For those of you who have read my story Drawn In you know that I think there is just something very sexy about cooking.

I am exploring that again here in this first story. I promise not all of them will be cooking related.

For those of you who haven't read my other story yet, why not give it a try, you might just like it.

Hope you enjoy!

Abbreviations

CIA = Culinary Institute of America

BEO = Banquet Event Order

Twilight is owned by S. Meyers. The rest is mine, all mine!


Culinary Kiss

You have reached greatness, speak and be enlightened. Emmett's smug voice answered his phone.

This was going to be harder than I thought.

"Emmett, how old are you?" I asked very annoyed.

Old enough to know that it still bugs the hell out of you and therefore I will continue to do it!

My older brother really could be an ass at times.

"Emmett, please for once in your life be serious?" Maybe I should just hang up.

Edward for once in your life will you not be so serious? You use to be fun until you became an all important Sales Manager at The Ritz Carlton. Now you just act like you are better than the rest of the family. Emmett said jokingly but I knew he felt there was a bit of truth to what he said.

I let out a deep breath and then gathered the courage to continue. "Emmett that's why I am calling you, I…I need your advice on something." I braced myself for the snarky comments to begin but there was nothing. I think the silence made it worse.

"Emmett?" I asked him again, thinking maybe his phone had dropped or something.

Sorry Edward, I was just checking to see if hell had indeed frozen over.Ah there was the snarky! Seriously little brother, you want my advice on something?

"God help me, yes Emmett I need your advice on something."

Emmett was quiet again for another minute and then he spoke.

Should I meet you at the bar there?

"No, I need to get out of here. How about we head over to The Plaza, meet you in thirty minutes?"

Ok Edward, I'll meet you there.

As I walked from work to meet my brother I kept running the day's events through my head. Kept thinking about how I had possibly made a stupid mistake. Thought about the inappropriate reaction that my body had to her, to her innocent gesture, to the song that was playing in the background and how my neatly constructed world had been slowly unraveling all around me because of her.

Bella Swan, beautiful swan.

I got to the bar before my brother and went ahead and ordered drinks for the two of us. I was just about to down the last swig of my beer when Emmett came bounding up next to me. He plopped into the seat next to me on the couch. He had a shit eating grin on his face that reached clearly from ear to ear. He took a drink of his scotch and leaned back in his seat, the grin never leaving his face.

"So little brother, what is her name?" Damn why was he so perceptive about some things and so oblivious about others?

"Bella." I sighed as her name rolled off of my tongue.

"Her name means beautiful? Man are you screwed!" Emmett chuckled as he motioned for the waiter to bring another round of drinks over to our table.

"So tell me about her." Emmett said.

"Where do I begin?"

"How about from the beginning."

So I began the story of how the beautiful, amazing and other worldly Bella Swan came into my life.

It had all started two months ago, May 5th to be exact. That was a day that would be blazoned into my brain for the rest of my life.

I got to work around 11:30 that day. I had been out all morning long meeting with local business leaders selling the virtues of using The Ritz-Carlton for their hotel, meeting and catering needs. I loved my job, enjoyed selling the propriety because let's face it, how could you not love selling The Ritz-Carlton.

I walked into the underground entrance of the hotel and made my way through the labyrinth of hallways that no one ever saw expect employees, to my office. It was if we had our own little world down here, a world that the people who stayed in the hotel would never know. As outdated as it seemed it was almost like there was a class system, alive and well here in New York City, the haves and the have not's, the guest and the employees.

Although I know the reason for the halls was so employees could maneuver around the hotel doing their jobs out of the eye of the public, a public that expected only the very best from the name Ritz-Carlton, it never ceased to amaze me the difference between the front entrance to this hotel and the underground entrance.

As I made my way to my office, I overheard two facilities support men talking about the new girl who had started the night before.

"I'm telling you Marcus, she is the prettiest girl I have ever seen in my life. She walked into the room and I swear it got brighter."

I smiled at the two men and proceeded on to my office wondering who they could be talking about. As I reached the door to the Sales offices, I heard another conversation.

"Did you see the new girl yet Seth? She is the best looking girl I have ever seen." Could they be talking about the same girl?

I opened the door to the sales office and made my way over to my own small office. I sat down in my chair and started to boot up my computer when Jane, one of the sales assistants walked into my office.

"So have you heard the buzz about the new girl yet?" She asked me while sitting down in one of the chairs in front of my desk. Jane and I were pretty good friends and usually ate lunch together. She was easy to talk to and unlike some of the other women I worked with her, she never seemed to be throwing herself at me. She was happily married and planned on staying that way.

"I heard a couple of different guys talking on my way in about a new girl. They all talked about how pretty she is."

"You could say that." She grinned at me, but didn't say anything further.

"So who is she?" I asked my curiosity at full force now.

"She is an intern, working here for the summer. She is going to be working with Tanya and helping out when she goes out on maternity leave."

Tanya was our Sous Pastry Chef. She was very good at her job and everyone seemed to love her to death, including myself. I would go to her kitchen at least twice a week just to talk to her for a few minutes about things non work related. I couldn't imagine them bringing in an intern to help out when she was out on leave. An intern meant a Culinary Arts student, a student who may very well not know how to decorate a cake, let alone make some of the elaborate desserts we served in our restaurants.

"What school is she at currently?"

"CIA" She answered me.

"Well that says something then doesn't it?"

Jane sat there for a minute, looking at me, the smile never leaving her face.

"What?" I asked her.

"Nothing." She coyly answered me. "I'm going to get back to my contracts. Maybe you should wander down to Tanya's kitchen and meet the new girl." She said as she walked out of my office.

Ok that was weird. I couldn't figure out why Jane would be acting like that. My interest was at an all time high now and I wanted to run down there and meet this girl that seemed to be generating a buzz in our underground world, but I knew I needed to focus on a few things before making my way down there.

I picked up my phone and hit my message button and began to listen to the long line of messages I had waiting for me. After I finished the messages, I moved on to check my e-mails and then set out to answer those items that needed to be addressed right away.

I had been working for a few hours, wrapped up in my own little sales world when I began to yawn. I needed coffee and I needed it now or I would never make it until the end of the day. I grabbed my cup and made my way down to the employee cafeteria to pour myself some of the good stuff that would energize my brain.

As I made my way down there I passed several more conversations that all seemed to be centered on the new girl. Not all of the groups were men, many were women and they were not talking about her in a bitchy way, no these women seemed to be just as enamored with this young lady as the men did.

So who the hell was this girl and what special powers did she posses?

By the time I reached the employee cafeteria I was dying to meet or at least see this girl. The pastry kitchen was directly beside the cafeteria and I walked into the kitchen hoping Tanya would be there so I could make it seem like I was going to talk to her.

The pastry kitchen was actually a split between a dish room for banquets that occupied the front part of the area and the back part was the pastry kitchen, although kitchen was a loose use of the word. The space had lots of equipment, mixers, proof boxes, freezers, storage and a walk in cooler, but there were no stoves or ovens. They used portable gas burners for stoves and took all things that needed to be baked to the main kitchen. The space was somewhat secluded but it seemed to work well for Tanya. Being the Sous Pastry Chef she handled the desserts for the restaurant and the banquet functions. Our head pastry chef did wedding cakes and our chocolate art. He used the main kitchen primarily so Tanya was on her own back here and that seemed to please her pretty well.

There were several storage shelves that separated the dish area from Tanya's area so often times you could see a body back there through the open wire racks but not see who it was. As I walked into the kitchen I could see a rather large pregnant belly sitting on the counter. I rounded the corner to find Tanya trying to reach for something on a top shelf but having trouble reaching it because of her belly. I also noticed that Tanya was back here by herself.

Just as I started to ask Tanya if she needed any help the door to the walk in opened. The sudden blast of cold air hit me first but when I looked up and saw the reason the door opened I was hit by a wave of sunshine, literally a wave of sunshine.

"Tanya, what are you doing? I told you I would get that for you once I got the eggs." Rang the most amazing heavenly sounding Southern drawl I have heard in my whole life. It sounded like angels singing.

The voice walked over to Tanya and reached up to the shelf, grabbing a can of vanilla beans and handing them to Tanya who was still stretching out trying in vain to reach the same item.

Just then they both looked over at me. "Edward." Tanya said. I just stood there frozen, enraptured by the vision that stood next to Tanya. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen in my life. She wasn't very tall; maybe 5'4" with auburn red hair that was pulled back in a crazy mess of a bundle that reminded me of some of the crazy styles Phoebe wore on Friends. Her skin was like cream and I instantly wanted to touch it.

"Edward." Tanya called again breaking me out of my trance.

"Yeah, hey Tanya. How are you feeling? Looks like the little monkey is giving you a hard time." I said trying to distract the fact I had just been a total mute. Tanya had taken to calling her daughter a little monkey saying she was jumping around in there like she was flying through trees.

"I swear she grows three inches every day." Tanya said in a breathy grumble.

The vision walked over to a gas burner that was sitting on the main prep counter. There was a pot that had a metal bowl resting on top of it and judging from the heavenly aroma that was hanging in the air was full of melting chocolate. She began to stir the mixture together and I had this sudden craving for chocolate, not because of the smell but because of the vision that was stirring it around. She next opened a carton of heavy cream and began to pour it into a measuring cup. I couldn't help but look at the liquid as it poured into the cup and once again compare it the color of her skin.

"Edward have you met Bella yet?" Tanya asked me. So this vision in front of me was named Bella.

She looked up at me and smiled. At least I think it was a smile, that was what I knew it logically was called but it felt more like I had been struck by sunbeams.

"No we haven't met yet." Bella's angelic voice cooed out. She walked over to me and held out her hand. "Hey, I'm Bella Swan." She sang, I swear to God, her voice sounded like singing.

I stood there for a moment mesmerized by her before I finally broke myself out of her spell. "Edward…Edward Cullen." I finally mumbled and took her hand looking up into her eyes. The feel of her hand in mine and the sudden realization that her brown eyes were the same luscious color of the chocolate melting in the bowl that she had just stirred just about brought me to my knees.

"It's nice to meet you Edward." She sang again. She stood there holding my hand for a moment, sunbeams coming from her smile once again, before she relaxed the grip of our handshake. She moved back over towards the pot she was previously at and began to crack eggs open, separating them by allowing the egg to fall into her hand, the whites caressing through her fingers into a small mixing bowl, the yolks resting gently in the cup of her hand before she placed them carefully in another bowl. Son of a bitch that was sexy.

"Bella is doing her internship here this summer and will be helping out Chef Michaels when I am out on leave." Tanya said. I could hear Tanya's words, knew she was talking to me but I couldn't move, couldn't speak. It was like Bella was some kind of siren that had put a spell on me.

"Edward is one of the sales managers here." Tanya said looking at Bella now. "If you ever have a question about one of BEO's Edward or Jane will be able to answer them for you." Tanya said before she looked back over at me. She and Bella both stood there for a moment watching me in my stupor before Tanya saved me. "Isn't that right Edward?" She asked with a hint of a giggle in her voice.

"Uh yeah, right." I managed to get out. Pull it together Cullen!

"If you ever need anything, please let me know Bella, I will be more than happy to assist you." I said hoping I sounded as professional as I meant to.

"Thanks Edward." She said as she walked over to the hand sink and began to wash her hands.

Tanya looked at me with a knowing smile and shook her head. I had to get out of there before I made a bigger ass of myself.

"In dire need of coffee." I said hoping that would account for the way I was acting. I turned to walk out of the space that quickly seemed to be closing in on me.

"I'll see you around Edward." Bella's voice sang out to me again and stopped me in my tracks. God I hoped so.

"You too Bella." I managed to get out before I walked out of the kitchen, mentally kicking myself for acting like such a moron.

"Holy shit little brother." My brother managed to get out in between fits of laughter, breaking me from the Bella trance that I had been under as I told him about that day. "The image of you, the worshipped God of Central Park, standing there like a love struck teenager has to be one of the funniest things I have ever had in my life." He finished before he double over on the couch, holding his side.

"Shut the hell up Emmett or I'm leaving." I growled at him under my breath.

"No you're right…I'm sorry…I'm supposed to be giving you advice." He said while calming himself down from his laughter.

"So, she's really that beautiful huh?" He asked as he finally calmed down.

"Yeah she is, but it isn't just her beauty. It is so much more than that. She is infectious, like she has placed a spell on everyone there. You should see the way people light up as she flashes them a smile when she passes them in the hallways. And she is always smiling and saying hello to people. I'm not sure if it's because she is Southern and just friendlier than the people here in the city or if it is just her personality. She is just always happy, like she's a Smurf!"

"I bet Tanya gave you shit about the way you acted that day. Does she even let you back there anymore?"

"No she never said anything, just smiled at me whenever I would go back there like she knew I was under Bella's spell. Hell everyone is, even Tanya. I made sure though to only go back there every few days. I didn't want Tanya to think I was crazy."

"Makes sense to me." Emmett said with a slight chuckle still lingering in his tone. "Did Tanya have her baby yet, isn't she due any day now?"

"Yeah and in a way I guess you could say that is part of what brings me here today." I sighed. Emmett looked at me with total confusion.

"Tanya actually went into labor a month early. Fortunately she and the baby are both doing really well."

"I'm glad to hear they are doing well, but what does that have to do with advice about Bella?" The look of confusion was still on his face.

"The first three weeks I made sure I stayed away, only going back there once or twice a week, each time doing a little better of a job of not acting like I was stupid. Having Tanya there kind of forced me not to do what I wanted which was go back there every day. Well like I said Tanya went into labor a month early and that meant, Bella was back there by herself."

"You mean to tell me the Ritz-Carlton has left an intern to handle pastries by herself for the past month?" Emmett asked suddenly surprised by my words.

"Emmett, Bella may be an intern, but I'm telling you, this girl has amazing skills when it comes to baking. It is like she was born with a gift. She jumped right in there from the beginning and hit the ground running. From what I understand Tanya had to do little in the way of training. She gave Bella recipes and she was able to have them completed in no time. Chef Michaels even had her assist him with a wedding cake and I have told you what a dick he can be when it comes to his cakes." It's true, the head Pastry Chef thought of his cakes as master pieces and really they were. I had seen him bring grown men to tears in the past yelling at them for putting a flower in the wrong place. Not that they knew it was the wrong place.

"And it's not just the way she maneuvers around the kitchen and is able to just put together a recipe with ease; the stuff she makes is amazing." I sighed as I said this, thinking about the way her treats made me hum. "Tanya is a great chef one of the best in my view point, but I have to tell you, Bella's stuff is so much better. I know they are the same recipes and all but it is like there is this added ingredient and as weird as this sounds and as much as I am probably going to regret telling you this, I think that added ingredient is Bella."

Emmett started to say something but he stopped. I knew he was going to be holding that one back for another time. He nodded his head for me to continue.

"Everyone has been talking about how good of a job she has been doing and I even heard one of the housekeepers say that you could feel the love in the stuff she makes. That is what I meant by the added ingredient was Bella." I said hoping that would keep his future comments at bay.

"OK so I am still not seeing what that has to do with Tanya leaving early."

"Well without Tanya there, I didn't have anyone to keep me in check from going back there every day to see her. And so for the past month I have done just that."

"So are her beauty and the amazing things she bakes the only reasons you go back there every day to see her?" Emmett asked with genuine interest.

"That and all of the little things."

"What little things?"

"She's smart, very smart and easy to talk to. And the things she knows about sports may even put you to shame."

"Really?" Emmett's interest perked up even more.

"Yeah, we talk about football and basketball among other things. She is a huge Tarheels fan and can tell you all about all four years of Tyler Hansbrough's career there. But it's not just basic knowledge that she has. Do you remember that jerk Mike Newton that you met a couple of months back when you came to see me?" Emmett shook his head yes. "Well he seems to think he is God's gift to women and I have seen him on more than one occasion try and impress Bella. One day Bella and I walked into the cafeteria to get lunch to take back to her kitchen to eat together…"

"Wait… you eat lunch with her, back in her kitchen?" Emmett interrupted me. I just shook my head yes. "We'll come back to that one in a minute." He said before he nodded his head for me to continue.

"Anyway it was kind of late and Mike and another guy were the only two in there. The guy and Mike were talking about some fight at one of the NBA playoff games a few weeks back, when Mike saw us walk in together. Mike, I'm sure trying to sound impressive began talking about the differences between the NBA and the NFL and wondering why they didn't fight in the NFL like they did in the NBA. I noticed he was looking at Bella the whole time, trying to judge her interest in what he was spouting out. He began talking about uniforms, pads and the trouble it would take to get all of that stuff off before fighting someone else. He sounded very smug like he knew something Bella didn't and therefore she would be impressed. She just went about making her salad acting as if she had no clue what he was talking about. As we were about to walk out of the door, Bella turned to Mike and said 'The NBA tends to cater more to overblown egos where the NFL doesn't tolerate them and the NFL tends to fine a great deal more than the NBA does for fighting.' With that she gave Mike a brilliant smile and turned and walked out of the room leaving him there dumbfounded. I swear Emmett the look on that smug asses face was one of the funniest things I have ever seen in my life!"

"Damn, I think I am starting to fall for this girl!" Emmett said more to himself than me.

"Emmett." I growled.

"What? Can't a married man dream every now and then?" He innocently asked.

"If you ask Rose that, I'm sure you will get an entirely different, painful answer."

"Tell me about it." He answered me as he reached back and rubbed the back of his head.

"Does she have a nice body?"

"It's hard to tell." I answered honestly.

"Excuse me?"

"Well she wears chef pants that are at least two sizes too big for her along with a chef's coat that is three sizes too big and an apron. She is under so many layers of clothes it's hard to tell."

"That kind of sucks doesn't it."

"A little." I answered.

"So what else about our Bella has you so intrigued?" I choose to ignore the "our Bella" comment.

"Well…I know this is going to sound crazy…but she sings to food."

"What was that?" Emmett asked raising an eyebrow to me.

"Well her being back there by herself most of the time, she always had her iPod Touch going and well she sings. I know it is more that she is just singing, but she looks at the stuff she is putting together while she is singing and it looks like she is signing to the food."

"Interesting." Emmett replied. "So what kind of music does she listen to?"

"This girl has the most eclectic taste in music I have ever heard. It isn't at all surprising to hear her shuffle go from Nine Inch Nails to Tony Bennett to Stevie Ray Vaughn to Justin Timberlake and she seems at ease singing all of them."

"Does she have a pretty voice?"

"Amazing, but it isn't just the way she sings, it's the look on her face, the way she almost sways sometimes to the music. It's really very sexy. I tell you the first time I walked in there and heard and saw her it almost floored me."

"What was she singing?"

"I Touch Myself."

"Fuck me, that song by the Divinyls? Damn I bet that shit was hot!" Emmett said. He zoned out for a minute and I could tell he was fantasizing about the image I had just provided him with.

"Emmett so help me if the person you are now imagining is not Rose I will kick your ass and then tell Rose so she can kick your ass too!"

"Of course it's Rosie." He stammered. I couldn't tell if he was lying or not but I had my suspicions he was. "Go on Edward, you were saying."

"Well like I said it is all of those little things and just being near her, talking to her that has me all screwed up. She is so amazing and I so want to ask her out, but my mind keeps telling me there a million reasons not to do so?"

"Like?"

"Well she is only twenty-two."

"And you are only twenty-six, four years isn't that big a deal."

"I know, but she will be gone in a month when Tanya comes back and she goes back to school."

"Again Edward, so? Didn't you say she was at CIA? Well that is here in the city. It's not like she is going back down South right now."

"I know but…"

"But nothing Edward. You obviously like her and if she puts up with your crazy ass every day she must like you a little, so ask her out."

"Well maybe before I could have, but after what I did today there is no way in hell she would ever go out with me." I sighed as I remembered the actions that led me to having to get advice from my brother.

"Edward what the hell did you do?" Emmett asked me with a look of real concern in his eyes.

I sighed again before I spoke. "I told you about the music, about her singing and how sexy it is? Well there are other little things that she does. Like the way she separates eggs, the way her hips sway when she is stirring something together, the way she holds onto a whisk when she is beating egg yolks and sugar together. Just so many little things about her, that are sexy as hell."

"Today I walked back there and she was greasing ramekins. And when I say she was greasing ramekins, I mean her hands were covered in butter and she was rubbing them all around it and all I could think about was her lubricated hands rubbing around me like that. And the whole time she was talking to me like what she was doing was natural and it was, but the movement of her slick hands and the sound of her voice made me hard as a rock!" I looked up thinking I would see disgust or even budding laughter in his eyes, but instead all I saw was lust.

"Emmett so help me!" I growled at him.

"What the fuck Edward, if you don't want me to fantasize about the girl than stop feeding me Bella porn."

"EMMETT!" I growled again.

"Whatever bro, keep going."

I drew in a calming breath, trying to keep from killing my brother for having fantasies about my Bella. Right as if she was my Bella.

"Just as I thought this image was going to overtake me and I was going to jump her right then and there, her damn iPod started playing I Want to Sex You Up."

"No fucking way?" Emmett asked.

"Yes fucking way!" I answered him.

"What did you do?"

"What else could I do, I ducked into the walk in hoping the cold would help to calm me down."

"Did it work?"

"Yeah after a few very long minutes."

"Wasn't she curious about you running and hiding in the walk in."

"Well fortunately I had an empty cup in my hand so I began to look around for something to drink. I found a carton of milk and poured myself a glass. I made sure I was drinking it when I came out of the walk in."

"Edward you hate milk."

"Don't remind me." I shuddered as I thought about having to drink one of the few liquids I hate in order to hide my problem.

"So was that it?"

"No." I whispered.

"Did you say no Edward?"

"Yes Emmett, I said no. When I came back out of the walk in I went over to where she was standing and I just stood next to her, probably closer than I ever have and asked her what exactly it was that she was making. She began telling me about the Warm English Pudding that she was making. She had luckily finished the ramekins and the song had changed to some classical music so I thought I was safe, but as she was telling me about what she was making, I got so caught up in her that I kept inching closer and closer to her and as I got closer her fragrance kind of over powered me and I may have leaned in and inhaled her."

"Excuse me, you may have?" Emmett asked.

"Ok so I did."

"What the hell did she do?"

"Well she looked up at me with such surprise. I froze for a moment, trying to figure out what the hell I could do. I pulled my phone out of my pocket like it had just gone off, looked at the blank screen and told Bella I had to go take care of something and I bolted like a scared rabbit."

"Did she say anything?"

"She just said bye and that I was it. I avoided her the rest of the day."

"Well Edward, I would say that is a bit of a dilemma."

"I know! I have been trying to figure out what the hell to do. Should I just act like nothing happened and see if she says anything or should I get down on my hands and knees and beg for forgiveness?"

"I don't know what to tell you Edward. On the one hand…"

Emmett's words were suddenly lost to me as I looked up. There she was there was my vision, my Bella. I almost didn't recognize her at first. Her hair was down, flowing around her almost bare shoulders, much longer than I could have ever guessed from the crazy way she bundles it up every day at work. She was wearing a little black dress, a black dress that looked like she had just walked off the set of Breakfast at Tiffany's. It couldn't really be her. She was at the bar ordering a drink, her body somewhat turned away from me so maybe I was wrong. But then she turned and I knew it was her and suddenly she saw me as well. I waited for her to bolt, waited for her to storm over to me and lay into me for my inappropriate behavior earlier today. She didn't do either of those, instead she got this beautiful smile on her face and she began to walk over to where we were.

"Edward what the hell? Did you hear a word I said?" Emmett's voice broke my Bella trance.

"Bella." I said.

"I know Edward we are talking about her, but did you hear anything…"

"No Emmett, its Bella. She is walking over here right now." I interrupted him.

He looked over to the direction I was pointing with my head. "Fuck me Edward, that's Bella." He said with a hint of a whistle in his voice. All I could do was nod my head yes, I was too mesmerized by the vision of her walking over to us.

"Well little brother all of your questions are about to be answered."

"Edward what a surprise to see you here." Bella's voice sang out. She was smiling that bright sunbeam smile. "Are you shopping the competition?" She asked leaning in to me as if it was a secret.

"No he is slumming it to have a drink with his big brother." Emmett piped in. "Emmett Cullen." He enthusiastically held out his hand for her to shake.

"Bella Swan." She said taking his hand in hers.

"What brings you here?" Emmett asked pointing to a spot next to me for Bella to have a seat which she took. I had yet to say a word or even blink for that matter. I slid down next to her and could feel that same sunbeam warmth that hit me the first time I saw her.

"I am meeting my sister and her husband here for dinner to celebrate his birthday. They just sent me a text that they are about twenty minutes out so now I am waiting for them." She looked over at me, her smile bringing me out of my Bella trance.

"You are more than welcome to sit with us while you wait for them Bella." I said.

"Yeah Edward here was just telling me about the great job you have been doing in Tanya's absence. "

"That's very sweet of you Edward." She said as she looked over at me again with that smile. I swear I wanted to kiss her and kill my brother all at once.

"So Bella, tell me all about yourself." Emmett said taking control of her attention again. Yeah kissing her would have to wait a moment while I killed my brother.

"What would you like to know?" She asked.

"For starters, where are you from?"

"New York." She answered him before she took a sip of her Yuengling. Holy shit the girl drinks Yuengling.

"But your accent is very Southern." Emmett asked her with a look of confusion on his face.

"I'm from Southern New York." She said just as calmly as if he had asked her name.

Emmett sat there for a minute looking at her before it dawned on him that she was messing around with him.

"Beautiful and a smart ass. If I wasn't married, Bella I might just have to whisk you out of here for a little fun." Defiantly killing my brother.

Bella just laughed at him before she finally answered him. "I'm from Nags Head, North Carolina."

"Wow!" Emmett said. I didn't even know that about her.

"So do you like working at the Ritz-Carlton?" He continued to ask her questions.

"Yes I really do. It has been a real treat to do something that I just love so much. I mean who wouldn't enjoy working with chocolate, butter, sugar and flour all day long. Baking is very sensory, you really do use them all and I am a sensory kind of person. Plus everyone there has been so nice and helpful to me." She said as she looked back at me with a big smile on her face.

"Some more so than others." I said a little louder than I had planned on thinking about Mike and his attempts to get her attention.

"Who are you talking about?" Bella asked.

"I was just thinking about Mike Newton. He always seems to be trying to impress you." I said hoping I hadn't done or said something else to possibly upset her. The look on her face wasn't helping me out any. Shit maybe she didn't mind the stuff he did, maybe she liked him.

"Unless of course you like that kind of thing." I said my voice trailing off hoping it wasn't true.

"Oh heavens no, that man is a walking bullshit factory. Besides that he is dumber than damn it!" She said with a smile on her face still looking at me. The sound of Emmett almost choking on his drink caused both of us to look in his direction.

"I'm sorry Bella, did you say he's dumber than damn it?' He asked wiping his mouth.

"Yeah haven't you heard that before?" She asked.

"No!" Emmett and I both answered her at the same time.

"Must be a Southern thing." She shrugged.

"Not anymore it's not; I'll be stealing that one from you if you don't mind." Emmett said with a huge grin on his face.

"Steal away darling!" She said. The word darling drawling off her tongue in the most amazing of Southern sounds.

Emmett and Bella began to talk about nothing in general and I sat there watching her, listening to her words and thinking to myself, no resolving with myself that I would get to know the amazingly, other worldly beauty better. I knew right then and there I would ask her out, would take a chance that she might reject me and run from me after slapping the shit out of me, but it would be worth it just not to regret never having asked Bella Swan out on a date.

"Bella." A sweet southern accented voice called, pulling me from yet another Bella trance.

"Hey Alice." Bella answered, standing up to greet who I could only assume was her sister.

"Alice, I would like you to meet Edward and Emmett Cullen. Gentlemen this is my big sister Alice Whitlock. Edward and I work together and as you can probably gather, Emmett is his older brother. They were keeping me company while I waited."

Emmett and I stood and shook Alice's hand and I couldn't help but notice the look that was exchanged between Bella and Alice after Alice shook my hand.

"Pleasure to meet you boys. Thanks for looking out for my little sister here." She had the same radiant smile Bella had.

"Where's Jasper?" Bella asked.

Before Alice could answer her Emmett interrupted.

"Wait, Jasper Whitlock? Did he go to Columbia?" he asked.

"One and the same." Alice said with a smile pointing over to a tall blonde man who was talking to the hostess.

Emmett's eyes got real big when he saw the man seeming to recognize him. "Holy shit we were frat brothers."

"Well come on darling, let me reacquaint you with him." Alice said as she took Emmett's arm and led him over to Jasper.

I was looking at Bella as she watched the scene of Jasper and Emmett getting reacquainted unfolding in front of her. Watching the smile light up her face I knew I had to say something. Knew I had to ask her out.

"Bella." She turned to look at me, her smile getting even bigger. "Bella…I…was…just…well I…was wondering…" Damn it I was stammering like a nervous teenager asking a girl to go to a dance with him. I wanted to kick myself, when Bella moved closer to me, her body touching mine. She looked up at me with those amazing eyes and I was speechless. She stood up on her tippy toes, her face drawing ever closer to mine, the scent of her intoxicating me. The closer she got to me, the deeper I fell into her and then into the infinity of her.

Her sweet, soft lips were on mine, softly at first, and then, slowly the feel of them deepened, pressed a little further into mine, taking my bottom lip softly in between her apricot glossed lips before she slowly pulled away.

"Edward, I would love to go out with you." She said before she lowered herself back down until her feet were back flat on the ground.

She looked over to see Emmett motioning the two of us to come and join Alice, Jasper and himself. I guessed we were going to be having dinner together tonight.

Still not being able to move, Bella took my hand in hers and led me towards the rest of our growing party. We stood there holding hands, waiting for them to finish our table setting. Bella chatted with the others while I stood there still in a stupor.

As the hostess came to show us to our table, Bella and I followed the others, her hand still holding on to mine. She looked back at me before we reached to the table, stopping in her pace. She stood back on her toes again bringing her lips to my ear.

"In case you were wondering, this doesn't count as our first date." Her voice was whispery, dripping in southern sexuality and absolutely glorious.

She kissed my cheek this time and drowned me in her sunbeam smile before she turned to head to the table again, her hand still in mine.

It was safe to say I was a goner, and quite honestly I couldn't be happier in the knowledge of that!


So let me know what you think about this story and about the idea in general of doing little stories about kisses. Looking forward to exploring this more and getting feedback.

Culinary kisses to all!