A/N Let's see what these two have been up to :)

Enjoy!


Chapter 9

Give me a fish and I eat for a day. Teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime. - Chinese proverb


Getting ready for my date with Edward left me feeling as though I was in high school all over again. After trying on nearly every piece of clothing I had brought with me, I eventually settled on my favorite designer jeans, a brown-knitted sweater, and a pair of nude stilettos. I applied make-up, coating my lips in a dark shade of burgundy lipstick, and let my hair down in loose curls.

When I stepped into the living area, Alice, who was relaxing on the couch with a bowl of fruit in her lap, smiled at me approvingly. "You look hot."

"Thanks," I replied, the butterflies in my stomach flapping their wings wildly.

My phone rang, and I reached for it on the coffee table, recognizing Edward's number. "Hello," I answered, trying my best not to sound as flustered as I felt.

"Hey," his smooth voice greeted me back. "I'm downstairs in the main lobby."

"I'll be there in a few minutes."

"All right."

Hanging up, I saw Alice watching me with a sly grin. "You take care of yourself now and... be safe."

I rolled my eyes dramatically, grabbing my jacket and clutch. "Will do, Mom." I gave her a conspiratorial wink, making my way towards the front door. "Don't wait up."

Her chuckle echoed behind me. "Don't worry, I wasn't planning to."

In the elevator, I checked my make-up in my compact mirror. The guy next to me gave me a leery look that I chose to ignore. I could feel his stare on my ass as I stepped out in the main lobby, and had to refrain from turning around and flipping him the bird.

Edward was leaning against a marble column, his hands tucked into his jeans front pockets. His lips stretched into a smile when he saw me approach. Mine did the same as I tried hard not to ogle him. He was dressed casually in dark jeans and a green button-down shirt—and boy, did he look good.

"Hey, Isabella, it's great to see you again." His warm voice floated through the air as he walked to meet me, placing his hand on my waist and leaning down to kiss my cheek.

"Hi," I breathed, feeling my face flame with the surprising gesture. His hand on me felt as if it could burn a hole though the knitted wool.

He pulled back, throwing a glance over my shoulder. "That guy in the elevator looked as though he was in need of a good ass-kicking."

I shrugged, frankly surprised he'd noticed. "The perks of being a woman, I guess." I pushed a strand of hair behind my ear, giving him an expectant look. "So, where to?"

"There's this place I thought you might like. It's small but cozy, and they have a great variety of seafood."

"Sounds good," I agreed.

We started walking towards the main entrance, and Edward put his hand on my lower back. His touch made my entire body feel oddly febrile, and I had to admit there was a kind of energy between us I hadn't experienced with any other man.

"There's a cab waiting for us," he assured, as we stepped outside to a light drizzle.

The car was idling in front of the hotel, and Edward held open the door for me to get in first. Sliding in beside me, he gave the driver the name of the restaurant. Once the cab was in motion, he turned to me, his green eyes looking almost black as they examined my face.

"What?" I asked, staring right back.

He smiled, sheepish. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you, Edward." I accepted the compliment with as much confidence I could muster in that moment. "You also look... changed."

He chuckled. "Is that a bad thing?"

"No, no," I rushed to clarify. "You look good, great even. I like the beard."

"Yeah, well," he rubbed his palm over it, grinning at me, "I thought it made me look manlier."

I nodded with a smile, glancing out the window to avoid blatantly staring at him. Indeed, the beard gave him a mature air I quite liked. In fact, I realized the more time I spent in his presence, the more infatuated I became. It was thrilling as it was concerning.

We made it to the restaurant in less than ten minutes. Edward paid for the cab before guiding me towards the venue's entrance—a white narrow door with an elegant golden sign hanging above it. The hostess, blonde and perky, led us to our table.

"This is nice," I remarked, taking in the soft pastels adorning the small eatery. There were slightly more than a handful of tables, each one wearing the restaurant's initials imprinted on white pillar candle centerpieces. Of those tables, only two were occupied.

"The chef here is also the owner," Edward explained, seeing how I looked fascinated with the place. "She's pretty well-known in London."

"It's so tiny," I said in awe. "You never see anything like this in the US."

"Yeah, I know. That's why I love it so much."

"How did you come across it?" I asked, curious. From the way he spoke, he seemed to have gotten a good feel of the city's vibe in the time he'd been there.

"Ah, well." He suddenly looked a bit flustered. "A friend brought me here."

I stared at him, somehow guessing the reason for his nervousness.

The waiter came with our menus. I picked up mine, doing my best to sound nonchalant. "Would that be a woman friend?"

When he remained silent, I looked up, only to be met with a soft, almost embarrassed smile from him. "And if I said yes?"

I shrugged dispassionately. "Good for you, I guess."

"How's your guy friend?" He changed the subject, throwing the attention back on me.

"He's fine," I responded, slightly irritated he hadn't given me a clear answer. "He wants us to go to the Maldives on vacation when I return home."

This time when I looked at Edward, the silence deafening, every trace of a smile was gone from his handsome face.

"Are you two together now?" he inquired with his brows drawn together.

I gazed at him over the top of my menu and realized he actually seemed upset with the idea.

"No," I answered quietly. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have—"

"It's fine," he cut me off, shaking his head. "It's none of my business." After a moment, the corners of his lips twitched. "Let's start again, shall we?" He took a deep breath, staring at me with a twinkle in his eyes. "Isabella, I'm so very glad I got to see you again. How have you been?"

I sighed, relieved I hadn't completely ruined the prospect of a lovely dinner in good company. "I've been good. Nothing much happened since I've last seen you, to be honest. What about you? How's the job going?"

"It's going incredibly well." He sounded pleased. "Pending a favorable performance evaluation, which I should get," he chuckled, "I'm up for a raise in the next couple of months."

"Wow, that's really great, Edward." I was genuinely pleased for him. "I'm happy you're doing so well."

He shrugged, modest. "Oh, well."

The waiter returned to take our orders.

I glanced at Edward. "Is there something you'd recommend?"

"I usually go for the mille-feuille of wild mushrooms, truffles and hollandaise, but if you'd rather have seafood, I recommend the baked mussels."

"Baked mussels it is," I told the server, closing the menu, eager for something different for once.

Edward turned to the waiter. "I'll have the mille-feuille, and please bring us a bottle of your Chardonnay."

When we were alone again, Edward leaned with his elbows on the table, resting his chin on top of his folded fingers.

I smiled, mirroring his posture.

"How is your leg?" I asked.

"The leg is fine," he answered, nonchalant, "but let's not go there. There's no point, Isabella. The accident is in the past, and I really want us to start fresh."

"It's a bit weird that we met like that, right?"

"I don't find it weird." He made a gesture, an exaggerated shrug, as if to say "it's the universe at play." "We simply crossed paths in an unconventional way."

"And here we are."

He nodded. "Here we are. To be honest, I'm more shocked that I ran into you in London. I mean, what were the odds?"

I chuckled. "I was thinking the same thing. Although..." I left the rest of the sentence in mid-air, trying to decide whether to tell him about my failed attempts at reaching out to him.

"Although?" he prompted.

I quickly concluded it was best he knew.

"Well... I tried to contact you a couple of times."

His eyebrows rose in the most surprised reaction I had ever seen on his face. "You did? When?"

Reaching onto my shoulder, I toyed with a strand of hair. Something about admitting to that piece of information made me nervous. "The first time, it was a few days after you called my office. Alice got me your number, and I called, but you didn't answer. I didn't dare leave a message."

Edward was looking at me as if I'd just sprouted a second head.

"I had no idea," he murmured, sounding remorseful. "I must have seen I had a missed call, but since I didn't recognize the number, and there wouldn't have been a name attached to it..."

"I know... It's okay, really," I assured him. "You didn't have my personal number. You couldn't have possibly known it was me."

"What about the second time?" He wanted to know.

I paused, uncertain. Did I really want to bad-mouth his sister?

No, I didn't, although I did feel he had to find out about the reasons we hadn't been in touch.

"The second time, I ran into your sister on my way to the subway station. I told her about trying to contact you, but she brushed me off saying you were doing just fine... without me intruding into your life."

Edward puffed out a deep breath. "Yeah, that sounds like Rosalie." Then he surprised me by reaching over and taking hold of my hand, pulling it towards the center of the table. "I'm sorry she was rude to you, Isabella."

"You can call me Bella," I insisted again softly, my hand nearly melting into his warm one.

He grinned, mischievous. "I like the sound of your full name."

I shook my head, giving up on correcting him. "Fine. And you don't need to apologize for your sister's actions. Besides, I can understand where she's coming from."

"She was rude, and as I understand, so was my father."

"Can you really blame them, though? I ran you over with my car, Edward. That's a pretty serious deal. If the situation was worse, you could've died."

"But I didn't, and the situation wasn't worse, so let's be thankful for that." He paused for a moment, searching for the right words. "Look." He made a point of lightly squeezing my hand. "I like you a lot. You've shown me that you're kind and compassionate, and stubborn, and I have this feeling in the pit of my stomach that I'm doing the right thing by being here with you. I want to get to know you. I really do."

"That's very sweet of you," I said, fighting off the blush that was starting to spread from my cheeks all the way down to my neck.

"And you're blushing," he added, as if it were a bonus. "I like that about you. Very few women are candid enough to have that kind of reaction."

"It's the thing I hate the most about me," I confessed.

"You shouldn't hate anything about yourself. You're lovely, Isabella."

I chuckled, reclaiming my hand from his. I grabbed my glass of water, taking a sip to cool down. "You're quite the sweet talker."

He managed to look offended. "I meant it."

My face fell upon seeing his expression. "I'm sorry. We're veering off on the wrong foot again."

"It's all right."

I sighed, putting down my glass. "I'm not used to men like you."

His interest was piqued, his upset quickly forgotten. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, my previous boyfriends have all been the corporate type... a bit workaholic, a bit snobbish, and quite lacking in the romance department. You're obviously not lacking anything."

My response gained me a wonderful, full-belly laugh from Edward. "Are you saying I'm perfect? Did I get that right?"

"Nobody's perfect," I teased. "I just have to discover your flaws."

He gave me an impish smile. "Please do, Isabella. Discover away."

~RS~

Two hours later, Edward asked for the check. He insisted on paying, and I fought the instinct to cover for my part of the meal.

Outside, he reached into his pocket for his phone to call a cab. I stopped him by placing my hand on his arm. "Could we walk a little?"

He tried to hide his surprise but wasn't particularly successful. "Sure."

I linked my arm with his and he gave me a sweet, somewhat shy smile. We started walking in the direction of the hotel, in no hurry, making small talk.

"So where do you live now?" I asked, enjoying the feel of hard muscle underneath the shirt he was wearing.

He looked down at me with soft green eyes. "Not far away from here, actually. I rent a flat on the third floor of a low-rise apartment building. It's much smaller than the one I had back home, but I like it. I'm starting to get used to smaller things, including food portions."

"Yeah, you do look like you've lost a bit of weight," I joked.

"Actually," he pulled me closer, pretending to whisper in my ear, "I've put on a bit of belly fat."

I pulled back, feigning shock. "I could tell there was something different about you."

Edward laughed, nudging me playfully. "You have a sense of humor. I like it."

The soft tunes of Debussy's Claire de lune reached my ears. Stopping, I pulled my arm free from Edward's to search into my bag. I pulled out my cell phone, seeing Jacob's name flash on the screen. Without having to think twice about it, I silenced the phone, shoving it back into the side pocket of my bag.

My gesture didn't go unnoticed by Edward. "Guy friend?"

"Yeah," I confirmed.

He looked away, seeming to weigh something in his mind. When his eyes met mine again, he looked determined. "Have dinner with me again tomorrow night."

I smiled, excited at the prospect of spending more time with him. "Okay."

Then, without warning, his hands cupped my cheeks. Leaning down, he captured my lips with his soft ones in a tender kiss.

I closed my eyes on instinct, feeling my knees buckle with emotion.

Edward deepened the kiss, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, clinging to the moment for as long as I could.


A/N Thank you for reading!

Thoughts?