Chapter 9

I walk back into the apartment with the movie and the food to loud music playing from Alice's bedroom. I set the pizzas down and put the beer in the fridge before investigating what that girl was up to. I noticed that the kitchen was cleaned and the living room had been picked up. It's not that it was a complete mess before, but we had let it go a bit. I felt kinda bad actually.

Alice must be cleaning. That would explain the loud music. She had mentioned to me in one of our conversations that she couldn't clean unless there was music. Great now I feel worse. I should be helping her.

I opened the bedroom door to find a very sexy sight: Alice dancing around to Luke Bryan's "Country Girl (Shake It for Me) in her little blue jean shorts, white spaghetti strap shirt and a cowboy hat.

Yes. I said cowboy hat. I didn't even know she owned one. But right now, I was so glad she did because DAMN…

My jaw dropped slightly as I crossed my arms and leaned up against the doorframe. Fuck yea, I was going to enjoy the view.

She hadn't noticed that I came in so she was mostly doing a lot of over-exaggerated movements including whipping her hair and ass-shaking; you know, the kind of dancing you do when you think no one is watching…not that I was complaining. Alice bent over in front of me picked up a shirt off the floor and tossed it into the hamper in the corner of the room.

When she turned around, she finally saw me standing there watching her. She looked a little startled and stopped dancing for a moment, but then a mischievous grin spread across her face. Alice pulled me by my shirt and sat me down on the edge of the bed. She pulled the hat down forward in front of her eyes a little more and began dancing again.

And it wasn't the childish dancing she was doing before. Oh no.

Let's just say she was swaying her hips in a more…provocative manner. It was enough to make me clench my jaw and ball her bed sheets up in my fists.

At the very end of the song, Alice straddled my lap and tossed the hat to the side. Her eyes bore into mine for a couple seconds before I crashed my lips to hers. My hands went up to cup Alice's face as her tangled into my hair.

I gripped her thighs before standing up and flipping her on the bed, with me lying in between her legs, and my lips never leaving hers. My left hand moved up above her head to help support my weight, while my other hand traveled up her thigh to grip her hip roughly. Alice moaned into my mouth and curled her fingers into the belt loops on both sides, pulling my hips into hers. Fuck…

I sucked and nipped at her bottom lip before moving down to her neck, kissing against her soft, sensitive skin. She let out a hiss between her teeth, sending a shiver down my spine. I slowly slid up my hand from her waist under her shirt and spread it out over her smooth stomach, her muscles contracting at my touch. I caressed her ribs with my fingertips, loving the sound of her erratic breathing.

I moved my hand up a bit further just under her breast before stopping, asking for permission. Her hands left my hair, and she dragged her nails down my back. Oh. My. God. I cupped and squeezed her breast over her bra, and Alice let out a guttural moan.

"Yeah, I'm chilling on a dirt road; Laid back swerving like I'm George Jones…" My phone blares in my pocket. Without even looking at it, I know whose calling. I'm gonna kill him. I pull out my phone to ignore the call, when it accidently answers it. Fuckin' phone!

"Hello," I answer trying not to sound annoyed.

"Hey partner! How's your vacation goin'?" I swear his southern drawl is even more prominent over the phone.

"Good. Listen Jasper, can I call you back later?"

"Aww, did I call you at a bad time? Wait, are you havin' sex? Leave it to you to find a way to get laid on your vacation…"

"Jasper! No. I'm busy. I'll call you back later," my tone couldn't be more short and clipped.

"Alright, alright. Don't go gettin' your panties in a bunch…if you're even wearin' any," I hung up. I'm gonna kick his ass when I get back.

I tossed my phone onto the floor and looked back down at Alice. "Sorry about that. My pocket answered it. Trust me I would have ignored it," I said as I leaned in to kiss her again. She smiled into the kiss and wrapped her arms around my neck. I moved down her neck again, and nipped lightly on her collarbone. "Now where were we?" I whispered against her skin.

My hand moved up under her shirt again and just as I cupped her breast again, "How dare you say that my behavior is unacceptable. So condescending, unnecessarily critical. I have the tendency of getting very physical…"

You have got to be kidding me!

"Oh shit! That's my boss! Hang on!" Alice pushed me off of her to get her phone that was on her nightstand. I laid there on my back as she took the call and ran my hands through my hair. I let out a low chuckle.

This would happen. Things finally get more…exciting, and we get interrupted.

Alice and I hadn't been very physical. Sure, we've made out more than a few times, and we're constantly cuddling, but that's as far as it's gone. We had made an agreement that even though I am leaving in a few days, we wouldn't rush anything because of it. Am I okay with that?Yes. But that doesn't mean I don't get turned on…all the time. She's a smart, beautiful, and sexy woman. Can you really blame me?

I got up off the bed and walked into the kitchen to give her some privacy. I grabbed a slice of pizza out of the box and began devouring it.

I was hungry. Don't judge me.

"Sorry that was my boss," Alice came back out. "I have to go do a shoot in LA next week."

"No worries. That sounds cool. Do you like LA?" I asked, sitting down on the barstool and grabbing her a slice. "Oh and there's beer in the fridge."

"It's okay. I've been there so many times. I've gotten pretty used to it," Alice answers as she bends down in the fridge to grab a beer for each of us. I stare at her backside, admiring the view. She turns around and catches me staring. Oops. She stands up shaking her head and hands me the beer. Don't act like you don't know any better, missy. I'm sure that's not the first time she's caught someone looking at her ass…and it sure won't be the last time.

"Well excuuuse me," I said in a mocking tone, taking a sip. "Not everyone gets to travel around all the time."

"I have to go there a lot for work. Don't act like I'm always going there for vacation," Alice jokingly hit me in my arm. "You ever been there?"

"Yeah, a couple times but it was for work too. Training, mostly. I didn't have time to sight-see or anything so I don't really know what's there besides what people tell me.

"Do you know how long you're gonna be there?" I asked.

"About three weeks or so. I have to shoot the process: the outfits, the models, and the actual shoot," she paused for a bit, thinking. "You said you have a lot of vacation time, right? Maybe you can come up the last week, or something?" Alice looked nervous. I smiled and walked around the counter to her. I took her hand and kissed it.

"I'll definitely try," her eyes lit up. "I don't see how that would be a problem unless something came up so I'll try to take you up on that offer."

"Good," she smiled and gave me a quick peck. Then, her eyes turned a little more serious. "I just don't want it to seem like I'm making you rush into anything or pressure you into a relationship with me if you don't want it," I chuckled, remembering my little run in with Emmett and Rosalie at the gas station.

"Speaking of pressuring…"

"I'm a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world…" Alice scrambled to answer her phone as fast as she can while I was just sitting there trying to process what the fuck I had just heard. Then I overheard who was over the phone.

"Alice! I already told Bella that you BOTH have to come to the house-warming party we're having tomorrow. No excuses," I heard Rosalie say sternly over the phone.

Then, it hit me. Alice has that ringtone specifically for Rosalie.

I just burst into laughter. Alice was giving me the most puzzled look, but I couldn't tell if it was because of what Rosalie was saying or why I was almost keeling over with laughter. Alice walked into the other room to hear Rosalie a bit better.

"Let me talk to Bella first…No I'm not making any promises," I could hear her saying in the other room. "Because my parents are gonna be there…I was just saying that I didn't wanna pressure her…Well…Rosie…Ok, fine. I can't speak for Bella, but I'll be there…No I'm not making her…No…Rosie I'm hanging up the phone…Bye Rose...BYE!" Uh oh…I don't know what's worse: a ticked off Alice or a ticked off Rosalie.

…till Alice came out the room and glared at me.

Alice wins.

"Why didn't you tell me that Rosalie convinced you to go to the party?" Alice accused walking up to the opposite side of the counter.

"Whoa, wait, what? Rosalie didn't convince me of anything. I told her that I would talk to you first about it."

"She said that you agreed to go."

"No, no, no. If I agreed at all, it was to get out of there," she raised her eyebrow at me still skeptical. "Alice, I don't wanna just show up with your parents there and make you introduce them to me…especially, since we were just having a conversation on how we were not going to rush into anything." She squinted her eyes at me for a second, then took a deep breath and relaxed. She leaned onto the counter on her elbows and dropped her head down.

"You're right. I believe you. I'm sorry I accused you. Rosalie can be a bit frustrating at times," she admitted. I nodded my head in agreement. "Oh, and why were you laughing?" I started to laugh a little again just at the memory.

"The ringtone you had for Rosalie, I just wanted to say: well done," she sweetly giggled.

"I was so embarrassed when my phone went off," she blushed.

"Yeah, I could tell by the way you jumped up to answer it," I laughed. We sat there in silence for a moment before she reached over and grabbed my hand.

"So do you think we should go?" I took a deep breath and looked straight into her eyes.

There's that nervous look she gets. I tried to think of all the reasons why I shouldn't go, but the only thing I could think of was just making her uncomfortable.

"I'll go," I started off slowly. "But only if you want me to. I have no problem with going. As far as introductions with your parents goes, you can decide. Besides, you don't really have to introduce me as someone you're seeing…especially since you've never dated a girl before. We can break it to them slowly later down the line if you want to. For now, I'm just a really good friend. They don't have to know the benefits part of it just yet," I added with a wink hoping to get her to smile.

Which, of course, she did. I win.

"Ok, that sounds reasonable enough," Alice leans over the counter to kiss me, softly. "Mmm, now how about that movie," she smirked.

"After you, lovely."

A/N: ...yes I know it's been a very long time...and that this chapter was really short, but I felt I had to give you something. For those of you still reading this, I'm sorry it took so long and thank you for sticking with me after this long.

Crazy Heart 101: Sorry for the wait.

Reviews help. Thanks again guys.