~*Edward*~
I grabbed her hand under the premise of showing her around the apartment, but it was really just another excuse for me to touch her, which had suddenly become something I liked to do.....a lot. Her hands were soft and delicate, I loved how tiny and fragile they looked when I held them in mine. I brushed my thumb over her palm before shoving my hands into my pockets, conscious that she might actually notice the frequent touching and presume that I'm an overly touchy-feely fucker with some kinky hand fetish.
"First tour stop on the itinerary: the kitchen."
She ran her hand over the marble counter "Wow! This is bigger than my entire apartment!"
I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "You have an apartment?"
She nodded. "Well, back in Washington yeah...I mean I shared it with..." She trailed off, looking uncomfortable. Before I could ask if she was okay, she spoke again. "But it's just your typical complex space, y'know? Small, square, and generic. It pales in comparison to...I mean it's...Edward, this place is amazing."
She stood in the middle of the kitchen, taking in the open plan surroundings, and fuck she looked cute, like a little girl seeing snow for the first time, all wide eyed, open mouthed, and stunned with wonder.
I remember the day I'd come for the viewing. The real estate guy was a total fucking asshat, all designer suit and sales pitch. His constant talking was starting to irritate me, and we still had three other places to see...providing I could resist the urge to tie his tongue in a knot and shove it back down his throat in order to shut him the hell up. Thankfully, he'd stepped out to take a call on his cell, which, much to my annoyance, rang as much as he talked: constantly. I relished the silence as I wandered around the empty space that had formerly been a warehouse. A small company had planned to renovate the place and convert it into a bunch of apartments, but they had trouble stumping up the cash. Funds weren't a problem for me, but finding the right property had proved to be a ball ache. Seven months of searching had so far proved fruitless, but all the agencies, endless calls, viewings, specifications, and asshole realtors had been worth it. I had a good feeling about this place; my only hope was that it came with living space and that the prick in the suit hadn't led me on a wild goose chase. I spotted some metal stairs towards the back. They looked safe enough, so I decided to venture up to the next floor for a look around. The ground floor had looked promising, but it was nothing compared to what was directly above it. The amount of space up there was phenomenal. It would need pretty extensive work to make it inhabitable, but it was light, open, and airy with huge windows and high ceilings. A loft space just begging to be lived in. Downstairs would be my livelihood, and this...well this would be my home. I'd finally found exactly what I'd been looking for. The loft space was the clincher for me. I had to have it and I would pay over the odds to get it. The following day I signed my name on the dotted line, the deal was done, and the place was mine. I called Emmett, glancing down on the keys in my hand as I waited for him to answer his phone. The place needed a lot of work and my brother was, as far as I was concerned, the only guy for the fucking huge job.
Emmett ran his own construction company and had managed to build quite a name for himself. He'd started out small with Cullen Construction, doing general fix-ups and extension work on residential homes, and, as a result, two people in particular became a permanent fixture in our lives: Alice and Jasper Whitlock.
One of his newer clients, dubbed Mrs Robinson by his work force, had become very fond of Emmett during his work on her home. It turned out she was more interested in his own extension rather than the one he was building, and she asked him to do some renovation work on an old store she'd bought. It was a gift to her daughter so she could get her business off the ground. Mrs Robinson was filthy stinking rich, and, apparently when you acquire that much damn dollar, you acquire certain connections right along with it. Connections she was more than happy to use to Emmett's benefit. He was suddenly very much in demand by some very wealthy fucking people, and it was definitely a well deserved break for him. He worked his ass off, day and night, weekends and holidays, whatever it took to get the job done without compromising on quality or attention to detail, and it blew his reputation through the roof. Initially, Emmett's girlfriend Rose was quick to bitch and moan about the hours he was putting in and how she never saw him, but, after seeing the size of the paycheck Emmett brought home from the first job, the whining unsurprisingly stopped.
One phone call, a handful of plans, a lot of destruction, and six months later, the club was renovated, open, and doing a good trade. Emmett, Rose, Jasper & Alice were all regulars.
The noise from downstairs was getting louder, which meant the club was getting busier. "Um...you've already seen the lounge so that just leaves..." I swallowed hard "uh...u-upstairs."
"Okay." A slight blush crept on to Bella's face, pinking up her cheeks, and fuck it was a huge turn on. My dick apparently agreed, twitching against my boxers as I turned and headed for the stairs, which I took two at a time, my haste allowing me to hide anything incriminating I may have left lying around. I did a quick scan of the room, which, to my relief , was tidy for a change, not a pair of dirty boxers in sight. I heard a small gasp, and realised that Bella had cleared the stairs and was now standing beside me.
"It's so beautiful up here." She took a few steps forward, drinking in her surroundings, which pretty much consisted of my double bed, the en suite bathroom, and the small walk-in closet. I had a very large, full bookshelf dominating one wall, and my guitar was propped against the chair in the corner.
I nodded in agreement. "I like it, too. I had the Mezzanine added when the place was renovated; it wasn't here before."
She looked thoughtful for a moment. "So being kinda, well, out in the open like this...that doesn't...um...bother you? When you have people over?"
The question seemed thinly veiled, like she was too polite to ask what was really on her mind. Now I was curious; I wondered how she'd react if I said it to her. Out loud. "You mean does it make sex awkward?"
"What? Oh! I didn't mean...well I just...oh God...uh...it was..." Her tongue flicked out briefly to lick her bottom lip before she captured it between her teeth, biting it gently. The sight caused my dick to throb so hard it almost ached. Where the fuck is my self control? I balled my hands into fists and exhaled a long shaky breath. Calm the fuck down. It wasn't working.
"Bella, I'm sorry I shouldn't have..."
She cut me off. "Said that? Why not? It's what I was thinking, but it seemed really rude to blurt it out. I was just surprised...annnd a little embarrassed. It was almost like you were reading my mind."
Her composure seemed to have righted itself. She was stuttering less, and all evidence of that pretty pink flush had vanished, much to my disappointment.
She quirked her eyebrows at me. "So...the answer?"
Now it was my turn to feel embarrassed. "I wouldn't know. I've never...um..." I ran my hand through my wild hair, tugging on it lightly as I did "No one's ever stayed...here...with...with me."
To say she looked stunned was an understatement.
"What? No one? Seriously? But Edward you're so fucking beautiful!" She slapped her hand over her mouth instantly, apparently shocked at the words which had tumbled from her pretty pink lips. The same lips that, since she had licked them, had been taunting me, begging me, to touch them, kiss them, taste them. I stepped closer to her and slowly reached out, ghosting my fingers lightly over the back of her hand before sliding them down and wrapping them around her skinny little wrist. I tugged gently to release her hand from her mouth and pulled it towards me, cupping it in both of mine. The sound of my heart thumping in my chest was ringing in my ears, the only other sound was her quiet but shallow breathing. I looked up at her, my face wearing a silent plea. Her breath hitched, and she nodded. I leaned in, rubbing my thumb softly over her wrist, my lips barely touching her soft, warm skin as I placed a small kiss on to the palm of her hand.
"Edward..."
I glanced up, letting go of her, anxious that I'd gone too far, overstepped the mark, crossed the line, whatever the fuck you wanna call it.
She took two steps forward, and suddenly we were almost nose to nose, our faces mere inches apart. I could feel her warm breath on my skin. I could hear her shaky inhales and exhales. I was looking right into her eyes which were unsure yet imploring, sad yet warm. If her eyes were the window to her soul, I'd open it wide and let the light stream in.
"...please..."
She leaned in closer, sighing softly. I reached up with one hand, softly brushing the hair out of her face. I ran my thumb slowly along her jaw, closing the distance between us, my nose brushing hers as I searched for her lips. Two inches, one inch, half an inch...
A shrill, high pitched sound cut through the air like a knife, effectively ending the moment before it had even begun. We both jumped, startled at the unexpected noise. It took a second for my brain to adjust before I realised it was my phone. I yanked it out of my pocket and glanced the caller ID. I groaned. "Alice." Little cockblocker. Bella threw me a tentative smile as I mouthed that I was sorry and hit the accept button
"What?"
"Eddy, darling, you have T minus 10 seconds until I start telling people to come on back and help themselves. It's crazy down here! Emmett's arrived but even he can't get the drinks out quick enough!"
"Okay, I'm on it."
I hung up and stuffed my phone back in to my pocket. Bella was waiting patiently by the top of the stairs, looking a lot calmer than I felt.
"I guess we lost track of the time." She smiled sweetly.
"Bella, I lose track of everything when I'm with you."
She looked so surprised as she opened her mouth to speak and quickly snapped it shut, clearly stuck for words.
"C'mon, Alice and Emmett need rescuing from behind the bar before they start handing out free drinks and steal the tip jar!"
And just like that, the moment was over...for now anyway.
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