Chapter One

I'm so stupid. God, how could I do something so stupid? I was going to be late for work and there was no possible way for my roommate to bring me my spare car key, seeing as she was currently at work and waiting for me to get there.

So, I was stuck, embarrassed, watching the police officer try and unlock my car door with a coat hanger from the back of his cruiser. I wouldn't be so embarrassed if there weren't a handful of people outside of the coffee shop I was parked in front of, watching the events unfold.

But I couldn't complain, because the police officer was attractive. He looked to be around my age, maybe a little older, around six foot two with tousled bronze hair and green sapphire eyes.

And he was in amazing shape – his muscles evident every time he moved his arms. "Here we go." He says, snapping me out of my daydreaming, and the front door pops open.

He reaches into the car and grabs my keys, handing them to me. I sigh, feeling a little less anxious. "Thank you so much."

I was still going to be late, but it won't be that bad.

"Don't worry about it." He says, giving me an easy smile and crossing his arms over his chest. "It happens all the time. Except it's usually senior citizens that lock their keys in the car."

Groaning, I cover my face with my hands as he laughs. "That's really not helping." When I look up, he's still smiling but trying to keep it covered with the palm of his hand. "I really need to get going before I'm even more late. Again, thank you so much. I don't know how to repay you."

He rubs the back of his neck and shrugs. "It's fine. All part of the job." I stare at him for a few more seconds before climbing into my car and pulling out back onto the main road.

Alice is at my throat the second I walk through the door. "Bella, where the hell have you been?" She has flour all over her lavender apron and a spoonful of icing in her hand. "We've been getting swamped with birthday orders and I can't bake all of the cupcakes by myself."

"I locked my keys in my car and had to have a police officer help me get them out." Her frown slowly morphs into a grin and I want to throw my jacket at her. "Don't laugh." I warn. "And where's Rose? Shouldn't she be here, too?"

She just groans and makes her way back into the kitchen. "She's on a 'weekend getaway' with Emmett. She can't make it this weekend."

The kitchen is a mess - bowls and spoons everywhere. There are hundreds of mini cupcakes spread out on the open counter space and only a handful are iced and completed.

It was a Saturday, but Alice and I had decided to keep the bakery closed so that we could finish all the orders by tonight so that we wouldn't fall behind and it would have been so much easier had Rosalie been here – she was the best at keeping us on time and the best at decorating. Alice and I were better at baking, but Alice did have a good hand at decorating and icing.

I quickly washed my hands and took over the baking while Alice started in on the decorating and icing. We worked in silence for a bit, until I had finished all the baking.

"So…" Alice started, piping a pink rose onto a vanilla cupcake. "Was the police officer cute? Or was he one of your dad's friends?"

I roll my eyes. "Charlie doesn't know anybody on the Seattle Police Department, at least anybody under the sergeant. And if you must know…he was very cute. He was tall, muscular and had really pretty green eyes."

We both laugh and then get back to working on the cupcakes. After another four hours of icing, decorating and then arranging the cupcakes in the correct order, everything is done and the cupcakes are ready to be sent out.

Our normal delivery man (and a longtime friend of mine), Jacob Black, comes to pick them up. I give him the addresses and then he's heading out the door. We were lucky to have him as our delivery man. We would never get anything done on time if one of us had to deliver it, and I particularly didn't trust myself with handling the cupcakes in the car.

After we finish cleaning the kitchen, we lock up and head back home.

The next morning, I'm up and getting dressed by six-thirty. Alice was in the shower so I sat at the small kitchen island, eating a bowl of Cheerios, and drinking a cup of tea. Once Alice was dressed and ready, I left my dishes in the sink and we headed out to the bakery.

It was late October and the temperature was starting to drop quickly and I was mentally kicking myself for wearing a denim jacket and not a thicker jacket.

Alice was bouncing from foot to foot while I worked on unlocking the door. As soon as the door was opened, we both flew into the bakery and I was so happy that I kept the heat on last night for once.

I flipped the "open" sign on the door and then went to put on some fresh coffee while Alice got to stocking the displays.

The bell rang, indicating that there was a customer, and I turned to face them while trying to tie my dark blue apron around my waist. "Hi! Can I help…" My voice faded out when I saw the police officer from yesterday standing in front of me, across the counter.

He had a friendly smile on, but still looked slightly embarrassed. "Err, hi. I just saw the coffee sign out front and my partner and I needed some…"

"Two coffees, coming up." I feel my face burning as I turn my back to him and reach for two to-go cups. I place the steaming cups of coffee on the counter and then glance up at him. He hands me a five and I shake my head. "It's on the house."

He frowns. "I can't…"

Shaking my head, I give him a smile. "How else can I repay you for saving my keys yesterday?"

He laughs and pockets the money. "It's all in the job description." We both laugh and Alice suddenly appears next to me.

"Oh, hi." She glances at me, a smile making its way onto her face. "Who's this?"

I open my mouth to speak, but he speaks before I can. "I'm Edward – Edward Cullen." He stumbles over his words and I bite the insides of my cheeks to keep from smiling.

"Well, Officer Cullen, would you care for a muffin? Bella makes them herself. They're delicious." She brags, resting her hand on my shoulder and I want to pinch her.

Edward glances down at his watch and then frowns. "I would, but I have to get going. My partner's waiting for me in the car and we need to be back at the station." He looks at me and then grabs a napkin off the counter and pulls a pen from his chest pocket. He scribbles some numbers down and then slides it towards me. "A raincheck…for the muffins."

He grabs the two coffees and then heads out the door, holding it open for some older ladies who are making their way in.

Alice nudges my hip with hers. "He's cute and you're blushing." She winks at me as she turns her attention to the women waiting.

I make my way back towards the kitchen to get started on the cupcakes for the day. Halloween was fast approaching so I was working on some of the themed cupcakes. I made the typical flavors – vanilla, chocolate, coconut, and mint chocolate – along with some Halloween flavors. One was a pumpkin spice cupcake with cream cheese frosting that had pumpkin fondant on top, another was plain vanilla cupcake but it was the same colors as candy corn, and then I made a dark chocolate with neon green "slime" icing.

The rest of the day goes by kind of slowly, but it's bearable. We get the usual customers in the morning for their coffee and muffins and then after three, we start to get a handful of high school students along with some college students and people getting off work.

There's normally a rush when the college students show up, so both Alice and I are overwhelmed with trying to keep up the orders.

And then I see him – Edward. He's still in uniform and standing in line, waiting patiently with a friendly smile on his face. "Two coffees, please." He says when he's in front of me. "I was just in the neighborhood, answering a call and my partner said he wanted some coffee…" He explains nervously. "You have really good coffee."

I laugh, sliding him the coffee and taking the five from his hand. "Well I appreciate it." I hand him his change and he clears his throat nervously.

"I was just wondering…about that rain check…" He starts to speak, but he's interrupted by the sound of a horde of teenagers walking in.

I shoot him an apologetic smile. "I'm so sorry, but we're really busy right now." He just nods, takes the coffees and heads back outside. Alice is laughing into her arm and I smack her arm. "Get back to work." I try to sound threatening but I'm fighting off a bout of giggles myself.

Around five o'clock that night, the last costumer finally leaves and I flip the "open" sign to "close" and lock the door, heading back to the kitchen to help Alice clean up.

"I got this." Alice says, looking upset by me cleaning up. She always did like to clean the kitchen herself – she claimed I didn't put things away properly. "Go call your police officer." Groaning, I throw the rag that I'm holding at her and she flips me off.

Grabbing my jacket and keys, I head out to my car.

When Alice gets home an hour later, I'm sitting cross-legged on the couch with the napkin on one leg and my phone on the other. "What are you doing?" She asks, tossing her coat onto the chair next to me. "Did you call him yet?" I shake my head. "Bella, come on. What are you doing?"

"What if he doesn't really want to go out with me?" I whine, looking over at her.

She sighs, sitting down next to me. "Bella, he gave you his number. There's nothing else he can do besides physically take you on a date." I go back to staring at the napkin and with a groan, Alice snatches the napkin and phone from my lap and jumps up before I can grab them back.

"Alice!" I cry out, reaching for my phone.

She dances away from the couch and sticks her tongue out at me, dialing the number and pressing the phone to her ear. I move from the couch and try to snatch the phone from her, but she turns away quickly. "Hi! Is this Edward?" Her voice is over-friendly and high pitched. "Hi Edward, this is Alice from the bakery. Yes, hi, I was just calling for Bella. She didn't believe that you gave her the right number…hey!"

I finally manage to snatch the phone away from her and shoot her a glare. "Hi, Edward. It's Bella and I am so sorry for my friend's behavior." I hear him chuckle on the other end of the line.

"It's fine, although I am disappointed that she was the one who called me."

My stomach flips and I look up to see Alice smirking at me. With one last glare, I head towards my bedroom and shut the door. "I'm really sorry about that…"

He laughs again and I can't help but smile. "So, I was wondering if you're free Tuesday night? I don't have to work and was wondering if maybe you'd want to go to dinner?"

"Tuesday? That'd be great."

"I'll pick you up around seven? I'll need your address, though. Unless you want me to pick you up from the bakery?"

We both laugh, but his sounds nervous. "What, you can't just run my name through your system? I thought you were a police officer."

He snorts. "Yeah, I'm not at that level just yet."

I give him my address and promise to be ready by seven and then hang up. After hanging up my phone, I hear the floor creak outside my door.

Jumping off my bed, I throw my bedroom door open and Alice is standing outside of it, looking guilty. "Asshole!" I accuse, pointing at her.

She shrugs. "Yes, but I'm an asshole you just got you a date with a really hot cop." I roll my eyes. "Look on the bright side – you won't have to buy handcuffs for sex."

I smack her shoulder and she bursts into a fit of giggles, heading into her bedroom and shutting the door behind her.