Edward's assistant Dwayne is an early riser, which would be fine with me, except he keeps time with Edward, and he gets up with the East Coast. So, when I get a phone call, waking me up at seven in the morning on Saturday from the bubbly assistant asking whether I want to get breakfast and then do some Halloween shopping, it takes me more than a few minutes to figure out what the hell is going on.
I agree and give Dwayne my address but tell him he can't come by until nine. I suck down three cups of coffee between taking a shower and dressing for the day. I also pack a small overnight bag because if I can manage it, I'll stay the night. When Dwayne finally comes to collect me, I see him eyeing my bag, but he doesn't say a word.
Dwayne greets me with my favorite coffee and a bag of fancy pastries. "You told me we were going to breakfast," I say with a grin as I pull out a chocolate croissant.
"We were, but there's an estate sale I want to go take a look at. I always find great props for my haunted houses at estate sales." He peels away from the curb at a neck-breaking speed. I'm a terrible passenger, even with good drivers, but Dwayne has me grabbing the "oh shit" handle and hanging on for dear life.
"Are you a 'drive it like you stole it' kind of person?" I ask when we reach a stoplight, my heart thudding in my chest.
"Oh, I don't have a driver's license," he says so nonchalantly.
"Pull over. Now!" I'm screaming at Dwayne, and he pulls over in a fire lane as I try not to hyperventilate. "Out."
I climb out of the passenger side and run around the hood to climb in his seat. He stares at me for a moment before climbing in the seat I just vacated. He buckles in after I do, and before I pull away from the curb, I call Edward. I don't care if he's busy; I need to address this.
"Baby? What's going on?"
"You put me in the path of a mad man." I proceed to tell him that Dwayne drives like a maniac and doesn't have a driver's license when Edward chuckles.
"Am I on speaker phone?"
"Yes? What's so funny?" I ask, looking over to my new passenger princess.
"Dwayne, I warned you about this, dude. You better apologize." Edward's tone is kind but has a warning lilt to it.
I look over to my right where Dwayne looks sheepish at best. "The other girls never called me out or said anything to Edward. I wanted to see if you would." He shrugs as I sigh.
"I told you she wasn't to be tested."
"I'll kick both your asses when you least expect it." I tell Edward I'll talk to him later and hang up. Turning to Dwayne, I point my finger in his face. "Never again."
Once we reach the address and make our way inside, I whisper to Dwayne, asking what I should be looking for. He explains that this year he's doing a Dead Sea theme, so if I see any trunks or anything that looks like it might have survived a shipwreck, I should point it out.
As we walk through this house and make small talk, I finally ask the question that's been on my mind since the car ride over. "So, you knew about the other babies?"
He stops examining a ship in a bottle to look over at me. "I did. I know about you too, but it's not my place to judge, nor do I really care. Everyone is allowed to live their life how they like."
"Did Edward tell you that I didn't even know that I'd signed up for a Sugar Daddy app?" I take the bottle for him, taking a look for myself.
"Edward and I don't talk a lot about his personal life. I know enough to not stick my foot in my mouth and help him plan things; but yes, he did tell me." Dwayne moves to another table, this one covered with old photos.
Following him, I step closer. "What do you know about Jane and Lauren?"
"The angel and the she-witch?" Dwayne smirks as I laugh loudly in the quiet space. "Jane was an absolute doll baby. And I mean, baby as in she was just young. She'd had a bit of a rough go at things, and Edward helped her through college. She got a great job offer on the East Coast. She was sweet and kind. She fell for him really fast."
Cringing, I turn away to avoid his gaze. "And Lauren? What was she like?"
Dwayne snorts. "Well, she was the first, and she was ruthless. I think ambition is a good thing, but she had an unhealthy relationship with ambition and overachieving. She wanted a job at the magazine, and Edward refused. His girls don't work there, and he won't date any of his employees."
"It's a good rule." Fingering some old photos, I look back at Dwayne, imploring him to continue.
"It really is. He's not an idiot, but sometimes, he can't see what's right in front of him. Edward hooked Lauren up with another magazine, and within a year, she'd moved herself up the ranks. When she began canceling on Edward, he broke things off with her." He pauses on his way to another corner of the room. "Actually, she moved to the East Coast too. We never heard from her though."
I think about the implications of two very different women and how I hope I fall somewhere in between. I really like Edward, and it's difficult to imagine him in a similar situation with other women. Dwayne sidles up to me and leans down to whisper in my ear. "Do not compare yourself to them; you're special."
"How do you know that? You barely know me." I nudge him lightly, but he just laughs.
"I never wanted to spend time with Lauren or Jane one on one." He sighs. "And you aren't pumping me for information about Edward."
"I can just ask him myself." Shrugging, I walk through a set of French doors onto a back terrace before calling for Dwayne. "You're gonna want to see this."
He comes rushing out to see the treasure I found. A beautiful trunk with a rounded top is standing before us, and Dwayne gasps with joy. "I told you."
He smirks and checks for a price and the condition. "It's perfect. I need it."
"Is there room in your car?" I ask before he scurries off to find the agent.
"I'll call you an Uber!"
An hour later, we've loaded our spoils into the cargo hold of Dwayne's crossover, and he makes the trek to Edward's house. I tell him that I'm a little anxious about being there without him, and he tells me not to worry. "Is that because Lauren and Jane used to spend time there?"
"No, they actually never visited the house," he tells me with a shrug. "I think that's why you shouldn't worry. If he didn't want you there, Edward wouldn't have made this happen."
"Right; you're right," I say, shaking my head. It still feels weird.
As we navigate the streets, I see the familiar area and comment that we're super close to Rose and Em's house. "Did you not know that?"
"I guess not." I shrug. "I assumed Edward had a house on the coast or out on Mercer Island."
Dwayne laughs. "He has a house on Mercer Island. I'll be doing the big decorations out there. This is his place in the city; he spends ninety percent of his time here." He pulls into a garage in an alley in a residential area near Ella Bailey Park. It's less than five miles from where I live.
We leave the big pieces in the car, and I follow Dwayne inside where he gives me the dime tour. "The fridge is stocked. The password for the Wi-Fi is on the modem and in the desk drawer here." He shows me where the slip of paper is hidden. "Edward said you might have work to do."
"I actually do. This is lovely." I look around the room and see muted, neutral tones in the fabrics and paint. The desk is whitewashed oak with a plush, oversized armchair in a beige tweed. The windows offer plenty of natural light, but there is a desk lamp and overhead lighting.
A small couch in white leather is against the wall with a TV mounted across from it and a low coffee table on top of an area rug. A vase of lilies sits on the coffee table. Dwayne tells me he needs to get out to the island before traffic picks up.
"Is there anything I shouldn't do?" Biting my thumbnail, I look to Dwayne for some kind of guidance. Edward is golfing and probably won't be back for another couple of hours.
"Don't do anything you wouldn't want someone doing in your home." He smiles, kisses my cheek quickly, and disappears through the garage, leaving me alone in Edward's home.
I set up my laptop and iPad in the small office that Dwayne showed me before taking my bag to Edward's room. His room is washed in various shades of blues and grays. The king size bed has a white duvet with flecks of blue scattered across it. There's an antique dresser on one wall with matching reproduction nightstands on either side of the bed.
Blue, gray, and white accented decorations sit on surfaces around the room. On the wall across from the bed is a large flat screen mounted over a fireplace. Tucked into the corner is the bathroom with a steam shower, soaking tub, and a huge counter with dual sinks. Just past that is the walk-in closet. It doesn't escape my notice that half of everything in his bedroom is empty; half of the closet, the bathroom counter, one of the nightstands.
I have to take Dwayne's word that the other women were never here. But I don't hang up my clothes or put my toothbrush out. I don't want to overstep any boundaries. I'm not planning to stay if Edward doesn't want me here. I head back down to the kitchen to make a sandwich and grab a drink before getting to work.
A few hours pass as I check in on the progress for Crowley's website and draft some posts for the week. I make arrangements to come to film some of the bartenders for a series on TikTok featuring them. By the time I'm wrapping up and completing an email to Tyler, I hear the back door open downstairs.
"Bella? Are you here?" Edward's voice calls out for me, and I get excited.
I race down the stairs, barefoot with my hair in a messy bun and a wide smile on my face. As I come down the stairs and into the kitchen, Edward stops in his tracks to stare at me. "What? What's wrong?" I start looking over myself, brushing my hands over my hair and clothes.
He smiles. "Nothing. I'm just really happy to see you in my home."
Sighing, I walk over and press a kiss to his lips. "How was the golf tournament? You look like you got some sun." Brushing my hands over his cheeks, he shrugs.
"I'm not a great golfer, but I can hold my own. The kids made out in the end, and that's all that matters." He pulls me into his arms, and I can smell his sweat mixed with cologne.
"You, my friend, need a shower." Pulling away, I wrinkle my nose. "You need to wash the sun off, hydrate, and eat something. What would you like for dinner?"
Edward smiles devilishly. "You."
Laughing, I drag him upstairs. "You can have me for dessert." I walk him into his bedroom and sit on the bed while he strips, placing his clothes in the hamper in the closet. When he wiggles his eyebrows at me, I roll my eyes but join him in the bathroom, climbing up on the counter as he gets into the shower.
"What would you like for dinner?" I have a full-on show as he washes himself behind clear glass doors.
"We can go out, if you want," Edward offers, shampooing his hair. "Or order something in."
"Or, I can see what's in the fridge and cook something." I smile when he turns to look at me. "I am fairly capable."
Edward turns off the shower, so I grab a towel for him as he steps out. "I only want you to cook if you want to. I'm also perfectly capable of cooking." I watch as he dries himself off, wrapping the towel around his waist. "Do I need some aloe?"
"Only if you want to keep that farmer's tan going." I laugh, and he tells me it's in the fridge. "Get dressed and meet me down there. We'll work together."
Over a dinner thrown together of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans, Edward asks how I liked hanging out with Dwayne and if I got any work done. When I tell him I did on both counts, he smiles. "And how much snooping did you do?"
Laughing, I set my fork down. "I really only took in your bedroom, but I didn't look in any drawers." He winks at me, letting me know he doesn't care. "But, I do have a question."
"Shoot."
"You never let Jane or Lauren here? Why?" I watch as he sets his fork down carefully, wiping his mouth on his napkin before answering.
"I didn't trust them here; with me or without. I didn't trust that Lauren wouldn't go into my office and look for ways to usurp me or take ideas to a competitor; that's why I got her a job at another magazine." He looks so serious and a little sad.
"And Jane?"
Edward sighs. "To be fair, Jane was here once. I left her alone for about an hour or so, and she snooped through everything she could get her hands on to try to figure me out better. She was so eager to please me that she didn't take into account that I still wanted her to be her own person."
"She made herself into someone she wasn't." I nod, and Edward agrees.
"That wasn't who I liked initially. So, when she got through school, I began sending her resume out, and when she got the job offer, I encouraged her to take it." I study Edward's face, searching for any amount of guilt.
"You don't really feel bad about that, do you? I'm not saying you should, but it makes me wonder what you'll do to me if you don't end up liking me." I pick up my fork, trying to go casually back to my meal.
"Bella." Edward reaches over to rest his hand on my thigh. "I have zero intentions of sending you away. You are your own person who has a different view for her life than I do. You've shown little to no interest in the magazine, except support for me. And while our relationship is still new, you're not trying to change your entire personality for me."
"I don't think I could, even if you wanted me to." Smiling, I lean over to press a kiss to his cheek.
"Good." He chuckles. "I like you just the way you are."
We finish dinner with talk of the coming weeks, and Edward and I are both hyperaware that he won't even have time for me to stop by his office to see him. I tell him about my plans for the bar, and he promises the first night he has free he'll come by to check the place out. We do the dishes side by side and clean the kitchen together. It's a wonderfully relaxed domestic scene that I've never really enjoyed with anyone.
It's still kind of early, so Edward offers to draw us a bath, and I can't resist. As he draws the bath, I undress before walking into the bathroom. I find Edward has lit the dozen or so candles that are set about the counters, making me smile. He's already undressed and offers a hand to help me into the tub. Shutting off the water, he climbs in behind me, wrapping his arms around as we settle in.
"Can I ask you a question?" he murmurs into my ear, and I nod. "Why didn't you unpack your stuff?"
"I didn't want to assume anything." Craning my neck to look in his eyes, I shrug. "We just talked about how busy we're going to be for the next couple of weeks."
"All the more reason you should be here more; even if it means we're just sleeping in the same space. I want you here." He presses an awkward kiss to my lips.
"I'll consider it." I feel him laugh behind me.
"Fair enough."