Chapter 7

"C'mon Bella, I have a hot date tonight!" Edward yelled, hammering on the bathroom door.

I smiled at his joke, allowing myself to sink deeper into the fragrant, bubbly bathwater. "So have I!" I yelled back with a wide grin.

He moved away from the door. This was his way of easing the tension, but even though I felt the slight tingle of anticipation, I was coiled like a spring. This was our first 'date'. He was taking me for pizza and then to see a rom-com. Of course even though I'd heard the term before, I still asked him to explain what it meant. A romantic comedy, the perfect first date film – according to Edward. I didn't dare think why.

I stepped out of the bath, wiped the condensation from the mirror and peered at my red face. I wished Alice was at my disposal. If ever there was a time I needed her expert assistance this was it. I flipped the mirror away, yanked my robe from the back of the door and wrapped it around myself, before scurrying into my room.

Sitting on the end of my bed, I tried to conjure up images of a real date. What should I wear, how should I prepare? I didn't have butterflies in my stomach; I had a swarm of killer bees running amok.

Sucking in a long calming breath, I took a few moments to visualise just how I would be feeling if this was real. For some inexplicable reason my mind conjured up the image of Edward pressing his lips to mine. Oh yes, I would definitely want to be kissed. We'd shared a couple of more kisses, but they always left me feeling like I wanted something more.

Deciding it wasn't a good idea to let myself get too preoccupied by that, I turned my attention back to the date itself. I wasn't only worried about what to wear or what to talk about, but I had no idea how much money to take either. It was just a minefield of faux pas' waiting to happen.

Since my wardrobe wasn't exactly the stuff of legend, I ended up picking out the same floral dress I had worn on our non-date to the college film club. This time though, I dressed it up with a flamboyant purple necklace and earrings that Alice lent me, and dainty shoes with a tiny heel. I even pulled the small make up bag Alice had forced me to accept, and peered into it. Steeling myself, I laid out some cosmetics on the counter.

I blow dried my hair, applied moisturiser, and then trying desperately to remember Alice's tuition, gingerly applied some make up. Hearing Edward move around the apartment, I was unsure what to do. Should I wait in here? Should I move to the living room? Nerves got the better of me, and I sat on the piano stool trying to still my shaking hands, as I waited for him to make the first move.

Only a few moments later, there was a soft knock on the door. "Will I go outside and ring the doorbell?" he called.

I wasn't sure if he was joking, but I nervously opened my bedroom door and grimaced at him. "That's not necessary."

His brow furrowed.

"What?" I asked self consciously.

"Um... the make-up," he said, swirling a finger in the direction of my face. "You... um... you look better without it."

I darted back to the mirror. My lips were perhaps a little too vivid, and the eye shadow was not the right shade of purple to match the jewellery.

"Sorry," he muttered. I startled when I realised he was right behind me. "But I thought you might appreciate honesty."

"Yes, of course," I blurted, pulling a wet wipe from the packet on the nightstand. I rubbed it furiously across my face. "The last thing I want to do is look like a clown."

His fingers curled around my wrist, gently stopping my furious rubbing. He took the wipe from my hand. "Sit still," he ordered lightly, and in my embarrassment I did.

He folded the wipe to the clean side, before curving his fingers around my chin to tilt my face upwards. He swept the wipe gently over my eyelids, before folding it and smoothing it down my cheeks. His eyes burned as he brushed it softly across my lips.

My heart started to thump.

"Better," he said, stepping back and pushing his fingers into his hair.

I turned the mirror around and studied my bare face. "Really?"

He loomed behind me in the reflection. The smile dancing on his lips was tender. "You have lovely skin, beautiful dark eyes and gorgeous lips. You don't need to enhance any of it." He straightened, his cheeks flushing slightly. "Mother nature has you covered."

His words moved me, even though I suspected he had already slipped into his role. "I'll take your word for that. You're the expert after all."

His eyes dimmed. He glanced at his watch. "We should go. Are you sure you don't want me to clamp a rose between my teeth and ring the doorbell?"

"Don't be facetious," I chided, following him out of the room.

Edward insisted on taking a cab rather than my truck, despite the fact that I offered to assuage his male pride by letting him drive. He called a cab while I used the bathroom, suddenly nervous again.

~*AE*~

The cab came to a stop in the center of town. Edward hurried out, and before I reached for the handle, he had already swung the door open and proffered his hand to help me out.

I revelled in the old-fashioned gesture, allowing myself to imagine that it was Mr. Darcy holding his hand out to me.

The way he kept a hold of my hand as he led me to the restaurant thrilled me. It made me feel like I was on a real date, and I almost told him that, before I decided it might be best just to role play for the evening.

I had expected him to take me to one of the many chain restaurants in town, but I was pleasantly surprised by the authentic Trattoria we entered. I'm sure there was a waitress, and I think she may have flirted with Edward, but all I could concentrate on was the delicious warmth of his hand enveloping mine. Arrangement be damned, the thrill of enjoying my first proper date felt so good I intended to enjoy every minute of it.

A menu was thrust in front of my face, pulling me out of my Edward-induced haze. My eyes swung to Edward, taking in his quizzical expression.

"Did you ask me something?" I asked nervously.

He jerked his head towards the waitress. I looked up at her, blanching at her severe scowl.

"What would you like to drink?" She asked impatiently, as if she'd asked ten times already.

"Sorry," I said embarrassed, my eyes darted to Edward.

"Bring us a bottle of house red and two mineral waters."

He sounded so assured. I smiled gratefully.

He leaned forward. "Bella, you totally spaced out there." He smirked and opened my menu for me, laying it on the table. "Not cool. Your first priority is the waitress. Listen to her recommendations, but remember; she is here to serve you... you shouldn't apologise just because she was being rude to you."

"Sorry."

He sighed. "Stop apologising." His eyes flashed angrily. "Any predator out there would be watching you right now and thinking he could get away with pretty much anything. Try to be a little more confident."

My heart dropped into my stomach with disappointment. I stood up, hating the familiar prickle of tears stinging my eyes. "This is a mistake. I obviously can't do it," I bit out.

His hand covered mine. "Don't leave. Please," he beseeched.

His plea was heartfelt. The lightness of his touch, coupled with the calming depths of his eyes rendered me helpless, and I fluttered back down to my seat.

"You asked me to teach you," he reminded me, gently circling my palm with his thumb. "That's all I'm doing."

"I'm s–"

"Ah a-a-a" he admonished like he was talking to a child. "No more apologies. Let's take it one step at a time. First is the food." He nudged the menu towards me. "Please don't order the salad. I hate eating with a girl who only nibbles on leaves."

There was a twinkle in his eye that made me relax.

"God no," I said, with only slightly forced brevity. "I have to have a mountain of spaghetti and there must be olives."

The waitress returned to take our order. She chewed the end of her pencil while Edward ordered a steak. Her eyes roamed over his face, dipping down to his chest and back up again.

'Aren't you going to write my order down?' Edward asked, his voice tinged with annoyance.

Unconcerned at being caught ogling him, she flashed a bright smile and scribbled on her pad. Her eyes never left him, and just as it started to feel awkward, Edward rubbed his fingers across mine and said, "What would you like, Bella?"

The waitress reluctantly turned to face me. She didn't even attempt to mask her annoyance. Heeding Edward's earlier instructions, I took what I hoped was a surreptitious deep breath and tilted my chin up. "I'll have the Penne Arrabiatta please, but I'd like it with spaghetti rather than penne."

She nodded curtly and finally left.

After she'd gone, Edward leaned back in his chair. "I'm proud of you." He grinned, eyes glittering.

"Why?"

"You took a specific item from the menu and asked for it your way."

I crooked an eyebrow in question.

"Penne Arrabiatta." he clarified "You asked for it with spaghetti."

"Spaghetti is the only type of pasta I like," I explained, still confused. "Other than lasagne, but that doesn't count."

He chuckled. "Why? It's all the same thing."

I sighed. "This is normally where the freak flag goes up."

His hand squeezed mine. "In your head," he insisted. "Stop trying to read your date's mind. I find this very intriguing and endearing. So again, why spaghetti?"

I swallowed down my insecurity. "You can't twirl Penne around your fork."

His eyes glittered with pleasure. "Why not tagliatelli?"

"Not the same."

"What's the difference?"

I could see he genuinely was interested. "Spaghetti is round, it has a certain yield, firm, resistant, strong." I glanced at him. "Tagliatelli is too flat. It's sloppy and doesn't twirl so easily. It doesn't yield the same way. It feels completely different on my tongue."

He grinned. "So you like the control Spaghetti gives you?"

I laughed. "Perhaps you should take up psychiatry."

"If everyone was as open as you, there would be no need for it."

The waitress chose the perfect moment to bring our drinks. I lifted the water to my lips and took a long drink. Edward grinned knowingly. He'd managed to relax me, and I couldn't help but grin back at him. I filled our wine glasses and raised a toast.

"To first times."

Edward raised his glass and tapped it against mine. "To first dates," he amended.

I managed to get through the meal without making any other stupid mistakes, and the only slight stumbling block was when I had to practically force Edward to let me pay half the bill. Feeling pleasantly full and feeling the warmth of the alcohol in my bloodstream, I smiled as he took my hand again once we were outside.

"I like that," I told him.

"What?"

"You holding my hand, it feels nice."

He frowned. "I'm just trying to make this as real as possible for you, but you'll tell me if I do something you don't like?"

I couldn't imagine that at all, but I nodded anyway.

I lost the argument over the cinema tickets and reluctantly let Edward buy mine, but then I won a little battle of my own when I paid for the sodas.

"So you haven't been to the cinema much?" Edward asked as we made our way along the corridor.

I shook my head. "Charlie and Jasper used to try to talk me into going with them, but it never really interested me before. Even television didn't hold much appeal. If Jazz was watching it I'd usually just curl up beside him and read."

"Sounds very cosy," he remarked.

"I guess it was."

"Well I hope you enjoy the film tonight. It's the usual mind numbing trash that all the chicks go for."

"Chicks?" I shot him a fake glare but couldn't hide my smirk.

He laughed. "Well they do call them chick flicks."

The film didn't really hold my attention that well. A lot of it seemed a bit silly to be honest, and my attention kept wandering to some of the other couples dotted around the theatre. A couple in our row were holding hands, and a girl in front of us was nestled in the crook of her boyfriend's arm. I stole a sideways glance at Edward. His eyes were trained firmly on the screen while his hand was wrapped around his soda cup.

My arm was stretched across the length of armrest palm up. I was sort of hoping he would take my hand or even slide his arm around my shoulder, but his hand never let go of his cup.

The couple on screen finally managed to get it together, and when they started kissing passionately I squirmed a little in my seat.

"Are you okay?"

His breath was warm against my ear drifting down my neck , making me squirm just a little bit more. I nodded my head vigorously not daring to look at him.

"If it's making you uncomfortable, we can leave," he whispered.

I turned to look at him. His face was mere centimeters from mine. My eyes zeroed in on his lips, and to my surprise they curved up into a broad grin. My gaze shifted up to his eyes.

"What are you grinning at?" I hissed.

"I just realised you are uncomfortable," he whispered with a knowing smile that was not in the least bit smug. Unexpectedly, his hand slid into mine and he brought it up to his lips. "But not for the reason I thought." He pressed his lips gently to the back of my hand and then let our hands drop to his lap.

He turned back to the screen, while I fought to drag my attention away from the fact that our hands were resting on his thigh. I knew a part of him was amused by my discomfort, but I couldn't be mad at him when he'd done so much for me already.

~*AE*~

Back at the apartment, I stood on the sidewalk while he paid the cab driver. I was too tired to initiate yet another argument over money, so I let him pay and waited patiently. He turned to face me as the cab drove off. He looked so handsome beneath the orange glow of the street lamp.

"Okay," he said coming to my side. "So, this is the end of a first date and you've just stood there and let your date pay the cab and send it away." I looked at him puzzled. "Your date now thinks he's coming up to your apartment with you," he elaborated.

"But you live here," I pointed out, still puzzled.

He smiled. "For the purposes of the tutorial, what would you have done if this was a real date?"

"I would have thanked you and said goodnight," I insisted. "In the cab."

He took my hand again, and I felt it was probably unnecessary since our 'date' was over. We climbed the stairs to the apartment. At the door, I removed my hand from his to get my key from my purse. I pulled it out as soon as we reached the door, but before I could slide it into the lock his hand encircled my wrist stopping me.

"I'm still your date," he said, clearly back in tutorial mode. "We were only local. We didn't get a cab, so I'm being the gentleman and walking you to your door."

"Edward, don't be silly." I laughed, turning again to the door but he didn't let go.

"I'm being serious, indulge me?"He implored. I nodded. "Right, so I've walked you to the door and I'm assuming since it's a first date you won't want me to come in." I shook my head. "Then don't get your key out till your date is at least half way down the stairs. You can't be too careful."

"So what do I do?" I asked, feeling foolish but glad that he was taking the time to be thorough. "Do I just say goodnight and push you towards the stairs."

"Not yet," he murmured his voice suddenly lower and huskier than it was a moment ago. "You wait till after the kiss."

"The kiss?" I squeaked as my heartbeat kicked up a notch. No matter how many times he'd kissed me, it always came as a surprise that he wanted to.

His hand left my wrist and blazed a hot trail up my arm, before curling deliciously around the base of my neck. With gentle fingers, he pulled me towards him and I automatically tilted my face towards his expectantly. My eyes fluttered closed. His lips were soft and warm when they closed over mine.

It felt amazing when his other hand snaked around my waist. It was like pure electricity coursing through me, sparking against every nerve ending in my body when he pulled me closer to his body. This kiss was different from any other kiss he'd given me. It was deeper, more urgent, and utterly intoxicating.

I slid both my arms up and around his neck, enjoying the slight hiss he made when I did. My fingers threaded into his soft hair, and I felt like my body was coming alive with the sensation of touching him, smelling him, tasting him, all at the same time.

Caught up in the moment, I brushed his lower lip with my tongue. The low groan that rumbled in his chest thrilled me, and encouraged, I probed further into his mouth. The heat of the kiss seemed to spread through me like warm honey.

I sighed when his arms tightened around me and I pressed myself closer still. The heat of his body seeped into mine and filled me with a sensation I never wanted to end.

All too soon his hold on me loosened and I felt his hands travel up my arms, slowly unwinding them from around his neck.

He blew out a long shaky breath. I swallowed hard, surprised by the unexpected boldness of my actions and worried that I'd embarrassed myself.

"Did I do something wrong?" I asked quietly.

He shook his head, a small slow smile creeping across his lips. "Not at all, but if you kiss like that on a first date you might not find it so easy to get rid of him."

I blushed furiously. "So what happens now?"

He stared at me for a long moment, his chest rising and falling in a deep steady rhythm. I was beginning to wonder if he'd heard the question, but he eventually responded. "You say goodnight – firmly, and then when he reaches the stairs you let yourself in and lock the door behind you."

Once inside the apartment I headed straight for the kitchen, desperate to find some way to occupy my hands and stop them from reaching out to him again. "Coffee?" I called over my shoulder.

"Sure."

He sat on the sofa and removed his shoes, before stretching his long legs out in front of him. He looked a picture of relaxation when I brought the coffee in and sat down beside him.

"So how did I do?" I asked. "Do you think I'm ready to try it for real?"

"Why the rush, do you have someone in mind?" He blew on his coffee before taking a small sip. His eyes stayed trained on the cup.

"I don't really get the opportunity to meet a lot of guys."

"What about in your classes or at work?"

I thought about it for a moment. "There was one guy – Tyler – he asked me out a couple of months ago, but I said no and he hasn't really spoken to me since."

"But you like him?"

I shook my head. "Not particularly."

He smirked. "Well, until you meet someone who does float your boat, we'll continue with the tuition."

I smiled. "It's really great that you're doing this, Edward, but I feel a bit guilty because there's nothing in it for you."

Leaning forward, he placed his elbows on his knees and looked at me intently. "I had a good time tonight," he said softly. "It was good to see you loosening up a bit. You're good company when you let your guard down." He broke eye contact, staring down at his hands and his voice was muted when he continued. "I don't know why, but for some reason I feel quite protective of you."

I wasn't sure how to take that, but I said thank you anyway.

"No problem," he said, standing abruptly. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

I lounged back on the sofa, cradling my cup to my chest while the memory of our evening started to replay in my mind. I thought about how much I'd enjoyed his company and how patient he'd been with me when I was nervous in the restaurant.

The warm contented feeling that was sweeping through me, halted abruptly at the memory of our kiss. Heat crept up my cheeks when I recalled the way I'd pressed against him, and shamelessly slid my tongue into his mouth. Guilt almost crippled me when I realised how much I'd enjoyed it, while Edward was probably thinking I should be saving these things for someone I was actually in love with.

I went to bed and lay in the dark worrying about it. I definitely wanted to be able to be intimate with someone, and after tonight's little display, I knew I could. But would Edward be willing to let me explore just how intimate I could be?