Five Days of Holiday Hell
Chapter Eleven
"Bella!" Edward tested a few doors for heat before checking inside for the infuriating woman. What the heck was she thinking? Her life was not worth saving company equipment. "Bella!"
He rushed down the hall and continued to call out her name. A shadow brushed his peripheral vision. The door to the room that had several servers stood ajar, a trash can propped it open.
"Bella! I swear if you don't have your ass out here in five seconds, I'm going to spank it later!"
She popped her head out, looking flushed and somewhat wary. "Promise?"
His eyes raked over her to ensure she had no injuries. "What the fuck are you doing?"
Shuffling into the hallway, she fidgeted under his dark glare. "Prevented the situation from escalating and turning into a full-blown fire."
Acting somewhat sheepish and demure would not get her out of this. He was in her face for the next second. "That is not your job!" He grabbed her hand as firefighters rushed toward them.
After some instructions, they made their way outside, along with others from the building. Bella had isolated the incident to one room. She explained she had a nose of a bloodhound and had mentioned a plastic burning smell the month before and had narrowed it down to the server room or the office supply room next door.
New employees and interns had recently joined their teams, and it was likely that someone mistakenly used the outlet that maintenance had yet to fix. The firefighters confirmed it was safe an hour later to go inside.
Bella had been in a meeting with HR and all the department heads, including Edward, for about two hours. Though they were thankful that she saved them a lot of money, she was being sent home on administrative leave for the rest of the year. She risked her life, and it wasn't something they could let go of.
Yet, they insisted she attend the holiday party at the end of the week. Edward wouldn't even look at her when they dismissed her.
.
.
.
Bella blew on her ramen noodles, watching something on television. Not that she was paying attention, too preoccupied with what had happened earlier. How could she be so stupid? Ugh, if her father was there, he would've lectured her for hours.
She had always been reckless, even as a child. One time, around seven years old, she had walked onto a busy road to save a duck and her ducklings. There was also the time her father had grounded her for months after climbing the fence of their neighbor's house to rescue a dog she insisted the owner was abusing.
She was right, but the dog acted viciously. It could've proved dangerous, but men only triggered the defensive mode. Lady had licked Bella's face weeks later after being cared for and placed with a loving young woman and her partner.
Edward asked if she had a hero complex out of anger in the meeting, in front of their superiors. She wondered if she did. It wasn't like her to walk away from a situation she could handle. Her safety was often shoved aside, but it wasn't something she could help. It stemmed from not being able to save her mother at age seven. She knew that much. Years in therapy had allowed her to come to terms with the car accident that claimed her. Bella's father remarried shortly after her twelve birthday and Sue helped raise her ever since.
Twice she had texted Edward asking if they could talk since being sent home, only to be left on read.
"Fuck him? Fuck that!" She got up from her couch, grumbling about men and stupid diets. "Is he really going to let one incident ruin what could be the best thing to happen to him?"
She stilled for a moment, surprised by the confidence. That would have to be explored later. Right then, she had to talk to Edward. Dressed in a cropped sweater and cut-off sweats, she grabbed her keys and headed to her door. He was probably still working. She was going to give him a piece of her mind, right after she apologized for the last time for putting her life at risk.
"Then again, that idiot must also have a hero complex," she surmised, talking to herself as she opened her apartment door.
"Yes, when you're concerned, I'll admit to that." Edward's hot as fuck gaze skimmed from her scuffed sneakers, up gorgeous calves, only to shake his head. As if doing so would erase the image from his mind.
"Uh," she gaped, blushing to the tips of her ears. "How long have you been out here?" Her head popped out enough to look down the halls and realized no one else was out there.
"Long enough to hear you curse and grab your keys right before you accused me of having a hero complex, too."
She tilted her head, leaning her shoulder against the doorjamb. Obviously, she wasn't about to let him in yet. "Do you have one?"
"If I see someone in need, yeah, I'll do what I can to help."
"So why is okay for you to do that and not me?"
Edward sighed, tugging one of her corkscrew curls that had come loose from her bun. "You weren't trying to save anyone. You were trying to save equipment. It pissed me off."
She sniffed, shrugging. "Look, I wasn't thinking about saving the company money at the moment. David was working on a grant all morning, and I was thinking about the foundation and all the donations that are in conference room five. I thought of all the work we'd have to do to catch up to meet deadlines, meaning that we'd all have to work over the holidays."
Edward leaned closer. "All I thought about was you and a twelve-foot-tall server in flames and you standing right in front of it. It scared me, Bella." His finger slipped out of her curl and slid along her jawline.
She nodded and stuck two fingers right down the front of his pants and tugged him inside her apartment. Enough with the teasing! She had to have a taste of him asap.
What diet?
AN: Unbetaed. Finally writing again, I need it to stick and become a habit. Too bad I can't seem to write at home. I'm working on an update for Incognito, The Letter, and Beauty Takes on the Beast. Hopefully, I'll get some more cafe writing time again.