Notes: Huge thanks to the team of ladies who are working on this story; my pre-readers: Mandi Nikko, Deb Arrington, and Sandy from Southern Fiction Review. My beta, Alice's White Rabbit, and my Validation beta, Kherisma.

We're going to try something new and aim for posting a chapter of "Beyond the Break Room" every Tuesday. *crosses fingers*

Chapter 7 – The Shower

Several hours after Edward and I retrieved my overnight bag from my car, we were sated—at least temporarily. The time in between had been spent learning each other's body and releasing all of the pent-up frustration from the week prior. Happy to indulge Edward's desire to see me on top of him, I rode him to a staggering climax that left both of us sweating and exhausted. After, he parted my legs and went down on me, completely un-phased by the fact that he'd just come inside of me minutes before. In truth, I found it kind of hot. With his mouth and tongue working me over so thoroughly, I could hardly think straight; I wasn't about to argue.

Still sensitive, Edward easily brought me to an orgasm with his mouth that left me breathless. Dizzy from the pleasure, I curled up with my head on his chest and blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "How in the hell are you so good in bed if you and Heidi had such a terrible sex life?"

He laughed and ran a hand down my arm, pulling me closer. I scrambled to apologize when I realized that was a terrible question to ask. Especially while we were naked in bed. "I'm sorry—shit, I shouldn't have asked that. It's none of my business. I'm just a bit surprised."

"It's fine, Bella. I think I like your lack of filter. To answer your question, before she got pregnant with Maggie, we did have a decent sex life. And then again for a few years once we both started at Providence. It certainly went downhill rapidly after that, though. To be honest, I can't remember the last time we had sex; it was at least six months to a year before I caught her with Felix. Then there were a few women I dated after she and I separated."

"Oh," I replied, still feeling idiotic for asking in the first place.

"I truly give all of the credit for my skills to you though," he continued.

"To me?" I asked incredulously.

"Sure, over two years of fantasizing will do that to a man. I've imagined it all so thoroughly, I know exactly what I want to do to you."

I laughed. "Well, if that's it, keep doing it. You're incredible."

"Do I want to ask you the same question?"

"I've never slept with Heidi."

He gave me a pointed look. "You know what I mean."

"I don't know. How jealous of a person are you?"

He shrugged. "Given my history with Heidi, I can't say I'm not jealous at all. But it's not a major issue for me, if that's what you're concerned about. I'm certainly not going to be angry about the fact that I wasn't your first."

"Good, I probably wouldn't have been brave enough to have my way with you on the counter in the break room if I'd been a virgin," I teased.

"Now there is a solid argument in favor of me not being a jealous asshole."

I chuckled and stretched. "As for my past, I had several serious relationships, but it's been a few years. Although I had a few more casual flings, they weren't necessarily that spectacular. I don't know, I'd say my experience has been pretty average, both in number and quality."

"You seem comfortable with yourself in that regard though," he said.

"I am."

"Not that I'm complaining," Edward said. "In fact, I'm thrilled."

"Thrilled, huh?"

His hand snaked down to cup my ass. "Bella, if my reaction to you hasn't been clear, I feel like I've fallen into some sort of fantasy. I'm sure every man would."

I giggled. "I think your reactions have been pretty clear."

~BtBR~

Although Edward and I didn't spend as much of the weekend in bed as we did the previous time, we certainly enjoyed each other. Multiple times. On most of the surfaces of his bedroom and bathroom. We also spent a lot of time talking. If we'd done our best to avoid discussing real life the previous weekend, this time we made up for it.

"Where were you born?" Edward asked, his lips skimming across my stomach.

I was more focused on the feel of his lips than what he was asking. It took me a moment to respond. It was late Saturday evening; we'd spent the day alternating between sex and conversation. We had eaten dinner, and were now in his bedroom again. "What?"

"Where were you born?" He rolled away onto his back and looked over at me.

"Uh, Providence here in Portland, actually. My mom had a difficult pregnancy. My parents were living where they live now—in Silverlight, about an hour south of here. Her OB doctor sent her to Providence a few weeks before I was due. They had to do a C-Section. There were some complications and they had to do a hysterectomy after. It's why I'm an only child. You?"

"Boston."

"Did you grow up there?" I asked, scooting over so my head was now resting on his shoulder.

"Not for long. I was five or six when we moved."

"Why did your family move?"

"My father's a doctor. He was offered a position here in Portland. My mother hated the move initially; she thought Portland was a hick town compared to Boston. But she fell in love with this house."

"You grew up here?" I asked, surprised.

"Yes. I only moved back in after the divorce with Heidi was final. A few months after that actually."

"No wonder it looks so empty."

He chuckled. "I wondered when you'd comment on that. I gave Heidi the house we'd bought together and pretty much left everything there. I didn't want it, and it gave Maggie some stability. I just haven't had a chance to do anything with it, yet."

"Are your parents still around?" I asked.

"Yes, but they're in their seventies and this house was too big for them to manage. I didn't want it to leave the family. I hoped my brother would want it, but he and his wife have a nice place that they didn't want to leave."

"You have a brother?"

"Yes. Carlisle, he's nine years older."

"Have you told him about … well, about us?"

"Not yet. I want to, but I thought I should wait until we'd talked and figured out where we were going with this. And even then, I might wait. He's a surgeon at Providence. He'd be discreet, but no point in risking it if we don't have to."

"Yeah, that makes sense."

"Have you told anyone?" he asked.

"Just my friend, Alice."

"The one you met at the bar that night?"

"Yes. I'm surprised you remember her name."

He shrugged. "I'm good with names. What did she say?"

"She's still recovering from a bad breakup; she's a little … uh, anti-man, right now."

"That good, huh?"

"She thinks I'm crazy for attempting this," I admitted.

"She might be right." Edward sighed.

"Contrary to her own personal beliefs, Alice doesn't know everything. And she doesn't know you. Or, how I feel about you."

"We probably should be careful about talking to anyone about our relationship though. Just because of the consequences if anyone connected to the hospital were to find out."

"Oh, I know. I only told Alice because she lives in Seattle. I really don't have to worry about her blabbing to anyone."

"You and Tanya Denali seem to be quite good friends."

"We are, but I didn't tell Tanya what happened, and I won't," I reassured him.

He nodded. "I'm sorry we have to keep this so secret."

"I am, too."

"It means at least three months of sneaking around and hiding. I won't be able to take you out, we'll have to avoid anything in public, and be extremely cautious at work. It's not a great way to start this." Edward sighed and ran his hand up my arm. "I want to do better than that, Bella. This is the first time in years that I've been with someone I care so much about."

"You and Heidi were really that estranged?" I asked.

He laughed hollowly. "You've seen her around the hospital, I'm sure."

I nodded and let my fingertips trail down his stomach. "Yeah, I have."

His voice was bitter when he spoke. "You know how she comes across: polite, cool, self-assured. She was like that at home. There was no spark. No warmth. She was perfect and pulled together every moment of every day. There weren't quickies on the counter, or afternoons in bed. For years, we either slept side-by-side without touching, or in separate beds. We didn't hold hands, we didn't kiss. She had no interest in oral sex. Hell, she made me feel guilty every time I so much as got hard."

I frowned. "That's a miserable life."

"It was."

"What about with Maggie? You said Heidi didn't really want to be a mother. What was she like once you were all here in Portland together?"

He shrugged. "She tried. For a while, she did pretty well, even. But the more responsibilities she took on at work the less she was home. She rarely went to parent-teacher conferences or soccer games. And if she did go to the games, she was on her laptop or her phone. I didn't mind doing those things for Maggie. I loved it. But I know it hurt Maggie that her mother wasn't there more."

"Was she at least affectionate with Maggie?"

"She's not the warmest person. Maggie always came to me when she had bad dreams or skinned knees, but yes, Heidi hugged her, kissed her goodbye in the morning. Told her she loved her."

"That's good."

He scowled. "I would have left her a long time ago if that hadn't been the case."

I blurted out the thing I'd been wondering for a while. "Why Felix? What on earth attracted her to him?"

"Power. He's on the board of directors at Providence. And he has some connections at hospitals in Chicago and New York. I think Heidi's hoping that once Maggie goes off to college in a few years, she can use him to get into a better position at one of the hospitals there."

"I just don't understand it. If that was the case, why didn't she leave you?"

"Image. It suited her image better if she had a perfect family. She's very much about appearances."

"But an affair hardly fits with that."

"Well, I don't think she expected to get caught. I had gone out of town for a conference, but got sick partway through and flew home early. Maggie was at school and Heidi thought she and Felix would be alone."

"I'm sorry that happened," I said softly.

Edward gave me a half-hearted smile. "I am and I'm not. I needed something to finally convince me to get out of my sham of a marriage. And if it hadn't happened, we certainly wouldn't be here now."

I sat up and looked down at Edward. He was sprawled naked across the bed and I felt my mouth go dry at the sight of him. His body was lean and long, not heavily muscled, but very fit. "It still feels kind of surreal."

"I know." He reached out and touched my thigh. "I swear, some days I feel like I'm dreaming."

"A good dream, I hope."

"The best."

~BtBR~

On Sunday morning, we cooked breakfast together.

"I've never done this before," Edward said, as he laid out plates and forks for the pancakes I was making.

"Set the table?" I glanced over at him in astonishment and he grinned at me.

"Give me a little more credit than that. I'm very capable, you know."

I grinned back. Yes, I knew exactly how capable Edward was.

"I've never made breakfast with someone." The spatula I'd been using to flip a pancake hovered in the air as I stared at him in astonishment.

"Never?"

"No. Heidi was always watching her weight or too busy to sit down for breakfast. I cooked breakfast on the weekends for Maggie, but Heidi never ate with us."

"That's kind of sad." I set the spatula down and looked over to him.

He nodded. "So much of this is new to me."

"Some of it is new to me, too. I guess we'll just have to figure this out together." I'd never made breakfast with someone I was dating either, at least not like this. The guys I'd dated had been in their early twenties. College guys—ones who went to diners for greasy breakfasts to soothe the hangover from the frat party the night before. Or who lived on cereal and were lucky to have milk in the refrigerator that hadn't gone bad. Not men with mortgages, ex-wives, and inherited family homes. Our lives really were worlds apart. And yet, we seemed to mesh so well.

His smile was tentative, but hopeful. I wondered if mine looked the same.

After breakfast, when the kitchen was clean and the dishes were put away, he dragged me onto his lap. His goal wasn't seduction, but wanting me close. I was dressed; there was no way I was potentially having Maggie walk in on us again. Edward had vehemently protested the idea of me getting fully dressed, so I was wearing a pair of sleep shorts and a thin T-shirt. His hand was hot against my bare thigh, and he was dressed more casually, as well. Although, even his pajama pants were made from crisp, expensive fabric and his T-shirt probably cost more than the clothes I normally wore to work.

Still, he was relaxed and happy-looking. It made me so pleased to see him that way. "What now?" he asked.

"I don't know. What would you like to do?"

"Hmm, well, I have several ideas, but none of them are really feasible."

"Why not?"

"One is to take you out on a date, which we can't do."

"Right," I agreed. "I'm sorry."

"If it's between being with you or not, it's an easy choice," I reassured him. Still, it was strange to think that we couldn't leave the house together. The next few months would have to be spent secluded from the rest of the world.

"We'll get through until December; you'll get a job in your field, and then I'll make up for lost time," he promised.

Secretly, I wondered if it would be that easy, but I nodded. "What was your other idea?"

"Staying in bed for the next six days."

I laughed. "Right, also not possible."

He glanced at the clock. "I can't even spend six hours."

Maggie was supposed to get home at seven p.m., but we agreed that I should leave around four, just in case.

"Well, we do have four hours," I teased him. He wrapped his arms around me and stood, letting my body slide slowly down his. He turned me so I was facing away from him and placed his hands on my hips, coaxing me to move forward.

"Think of all of the things I could do to your body in four hours," he teased, his breath hot against the back of my neck. "All of the positions, the number of times you could come."

I shivered at the thought and walked more quickly up the stairs.

~BtBR~

He worshiped me.

His mouth devoured mine. His hands removed every stitch of clothing from my body, and then touched me reverently. His lips and tongue trailed fiery kisses to my breasts and settled there for a while. He alternated sucking and nibbling, until the nipples were so tight it was almost painful.

He knelt between my parted thighs, hands on either one of my knees, keeping them apart. He wasn't close enough for me to get any friction by rubbing against him. I exhaled with relief when his lips moved lower only to whine in frustration when he sat back. His kisses moved from my shins, to behind my knee, to the spot about halfway up my thigh that made me shiver.

I could hear myself panting, the sound obscenely loud in the otherwise silent room. I was startled when he spoke. "I jerked off in my office, once."

"What?" I blinked at him; my mind so far gone in pleasure that I could hardly even focus on what he was saying.

"That day you wore the tight black skirt and white sweater. And, the high heels that made your legs look so good. I talked to you that morning, and then went to a meeting. I spent the whole meeting with the smell of your perfume in my nose and the worst hard-on I've ever had to deal with. I spent the entire time imagining you spread out across the goddamn table in the boardroom."

His hands slid up my thighs, thumbs dragged up the soft skin achingly slowly. "I fucked up my presentation that morning, and it was your fault. I couldn't concentrate on anything but the image of that skirt slid up around your hips and your heels digging into my back as I ate you out. I wanted to know if you tasted like I imagined.

"After the meeting, I went back to the office. I told Pat I had an important call to make, and locked the door. I sat at my desk and I thought I'd have a heart attack as I unzipped and pulled my cock out. I could almost taste you. I felt so guilty thinking of you that way, and yet, I couldn't stop."

His thumbs stopped at the crease of my inner thighs.

"I swear I nearly blacked out when I came. When I ran out of the building that night, I wondered if you could read me, see what I'd done. And then I got hard again, thinking maybe you'd like knowing what I'd done."

I shuddered at his words and the low rasping promise in his voice.

"I do," I moaned. "It makes me so wet to know you fantasized about me."

His mouth hovered over my pussy and I felt a warm puff of air with every word he spoke. "Close your eyes and imagine you're on the table in the boardroom. It's empty, apart from the two of us, and I'm on my knees in front of you."

I fell back onto the bed, my eyes closing immediately, as he began to touch me. I let out a sobbing cry when I felt the first slow lick of his tongue curling up one side of my lips, and down the other. His thumbs spread me open so he could lap at the wetness gathering there. He'd gone down on me before, but not like this. Not this slowly and deliberately until my body was shaking and I felt like I'd shatter. And he hadn't even touched my clit yet.

I fell apart when he did, a desperate plea on my lips. My hand was buried in his hair to hold him tight to me. He sucked lightly and that talented tongue—licking, twining, and stroking—sent me hurtling over the edge into something so intense I could barely breathe. What felt like years later, I became aware that I was whimpering and my thighs were trembling. My grip on Edward's hair eased and he lifted his head, trailing kisses up my inner thigh, his mouth wet from my arousal.

I shivered at the sight of his half-closed eyes. I'd been the one to come and yet he was the one who looked drugged and pleasured. "Come here." I gasped.

He slid up my body as I re-positioned myself on the bed. There was no hesitation as his hard cock slid into me, and my mouth captured his. The intimacy of kissing him after he'd gone down on me was new, as was the fact that I felt a jolt of arousal at the taste of my own body. I urged him to move within me and a quick, fluid rhythm began. His hands were rough as they tangled in my hair and I wrapped my legs around his hips, needing to feel him closer.

I heard my whispered pleas, begging him, urging him on. And all I could do was hold on tightly while he pounded into me, my body shaking, my head filled with his low voice in my ear, coaxing me to come. The pleasure raced through me, spiraling quickly out of control and when I shattered apart, I dug my nails into his back. I was dimly aware of his low growl of satisfaction and he reached for the headboard to get more leverage as he came in me with a few hard thrusts.

Utterly spent, he collapsed on me and rolled us to our sides. My legs locked around his hips, kept us joined and he kissed me deeply, his hand still buried in my hair. When he pulled back, I gave him a lazy smile, but his expression was strangely tense and worried.

"I don't deserve you."

I blinked in astonishment. Jesus, it was like he had some sort of over-active guilt complex that always kicked in right after amazing sex. "Why on earth would you say that?"

"Come on, Bella. You're a gorgeous, sexy woman. You could have any guy who wanted you and I can't even take you out on a goddamn date."

"And I want you," I said stubbornly. "Edward, I get that Heidi probably did a number on your self-confidence when it comes to women, but you have to stop this. Don't you dare try to tell me what I should be feeling when it should be glaringly obvious that it's only you I want."

He winced and looked away. It felt odd to still have his partially-hard cock inside of me when we were for all intents and purposes having a fight, or at least a minor squabble. I unwound my legs and gently pushed him away.

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely, but it wasn't so easy to forget the words he'd just spoken. I didn't like all of the doubts he had about us.

"What am I going to have to do to convince you?" I asked. "Tell me and I'll do it."

"There's nothing you can do. It's all on me."

"Then figure it out, Edward. I'll be patient, but if you don't find a way to move past this … how are we ever going to deal with everything else?" He dragged the back of his finger across my cheek, making me shiver at the soft touch.

"I know." This time when he pulled me close to him again I didn't fight it. There was nothing more I could really say to reassure him. It would just take time.

We spent a long while in bed, talking quietly, his lips brushing my forehead or cheek every so often. With a sigh, I eventually sat up. "I should get ready and head out. It's almost four."

Edward frowned. "I'm not ready to have you go."

"It's not that I want to leave, but you know I have to."

"I know."

~BtBR~

We showered together, his strong body pressing me into the pale, tumbled stone tiles; his kisses and touch were apologetic. He whispered in my ear how much he wanted me as his cock pushed into me. He planted his hands on either side of my head, bracing himself as he rocked in and out of me with a slow, steady rhythm. The hot water poured around us, and steam filled the shower, flushing my skin with heat. I could hear him panting against my ear, his body pressed firmly against my back, pinning me in place. The slightly rough tiles rubbed against my sensitive nipples and I whimpered.

One hand dropped to my hip so he could get better leverage and I closed my eyes, feeling the tension inside me reach its peak at his hard, deep thrusts. I cried out his name and heard the answering muffled groan of his pleasure in my ear.

"I'm sorry," he panted. "So sorry."

"I know." I turned in his arms and he held me tightly, his cheek pressed to the top of my head. "It'll be okay."

We held each other for a long time in the steam-filled shower, reassuring each other that we would be okay and that we could make this relationship work.

When he walked me out to my car and we kissed goodbye, both of us were reluctant to let each other go. "Be patient with me," Edward pleaded. "I want this and I want you, Bella."

"I do, too. I'll be patient," I promised him. But it worried me how unsure of himself he seemed to be. For all of his confidence and power at work, in his personal life he seemed so much less sure.

Notes: Well, unfortunately, Edward is still struggling a bit. His marriage to Heidi did a real number on his self-confidence and having to keep their relationship a secret doesn't help. It's going to take him a little while to trust Bella's feelings.

-What do you think about their weekend together?

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