A/N: Hi everybody - so I'm pretty nervous about posting this story. Some of you may have read my one-shot, "Bella Sera". Most of you also read Cydryna Marie's stories, too. She featured part of this story as a sneak peek on chapter 6 of "Little Black Dress".
I'm going to warn you - I'm a wordy writer. Probably completely over-descriptive. There aren't any lemons in this chapter, but I think it gives you the background needed to understand Bella & Edward later on. Plus it's how they meet, which is always fun!
Reviews are terrific, they make my heart skip a beat :) Thanks for reading, and hopefully I can keep updating quickly!
"Bella? Bella!" I started as I felt a hand gripping my shoulder tightly, shaking my out of my daydream. It figures, I was just at the part where the tall, dark, incredibly gorgeous guy was untying my bikini top. Lord have mercy, why did Alice always have to interrupt me at the best parts?!
"What can I do for you Alice? Seriously, it better be good." I probably sound like a jerk, but honestly, I'm not seeing much action these days so my dreams are all I have.
"Don't look. Seriously stunning man at 3 o'clock. Like, amazingly hot. And he's totally checking you out! Well, I think he is, but it's hard to tell with those sunglasses on." She was trying to be slick about checking him out, pretending to stretch her neck and shifting position on the lounge chair. Unfortunately, her spiky black hair was blocking my view of this "amazingly hot" guy. Then, making it even more impossible to see, she threw on her gigantic wide-brim beach hat, probably just trying to draw even more attention our way. Honestly, she pulls me out of a daydream just to tell me about a guy I can't even look at? Hell, he probably wouldn't give me the time of day anyway.
Alice is my closest friend; we're practically sisters. Both of our moms passed away when we were younger, and we were raised by our dads. They met at ballet practice years back, and we've all been inseparable since. The ballet, however, was given up on quickly in my case. It's awfully hard to dance when you can barely walk across a flat surface without falling down. I still think Alice should have kept it up; with her grace and natural talent, I'm sure she would have been a star.
So here we are, 17 years later, laying on a beach in Vegas. I know, Nevada is a landlocked state. There's this hotel here that has an actual beach. Sand, a wave pool, even waiters and waitresses that bring drinks right to your chair. It's awesome. Alice has decided to flip onto her stomach, which finally gives me a view of the mysterious hot guy. What a view! This guy is tall, with that lean, muscular look. His hair is going in every direction possible, and is this amazing bronze color. Definitely that post-sex hair that so many guys try and fail these days. He, however, has passed with flying colors. He's standing with two other guys, whom I barely notice because I'm so shell-shocked by the sight of him. My heart is pounding in my chest; I don't want him to catch me staring but I don't want to look away. This guy is pure eye candy; complete masculinity rolled into one rock solid package. Which sets my mind wandering back to my daydream, this time with a new star. Maybe I can pick up where the last one left off?
I settle back into my lounge chair, hoping that my staring wasn't noticed because frankly, I don't want to meet anyone in my bathing suit. I've always been self-conscious, and this guy seems so totally out of my league that I won't even let myself think about it. I will, however, think about his perfect arms that would feel so strong wrapped around me. I'll think about how his six pack is incredibly ripped and how he has that "V" heading down to (while I'm imagining) a huge package. And now I will let myself fall back into that dream, and we'll see how well he can use it.
Of course, now is the time when Alice wants to start a conversation with me.
"What are we going to do tonight? Do you want to walk the strip and see if there are any clubs we haven't been to? I was thinking we should just head in the opposite direction from last night, and see if there's anything interesting going on. I really don't want to get so drunk again though, I don't know if I can handle another night like last night!" We had gotten completely, disgustingly drunk last night. I mean, it was our first night in Vegas! It's what you're supposed to do. Especially when there are so many guys around buying us drinks. I don't think my liver will ever forgive me. My stomach was doing flip flops just thinking about how awful this morning had been. Thankfully, we didn't have anything to do today except lay by the pool and nap.
"I think we should get dressed up, but we'll do whatever sounds interesting once we're out there. But I'm not wearing heels tonight! I almost broke my ankle on those stupid stilettos you made me buy yesterday. Face it, Alice, I just wasn't made for heels." It was the truth. Flip flops tended to be my footwear of choice, unless I was at home in Forks, where it rained practically every day. Cold, wet feet weren't my favorite accessory.
I snuck another peek at the where the gorgeous guy had been standing; he was nowhere in sight. I heaved a sigh, earning a questioning look from Alice. I just shook my head and decided to forget about him. Sure, he was nice to look at. Those were usually the worst kind – especially when they knew how hot they were. I didn't need another self-assured jackass like my last boyfriend. Jacob was hot, there was no denying that. The problem was that he knew it, and had no problem using it to get whatever he wanted, which just so happened to be sex with numerous women, whenever available. I had suspected it for months, once he started being more careless about his flings. The final straw was when I walked in on him saying goodbye to his most recent screw; a tall, beautiful blonde he called Rose. She had a face a model would kill for; it was the face plastic surgeons worldwide longed to create. I was almost happy to finally know for certain, and it was definitely worth it when I kicked his sorry ass right to the curb. Literally, I started throwing his things out the window. The 50-inch LCD TV was my favorite thing to throw. It made a beautiful crunch when it hit the asphalt.
Enough thinking about the asshole! I needed to get my head on straight if I was going to be out on the town tonight. Maybe I'd even run into the hot guy from earlier. I turned to Alice and told her I was going to head in to shower and start getting ready for our night out. She grabbed her things and jumped up to walk in with me.
After a long, hot shower which I spent singing and dancing mostly with a small amount of energy focused on shaving my legs, I stepped out into the bedroom. This was my least favorite part of the day. This was the part where I would pick out an outfit to wear, hear Alice tell me how awful it was and how I couldn't dress myself properly, and be completely redressed and done up like a life-size Barbie doll. I threw on my sweats, figuring it was worthless to pick something out myself, and took a deep breath.
"Alice! I'm ready for you to help me get ready!" I yelled while knocking on the adjoining door between our rooms. The door swung open almost immediately, with Alice standing there fully dressed. I always envy her ability to sense exactly what brings out her best features: her small stature, perfectly shaped legs, hourglass figure… guys practically melted when she walked in a room. Her green eyes sparkled as she led me to her closet.
"I designed this one especially for you and had it made a rush order so we could bring it to Vegas. I can't wait to finally see it on you! It was so hard to keep it a secret. I know you love royal blue, and I found the perfect fabric and used your measurements from last time…" Her voice faded into the background as I took the dress in my hands. It was the most beautiful shade of vibrant blue, a jersey material that was so soft I couldn't wait to feel it against my skin. I quickly made my way into the bathroom, shed my sweats, and pulled the dress over my head. The straps were thick enough that they hid my bra straps, which was great because I had my favorite push up bra on. The square neckline was cut low to show off the great cleavage that bra gave me. Thank God Alice made me buy new underwear before we came down here! The dress tied in the back of the empire waistline, hugging it close to my body, while the skirt skimmed halfway down my thighs. I came out of the bathroom slowly, still not believing my best friend had made me one of her signature creations. Dresses like this were selling for at least three hundred dollars at the boutiques in our town; I couldn't believe that I had one, and a one of a kind too! I knew exactly which shoes I would wear with it: my black patent leather slingback pumps. These shoes just scream sex-kitten (at least I think they do) and I definitely could use the extra confidence those shoes gave me. As I went to put them on, Alice said dryly, "So I guess you will wear heels with the right dress? I should have known! I'll have to make you more outfits just to get you into the shoes I love. Honestly, is it such a big deal? We don't have to walk that much anyway, we can stay close by. I'm sure there will be plenty to do, and if all else fails we can hit the casino." I threw my arms around her, thanking her endlessly for the dress and for being such a good friend, all the while hoping that I would get off easy in the hair and makeup department. No such luck.
After about an hour of what I consider "cruel and unusual punishment", which meant curling irons and mascara, Alice finally deemed me ready to face the public. We each grabbed our handbags, did one last face check, and headed out the door. As we waited for the elevator, I casually mentioned the guy from the pool. Alice's head snapped up with a shocked expression on her face.
"Are you really still thinking about that guy? You hardly even seemed interested earlier! I totally would have gone up to him had I known you thought he was hot. Did you see his friends? There was one guy with blonde curly hair and oh my god he was fine. I swear, my heart skipped a beat when I saw him. Damn it Bella! You should have let me know! We could have gone out with them tonight! Or spent the day with them. I mean, honestly. There weren't any other guys that good looking at the pool. I am so annoyed! You totally owe me a hot guy!" Alice was pouting, which was never a good sign. I hadn't even noticed the other guy's face, to be honest. I could picture my dark stranger's face perfectly but everyone around him was a blur.
"Well, Alice, let's cross our fingers. Maybe we'll get lucky and run into them tonight. Really, how many places are there to go in this area? And if we don't see them tonight, we can always hang at the pool tomorrow and see if they show up again. If they don't, it wasn't meant to be. But I really would love to see him up close, maybe find out his name…" I trailed off as the elevator doors opened. First, a few little old ladies hobbled in the elevator, cackling about their latest score in the casino. Alice and I exchanged a look over their heads, silently choking on the laughter at the thought of ourselves in 50 years. Then, I almost choked for real. Stepping onto the elevator were the guys from the pool. I've never had the best luck before, but maybe things were changing now. Get rid of the scumbag boyfriend, go on a girls only vacation with Alice, meet tall dark and handsome guy that I've been fantasizing about all day. Alice squeezed my hand as the guys crammed themselves in past the old ladies.
"Hi!" She trilled at the boys, fluttering her eyelashes and smiling her most dazzling smile. "I'm Alice and this is Bella. We were wondering if you boys would like to take us to dinner." She winked at me as I watched, mouth open, completely horror struck. The blonde boy laughed immediately, saying, "We were hoping to run into you girls again. Didn't we see you at the pool earlier? Edward and I were just talking about how we wished we had approached you earlier." Oh. My. God. Seriously? Edward, however, wasn't looking super thrilled at this point. His eyes were on me; he looked me up and down and back again. Then he looked down at the floor, or at Jasper, anywhere but me. Crap. Just like I thought – he was totally out of my league. Just then I pulled myself back to the conversation to hear the blonde boy introducing himself as Jasper, and telling us that Edward has just had a rough week and to not take it personally. Alice was laughing, tilting her head back to look up into Jasper's eyes. That girl really knows how to work it. Too bad she would be the only one using her charms tonight; I could tell that Edward wasn't interested in me at all.
We stepped off the elevator, Alice and Jasper arm in arm, while Edward and I trailed behind them. I thought of attempting a conversation with him, to be polite, but every time I thought of something to say, I got nervous. I could feel a blush rising in my cheeks as I realized that this was going to be an awkward meal. Just then I felt Edward's hand on my arm. I nearly froze in shock – I felt like I had been jolted with electricity where his hand touched my arm. It seemed like he felt it too, because he quickly pulled his hand back, leaving a tingling sensation where his warm fingers had touched.
"I'm sorry to startle you, Bella. I only meant to apologize for being so rude tonight. I've had an awful week, and we came to Vegas to unwind. I don't seem to be doing a very good job so far. I can't seem to clear my head."
Green. His eyes were the most fantastic shade of green I had ever seen on a person before. He could have just been telling me he was going to drag me off to the janitors closet to chop me up into little pieces before feeding me to a lion; I wouldn't care. I was transfixed, hypnotized by his eyes. They were an emerald green, with a clarity and a depth I've never seen until now. His eyes were gorgeous, but so filled with sadness that it rocked me to my core. I wanted to reach out to this stranger, this man who I had only just met, to comfort him. I wanted to give him whatever he needed to remove the sadness from his gaze; I wanted to hear him laugh, to see his smile, to make his eyes roll into the back of his head from a night full of sex and… what? Where did that come from?
I pulled my head back into the conversation at this point, coherent enough to form a reply. "It's OK Edward, I know exactly how you feel. Alice brought me to Vegas for a break from reality. We really just needed to get away for a while. You don't have to tell me what happened, but if you want I can try to keep your mind off of your problems for a while. Tell me about yourself. What do you do?"
"I'm a pediatrician; I work in a children's hospital back home." He leaned his body back against a wall while we waited to be seated for dinner. "I've had a few tough weeks and this past one was the worst. I don't usually take vacations, but I had to take some time to get my head on straight. I can't really talk about what happened right now, but thanks for asking." I found myself leaning in to catch his words; he spoke in such a low, soft voice that it was hard to hear. I wanted to hear everything. If I had thought his eyes were mesmerizing, I was blown away by the sound of his voice. It had that slightly rough, gravelly tone but in a good way. Like he had just woken up after a night of screaming my name… there I go again! What was it about this guy that had these thoughts running through my head almost constantly? I was never like that!
Of course my distraction by his voice was just enough so that I didn't notice Alice and Jasper walking ahead to the table; as I turned to catch up, I caught my heel on the edge of the carpet and nearly went flying. Apparently Edward has the reflexes of a cat; he instantly caught me around the waist and pulled me up against his rock solid body, steadying me in his arms. My heart was thundering in my chest, with a scarlet blush creeping into my cheeks. I was mortified: why did I have to be such a klutz? I looked up into his eyes to see him cracking a slight smile, pulling up only one side of his mouth. His eyes were crinkled and it looked like he was about to laugh. I instantly backed away, managing to stutter out, "Oh gosh Edward, I'm so sorry, I'm such a klutz, I can't seem to help falling over, thank you for catching me, I can't believe I almost fell…" He cut me off here, finally letting out a laugh. "Bella, it's fine! I'm used to having to catch things. The kids are always knocking things over at the hospital. Besides, I'd much rather catch you than an IV pole." There was a twinkle in his eye as he said that, I swear. What would a young, gorgeous, successful doctor want with someone like me? Had he really said he'd rather catch me? Was that even a compliment? The thoughts were swirling through my head like a hurricane; I just managed a slight smile in response. Edward must not have liked that; he caught my arm as I spun away to find Alice.
"Bella, what's the matter? Did I offend you somehow? I didn't mean to laugh. Really, I don't know if I could walk in those shoes, either. How you women manage it is beyond me." Great, now he was critiquing my outfit?! What was with this guy? I slipped into the booth beside Alice, ready to just get this night over with. I didn't care how sexy Edward was, I just couldn't get over how I kept embarrassing myself. Surely he wouldn't be interested in anything more than pure superficial entertainment from my antics.
For the rest of the meal, I listened half-heartedly as Alice, Jasper, and Edward carried on a conversation. Sure, I made the required noises and laughed at the appropriate times, but I just wanted to sulk. Damn Edward though, he kept looking over at me and trying to get me to join in the conversation. I didn't want to keep embarrassing myself; did he want to get in a few more good laughs? I finally gave up and joined the conversation when I felt Alice kick my leg under the table. She leaned towards me and whispered, "If you don't snap out of it, I'm going to stab you with my stiletto! Don't ruin this for me. Jasper seems like a great guy, and so does Edward. Seriously, Bella, you'll regret it if this doesn't work out for me."
Just then, Edward saw an opening. "So Bella, what do you do? Let me guess. Secret agent? No? Maybe you're a scuba instructor." His eyes were sparkling, and he had that damn half smile again. It would be so much easier to ignore him if he weren't so damn hot!
"No, Edward. Sorry to disappoint, but I'm a guidance counselor in a junior high school. Nothing that flashy or exciting, but I do get to help people and that's what makes it worthwhile." I stared at him defiantly, willing him to make a smart remark about my job. It was the one thing I was really, truly proud of. I loved helping those kids figure out their lives. But I wasn't going to think about that now; not after all that had happened last week. Just then I noticed Edward looking at me speculatively.
"What are you looking at me like that for?" I said accusingly. He looked instantly taken aback, answering quickly, "Nothing! I was just surprised, that's all. I would have pegged you as someone in the fashion business, or maybe heading a fortune 500 company."
Alice laughed, jumping into the conversation again. "That's my job. I own a.: the "ab" is me, Alice Brandon. I designed and made the dress Bella's wearing tonight; she's my favorite model." Alice smiled over at me, and I made a mental note to pick up something special for her to show my appreciation. At least I could try not to argue so much when she dressed me!
"I have to say, Alice, I can see why. That is the perfect shade of blue for Bella's skin. And if I may add, you're lucky to have such a beautiful model at your disposal." My heart skipped a beat when Edward said that. Basically, the world came to a stand still and hell froze over all at once. A guy like Edward was calling me beautiful? He was probably just saying that to be nice. I peeked over at him from behind my hair and noticed him studying me intently.
"You are quite the specimen, Bella. Edward and I are probably the luckiest guys in Vegas tonight – getting to eat with the two most gorgeous ladies in town! Maybe you'll let us take you out after dinner too?" Jasper looked at Alice with pleading eyes, and I could see she was putty in his hands. Great. Now I was stuck with Edward all night long, or at least till Jasper and Alice ditched us to go nail somewhere. I mean, not that I would mind being with Edward, he seems nice enough. I was just nervous about making more of a fool of myself. It seemed like I was always on the defensive with him, and I wasn't sure why. It was probably because I felt so inadequate next to him; like I was being compared to a Greek god.
We finished our meals and fought over the check briefly, finally submitting to the boys requests, or rather demands, to pay. As we left the restaurant, Edward placed his hand on my lower back. With nothing but the thin material of my dress between our skin, I could feel that electric jolt where he touched me again. I looked at him from the corner of my eye, almost unable to help it, and saw that he was looking down at me. I raised my eyebrows questioningly and kept silent. Edward just smiled that maddening half smile again; it was truly irresistible. I wondered if he was thinking what I was thinking; that maybe Alice and Jasper running off wouldn't be such a bad thing, and we could be left to fend for ourselves. I honestly thought that I would go for it with Edward; that I would love to explore every inch of his body with my hands and mouth, making him call my name over and over again. I imagined the feeling of his hands on my skin, his stubble scratching me in places that hadn't been touched in such a long time. I was going to have to get control of this urge if we were going to be spending any time together. My hormones were spinning out of control at this point. Most likely, I'd just spend the night following him around like a puppy dog and go back to my room, alone. He would probably find a much more interesting conquest once we were out on the town. I doubted very much if Alice would notice me leave once she was wrapped in Jaspers arms.
We walked into a club at this point. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I didn't even notice Edward paying the cover charge for me. I had worked myself up into a frenzy. I was so convinced that Edward was just taking pity on me that I flopped down onto a couch and sulked. Alice had already pulled Jasper onto the dance floor; I was sure I wouldn't see her again for the rest of the night. Edward had headed over to the bar, returning with two drinks.
"I got you a jack and coke. I hope that's ok. Let's head over to that corner table where we can talk; I'd like to get to know you a little better since it appears we'll be spending the rest of our trip with you girls." He pointed over at Alice and Jasper, who appeared really enthusiastic on the dance floor, grinding and making out. I debated telling Alice she should just take him back to her room and get it over with, but I wasn't ready to be alone with Edward yet. Instead, I just gave Edward my best sultry smile. I don't know why I bothered; there was something about him I wasn't sure of. Yes, his body was amazing. Perfect. I just wasn't sure about his personality. He was so hot and cold; I preferred people who were straightforward and honest.
"Edward, I don't want you to feel like you have to stay here with me. Just because Alice and Jasper hit it off doesn't mean we have to get together. You're a nice guy and all, but I don't want you to do anything you're uncomfortable with." I was amazed at my ability to form coherent sentences; just sitting here, looking into his green eyes, with that tousled hair and shit-eating grin, was practically giving me a heart attack. My heart was going a mile a minute. I'm sure he could see it practically beating out of my chest. His eyebrows lifted, and his response shot tingles through my body.
"Bella, I don't know what you're talking about. I've enjoyed every minute we've spent together, from when you were being grumpy and pouting at the restaurant till you finally started enjoying yourself. Why don't we just let this go where it will? So far I think we're handling ourselves pretty well. And I, for one, am extremely pleased with my end of the deal." Be still my heart, he just reached over and took my hand. I was looking deep into his eyes, practically hypnotized by their intensity. I found myself leaning in towards him, my eyes half closed, anticipating what was coming next. Edward was doing the same, with his other arm snaking around my back, pulling me towards him. Just as our lips were about to touch, a scantily clad waitress interrupted. She was barely decent, wearing only a black lacy bra and a tiny miniskirt. Her fishnet thigh highs seemed to go on forever down to her glossy red "fuck me" pumps. Edward barely glanced at her to wave her off, while keeping his arm around me. I was breathing heavily, practically panting from the electricity racing between us. Edward finally leaned in, closing the space between our mouths. His lips took mine captive; I was lost in the heat of it. He pulled back slowly, looking surprised.
"Whoa." He said softly, his face shell shocked. I'm sure I was mirroring his expression. The intensity of that kiss, however brief it was, rocked me. I wasn't sure if I actually liked this man, but I wanted to explore that physical jolt I felt whenever we touched. I wanted to know what it would be like to spend the night rolling around, sweaty and satisfied, with this man. I did something I've never done before: I pulled him up from the booth, towards the door. I was going to finish this; my body needed him like nothing I've ever felt before. I had to know what he felt like inside me, what his skin would feel like against my skin.
"Where are we going?" he asked, looking hopeful. Was he honestly excited to be going with me? I still wasn't sure if he would even want to.
"Back to my room. There's something I want to try." I gave him my best sex-goddess look, pouting my lips a little while arching one eyebrow. Edward only smiled that half smile I had come to adore, and pulled me towards the exit.