Giving Thanks

Chapter 33 teaser

"You and Edward are, like, serious? You're finally really dating?"

"What? No?" I was confused by her assumption. "What do you mean 'finally'? And why would you think that?"

"Oh, I just assumed." She seemed embarrassed. "The way you two are together. Do you know how often you two touch each other when you're in a room together? He can't keep his hands off you and you're not much better. And then, when you got upset over his crack about making dinner, he apologized and kissed you. Why would he kiss you if he wasn't really into you?"

"It's just the way we are," I explained. "It's like we're always 'on.' We are trying to fool people into believing we're together. Obviously we're doing a good job, if we're able to fool you."

Alice shot me a look I could only describe as frustrated, and started muttering under her breath, something that sounded like, "The only person you're fooling is yourself."

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that," I told her with exaggerated politeness.

"You weren't supposed to," she snapped back. Then her eyes softened.

"No one would blame you if you liked him, Bella," she said. "I've worked with him for a couple of years. He's always been nice to me. According to Jasper he's a great guy. And, let's face it, Edward is pretty easy on the eyes."

I didn't like where this conversation was going. "Yeah, well, Jasper also thought I was a gold digging muckraker at one point, so his opinion is suspect."