Chapter 4 - Electric Feel

Bella’s POV - 1st person

As I was getting up to walk to kitchen to get to the first-aid kit, Florence had more information to give about her godson.

“You know he’s divorced.” She said in a deliberately nonchalant manner, which indicated to me after these few years of knowing her that she was not being nonchalant at all.

“Florence, is he always so...difficult, or do I bring out something special in him?” Bella asked afraid to insult her friend.

She chuckled a little. “He can be brief with people. But, he has a heart of gold. I’ve known him since he was a baby. He’ll be needing something to put on that burn. When he comes to the first-aid kit, hand him the burn spray.”

I blurted out before I even realized what I was saying, “He’s gorgeous!” Then, I slapped my hand over my mouth wondering when I developed Tourette’s Syndrome.

Florence smiled and hugged me. “I know he is, hon. Now get back there and put something on those cuts before they get infected. Hot damn! I think my cookies are burning.”

I never understood how Florence could move so quickly and never get tired at her age, whatever that was. Alice worked here a few summers before her summer internship right before her fourth year in her Marketing major. She and I would work our 8 hour shift and sit down rubbing our feet and complaining about corns and bunions. Florence, who was there when we got there and stayed after we left, would look at us and jokingly say,

“Chumps! Can’t hang, huh?”

We would sniff her coffee and examine her pill bottle to see what she was on. Nothing ever panned out. That phenomenon was nowhere near as mysterious and what had transpired between Edward and me.

When I got around to the front of the booth and took a good look at him, my heart almost stopped. He had golden-brown skin, a full-set of pillow-like lips, hazel-green eyes set off my the longest lashes I have ever seen. He looked ethereal. I felt an energy around him that I had never felt before. When our eyes locked, I gasped and ended up on my ass. I wasn’t prepared for the reaction of my girly parts when he simply touched my scalp to see if I was needed to go to the emergency room. The poor man was just trying to do his due diligence and I was getting aroused. When did I become a hussy?

I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m no angel. I have met men that tickle my fancy, but it’s always been a slow burn for me...who the hell says “tickle my fancy” anymore? Note to self: Must get out more.

In Forks, I wasn’t insanely popular, but I had my fair share of dates. My first kiss was with a guy named Tyler Crowley at 17. He had almost killed me on an icy day in the high school parking lot. In order to repay me, he decided he would take me out. Well, the only thing that prevented me from wishing he had finished the job was the kiss at the end of the night. I had never felt anything so sensual before. He didn’t even ask, he just leaned in, unexpectedly, and sucked my bottom lip between his lips and sucked on it. Then he repeated that step slowly with my top lip. My this time I was feeling all tingly in places I had never felt before and reached up to grab his neck and pull him closer. Then, something I never imagined someone would do happened. He licked my bottom lip. Then, he tried to ram his tongue in my mouth. I pulled back like someone had punched me.

“What the hell was that?!”

Tyler smiled and asked, “Haven’t you ever heard of a ‘french kiss’ baby?”

“First of all, baby, if you haven’t noticed, we’re not French and they don’t even like Americans. Secondly, ‘ewww.” Then I started rambling about how the U.S. liberated France and he looked at me like he believed I was the geek everyone said I was and took me home immediately.

When I got in the house, I avoided Charlie completely for fear he would shoot Tyler if he knew that he tried to stick his tongue down my throat and that wouldn’t be good for morale at school, although I’m pretty sure the person that would miss him the most was his obnoxious cousin Lauren Mallory.

I called my best friend, Jacob Black. He was two years younger than I and a member of the Quileute tribe. He went to school on the reservation. He always had an interesting story to tell me because I was pretty boring, but this time I had something to talk to him about.

“Hey, Bells! How was your date with Tyler?”

“It started out bad. He took me to see the worst movie in the history of mankind, ‘Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo.’ Apparently, he thought he had something in common with the main character because he proceeded to try to stick his tongue in my mouth.”

“What???” Although Jacob was younger than I, but he was huge and protective. He hit a strange growth spurt when he hit the middle of his 14th year. When he came to vist me in California with my father when he was 14, he was a little guy. When I came to live with my father not even a full year later, he was almost 6ft, had biceps the size of my waist and was growing.

“Have you ever heard of a...french kiss, Jake?”

“Yeah.” I could hear Jacob breathing through the phone.

“Is it as gross as it seems, or is there something good about it?” Jacob hung up the phone and was climbing through my bedroom window within 15 minutes. That night Jacob showed me the pleasures of a french kiss and I wasn’t grossed out at all.

However, as good as that felt, Jacob and I remained friends and I never felt with him what I felt in a few seconds of being near Edward Cullen.

When I went off to college, I was still a virgin. The first person I met was Alice. She was my roommate, so we actually talked well before I left for school. She shocked me because she told me she had been married before. It was a mistake and now she was trying to get on the right track. I had never met a girl my age that had been married. I even put off school for a couple of years because my mother fell ill with breast cancer. So, I went back to Phoenix for a while to take care of her while Phil was on the road and tried to work and save up college money. By the time I started college, I was 20 and my mother was in remission. But, I still hadn’t ever met a married and divorced 20 year old.

Alice had an energy that came through the phone. She was enthusiastic about everything, including clothes and men. She wanted to date. She felt that she missed out on being a young woman on the prowl by marrying her high school sweetheart, James Brandon, right after she graduated and she didn’t want to miss anything else. Alice never talked about it in detail, but I got the impression that James was abusive.

I was pulled out of my recollections after I finished up taking care of my knee, by a strong feeling of energy like 15 people with static cling who dragged their feet touching me at once. I knew he was behind me. When the electrical energy became strongest, I handed him the burn spray without him having to ask.

He stood there for a moment like a deer stuck in headlights. His jaw dropped down for only an instant and in that moment, I wanted to attack him and suck on his bottom lip in a way that would make Tyler Crowley and Jacob blush. He sat down quickly like I scared him and I tried to reign in my exuberance so the poor man could take care of his burn finally.

He apologized to me after I made some smart-ass comment about being rude and he grabbed my hand. I’m glad I was wearing dark clothes and wasn’t sitting down because I became instantly aroused. If he hadn’t dropped my hand, I would’ve had an orgasm in front of the first-aid kit. If he could read my mind and body right now, he would run away screaming. When did I become a pervert?

When we walked out to the dining area. I was so relieved. We had gotten a little busy. I jumped right into helping Florence out with whatever I could. My father would be proud of the way Flo had quartered off the “scene of the incident.” There was no evidence of spilt coffee and everyone was safe from my constant loss of equilibrium. Edward was finally eating his cookies. I smiled to myself, imagining a brown-skinned little boy that had Edward’s hair color and my eyes swinging his legs eating cookies next to him. I imagined him saying, “Mama, you want one?”

Mama you want one? What. the. Fuck?

Now, I’m having babies with this man I barely know. Rose walked in while one of my regular customers was teasing me about falling again.

“Hey cow!” Rose bellowed out in her usual fashion.
“Hurry up and sit down, heffa, and whatever you do, do not look towards the counter where Florence is standing.” I tried to say quietly and quickly. The first thing Rose did was look at the counter where Edward was sitting.

“Oh my! That is a tall drink of chocolate milk.”

“Shut up and turn around, Rose. I’m trying to talk to you about something.”

“What’s got your panties in a twist, B? Is this about that fucker, Paul, that’s sitting out there in his little raggedy car as we speak?” Rose had a way with words.

”No. It‘s not about Paul. Can you take a cue? You see how I‘m talking low...imitate please. It‘s about me having some freaky hormone related meltdown regarding the gorgeous man sitting at the counter over there.”

”Oh. Oooh! Well, I can understand that.” Rose did another visual once-over in the direction of Edward. ”What do you mean ‘meltdown?‘“ She finally asked.

”Well, you know how clumsy I am, right?” Rose looked at me as if she was thinking of course is the sky blue.

“Well, he came in and he hugged Florence. I didn’t see him at first because I was studying and he was too far away. Then, she called for me to come back on and you know how that annoys me since she doesn’t like people to call her and I was a little pissy towards him because he was laughing at me. So, I punched back in and went out to get him his coffee. When, I finally looked I him, I gasped because he...well...he looks like that and I felt all this...I don’t know how to describe it...electricity.” I slightly shifted my head in his direction without turning around. “I dropped the coffee pot, slipped in the coffee and hit my head.”

After Rose finished laughing hysterically she said, “Okay. So, these events are different how?”

“Well, all he did was touch me and...I became...aroused due to this energy that passes between us. That has NEVER happened to me before...ever. Not with Mike, Dante, or anyone, Rose. Have something like that ever happened to somebody you just met?”

Rose looked at Bella blinking rapidly. “You’re saying you’ve never come close to or had the big O’ with men the man you lost your virginity to, or anyone else you’ve had sex with, but you almost had one by simply touching the hand of this man who you almost killed yourself serving coffee to?”

“Exactly! I lost my virginity to Mike Newton and I felt like wearing a t-shirt that said, ‘all I got was this t-shirt.”

Rose snorted with laughter again as we watched my shift relief, Angela Weber walk in the door. I smiled at her because she was really a lovely girl and I was happy to see her. Then, I started feeling like pin needles were running up and down my back.

“He’s walking over here isn’t he?”

“Goddamn, girl! How did you know that?”

“Hello, McFly! Have you been listening to me. I feel this electricity whenever he’s around.”

Just as I finished saying that, I heard a velvet baritone was over my already tingling spine and I blushed. He was saying something to me about walking me to my car because of Paul. I told him in a very feeble manner because I would’ve done anything not to be disconnected from him. He insisted, which would’ve normally turned me off. But, it just enhanced the uncomfortable state I was already in. I almost forgot to introduce him to Rose, but my brain did kick in momentarily.

I tried to grow a spine and act like myself and stand up to him, but he just stared down at me with those eyes that seemed to change colors and hypnotize me, if I looked too long. I gave in and went to change my clothes.

When I came back out, Rose was talking to him like she had known him for ages. I’m not a jealous person and I trust her implicitly, but he’s a man and Rosalie Hale is beautiful. A supermodel would kill to have bone structure like hers. To top it all off, she had beautiful curves that intimidated most women, including me. I might have growled a little as I was walking towards the counter to let Florence know I was leaving.

Mine! What the hell was that?

Flo followed me to the table and they both stood up. His eyes locked into me again and before I knew it, he was holding my messenger bag and holding the door open for me. Rose ragged on my about my truck again. That truck was a going away present from Jacob and my dad. It got me here and there was no way I was giving it up because Rose didn’t think it was fancy enough. I thought I heard Edward laughing at it. For the first time since I had it, I felt a little ashamed of it. He gently took my keys from me after hypnotizing me with his gaze and before I knew it I was sitting in my truck holding his hand.

It was October in Chicago and 32 degrees, but my face was flush with the heat from his hand. The electricity moved through my body and went right to my core. He was rubbing circles in my hand and I was rubbing my legs together trying to find the friction that I needed. Heat bubbled up in my core, he growled at the car Paul was sitting in before it sped away and I exploded into my first orgasm of my adult life sitting in my truck just from Edward holding my hand.

I don’t think he noticed, thank God. I would’ve been mortified. When he looked at me he mistook my shiver for me being cold. I noticed the first time that he was blushing. He asked me to unlock the passenger door so he can get in while I get warm. I finally let go of my hand because I was on my way to my second explosion.

“Hand me your cell, please.” He said in his velvet tone that made me shiver again.

“Call me as soon as you walk in the door, Bella. I want to know that you made it home safely. It doesn’t matter how long it takes or how late it is. How far away from here do you live?”

“About 15 minutes.” I said in a small voice.

“Ok. I’ll just wait for your call then.”

After my truck warmed up and before he got out and closed the passenger door of my truck, his lips curled up in a slow sexy smile that almost brought me to the edge again. I was a little startled because I didn’t even see Rose leave, but I knew that there was no way I would miss the opportunity to hear his voice again. I would call him even if he hadn’t asked me to. I had his number and he had mine.

I was officially a stalker of Edward Cullen.