A Ilha do Amor

A New Year, A New Life

Carrots? Has anyone seen any carrots? The plot bunny attacked and well, you all are going to reap the benefits. NEW STORY! I've been writing some pretty heavy stuff lately and well, I'm going to lighten it up a bit. It's not going to be a humorous story (though there will be some funny bits) but it will be romantic. Some drama...some light angst (there needs to be some sort of conflict or it wouldn't be worth reading, kids).

Yeah, that isn't mine.

Chapter Twenty-Six: A New Year, A New Life

BPOV

"I'm surprised that the paper sprung for a Christmas party," I said, putting on my drusy earrings. I was dressed in a simple red dress with my drusy jewelry as my accessories. "With all that happened after the fall out with Alec, they would probably want to save money."

"Didn't we have to pay to go?" Edward asked, slipping on his black suit jacket. The man looked downright sinful in his black suit and white shirt. It was cut perfectly for his athletic body and I wanted to crawl up his muscular form and have my wicked way with him. Oh, right. I couldn't. I was having my special time of the month...erm, quarter. "Bella, stop drooling. I'm not going anywhere."

"It's just that you look so damn sexy, Edward," I said, sashaying over to him and wrapping my arms around his neck. "I want you."

"I offered but you said that you didn't want due to your girly issues," he smirked, kissing my nose.

"Yeah, talk about gross," I grumbled. "I'm sorry. I'm just really horny when I get my period."

"I'll keep that in mind," he said, squeezing my ass. "Back to my question, wasn't there a fee we had to pay to go per person?"

"Yeah, ten bucks, roughly. It's paying for the rental of the room at Il Terrazo Carmine and it's not an open bar," I said, kissing his stubbled jaw. "Hmmm, you smell good."

"Thank you, love," he said, smacking my ass. "Now, we've got to go before you toss me on the bed and have your wicked way with me."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," I teased, cocking my hip.

"It's not, but didn't Marcus say that it was imperative that we all be there?" Edward questioned, arching a perfect brow.

"Crap," I said, wrinkling my nose. He chuckled. Edward kissed just behind my ear and sucked on the sensitive skin there. "Keep that up and we won't be leaving. I'll want to make love to you, my period be damned."

"Come on, my beautiful girl," he said, tugging on my hand. "Let's get going. It'll be a fun night out." I picked up my clutch and we walked out to the foyer of the apartment. Edward helped me with my coat before he put his coat on, leading us down to parking garage. Sliding into his car, he drove us to Il Terrazo Carmine and let the valet park his sleek red vehicle. Inside of the restaurant, we walked back to the large banquet room that the Times rented out for our party. Immediately, I saw Paul and Rob.

"Bells!" Paul squealed, rushing toward me and throwing his arms around my neck. "Thanks to you, your hot boyfriend and your amazing dad, the Seattle Times is safe from the tyranny of Alec Wright."

"He's been announcing that every five minutes," Rob deadpanned, tugging his boyfriend back and threading their fingers together. "But, he's not the only one who is excited at the departure of that guy. A lot of readers are now happy that the paper is getting back to what it was prior to Alec's arrival."

"That's because we're able to report the news," I said. "Not some one-sided view of the news. Marcus has been incredibly happy, handing out challenging assignments and raising the bar. It's been crazy."