giggled. "And huge!"
'Jeez, your cough medicine finally kicked in, didn't it?'
Later that night…
'Knock. Knock.'
Bella hugged the bucket of fried chicken to her chest and refused to acknowledge her midnight visitor.
'Bells, can I come in?'
.
.
.
'Bells?'
"Go get your own fried chicken, Black!"
Jacob opened her bedroom door and his eyes instantly zeroed in on the bucket of food in her arms.
'I'm not here for the chicken, Bells.'
"Haha. Since when?" She giggled.
Jacob stepped closer to her loveseat and she immediately hid the bucket behind her back.
'Jesus, are you drunk?'
"No. I'm high on cough syrup."
'You're sick?' He kneeled in front of her and pressed a hand to her forehead.
"Yep." She ogled his full lips. They were slightly parted, reminding her of the day before and how good it felt to be kissed by them.
'You don't have a fever.' He observed, moving to sit on the empty space next to her.
"Gee, thanks doc." Bella rolled her eyes at him. The loveseat creaked under his heavy weight so he sat on the bed instead, watching her with an unreadable expression on his face.
'You're wearing my shirt.'
"Oh I'm sorry. Do you want it back?"
'No.'
"Are you sure? 'cause I can take it off."
'I'm not here for the shirt either, Bells.'
"Then what brings you to my boudoir at this time of night, huh?"
Jacob stood up and started pacing the length of her room.
'I…uh…wanted to apologize for yelling at you yesterday. I didn't mean to lose my temper.'
"It's ok. I forgive you." She giggled, offering him a chicken wing from her bucket.
'I'm serious, honey. Hearing your frantic heartbeat over the phone and seeing you with those blood suckers made me see red.'
'I was beyond angry.' He added.
"You were angry because I didn't follow your orders, Jake."
'Yeah well, the next time you run into a vampire, you will follow my orders, Bella, whether you like it or not.'
His eyes glowed in the dim light of her bedside lamp, but it did nothing to deter her from snorting out loud.
'You'll do as I say, babe. Wanna know why?' He crouched in front of her, tangling his fingers in her hair. 'Because you willingly kissed me…'
Bella blushed, unable to tear her gaze away from his yellow irises.
'And since you willingly kissed me, you'll probably trip and fall into my bed by the end of the summer.' He stated in his deep, Alpha voice.
Bella scooted backwards in her seat then dumped the remaining chicken pieces on his head.
"You're so full of shit, Jake!" She exclaimed. "I'm not going to have sex with you. Period."
Jacob growled in irritation and plucked the fried chicken from the carpet.
'Why not?'
"Because you're a manwhore."
'Stop calling me that!' He huffed. 'I'm not a manwhore, Bella. I can't even remember the last time I had sex.'
"Poor you." She cooed.
'Yeah, poor me…standing in your bedroom with bread crumbs in my hair.'
"You deserve it for being so cocky."
Jacob rose to his feet and pinched the bridge of his nose.
Bella was making him work hard for the money.
'Yeah, you're right, I'm cocky but at least I know what I want.' He said.
Bella's heart skipped a beat when he dug a small jewelry box out of his pocket and placed it on her bed.
"Oh my God."
'Relax. It's not a wedding ring or a collar for that matter.' He smirked.
"Then what is it?"
Jacob opened her bedroom door then casually leaned against the wooden door-frame.
'It's a gift.' He cryptically answered.
"And what's the occasion?"
'You'll find out soon enough.'