Happy Saturday!
First of all, thank you for all the reviews and alerts. I'm loving the response to this story and I'm really stoked you're going on another journey with me.
Reminder on chapters: odd-numbered chapters are in EPOV, even-numbered ones are in BPOV.
Today we hear from Bella.
Usual disclaimer applies - I still don't own any of it. I just like to play with the characters ;-)
Team Momo wouldn't exist without Midnight Cougar and Alice's White Rabbit with their red pens, or without AGoodWitch, Driving Edward, Mel, Maplestyle, and Eternally Addicted who pre-read and tell me if I'm off my rocker or not.
Here we go, off with our weekly posting. Today we hear from Edward.
Chapter 5 - EPOV
"Do you mind that Alistair saw us leave together?" I asked Bella.
We'd just gotten into my car after walking out of the office hand in hand. I'd caught a few curious glances.
"No, I don't mind him knowing, but …" She trailed off, averting her gaze from me as I maneuvered out of my parking space in the firm's underground garage.
"We should talk to Rosalie. Make this official. It's the right thing to do."
"So soon?" she asked.
After her question, the sounds of traffic around us resonated over the bubble of silence inside my car.
That word again—soon.
"Can I ask why you feel it's too soon?"
Fortunately, I could drive the route to my condo in my sleep because I needed all my bandwidth for this conversation. I reached out for Bella's hand that lay on her knee, as if she were bracing herself for who knew what. When I laced my fingers with hers, she squeezed my hand and looked at me, a tentative smile on her beautiful face.
"What if … What if we don't last? What if this ends badly? We'll have gone public for something that exploded in our faces, and we'll have to work together every day, anyway."
She was scared—Emmett was right. What had she gone through in previous relationships? What would make such a smart, self-assured woman so tentative? What, or who, had done this to her?
"I can't predict the future, and I understand being cautious about us, Bella. I do. How about this? We can wait to file the paperwork with HR, if it's important to you, and we can talk more about it whenever you're ready."
Because we were stopped at an intersection, I saw her nod before I heard her answer. "Thank you for understanding. I'd like to talk more about it, too."
We drove the rest of the commute to my place between short spans of silence and random bits of conversation about life in the office. We were still laughing and chatting when I parked the car in my designated spot in the garage.
"Shall we?" I asked, opening her door.
She nodded and took my hand. We were building things brick by brick, but every time I'd asked, she'd said "yes" to me so far. I had to trust that in time, she'd tell me more "yeses" than "too soons."
"I've always been curious about your home, but I never allowed myself to indulge my curiosity," she said in a whisper while we waited at the elevator bank.
The two-tone bell announced an incoming car, and a few seconds later, the sliding doors opened with another chime. I led her into the elevator and pushed the button for my floor.
"That's a feeling I recognize very well. Being curious about your life outside the office, but believing I had no right to know. I'm glad you accepted my invitation tonight, Bella."
I wound my arm around her waist and pulled her closer. She laid her head on my chest with a deep sigh and exhale I felt on my skin. Her warm breath seeped through the thin material of my shirt. I dropped my briefcase to the floor and raised a hand to caress her cheek. She was so beautiful it made my heart soar. Her gaze wandered from my eyes to my lips. When she bit her lip, I lost it. I kissed her.
Any intent to keep it chaste because of where we were—there was a security camera in the elevator—went out the window when she gripped the lapel of my jacket and moaned into my mouth. I shut out anything that wasn't the feel of Bella's lips on mine, the taste of her on my tongue, and the sounds she made as she pulled on my hair.
Until the elevator dinged again.
How I loved her, and how I wanted her. Enough to obliterate my situational awareness.
She broke off the kiss first, clearing her throat as the doors opened to a fortunately empty landing.
"I forget myself when I'm with you," I whispered, with another chaste kiss to her forehead.
She blushed and answered me with a shy, delicious giggle.
We walked the few steps to my door hand in hand. I needed that connection to her like a lifeline.
I punched my code on the keypad, and when it beeped, I pushed open the door. "After you, my lady. Welcome to my humble abode."
I let Bella in and dumped my coat and briefcase by the hall bench. Then I offered my help with her coat.
"I didn't imagine your space would be so open. So light and airy." She was looking at the floor-to-ceiling wall of windows in my open-space kitchen slash living room. It was my favorite feature of the entire condo.
"I love that. I can sit on my couch at night and look out at the starry sky."
"Who knew, Counselor Cullen admires starry nights," she replied with a mischievous smile.
With one long stride, I approached her and looped my arm around her shoulders again. "I'm a romantic at heart. Don't you know that?"
"I'm beginning to learn. What are we eating tonight? I'm getting hungry."
Her eyes shone bright and playful as she spoke and something in her expression kindled a hope in me that her mention of hunger didn't only mean food.
I chuckled in response and pulled her behind me into the kitchen. "I'm not great in the kitchen, and I'm trying to eat healthier food, but I'm a tad lazy." I shrugged.
She hopped onto one of the barstools and motioned for me to continue. "All of that disclaimer, to say what?"
"That I have a meal-kit subscription. Makes my life easier. Any objections?"
She shook her head. "Nope. I'm not allergic to anything, in case you're wondering. But I do have a pointed dislike for liver, well-done meat, beets, and artichokes."
"Duly noted, ma'am." I moved to open the fridge and looked through our options. "The choices are: cedar plank salmon, asparagus, and rice; ricotta ravioli with zucchini and lemon sauce; or meatloaf with potato wedges and steamed broccoli. What's it going to be?"
She drummed her fingers on the table for a second. "I haven't had meatloaf in ages."
"Let's go for it then."
I took the two trays out of the fridge and grabbed my trusty kitchen apron. Bella's giggles stopped me in my tracks.
"No matter how much I fantasized about you, the image of you in a frilly apron didn't even dawn on me, Edward."
"Well, blame my mother. She got this for me."
"Wait a minute; that's why it looks familiar! Em has a similar one."
I nodded. "Yep."
"Is it weird for you? That Emmett and I are friends, I mean?" she asked, coming closer to me. She leaned against the counter to my side and gestured to the food. "Can I help?"
"No. Yes," I answered playfully. "Here, you can be my instruction reader." I pushed the recipe card toward her. "Why don't you take a seat, and I'll pour us some drinks. We can talk while I cook."
I listed the drinks I had on hand. After she made her choice, I prepared two glasses with sparkling water with lemon slices and passed her one of them. I let my fingers linger on hers when she grasped the glass—a cliché move, but I couldn't help myself.
She resumed her seat on the barstool and started reading the instructions back to me. "Is that all the answer I'm going to get on my first question?"
I chuckled. She got me there. "About my brother knowing more about you than I do? Fair question. I always felt a little jealous, and a little excluded, that he did."
"You know you'd have been welcome to join us at any time, right?"
My expression turned somber at the thought of all the invitations Emmett had flung my way over the years. All invitations I'd steadfastly refused.
"I know. Now I think of all the time I've wasted being a stubborn idiot when we could've—"
"Stop. Right there. Can we trash all the coulda, woulda, shoulda, and forget about them? We're here now; that's what matters."
"I can't argue with that, darling. So, what am I supposed to do with these potato wedges?"
She pointed to a couple condiment pouches I'd set aside. "Toss them with the spice mix over there. Then they go on the cookie sheet with the meatloaf slices."
"Thank you." I followed her instructions, then checked the oven. "This is going to be ready in about five to ten minutes. The broccoli?"
"You can steam it while the rest is in the oven. No sweat."
"To go back to Emmett and all that. Fair enough. No recriminations about the past."
"Will you accept his invitations now?" she asked with another of her glorious smiles.
"I won't refuse them. But I'll talk about it with you first. How's that?"
She nodded and grew pensive, her gaze lost in whatever thoughts she was contemplating. "I know you must have questions. It's fair of me to answer them and be honest with you about my past."
Forgetting all about broccoli and meatloaf, I grasped her hand in mine. "We'll talk about it after dinner. At your pace. This isn't an interrogation, Bella. We're having a conversation."
With another curt nod, she finished her glass of water. I noticed she'd let go of my hand. For a few minutes, I busied myself with kitchen tasks and replenished our drinks.
When the oven's two-tone chime alerted me it had reached baking temperature, I slid the sheet pan with our meatloaf and potatoes inside and set the timer. After that, I dumped the broccoli florets in a microwave steamer bowl and started those, too. Then, I discarded my apron and sat beside Bella.
I bumped her shoulder with mine, and she leaned her head on my shoulder. "I'd hoped we could continue to have a conversation. Did I say anything wrong?"
"No."
When I grumbled at her hasty reply, she sat up straighter. "No, you didn't. I promise. But it got me thinking."
"Whatever you choose to tell me will be at your pace. Don't feel you're obligated to share things with me just because we're together. Your independence … it's one of the things that endeared you to me. One of the things about you I admire. But, on the other hand, I want you to know this: I'm in this relationship one hundred percent, Bella. Nothing will implode in our faces, because I promise you that I won't let it."
These two are getting closer and they have a lot of stuff to figure out.
They'll keep figuring it out over meatloaf next Saturday.
An update on this and on other stories that are cooking up. I'm not yet done writing this story, but I'm closer to it. So far I'm on chapter 31 and I'm estimating it might end up having 40 chapters give or take. I may switch to more frequent posting once it's all done and edited but I can't promise that right now. It depends on how the writing goes.
Speaking of which, I'm also working on another story, Dreams Unwind, which is a RockerWard story and will debut later this year. When? When I'm close to being done writing it. I don't want to leave people hanging ever again, so my practice going forward will be to post when I know I can ensure regular updates. I have 24 chapters in the can for RockerWard and I've mapped the rest of the story out. Now I just gotta write the darn thing!
For info and teasers, please consider joining my FB group, LaMomo's Lair (just type the name in the search bar).
Let me know what you think, and I'll see y'all next week!