EPOV
I was still gaping, and Bella was giggling beside me. She couldn’t be serious that I was responsible for the Romance section. I would rather have any other section than this one.
“This is my section?” I said, incredulously.
“Yes,” she said in between laughs. If her giggles hadn’t been so cute, I would have seriously been annoyed.
“You can’t be serious,” I told her, moving my head to look at her. She had a ridiculous smile on her face. Obviously my discomfort entertained her, and surprisingly, it didn’t’’ bother me so much. In fact, I rather liked that I was the reason for the grin on her face.
“I am completely serious Edward,” she said, still smiling. Gosh, the way she said my name, it was beautiful. I almost forgot about the ridiculous situation I was currently in.
“Wouldn’t I be better in something like Sci-Fi or maybe travel?” Fuck , I would even take the children section if I had to, I thought to myself. Surely romance was no place for me, I had never even read the stuff before.
“No, I definitely think romance is the place for you.”
I frowned. “Are you trying to torture me?” I asked, and then I regretted speaking to her like that. It was rude. I felt my face flush for the millionth time today.
I thought she was going to chastise me for speaking to her like that but her face was relaxed, her eyes friendly.
“I’m not trying to torture you. Well, not much,” she said, and I quirked my eyebrow at her. She smirked at my expression.
“All the newbies start in romance. Sort of a right of passage type thing. It’s mostly because this section is pretty dead most of the time, except for the odd horny housewife, and they usually are too embarrassed to ask for help anyway, so most of the time you are just doing stock or helping around in other places in the store. Then of course, it’s just fun to put new people, especially guys, in this section.” She smiled up at me.
“So it’s like a initiation thing,” I mused.
“Sort of.”
“Well, I guess I better get to it then.” I sighed, walking into what is surely the seventh level of Hell, shaking my head all the while.
“Edward,” she called, and I turned to face her again. She seemed shy for the first time since I met her, looking down and blushing. It was like she didn’t want to go.
“Yeah?” I said, again being the eloquent person that I am.
She came closer to me and touched my arm, sending the same sparks into my arm as when she touched my hand before.
“You’ll do fine, don’t worry.” She smiled, looking up to meet her brown eyes with mine. I couldn’t help it. I smiled in response. I heard her take a big intake of breath and she let go of my shoulder.
“I’ll check on you later,” she said, turning , and I bent to grab books from the bottom of the trolley to add to the shelf, as Montana Daydreams was seriously out of stock. I rolled my eyes at the cover. It had this guy who was wearing a cowboy hat and jeans, nothing else, standing in what looked like a barn. Did women seriously read this stuff?
I sighed and shook my head, deciding not to think about the cowboy from Montana. A movement caught my eye in peripheral vision, and I looked sideways to see Bella looking quite explicitly at my ass. I tried not to let out a laugh, but a low chuckle snuck through my lips and gave me away. I saw Bella blush deeply and scurry away, embarrassed that I caught her staring.
Maybe this job won’t be so bad after all, I mused with huge smile plastered on my face, and went back to work.
I was still gaping, and Bella was giggling beside me. She couldn’t be serious that I was responsible for the Romance section. I would rather have any other section than this one.
“This is my section?” I said, incredulously.
“Yes,” she said in between laughs. If her giggles hadn’t been so cute, I would have seriously been annoyed.
“You can’t be serious,” I told her, moving my head to look at her. She had a ridiculous smile on her face. Obviously my discomfort entertained her, and surprisingly, it didn’t’’ bother me so much. In fact, I rather liked that I was the reason for the grin on her face.
“I am completely serious Edward,” she said, still smiling. Gosh, the way she said my name, it was beautiful. I almost forgot about the ridiculous situation I was currently in.
“Wouldn’t I be better in something like Sci-Fi or maybe travel?” Fuck , I would even take the children section if I had to, I thought to myself. Surely romance was no place for me, I had never even read the stuff before.
“No, I definitely think romance is the place for you.”
I frowned. “Are you trying to torture me?” I asked, and then I regretted speaking to her like that. It was rude. I felt my face flush for the millionth time today.
I thought she was going to chastise me for speaking to her like that but her face was relaxed, her eyes friendly.
“I’m not trying to torture you. Well, not much,” she said, and I quirked my eyebrow at her. She smirked at my expression.
“All the newbies start in romance. Sort of a right of passage type thing. It’s mostly because this section is pretty dead most of the time, except for the odd horny housewife, and they usually are too embarrassed to ask for help anyway, so most of the time you are just doing stock or helping around in other places in the store. Then of course, it’s just fun to put new people, especially guys, in this section.” She smiled up at me.
“So it’s like a initiation thing,” I mused.
“Sort of.”
“Well, I guess I better get to it then.” I sighed, walking into what is surely the seventh level of Hell, shaking my head all the while.
“Edward,” she called, and I turned to face her again. She seemed shy for the first time since I met her, looking down and blushing. It was like she didn’t want to go.
“Yeah?” I said, again being the eloquent person that I am.
She came closer to me and touched my arm, sending the same sparks into my arm as when she touched my hand before.
“You’ll do fine, don’t worry.” She smiled, looking up to meet her brown eyes with mine. I couldn’t help it. I smiled in response. I heard her take a big intake of breath and she let go of my shoulder.
“I’ll check on you later,” she said, turning , and I bent to grab books from the bottom of the trolley to add to the shelf, as Montana Daydreams was seriously out of stock. I rolled my eyes at the cover. It had this guy who was wearing a cowboy hat and jeans, nothing else, standing in what looked like a barn. Did women seriously read this stuff?
I sighed and shook my head, deciding not to think about the cowboy from Montana. A movement caught my eye in peripheral vision, and I looked sideways to see Bella looking quite explicitly at my ass. I tried not to let out a laugh, but a low chuckle snuck through my lips and gave me away. I saw Bella blush deeply and scurry away, embarrassed that I caught her staring.
Maybe this job won’t be so bad after all, I mused with huge smile plastered on my face, and went back to work.
*****
It didn’t take me long to finish restocking. In fact, I was done before 10, giving me ample time to do other things. Not that there was really much to do anyway, the store was pretty dead. I hadn’t seen one customer in my section, and it was already noon. I walked up and down the aisles for a while, partially because I was bored, and partially because I was hoping to see Bella again. I didn’t, so the pacing got old fast.
I decided to read since I had a plethora of books in front of me, although I wasn’t too excited to having to pick from the romance novels in front of me. I tried to look for the least cheesy, most masculine one, which was really a lost cause from the start, and settled on a historical one, Officer at Sea, hoping maybe it had pirates or at least a battle in it. Not that I need that in all my reading choices, but I really didn’t think I would intellectually stimulated by this particular genre. I sighed and went to lean against a bookcase, opening up to the first page.
It was all pretty cheesy, and horribly predictable and I fought to get past the few couple pages. The main character being a wealthy upper class woman in nineteenth century England who was widowed by her poor husband a year before. She meets a navel officer at the market, and they start a passionate love affair only a few chapters into the book, the officer having his way with her in various different situations and locals.
By the fifth chapter, it was getting particularly dirty, and I found myself getting into what was basically porn without pictures, becoming entranced with the idea of “heaving bosoms” and quick fucking in an alleyway. It probably didn’t help that I was picturing Bella in all these situations, and it made my dick twitch. Jesus, Cullen. You’ve known her all of a couple hours, get a hold of yourself!
“That’s not a bad one.” Bella said, jolting me out of my reverie and scaring the shit out of me.
“Bah!” I yelled, rocketing the book out of my hands nearly missing Bella’s head by inches as she ducked out of the way.
“I’m sorry. Did I scare you?” Bella asked, a smile hinting at her lips.
“A little bit.” I said, embarrassed, knowing that right now I was probably turning tomato red.
She smiled at my blush, and it was sweet, not in a mocking way, it was more that she liked seeing me blush, maybe as much as I liked hers. I really liked the idea of that.
“You’ve read this?” I asked incredulously, after picking up the book that had landed by Bella’s feet. I thought this would be a little past her by now.
“Sure.” She shrugged. “We all start in Romance, remember? This one is one of the better ones, though that’s not saying much. There are only a few real good ones in here.”
“Really?” I couldn’t fathom any of these being good, well other than good for turning someone on. She nodded and moved down a few shelves on the aisle, picking up a book from the middle shelf and handing it to me.
“This one is pretty good, it actually has a plot that doesn’t just revolve around sex, and the dialogue is pretty witty and well written. I actually don’t think it belongs here, it would fit better in the fiction section. Though, they will never move it because it has too much sex in it apparently. It’s ridiculous. I mean, what’s wrong with sex,? she said to me casually.
“You make it sound like sex isn’t a big deal,” I replied.
“It isn’t.” She said, then quirking her eyebrow at me. “Do you think it is?”
Whoa, this was going a way different direction then I thought it was. First we were casually talking about books, and now we had moved onto our views on sex. Oh Boy.
“ I think it can be,” I said, not really thinking about what I was saying. “Yeah, you can do the meaningless fuck, but I really think it can be so much better with someone you care about.”
“Are you telling me you have only slept with people you cared about? Never a one night stand,? she scoffed.
“Never.” I answered.
“I don’t believe you, Cullen.”
“It’s true. I have only been with women I care about deeply,” I said, frowning. She probably thought I was some man whore. I didn’t let her know that when I said “women”, it was only one woman, but that was neither here nor there.
She looked at me and something in my face must have shown her I was telling the truth, because her face become soft again.
“You’re not what I expected,” she said, looking shy again, biting her lip. God, was that sexy.
“You told me that already,” I teased.
“I mean about everything. You continue to surprise me,” she said, blushing.
“Is that a good thing?” I asked, flirting a bit.
She looked surprised, like a deer in the headlights, her eyes widening significantly.
“Maybe,” she said, and quickly looked away. I was going to push the subject more, but decided not to, since I had already been pretty ballsy with this girl enough today.
“So, since you have made it abundantly clear that romance is not your favourite genre, what kind of books do you like, Cullen?” Bella said, still averting her eyes from me.
“Hmmm,” I sighed. “I guess I don’t have a particular favourite. I like the classics, autobiographies, quite a bit of fiction. I don’t have a lot of my books here, but I have a lot more in my parent’s library…” I trailed off as I saw she was gaping at me now.
“What?”
“Your parents have a library?” Bella asked, her eyes bugging out of her head. I almost laughed at her expression.
“Well, its not like a real library, it’s just one room in our house,” I said, a little confused at her reaction.
“Like in The Beauty and the Beast? With one of those rolling ladder thingies?” Bella was completely amazed at this tidbit of information I had given her, and the comparison made me laugh out loud.
“It’s not that big,” I said chuckling. “But we do have one of the ‘ladder thingies’”, I said, and Bella went to smack me but I dodged out of the way.
“Not a good idea to be snarky to your supervisor.”
“I’m sorry, I just couldn’t resist.” I said, smiling. “Did I surprise you again, Miss Swan?”
She rolled her eyes but there was a smile playing on her lips.
“Always, Cullen.” She smiled and left me without another word, assuming it meant it was time to go back to work.
The rest of my shift went by pretty fast. I only needed to help one woman trying to find this obscure Harlequin novel, and that had only take a few minutes, tops. The rest of the time I mostly paced around the section thinking about Bella. Hoping she would pop in and surprise me again. Bella intrigued me, she seemed to be a barrel of contradictions. She seemed strong and independent, but there were little clues that she wasn’t as sure of herself as she seemed. Like her blush and slight nervousness. Her comment on sex surprised me just as much as mine had surprised her; it was like our roles were reversed. I wanted to know why she felt that way, and I really wanted to get inside her head.
Okay, and maybe her pants. I was pretty fucking attracted to Bella, I knew that from the first time I saw her. I was pretty sure she was attracted to me too, I just didn’t know how much. She seemed to like my desperate attempts at flirting, but she would always hold back after I did, therefore making me pretty confused at the time.
Bella didn’t show up again for the rest of my shift and I worried that I had put her off, but then pushed that out my head. She probably was just busy, I thought rationally to myself, and went to punch out in the employee break room, hoping that Betty had punched me in since I never did. It surprised me to find Bella there punching out right in front of me. She gave me a smile and moved out of the way.
“So how was the rest of your shift?”, she asked, leaning against the doorframe.
“Not bad, not really much to do.” I replied.
“Yeah, Romance can get like that. Once they move you to another section, you’ll get busier,” Bella said, looking down at her shoes.
I really didn’t know what to say. It was weird, today we talked easily, like we had known each other years, not a few hours, but now it was painfully awkward. I cursed myself again for being too flirty with her.
“Want me to walk you out?”, I blurted, not really thinking. I really thought she would object, or even laugh at me, but she didn‘t. She smiled and told me that she would like that.
We walked to the front of the store in silence. I was aching to touch her the whole time, to feel the electricity again; but I didn’t, since that would be a highly inappropriate thing to do with the supervisor I just met this morning.
Bella would glance up at me once in a while, all shy again, and I smiled because I loved that she could go from calm and cool in one moment, to bashful and awkward in the next. Bella’s cheeks reddened when she caught me smiling at her.
Once we got outside the store, she turned to me, I was guessing to say goodbye. I knew I didn’t want to, but I didn’t know what to say.
“Uh, so where do you live? I could walk you back home if you’d like?”, I said as I pulled my hands through my hair. I always did that when I was nervous.
“Ummm,” she said, pulling her hands through her hair as well, mimicking my exact movements from a second earlier. For some reason, my heart did flips over this.
“Just over on 23rd, I take the subway usually. Where do you live?” , Bella replied, giving me the hint that it wasn’t necessary to walk her home.
“Just a few blocks away actually.” I said, shuffling my feet.
“Hey, Edward,” Bella spoke after a few awkward seconds.
“Yeah?” I looked up from my feet to see her looking at me again, though her face looked conflicted.
“Why don’t I give you my cell number so you can call me if you have any questions, or something,” she said quickly, the words coming out in a rush.
Bella was going to give me her phone number, without me even asking for it? Inside my head I was doing the happy dance.
I was so surprised that I just muttered out a “sure,” and handed her my iPhone so she could punch in her number.
“There,” she said with a smile and moved to give the phone back to me. Our hands grazed for a fraction of a second, and I felt the electrical spark once again. It was heavenly.
“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, Edward,” she told me as she turned to go to the subway entrance that was a short distance away.
“I’ll see you, Bella,” I said, hoping that she didn’t notice my voice wrapped around her name like a caress, and turned the opposite direction.
Once I had turned the corner and couldn’t see her anymore, I sent her a quick text.
Just letting you know that this is me, and not some other random guy sending you a bunch of texts. - Edward
She replied almost instantly and I could feel the huge grin on my face.
Does that mean you’re planning on sending me a lot texts? -B.
I decided that flirting over text was way easier than in real life, so I played with her some more.
Maybe. Would you like me to send you a lot? - E.
Will they be work related? - B.
Shit, I didn’t know whether to lie or tell the truth. The truth could scare her away, or she could get my ass for harassment. I decided to go with the truth because really, how much could I talk to her about stocking methods?
Not really, no. - E. I typed in, holding my breath. It took her a few minutes to respond, but she did.
Then I would, yes. : ) -B. was all she replied, and I almost walked into a lamp post as I was beaming down at my phone and not looking where I was going. A man in a business suit walking past me laughed, and if I wasn’t in such a good mood, I would have flipped him off. But I just brushed it off and kept walking.
I had never felt this way about a girl before. Bella had in one day made me a giddy, flirtatious fool, and I was so attuned to her it was crazy. I noticed every move or emotion that flitted across her face. It was like I could read her thoughts just in her face, her emotions were so clear on it. I knew I was becoming increasingly infatuated with Bella, but I really didn’t care.
I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, and hoped it was a text from Bella, but frowned once I saw that it wasn’t.
“Hello Alice.”
“You could sound a little more enthusiastic when you talk to your favourite sister.”
“You’re my only sister,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Don’t you roll your eyes at me, Edward Cullen!” I had to laugh then. It was crazy how well she knew me. We were only a year apart, so Alice and I had always been closer than Emmett and I would ever be. I loved my sister to death but sometimes, she could annoy the hell out of me.
“I’m sorry. What’s up Alice?” I tried to say with genuine interest now.
“Oh well, the same old. Mom and Dad are packing for their grand European vacation, and I am still mad about them not taking me with them. I mean, they know how much I love Paris!”, she whined. My sister was probably the most fashion conscious person I had ever met and was even majoring in fashion design out at a school on the west coast.
“Did you ever think there was a reason for them not taking you? Like them maybe wanting some, err, alone time?” I told her, allowing for a frightening mental image of my parents in my head. I think I visibly cringed.
“EWWW! EDWARD!” Alice yelled, causing me to pull my phone away from my ear.
“Don’t EVER put that thought in my head again,” she fumed at a slightly lower sound level.
“Is there a reason why you called, or did you just want to complain about you not going with mom and dad?” I said, coming out meaner then I intended. “It’s not that I don’t like hearing from you, I’ve just had a long day at work,” I quickly added, hoping I didn’t hurt her feelings.
“Well I called because I missed you, and I was thinking of coming to the city to visit for a few days, and stay at your place, if that’s all right?”
“Sure, Alice. I missed your little pixie head as well. When were you thinking of coming?”
Alice seemed to be contemplating or flipping through her daybook, so it took her a few moments to respond. I had already gotten to my apartment building, and I was letting myself in when she finally responded.
“Sorry, I got an email that I had to answer. I would probably be coming down around the end of the month, that okay?” She paused. “Wait. You said earlier that you had a hard day at work? Since when do you have a job?”, she scoffed incredulously.
“Since today.” I said, a little hurt.
“Where the hell do you work?”
“Promise not to laugh?” I said, unlocking my door and flopping down on my couch.
“Why would I laugh? Oh God Edward, you’re not working at Chippendales are you?
“What?” I almost yelled. “ Do you really think I would get a job at Chippendales? I said, horrified at even the thought.
“Well you told me not to laugh…” She trailed off, and I rolled my eyes, not caring if she knew.
“No, nothing like Chippendales. I work at Books and Things.”
She didn’t laugh, but she did snort. “Books and Things? Oh God Edward, I need to see you in that uniform. It will provide me endless hours of entertainment!”, she squealed.
“Yeah, that won’t be happening.” I said, knowing that once Alice had seen it, she would tell Emmett, and then I would never live it down.
“Please?”, she pleaded.
“Nope.”
“Fine! I‘ll just have to catch you with it on when I’m there, won’t I?“, she challenged.
“We will see about that,” I warned.
“So, how was work then Edward?”, she sighed, defeated for now.
“It was…interesting,” I said.
“Interesting?”, she wondered. “ Oh my gosh, you met a girl, didn’t you?”
Holy shit she was good. “What? No. Why would you think that?” I didn’t sound very convincing.
“You are so transparent sometimes, Edward. I can simply tell by your voice, you sound giddy. I’ve only heard you sound like that with Tan..”
“Don’t say it,” I said cutting her off.
“Jesus, Edward. It’s been almost three years. You need to get over it.”
“I am over it.” And I was, it just still fucking hurt to hear the name of the girl who basically stomped on my heart and fed it to the wolves.
“Whatever,” Alice said, unconvinced. “So, who is she?”, she questioned. I let out a deep sigh, and then told her about Bella, noticing that I told her details that I probably wouldn’t tell anyone else.
It felt like I had been talking forever, when Alice finally interrupted me.
“Wait, wait, wait. You met her today?” Alice asked.
“Uh, yeah. At work.” I thought that was blatantly obvious in the conversation.
I could hear Alice’s chiming laugh in my ear.
“Oh man, you’ve got it bad, don’t you?” I could tell that she was smiling into the phone now.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied. Damn Alice and her knowing me so well.
“Sure you don’t.”
“Listen Alice, I would really like to stay and chat, but I need to take a shower and not talk about my love life.”
“Ah, so you admit this has to do with your love life.” Damn little pixie.
“Goodbye Alice,” I said before hanging up the phone. She would be mad, but she’d get over it.
I decided to forgo the shower for now and just went to change into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt since it was pretty bloody hot in my apartment, and sat down to watch t.v.
I was tired from my early start today, and fell asleep halfway through the 6 o’clock news, visions of Bella filling my mind.
It didn’t take me long to finish restocking. In fact, I was done before 10, giving me ample time to do other things. Not that there was really much to do anyway, the store was pretty dead. I hadn’t seen one customer in my section, and it was already noon. I walked up and down the aisles for a while, partially because I was bored, and partially because I was hoping to see Bella again. I didn’t, so the pacing got old fast.
I decided to read since I had a plethora of books in front of me, although I wasn’t too excited to having to pick from the romance novels in front of me. I tried to look for the least cheesy, most masculine one, which was really a lost cause from the start, and settled on a historical one, Officer at Sea, hoping maybe it had pirates or at least a battle in it. Not that I need that in all my reading choices, but I really didn’t think I would intellectually stimulated by this particular genre. I sighed and went to lean against a bookcase, opening up to the first page.
It was all pretty cheesy, and horribly predictable and I fought to get past the few couple pages. The main character being a wealthy upper class woman in nineteenth century England who was widowed by her poor husband a year before. She meets a navel officer at the market, and they start a passionate love affair only a few chapters into the book, the officer having his way with her in various different situations and locals.
By the fifth chapter, it was getting particularly dirty, and I found myself getting into what was basically porn without pictures, becoming entranced with the idea of “heaving bosoms” and quick fucking in an alleyway. It probably didn’t help that I was picturing Bella in all these situations, and it made my dick twitch. Jesus, Cullen. You’ve known her all of a couple hours, get a hold of yourself!
“That’s not a bad one.” Bella said, jolting me out of my reverie and scaring the shit out of me.
“Bah!” I yelled, rocketing the book out of my hands nearly missing Bella’s head by inches as she ducked out of the way.
“I’m sorry. Did I scare you?” Bella asked, a smile hinting at her lips.
“A little bit.” I said, embarrassed, knowing that right now I was probably turning tomato red.
She smiled at my blush, and it was sweet, not in a mocking way, it was more that she liked seeing me blush, maybe as much as I liked hers. I really liked the idea of that.
“You’ve read this?” I asked incredulously, after picking up the book that had landed by Bella’s feet. I thought this would be a little past her by now.
“Sure.” She shrugged. “We all start in Romance, remember? This one is one of the better ones, though that’s not saying much. There are only a few real good ones in here.”
“Really?” I couldn’t fathom any of these being good, well other than good for turning someone on. She nodded and moved down a few shelves on the aisle, picking up a book from the middle shelf and handing it to me.
“This one is pretty good, it actually has a plot that doesn’t just revolve around sex, and the dialogue is pretty witty and well written. I actually don’t think it belongs here, it would fit better in the fiction section. Though, they will never move it because it has too much sex in it apparently. It’s ridiculous. I mean, what’s wrong with sex,? she said to me casually.
“You make it sound like sex isn’t a big deal,” I replied.
“It isn’t.” She said, then quirking her eyebrow at me. “Do you think it is?”
Whoa, this was going a way different direction then I thought it was. First we were casually talking about books, and now we had moved onto our views on sex. Oh Boy.
“ I think it can be,” I said, not really thinking about what I was saying. “Yeah, you can do the meaningless fuck, but I really think it can be so much better with someone you care about.”
“Are you telling me you have only slept with people you cared about? Never a one night stand,? she scoffed.
“Never.” I answered.
“I don’t believe you, Cullen.”
“It’s true. I have only been with women I care about deeply,” I said, frowning. She probably thought I was some man whore. I didn’t let her know that when I said “women”, it was only one woman, but that was neither here nor there.
She looked at me and something in my face must have shown her I was telling the truth, because her face become soft again.
“You’re not what I expected,” she said, looking shy again, biting her lip. God, was that sexy.
“You told me that already,” I teased.
“I mean about everything. You continue to surprise me,” she said, blushing.
“Is that a good thing?” I asked, flirting a bit.
She looked surprised, like a deer in the headlights, her eyes widening significantly.
“Maybe,” she said, and quickly looked away. I was going to push the subject more, but decided not to, since I had already been pretty ballsy with this girl enough today.
“So, since you have made it abundantly clear that romance is not your favourite genre, what kind of books do you like, Cullen?” Bella said, still averting her eyes from me.
“Hmmm,” I sighed. “I guess I don’t have a particular favourite. I like the classics, autobiographies, quite a bit of fiction. I don’t have a lot of my books here, but I have a lot more in my parent’s library…” I trailed off as I saw she was gaping at me now.
“What?”
“Your parents have a library?” Bella asked, her eyes bugging out of her head. I almost laughed at her expression.
“Well, its not like a real library, it’s just one room in our house,” I said, a little confused at her reaction.
“Like in The Beauty and the Beast? With one of those rolling ladder thingies?” Bella was completely amazed at this tidbit of information I had given her, and the comparison made me laugh out loud.
“It’s not that big,” I said chuckling. “But we do have one of the ‘ladder thingies’”, I said, and Bella went to smack me but I dodged out of the way.
“Not a good idea to be snarky to your supervisor.”
“I’m sorry, I just couldn’t resist.” I said, smiling. “Did I surprise you again, Miss Swan?”
She rolled her eyes but there was a smile playing on her lips.
“Always, Cullen.” She smiled and left me without another word, assuming it meant it was time to go back to work.
The rest of my shift went by pretty fast. I only needed to help one woman trying to find this obscure Harlequin novel, and that had only take a few minutes, tops. The rest of the time I mostly paced around the section thinking about Bella. Hoping she would pop in and surprise me again. Bella intrigued me, she seemed to be a barrel of contradictions. She seemed strong and independent, but there were little clues that she wasn’t as sure of herself as she seemed. Like her blush and slight nervousness. Her comment on sex surprised me just as much as mine had surprised her; it was like our roles were reversed. I wanted to know why she felt that way, and I really wanted to get inside her head.
Okay, and maybe her pants. I was pretty fucking attracted to Bella, I knew that from the first time I saw her. I was pretty sure she was attracted to me too, I just didn’t know how much. She seemed to like my desperate attempts at flirting, but she would always hold back after I did, therefore making me pretty confused at the time.
Bella didn’t show up again for the rest of my shift and I worried that I had put her off, but then pushed that out my head. She probably was just busy, I thought rationally to myself, and went to punch out in the employee break room, hoping that Betty had punched me in since I never did. It surprised me to find Bella there punching out right in front of me. She gave me a smile and moved out of the way.
“So how was the rest of your shift?”, she asked, leaning against the doorframe.
“Not bad, not really much to do.” I replied.
“Yeah, Romance can get like that. Once they move you to another section, you’ll get busier,” Bella said, looking down at her shoes.
I really didn’t know what to say. It was weird, today we talked easily, like we had known each other years, not a few hours, but now it was painfully awkward. I cursed myself again for being too flirty with her.
“Want me to walk you out?”, I blurted, not really thinking. I really thought she would object, or even laugh at me, but she didn‘t. She smiled and told me that she would like that.
We walked to the front of the store in silence. I was aching to touch her the whole time, to feel the electricity again; but I didn’t, since that would be a highly inappropriate thing to do with the supervisor I just met this morning.
Bella would glance up at me once in a while, all shy again, and I smiled because I loved that she could go from calm and cool in one moment, to bashful and awkward in the next. Bella’s cheeks reddened when she caught me smiling at her.
Once we got outside the store, she turned to me, I was guessing to say goodbye. I knew I didn’t want to, but I didn’t know what to say.
“Uh, so where do you live? I could walk you back home if you’d like?”, I said as I pulled my hands through my hair. I always did that when I was nervous.
“Ummm,” she said, pulling her hands through her hair as well, mimicking my exact movements from a second earlier. For some reason, my heart did flips over this.
“Just over on 23rd, I take the subway usually. Where do you live?” , Bella replied, giving me the hint that it wasn’t necessary to walk her home.
“Just a few blocks away actually.” I said, shuffling my feet.
“Hey, Edward,” Bella spoke after a few awkward seconds.
“Yeah?” I looked up from my feet to see her looking at me again, though her face looked conflicted.
“Why don’t I give you my cell number so you can call me if you have any questions, or something,” she said quickly, the words coming out in a rush.
Bella was going to give me her phone number, without me even asking for it? Inside my head I was doing the happy dance.
I was so surprised that I just muttered out a “sure,” and handed her my iPhone so she could punch in her number.
“There,” she said with a smile and moved to give the phone back to me. Our hands grazed for a fraction of a second, and I felt the electrical spark once again. It was heavenly.
“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, Edward,” she told me as she turned to go to the subway entrance that was a short distance away.
“I’ll see you, Bella,” I said, hoping that she didn’t notice my voice wrapped around her name like a caress, and turned the opposite direction.
Once I had turned the corner and couldn’t see her anymore, I sent her a quick text.
Just letting you know that this is me, and not some other random guy sending you a bunch of texts. - Edward
She replied almost instantly and I could feel the huge grin on my face.
Does that mean you’re planning on sending me a lot texts? -B.
I decided that flirting over text was way easier than in real life, so I played with her some more.
Maybe. Would you like me to send you a lot? - E.
Will they be work related? - B.
Shit, I didn’t know whether to lie or tell the truth. The truth could scare her away, or she could get my ass for harassment. I decided to go with the truth because really, how much could I talk to her about stocking methods?
Not really, no. - E. I typed in, holding my breath. It took her a few minutes to respond, but she did.
Then I would, yes. : ) -B. was all she replied, and I almost walked into a lamp post as I was beaming down at my phone and not looking where I was going. A man in a business suit walking past me laughed, and if I wasn’t in such a good mood, I would have flipped him off. But I just brushed it off and kept walking.
I had never felt this way about a girl before. Bella had in one day made me a giddy, flirtatious fool, and I was so attuned to her it was crazy. I noticed every move or emotion that flitted across her face. It was like I could read her thoughts just in her face, her emotions were so clear on it. I knew I was becoming increasingly infatuated with Bella, but I really didn’t care.
I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, and hoped it was a text from Bella, but frowned once I saw that it wasn’t.
“Hello Alice.”
“You could sound a little more enthusiastic when you talk to your favourite sister.”
“You’re my only sister,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Don’t you roll your eyes at me, Edward Cullen!” I had to laugh then. It was crazy how well she knew me. We were only a year apart, so Alice and I had always been closer than Emmett and I would ever be. I loved my sister to death but sometimes, she could annoy the hell out of me.
“I’m sorry. What’s up Alice?” I tried to say with genuine interest now.
“Oh well, the same old. Mom and Dad are packing for their grand European vacation, and I am still mad about them not taking me with them. I mean, they know how much I love Paris!”, she whined. My sister was probably the most fashion conscious person I had ever met and was even majoring in fashion design out at a school on the west coast.
“Did you ever think there was a reason for them not taking you? Like them maybe wanting some, err, alone time?” I told her, allowing for a frightening mental image of my parents in my head. I think I visibly cringed.
“EWWW! EDWARD!” Alice yelled, causing me to pull my phone away from my ear.
“Don’t EVER put that thought in my head again,” she fumed at a slightly lower sound level.
“Is there a reason why you called, or did you just want to complain about you not going with mom and dad?” I said, coming out meaner then I intended. “It’s not that I don’t like hearing from you, I’ve just had a long day at work,” I quickly added, hoping I didn’t hurt her feelings.
“Well I called because I missed you, and I was thinking of coming to the city to visit for a few days, and stay at your place, if that’s all right?”
“Sure, Alice. I missed your little pixie head as well. When were you thinking of coming?”
Alice seemed to be contemplating or flipping through her daybook, so it took her a few moments to respond. I had already gotten to my apartment building, and I was letting myself in when she finally responded.
“Sorry, I got an email that I had to answer. I would probably be coming down around the end of the month, that okay?” She paused. “Wait. You said earlier that you had a hard day at work? Since when do you have a job?”, she scoffed incredulously.
“Since today.” I said, a little hurt.
“Where the hell do you work?”
“Promise not to laugh?” I said, unlocking my door and flopping down on my couch.
“Why would I laugh? Oh God Edward, you’re not working at Chippendales are you?
“What?” I almost yelled. “ Do you really think I would get a job at Chippendales? I said, horrified at even the thought.
“Well you told me not to laugh…” She trailed off, and I rolled my eyes, not caring if she knew.
“No, nothing like Chippendales. I work at Books and Things.”
She didn’t laugh, but she did snort. “Books and Things? Oh God Edward, I need to see you in that uniform. It will provide me endless hours of entertainment!”, she squealed.
“Yeah, that won’t be happening.” I said, knowing that once Alice had seen it, she would tell Emmett, and then I would never live it down.
“Please?”, she pleaded.
“Nope.”
“Fine! I‘ll just have to catch you with it on when I’m there, won’t I?“, she challenged.
“We will see about that,” I warned.
“So, how was work then Edward?”, she sighed, defeated for now.
“It was…interesting,” I said.
“Interesting?”, she wondered. “ Oh my gosh, you met a girl, didn’t you?”
Holy shit she was good. “What? No. Why would you think that?” I didn’t sound very convincing.
“You are so transparent sometimes, Edward. I can simply tell by your voice, you sound giddy. I’ve only heard you sound like that with Tan..”
“Don’t say it,” I said cutting her off.
“Jesus, Edward. It’s been almost three years. You need to get over it.”
“I am over it.” And I was, it just still fucking hurt to hear the name of the girl who basically stomped on my heart and fed it to the wolves.
“Whatever,” Alice said, unconvinced. “So, who is she?”, she questioned. I let out a deep sigh, and then told her about Bella, noticing that I told her details that I probably wouldn’t tell anyone else.
It felt like I had been talking forever, when Alice finally interrupted me.
“Wait, wait, wait. You met her today?” Alice asked.
“Uh, yeah. At work.” I thought that was blatantly obvious in the conversation.
I could hear Alice’s chiming laugh in my ear.
“Oh man, you’ve got it bad, don’t you?” I could tell that she was smiling into the phone now.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied. Damn Alice and her knowing me so well.
“Sure you don’t.”
“Listen Alice, I would really like to stay and chat, but I need to take a shower and not talk about my love life.”
“Ah, so you admit this has to do with your love life.” Damn little pixie.
“Goodbye Alice,” I said before hanging up the phone. She would be mad, but she’d get over it.
I decided to forgo the shower for now and just went to change into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt since it was pretty bloody hot in my apartment, and sat down to watch t.v.
I was tired from my early start today, and fell asleep halfway through the 6 o’clock news, visions of Bella filling my mind.
BPOV
Who ever thought that popcorn ceilings were a good idea needs to be shot. I mean seriously, imagine all the dust that’s accumulating on the little crevices. I might have to dust the ceiling tomorrow… I thought, frowning and staring at the ceiling in disgust.
I was lying awake again, though, it wasn’t at all for the reasons that normally kept me up all night. I had honestly tried to sleep, and Lord knows I was exhausted from my early start today. But something, or rather, someone, was constantly on my brain, and that got me into very dangerous territory, for several reasons.
I didn’t know why Edward had this effect on me. From the first moment I met him, it was like my earth had tilted, and I felt…different. I felt lighter, happier, and to be honest, more comfortable with him than I had ever felt with anyone, ever. Which really didn’t make sense since I barely knew the man.
Still, I felt like I knew him. He was so easy to read, his facial expressions and mannerisms were like an open book. I had instantly felt comfortable in his presence, like we had known each other all our lives.
To be truthful with myself, it wasn’t just the way he made me feel that kept him constantly on my mind, and it wasn’t that he was funny, smart, and every bit as awkward as he said he was. No, if it was that simple, he wouldn’t have had been in my head all day since the moment I met him.
I was attracted to Edward. He was simply more than “cute” or “hot”, as most people my age would call a guy they thought was attractive. He was beautiful. It was like he was carved by the gods, perfection in every feature. He didn’t seem to be aware of his beauty, which I had originally thought of as an act, but his personality, the way he was so bashful in some of his answers, made me think that maybe he wasn’t that aware of his own beauty. Either that, or I was the only one who noticed it, which again meant I was moving into some dangerous territory.
“Ugh!” I moaned, and flopped onto my back, burying my face into my pillow and closing my eyes, trying to force myself to fall asleep. It didn’t help. Behind my lids, I saw piercing blue eyes, unkempt bronze hair, a strong jaw lined with stubble, and soft, red lips… My eyes flashed open, and I noticed my breathing had started getting quicker as I was picturing him. It was something I immediately felt guilty about. I should not be thinking these things about Edward. However pleasant those thoughts were.
I turned my head to the side and noticed my cell phone on my bedside table, reminding me of my earlier conversation with Edward, which ultimately ended in me giving him my number. I wasn’t planning on it, and I’m sure it gave him the wrong idea, but it seemed he didn’t want to leave me, and to be truthful, I didn’t really want to leave him, so I gave it to him on a whim. I just couldn’t say no to that beautiful face.
When I got a text from him a few moments after I left him, I was actually smiling when I read his response, and was glad he wanted to keep talking to me.
Fuck Swan, you’re screwed, you do know that? My conscious had told me, and I shook my head, ignoring her. I was still staring at my phone, and my hand moved to grab it without any real conscious choice to get it. I soon found myself clicking through my text messages until I was re-reading the ones Edward and I had sent back and forth.
Does that mean you’re planning on sending me a lot texts? -B. I remember thinking, oh God, I hope so.
Maybe. Would you like me to send you a lot? - E.
Will they be work related? - B. I knew they wouldn’t be, I was just wondering if he would be man enough to own up to it.
Not really, no. - E.
Then I would, yes. : ) - B. I realized I was shamelessly flirting with him via text, and he was too but I really didn’t give a damn.
I decided that sleep was out for now and that I might as well do some more text flirting while I was lying awake. My fingers were aching to text him and I didn’t even bother to check the time before I sent Edward a semi-flirty text message.
I’m disappointed Cullen. You tell me you are going to send me copious amounts of txt messages and then I get none from you since? Are you trying to break my heart? - B.
I waited a few minutes, and then I feared that he had taken my message the wrong way, and I would scare him away. I was in the middle of panicking when I heard the chirp of my phone, and relief flooded through me when I saw Edward had responded.
I would never intentionally break your heart Bella. I just fell asleep pretty much as soon as I got home. And I‘m pretty sure I never used the word “copious“, in reference to the amount of texts I would be sending - E.
I thought he meant the first part as a joke, but I couldn’t get a nagging feeling that behind his joking response, he really meant what he said. Ah, this was getting dangerous, for the both of us.
I’m sorry I woke you up. I couldn’t sleep -B. I looked at the time for the first time this evening and saw it was past midnight. I inwardly chastised myself for waking him up. He also had an early shift to start tomorrow, and I was bringing him down with me now.
His response was almost instantaneous.
It’s no problem. I’m usually a night owl anyways, I was just so exhausted. My supervisor worked me hard today ;) - E.
I rolled my eyes.
Yeah, between reading on the job to pacing the floor, you really did a lot of work. -B. I smiled at myself after pressing send, he hadn’t known that I was spying on him all day.
I did more than that. -E.
I decided to give him a bone. No, I really don’t think you did. I was watching you the entire time. -B.
I could just imagine his eyes bugging out at this information, and I laughed at the image.
I don’t believe you. -E.
You put your hands through your hair a lot. - B. I simply answered. I was waiting for the chirp that would notify me if he texted me back, but my phone rang instead. I looked at the screen confused, since no one would call me this late, and then noticed it was Edward.
“Hello?” I said tentatively, not really sure he wanted to move to actual conversation. I was fine in my text world.
“I do not put my hands through my hair a lot,” Edward said, sounding almost like a sulking child.
“You do. It’s like every 15 seconds, almost like clockwork.” I giggled. “And hellos are customary as greetings in most cultures.” I heard him sigh into the phone and I fought another giggle.
“Well if I do, then you do it just as much, Bella,” he said, sounding satisfied with himself.
“Excuse me?” I scoffed.
“You pull your hands through your hair a lot as well. During every conversation we had today you were doing it.” He paused. “You’re probably doing it right now.” I stopped my hand on my head because, of course he was right.
“I’m right, aren’t I?“ he said, taking my silence as confirmation.
“Shut up,” I said, annoyed that he could read me just as well as I could read him. He laughed, and it was one of the most beautiful sounds I had ever heard. I think my heart swelled to twice its size.
“Did you just call to annoy me?” I sulked.
He was abruptly serious then. “I wasn’t trying to annoy you Bella, just teasing. Am I really bothering you?” He sounded so sad at the last part, it hurt me.
“You’re not bothering me, I’m just wondering why you called, that’s all,” I responded.
“Well, I really hate typing for long periods of time, so I figured I would call you instead. Plus my humor and quick wit don’t go over that well in text messages.”
“Well, it’s a good thing you don’t have either of those,” I teased.
“I’m witty and you know it,” he chuckled, and I felt a smile play across my lips. “So, were you actually spying on me?”
“Of course. It’s my job,” I responded. I actually was supposed to monitor new employees, but that was usually just in passing. I had watched Edward a hell of lot more, and it wasn’t because I didn’t trust him not to steal or something like that.
“But where,” he said, almost in wonder. “I looked around for you, but I never saw you.” Ah, so that’s what he was doing wandering down the aisles, looking for me. That new information made me feel both horrible and ecstatic.
“I have my secrets, Cullen.”
“Could you please tell me?”
“Nope,” I laughed; he was really sounding like a whiny child now. It was hilarious.
“What can I do for you to tell me?” He pleaded.
“Hmmm.” I said, playing with him a bit. “ You could offer me sexual favors.”
I actually heard him choke on the other end. “ I…uh…” he coughed out. My God, he wasn’t actually considering that!
“I was kidding, Edward. Relax, breathe. Jesus, you really want to know, don’t you?”
“ I just don’t like secrets, that’s all,” he said, sounding a bit flustered from my earlier reference, but still completely serious at the same time.
“You’ll have to get used to them, Edward. With me, it comes with the package.” I said seriously, all joking gone. I didn’t know why I was telling him this, he barely knew me, but something in me wanted him to know what he was getting himself into by knowing me, being my friend, or whatever we were.
There was a light pause, and before he could respond, I decided to speak first, not wanting to get into why I had secrets I didn't want to tell.
“Anyways, I should let you go, I know we both have an early shift tomorrow.” I said, trying to make my voice sound all sunny again.
“Alright, Bella. Have a good night and sleep tight.” He said, and I almost laughed out loud. No one had told me to “sleep tight” since I was child, and it was completely random to hear it come out of Edwards mouth.
Who ever thought that popcorn ceilings were a good idea needs to be shot. I mean seriously, imagine all the dust that’s accumulating on the little crevices. I might have to dust the ceiling tomorrow… I thought, frowning and staring at the ceiling in disgust.
I was lying awake again, though, it wasn’t at all for the reasons that normally kept me up all night. I had honestly tried to sleep, and Lord knows I was exhausted from my early start today. But something, or rather, someone, was constantly on my brain, and that got me into very dangerous territory, for several reasons.
I didn’t know why Edward had this effect on me. From the first moment I met him, it was like my earth had tilted, and I felt…different. I felt lighter, happier, and to be honest, more comfortable with him than I had ever felt with anyone, ever. Which really didn’t make sense since I barely knew the man.
Still, I felt like I knew him. He was so easy to read, his facial expressions and mannerisms were like an open book. I had instantly felt comfortable in his presence, like we had known each other all our lives.
To be truthful with myself, it wasn’t just the way he made me feel that kept him constantly on my mind, and it wasn’t that he was funny, smart, and every bit as awkward as he said he was. No, if it was that simple, he wouldn’t have had been in my head all day since the moment I met him.
I was attracted to Edward. He was simply more than “cute” or “hot”, as most people my age would call a guy they thought was attractive. He was beautiful. It was like he was carved by the gods, perfection in every feature. He didn’t seem to be aware of his beauty, which I had originally thought of as an act, but his personality, the way he was so bashful in some of his answers, made me think that maybe he wasn’t that aware of his own beauty. Either that, or I was the only one who noticed it, which again meant I was moving into some dangerous territory.
“Ugh!” I moaned, and flopped onto my back, burying my face into my pillow and closing my eyes, trying to force myself to fall asleep. It didn’t help. Behind my lids, I saw piercing blue eyes, unkempt bronze hair, a strong jaw lined with stubble, and soft, red lips… My eyes flashed open, and I noticed my breathing had started getting quicker as I was picturing him. It was something I immediately felt guilty about. I should not be thinking these things about Edward. However pleasant those thoughts were.
I turned my head to the side and noticed my cell phone on my bedside table, reminding me of my earlier conversation with Edward, which ultimately ended in me giving him my number. I wasn’t planning on it, and I’m sure it gave him the wrong idea, but it seemed he didn’t want to leave me, and to be truthful, I didn’t really want to leave him, so I gave it to him on a whim. I just couldn’t say no to that beautiful face.
When I got a text from him a few moments after I left him, I was actually smiling when I read his response, and was glad he wanted to keep talking to me.
Fuck Swan, you’re screwed, you do know that? My conscious had told me, and I shook my head, ignoring her. I was still staring at my phone, and my hand moved to grab it without any real conscious choice to get it. I soon found myself clicking through my text messages until I was re-reading the ones Edward and I had sent back and forth.
Does that mean you’re planning on sending me a lot texts? -B. I remember thinking, oh God, I hope so.
Maybe. Would you like me to send you a lot? - E.
Will they be work related? - B. I knew they wouldn’t be, I was just wondering if he would be man enough to own up to it.
Not really, no. - E.
Then I would, yes. : ) - B. I realized I was shamelessly flirting with him via text, and he was too but I really didn’t give a damn.
I decided that sleep was out for now and that I might as well do some more text flirting while I was lying awake. My fingers were aching to text him and I didn’t even bother to check the time before I sent Edward a semi-flirty text message.
I’m disappointed Cullen. You tell me you are going to send me copious amounts of txt messages and then I get none from you since? Are you trying to break my heart? - B.
I waited a few minutes, and then I feared that he had taken my message the wrong way, and I would scare him away. I was in the middle of panicking when I heard the chirp of my phone, and relief flooded through me when I saw Edward had responded.
I would never intentionally break your heart Bella. I just fell asleep pretty much as soon as I got home. And I‘m pretty sure I never used the word “copious“, in reference to the amount of texts I would be sending - E.
I thought he meant the first part as a joke, but I couldn’t get a nagging feeling that behind his joking response, he really meant what he said. Ah, this was getting dangerous, for the both of us.
I’m sorry I woke you up. I couldn’t sleep -B. I looked at the time for the first time this evening and saw it was past midnight. I inwardly chastised myself for waking him up. He also had an early shift to start tomorrow, and I was bringing him down with me now.
His response was almost instantaneous.
It’s no problem. I’m usually a night owl anyways, I was just so exhausted. My supervisor worked me hard today ;) - E.
I rolled my eyes.
Yeah, between reading on the job to pacing the floor, you really did a lot of work. -B. I smiled at myself after pressing send, he hadn’t known that I was spying on him all day.
I did more than that. -E.
I decided to give him a bone. No, I really don’t think you did. I was watching you the entire time. -B.
I could just imagine his eyes bugging out at this information, and I laughed at the image.
I don’t believe you. -E.
You put your hands through your hair a lot. - B. I simply answered. I was waiting for the chirp that would notify me if he texted me back, but my phone rang instead. I looked at the screen confused, since no one would call me this late, and then noticed it was Edward.
“Hello?” I said tentatively, not really sure he wanted to move to actual conversation. I was fine in my text world.
“I do not put my hands through my hair a lot,” Edward said, sounding almost like a sulking child.
“You do. It’s like every 15 seconds, almost like clockwork.” I giggled. “And hellos are customary as greetings in most cultures.” I heard him sigh into the phone and I fought another giggle.
“Well if I do, then you do it just as much, Bella,” he said, sounding satisfied with himself.
“Excuse me?” I scoffed.
“You pull your hands through your hair a lot as well. During every conversation we had today you were doing it.” He paused. “You’re probably doing it right now.” I stopped my hand on my head because, of course he was right.
“I’m right, aren’t I?“ he said, taking my silence as confirmation.
“Shut up,” I said, annoyed that he could read me just as well as I could read him. He laughed, and it was one of the most beautiful sounds I had ever heard. I think my heart swelled to twice its size.
“Did you just call to annoy me?” I sulked.
He was abruptly serious then. “I wasn’t trying to annoy you Bella, just teasing. Am I really bothering you?” He sounded so sad at the last part, it hurt me.
“You’re not bothering me, I’m just wondering why you called, that’s all,” I responded.
“Well, I really hate typing for long periods of time, so I figured I would call you instead. Plus my humor and quick wit don’t go over that well in text messages.”
“Well, it’s a good thing you don’t have either of those,” I teased.
“I’m witty and you know it,” he chuckled, and I felt a smile play across my lips. “So, were you actually spying on me?”
“Of course. It’s my job,” I responded. I actually was supposed to monitor new employees, but that was usually just in passing. I had watched Edward a hell of lot more, and it wasn’t because I didn’t trust him not to steal or something like that.
“But where,” he said, almost in wonder. “I looked around for you, but I never saw you.” Ah, so that’s what he was doing wandering down the aisles, looking for me. That new information made me feel both horrible and ecstatic.
“I have my secrets, Cullen.”
“Could you please tell me?”
“Nope,” I laughed; he was really sounding like a whiny child now. It was hilarious.
“What can I do for you to tell me?” He pleaded.
“Hmmm.” I said, playing with him a bit. “ You could offer me sexual favors.”
I actually heard him choke on the other end. “ I…uh…” he coughed out. My God, he wasn’t actually considering that!
“I was kidding, Edward. Relax, breathe. Jesus, you really want to know, don’t you?”
“ I just don’t like secrets, that’s all,” he said, sounding a bit flustered from my earlier reference, but still completely serious at the same time.
“You’ll have to get used to them, Edward. With me, it comes with the package.” I said seriously, all joking gone. I didn’t know why I was telling him this, he barely knew me, but something in me wanted him to know what he was getting himself into by knowing me, being my friend, or whatever we were.
There was a light pause, and before he could respond, I decided to speak first, not wanting to get into why I had secrets I didn't want to tell.
“Anyways, I should let you go, I know we both have an early shift tomorrow.” I said, trying to make my voice sound all sunny again.
“Alright, Bella. Have a good night and sleep tight.” He said, and I almost laughed out loud. No one had told me to “sleep tight” since I was child, and it was completely random to hear it come out of Edwards mouth.
“Don’t let the bed bugs bite, right?” I said with a giggle, finishing the saying for him.
“Hey now, don’t knock it. In my apartment, that is all too much a possibility.” He responded. Did he just say that he probably had bed bugs? Not a good way to try and impress women, Cullen. Not that I want him to impress me. I think.
“If that’s the case, I will probably not be in your apartment anytime soon.” I said.
“We’ll see about that.” Edward said wickedly. I was actually shocked, my mouth gaping at the phone.
“Excuse me?” Was all I could come up with as a response. He was not insinuating that. Was he?
“Goodnight Bella.” Was all he said, chuckling.
Grrr. He was going to leave me hanging.
“Goodnight Edward.” I said acidly. Edward laughed again, and then I heard the line cut off.
I turned off my phone and moved back down to try and sleep again. I had to admit, that my texting/phone call with Edward had made me feel in a much better mood.
I knew that was going to have another nightmare tonight, that was inevitable. But I did have something to look forward to tomorrow, and I could live with my nightmare tonight.
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