It was the heat that woke her or more precisely, the lack of heat.
She resurfaced with a disgusted groan at the smell of her own sweat and the feel of her shirt sticking to her skin. She lifted a hand to dislodge the clumps of damp hair that smothered her face, she felt hot, itchy but more rested than she ever felt in these last few days.
She wasn't quite sure how to feel about that.
Clenching her eyes tight, she stretched luxuriously and curled her toes, searching for the trace of warmth that her body remembered and groaned again at how dry her throat was....then bolted straight up at the low even chuckle that sounded from not so far away.
Her brown eyes peeking from beneath her strands of hair, she met his dark eyes; soft and warm on her face. He grinned at her, she assumed he was amused at how hideous she looked, from the middle of the room where he was standing in faded blue jeans, his hair wet and curling over his broad face and a towel hooked around his shoulders.
She tried not to notice that his jeans was unzipped and hanging low on his hip; giving her a glimpse of sky blue cotton boxers, as if he'd put it on just as an afterthought…
If her brain wasn't already fuzzed up from sleep, she was sure the sight of him would do it.
The scent of water and something salty and fresh tickled her nose, reminding of her own bedraggled appearance.
She tried not to squirm, especially when her face heated up as she realized where she was and just what exactly, she had done.
“Is that how you wake up nowadays?”
She smiled tentatively in question, all the while straightening her clothes.
He gestured where she sat with a hand while the other briskly rubbed his wet hair. “Like I shouted 'vampire' in your ear.”
“Oh.” Her eyes scrambled to find something else to look at either than him, with nothing else to do she wrestled her hair that tangled tightly against her neck and made a face at the gathering sweat and the dampness of her hair. When he laughed again, she spared him a glance.
“That's the only drawback of sleeping with a werewolf.”
She ducked her head and bit her tongue, refusing to fuel the suggestive tone in his voice and the mischievous light in his eyes. From the cover of her hair, her eyes landed on his back as he padded barefoot across the floor and opened a mini fridge that was hidden beside the two enormous work table. When he approached her, a smile on his face, Bella tossed her damp hair, pulled the collar of her T-shirt from her neck and struggled not to pout.
“Here.” He handed her a chilled soda can.
She accepted it and smiled down at the can before opening it, her eyes returning to his at the amused sound that he made, he sat on the coffee table, his knees bumping with hers. “Soda's at the garage. Almost like old times.” He said softly before taking a long pull.
Bella's smile was soft in remembrance, sighing softly when the biting cold of the bubbly liquid coated the inside of her throat.
She caught a flurry of his scent, bringing the image of warm sand and chilled ocean water into her mind, before she felt the touch of his callus hand on her left temple. Jacob looked at the bead of sweat, a perfect pearl of water on his thumb before rubbing his damp fingers together, as if trying to rub the sweat into his pores, installing her deep inside him where a part of her already was. His eyes glanced at up at hers; silent and still, watching him.
“You're welcome to use the shower.”
She bit down against the enthusiastic agreement. “Um.”
He gave her a look. “Really, Bella. You look miserably hideous and I refuse to look at you when you look like this.”
She gave him her own look, her lips curving into a smile. “You won't mind?”
He shrugged. “Why would I?” He stood and pulled her hand so she stood with him. “You could use whatever you need. You want a clean shirt?”
She nudged her bag with a foot as it was conveniently tangled around her ankle, traitorously waiting to trip her. “No, I always bring a change of clothes in my bag.” Extracting her foot from the bag, she picked it up and followed him to the bathroom. She poked her head in and saw a pretty but small bathroom done in rich greens and pale blues.
“Always? Since when?” He opened the shower's blurry glass door then opened a closet to pull out some clean towels.
“When you hang out with Lulu and friends, you learn to anticipate everything.”
He grinned as he passed her a towel and stood just outside the door, giving her space to maneuver. “I suspect there's a story in their somewhere...”
“Remind me to tell you about how we all agreed to go out for ice cream and ended up in Vegas.” When Jacob's dark eyes lit up with interest, she closed the door at his grinning face.
As usual, as soon as she was alone, she was berated by that well-meaning part of her. What are you doing? You were suppose to lay down the rules. Not to take a nap with him and share his shower!!!
I'm not sharing, I'm borrowing his bathroom, she chastised the voice back. She stared at herself from the stingy yet stylish mirror that hung above a meticulous white bowl sink and grimaced. Scruples aside, she really did look pathetic and the practical side of Bella took over. She stripped as fast as she could, first because she felt like she's betraying own cause by giving in to her vanity, secondly because she really, really wanted the shower and thirdly because she couldn't help feeling self conscious about the fact that Jacob was so close while she was...you know...naked.
Not only was she naked, Jacob would know that she was naked and could probably hear her taking off her clothes right now and he could probably also hear the instant she'd step into the shower where she won't only be naked...but wet.
It just seems that she's teasing him or something.
She eyed the bathroom door and felt that it might as well not exist if Jacob wanted to get inside....not that he would...right?
Torn, Bella yelped when a polite knock broke her churning thoughts and unthinkingly and irrationally dove for the towel and in the process, skidded over the still wet floor and hit her hip on the edge of the sink. She bit her lip and blinked off the tears of pain.
“Bells, you okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah.” She squeaked, rubbed her hip and wrapped her body with the green fluffy towel that smelled like lavender. She couldn't help but smile at the image of Jake choosing a lavender scented detergent. Despite feeling a little bit ridiculous, well, okay, a lot, she pulled the towel tighter around her which was stupid because it's not like he could see her. “Just being clumsy.”
She could hear the smile in his voice as if he knew what he was thinking and since this was Jacob, he probably could. “What's up?”
She saw the shadow at the bottom of the door moved. “There's a customer picking up an order, I'll be downstairs so just come down when you're done.”
“OK.” She added. “Thanks.”
“Take your time, Bells.”
She tried not to shuffle her feet, calling herself all kinds of stupid but waited until she heard the door closed before she took off the towel and jumped into the shower. Her hands hovered above the faucet, grinned when she saw it was shaped like wolf heads. Her head tilted up when she heard the headache inducing rock turned into the mellow rock of 3 Doors down. “Huh.”
Almost belting out a tune herself when she felt the water pumping against her itchy skin, she settled on a satisfied sigh that went down to her wet toes while she dunk her hair under the shower head. Groping blindly, she reached for the bottle of soap that was shelved conveniently behind her, she opened it up and sniffed, immediately recognizing the scent as the one she smelled just a few minutes ago.
Jacob's soap. Jacob's shampoo. She spotted the blue toothbrush. Jacob's toothbrush.
These little trivial things only made the realization crashed down even harder than it already had.
Holy crow, she was in Jacob's bathroom.
Her stomach jitter with what could only be described as discomfort and embarrassment as she slather on his soap onto her slick skin but even she couldn't help the giddy and not too innocent feeling that can only be the warm glow of female satisfaction, that naughty bubbly feeling of having something of your lover that someone else doesn't have, which of course, just wrong.
Administering a scalding set down to herself, she managed to make herself feel really ashamed and guilty...while she massage his shampoo against her scalp and along each strand of her hair.
Rationalizing that she had a lot of hair and it was feeling really dirty, she squirted another dose of his shampoo, a part of her admitted that when it came to Jacob, nothing worked like it should.
They should have been just friends.
She should have let him go.
She should have left him well enough alone.
It was time, she thought as she watched the suds and bubbles slither down her skin and circled down the drain, it was time to finally buck up and draw the final line. She stepped out of the shower and vehemently ignored the mocking laughter that echoed inside her head as well as the equally mocking and even more sly whispers of 'you could try'.
She glared at her pale but nonetheless fresher looking reflection.
She was easing into the simple, sleeveless, lacy top that she would never have bought if not for Misha's nagging when another knock surprised her. Knowing the owner of the voice only made her wrestled with the top even harder.
“Jake?” A low, even yet cheeky baritone called out to her. “Are you in there?”
She tugged the top but it rejected her effort and clung stubbornly onto her head. Since speed was never her friend and knowing she'll only end up with a concussion if she persisted, she tried to relax and called out. “Quil?”
There was a pause. “Bella? Is that you?”
Her voice was muffled by the top that covered her face like some exotic veil, she cleared her throat and picked up the towel and held it in front of her bra covered breast. The act was still as stupid as it was an half hour ago but she just couldn't have conversations while she was almost naked, even through a door and nobody was watching. “Uh, yeah.”
Another long, meaningful and vibrating pause entered into the conversation and Bella struggled with her top with one hand while the other still clenched the towel in front of her chest. She heard Quil cough. “Well, is Jacob there?”
The towel dropped to the floor. “No.” Finally she thrust her arms into the cross collar of the almost T shirt, almost halter top and just hoped it covered the back of her bra.
With a huff and a glare, she opened the door and met Quil's glinting hazel eyes and wide smile. “He's downstairs.”
Ignoring her self-righteous expression, Quil merely spread his gaze over her head and made a lazy search of the bathroom with his eyes. “Hm...if you say so.”
Bella almost groaned when his eyes returned to her face, an unholy light in his eyes but before he could say something that she was sure would humiliate her, Jacob walked into the room. “Quil, stop badgering her. You're needed downstairs.”
Quil gave them an 'aw shucks' smile that was both adorably cute and evil that Bella could only blush even more. “OK.”
Bella tried to ignore the way Quil leaned closer to Jacob, whispered something in Quileute and got a quick whack on the side of his head for his troubles. She stood quietly, brushing a towel on her hair when Jacob turned his attention to her, leaning easily against the door frame. “Did he do anything that I need to apologize for?” He frowned. “He didn't barge in, right? He does that sometimes.”
“Why?”
Jacob shrugged. “He's Quil.”
Strangely, she understood the noncommittal answer. Quil usually has his own reasons for doing stuff and not all of them understandable. “Well, no. He didn't.”
He gave her a small smile. “Well, good. I don't have to kill him.”
She stayed where she was, feeling silly like she had for the whole time she was here and dragged her feet and bag back to the couch. “You were going to tell me something?”
He stayed where he was but shifted his body so she could keep her in sight. He nodded, not asking how she had known that. “The guys are going out for food, there's this old mom and pop Italian place right around the corner.” He smiled. “They got a killer two sauce lasagna.”
She sat on the couch. “You don't have to...I'm not really...”
“Come on, Bells.” He grinned. “I mean after what happened you should at least buy me dinner.”
She frowned at him.
He laughed and raised a hand. “That's the only joke about it that I'll be making. I promise.” She glared at him, again ignoring how relaxed and warm he looked to her eyes. Apparently, at least for now, all her worries were for nothing.
He raised an eyebrow. “So, lasagna?”
“Lasagna sounds good.” She kept brushing the towel over her hair but blinked when he pulled out a slick, slim silver cellphone from his pockets, his thumb moving fast over the digits before he flicked it close. “There.” He noticed her look. “What?”
“You have a cellphone.” She didn't mean for her words to sound like an accusation but it did.
He merely looked at her.
“You didn't tell me.” She continued.
He straightened, walked over and sat beside her. “Do you have one?”
“Yeah.”
“You didn't tell me.” He caught her eyes before passing his cell over to her. She grumbled but dug her cell out of her bag and gave it to him. She watched him flicked opened her cell with an almost child-like glee before she smiled down into his cell and programmed her number. His cell was more intricate than hers and she frowned at it.
“Let me do it.” A brown hand reached for her hand but she twisted away.
“I can do it.” She sniffed when he chuckled.
“Fine. Give me the towel.”
Her mind on the buttons, she absently passed him the towel but paused when he felt his fingers slide along her hair, brushing against the tangles and drying it gently with the towel.
“You brought a comb in that cave of a bag?” His voice was low and soft against her nape and her fingers clenched on his cell.
“ Mm. Yeah.”
“I'll get it.” From the edge of her eyes she saw him pull her bag closer to him with a foot, she felt his hands on her waist, nudging her forward. “Scoot over .”
She turned his back to him, lifting her bare feet onto the couch and moved further down the couch to give him room. She felt the heat of his body as he folded one of his leg against her back and smiled when she felt him combed her hair with slow, smooth strokes.
“Maybe, I'll do yours, Jake, and we'll have pillow fights after.”
Jacob clucked his tongue and pulled at her hair. She grinned.
“So, what have you been doing?”
“What do you mean?”
Jacob shrugged and divided her hair into various sections. “How's the store?”
“The usual.”
“Uh huh.” He nudged her hip with a knee. “Explain, Bells.”
Struggling to understand his mood, she racked her head for something interesting for her to say. “Well...” At first, she found nothing interesting so she started with the usual stuff; the rush of summer crowds, the latest delivery screw up, Misha's break ups with her summer flings, Lulu's new recipe. She embarrassed him with Brian's obvious hero worshiping in the form of the teen's new leather jacket, made him laugh with the story of the middle aged scruffy looking bikers that ate strawberry short cake while discussing Chaucer and Shakespeare. She told him about the pool they had in the shop about whether the food or the books will bring more money, so far Lulu was winning. She told him about her plans to branch out to catering, her plans to change the interior of the book section and use the old balcony that wrapped around her flat for an outside cafe section. She told him about her mother's intention to visit and Charlie's latest fishing expedition where he fell out of the boat.
Jacob laughed. “Oh, I know about that one, dad told me, he was there. I'll show you the picture later.”
Bella grinned at him over her shoulder. “Billy took his picture?”
Jacob nodded, smiling as he tugged a comb through her hair. “Rachel got a digital camera for his birthday and he takes it everywhere with him.”
“What about you? What have you been up to?”
Bella nodded and smiled every so often about the latest trouble that Gabe and Matthew's been into, told her about life in the rez, complained about Rachel's urge to knock over a wall to make her room bigger, complained about Rachel's insistent nagging to buy a new TV. He talked about the customers he had and their mind boggling treatment of their cars. Bella laughed at the disgust and dismay in his voice, teased him about his obvious success. The continued on, arguing about who was doing better and screwing up less.
They laughed and chuckled and finally, settled into a lull where Jacob continued combing her hair with the same patience and concentration that he gave to his cars.
“You smell like me.”
Bella laughed. “Well, obviously.” She blinked and looked over her shoulder to where Jacob dropped his forehead on her shoulder, a solid heat on her skin. “Jake?”
His answer to her tentative question was to pull her closer against his chest and wrap his arms around her tight, his face burrowed against her neck, into her hair. He was always so physical and she didn't mind when he was...most of the time. But when Jacob remained quiet, his arms tense and tight around her, she knew something was wrong.
She touched the hands that were locked around her. “Jake?”
His voice was low and tight, like it was an effort to talk at all. “Just...just let me hold you. Just for a little while.”
Her eyes heated and pricked with tears at the simple, yet telling plea. Pain radiated from every angle of his body that she could see, it trembled in the air and bit along her skin.
“Tell me.”
If possible, his body tensed even more but then he eased away his arms from around her. Offering her an easy smile, he shook his head. “I'm glad that you're here, Bells.”
This time, it was she that held his arms, keeping them around her. “Tell me, Jake.”
His dark eyes were wary. “Tell you what?”
She gave him a look. “You know what.”
He shook his head.
“I need to know, Jake.” She remembered Leah's words, Embry's, Billy's concern, her father's warning.
“Why?”
“Because.”
He pulled his arms from around her but laced their fingers together when Bella shifted, turning slightly towards him. “You don't need to know.”
“I want to know.”
Bella met his weighing eyes, his lips twisted into a dark smile.
“This tendency you have for self-flagellation is unattractive.”
She squeezed his fingers but remained quiet.
He sighed, then gathered her up, pressing her side against his chest and dropped his chin on the crown of her head. “All right.”
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