Not beta'd... I wonder how many times I have to say that before someone takes pity on me and offers to do my pre-reading for me. *smiles sheepishly*

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Previously on Point of No Return:

I snickered as Edward bickered with Kate. I planned just which dress I would ask to borrow from Emily. After all, I needed to dress to impress.

Edward won't know what hit him.

When I got back to my cubicle, I found a dried rose bud... and two Hershey's Kisses on my desk. It reminded me how he had complimented my eyes... Chocolate... Desire.

I popped one into my mouth and got to work. He may be subtle but when I declare my desire, I'll be anything but.


Chapter 8

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July 7, 2011

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Apprehension settled over me, thick and uncomfortable, as I exited the office building on my way home. All I could think about was how terse I had been with Rose yesterday and how I hadn't had the chance to apologize to her since then. I grimaced, thinking about the post-it apology I'd stuck to her door before leaving for work, which had seemed like a good idea at the time. I'm pretty sure the note either got completely ignored or torn to bits and tossed into the trash.

The other day, when I'd gone to pick her up from her place, I wasn't really in the right state of mind myself, having been awake for over twenty four hours. I couldn't have given her sound advice then. Afterwards, when I'd had time to mull it over, I couldn't help but feel Rose was being a tad dramatic – or a lot. Just because Emmett might be going overseas didn't mean he would forget all about her. And if she was hell-bent on not following him to London, hiding behind the lame business excuse, she shouldn't make Emmett feel like the bad guy. He was beside himself, calling me frequently and texting me even more frequently, checking up on her and frankly, testing my patience quite a bit.

Things came to a head last night and she and I had gotten into a spat. Her hormones and the imminent arrival of Aunt Flo on my doorstep only exacerbated the situation, though I blamed her irrational logic just as much as the pregnancy-induced chemical imbalance, if not more. Scratch that – definitely more! And I agree that PMS had made me rather bitchy but what I said wasn't wrong, even though I regret speaking so bluntly.

It all started when my phone had chimed, for the gazillionth time in the past hour. Rose and I were killing time watching ridiculous infomercials as we shared a pint of cookie dough ice cream – meaning Rose ate the most of it, while I got in occasional scrapes when she got too absorbed in the workings of something called a FaceTrainer.

"Someone really misses you? What was this, like their fifteenth text in the last five seconds?" she commented with a teasing grin.

I rolled my eyes and responded drily, "Yeah, he misses me so much, he can't stop asking about you!"

Rose frowned in confusion before understanding dawned on her and her spine stiffened. She sat there contemplating, her ice cream-laden spoon forgotten in the tub. I shamelessly dug around it, taking advantage of her preoccupation.

"Does he- I mean, how often- Is- Ughh!" She gave up with a frustrated huff, leaning back against the sofa. She concentrated on her breathing while I put all my efforts into scooping up larger bites of ice cream and making obnoxious sounds, hoping she would reclaim her spoon and shove me away, as she usually did these days. After my fifth bite though, I was feeling kind of silly and Rose had her eyes closed, breathing deeply.

Very reluctantly, I abandoned the ice cream and took her hand, "Ro, honey, you know Em's a worrywart. He's concerned about you and the Peanut. He wants to talk to you. He desperately wants to know what you think about all this. You're torturing the poor guy."

"What, you think this is easy for me?" She griped, pulling away from me, "You think I like being away from him? Not talking to him? You think it doesn't kill me to think about him coming home to an empty condo? You don't think-"

"Hey," she was getting more hysterical by the second so I held up a hand to intercept, "no one's forcing you to stay away from him. It's your choices making you both miserable."

In retrospect, I realize I shouldn't have let my temper get the best of me, but I couldn't bear to stay silent any longer when she was making them both go through, what I deemed to be, unnecessary heartache. She needed to have the proverbial ice water doused on her head. Life was never sunshine and daisies. This was just a trial and they would overcome this together, as they always had.

To make matters worse, I hadn't stopped there. I'd gone on to say that she needed to give Emmett more credit and that she should have more faith in their bond, not to mention, their marriage. Now, I wonder if I had a death wish.

Of course, she flew off the handle. At first, she was furious, so furious she was red in the face, making me worry about her blood pressure. How dare I? I didn't know jackshit about her and Emmett – total bullshit as they both overshared every aspect of their relationship, and I do mean every aspect. How dare I insinuate that she doubted Em?

Once she had had her fill of pointing fingers at me, she crumbled and became a blubbering mess. She promptly went into "her" room and shut the door. And locked it.

I had instantly felt horrible for making her cry but she really needed to let go of her fears and talk to Em before this blew out of proportion. Well, any more than it already had.

Now I worried if I had spoken out of turn. Emmett wasn't happy with me, making me feel guilty for leaving her alone in this. Apart from Emmett, I was her only confidant, her only friend – the only one she could bank on for being on her side.

Taking a deep breath, I entered my apartment, placing my umbrella upside down next to the door and shedding my raincoat. As I kicked off my shoes, I called out to Rose.

"Ro, I'm home. I come bearing gifts," I stupidly held up the pickle jar, which I'd picked up on my way, to the empty room. Pregnant Rose loved pickles, even though she'd always turned up her nose at them before. I figured a peace offering might soften her up.

No answer. Not entirely unexpected, but definitely disappointing. Maybe the pickle won't be enough.

I ambled further into the apartment and set the jar loudly on the kitchen counter, then noisily plucked a bottle of water out of the refrigerator. Parking my butt against the counter, I sipped my water slowly.

Still no sign of Rose.

Since the day she'd come home with me, I would always return from work to see her occupying the couch in my living room, eating the contents of my refrigerator. The empty living room taunted me now.

Getting worried now, I moved toward my office, which was her room for now. I heard giggles.

Suspicious, I inched closer and I heard a groan. A distinctly male groan.

"Oh fuck, Rosie! Just like that!"

And I had officially heard enough.

"Oi," I banged on the door, "It sounds like you guys have quite literally kissed and made up, which is well and good. But if you do it on my futon, I swear I will cut you."

A loud thud, a curse and more giggles were my only response.

I shook my head and made my way to the kitchen to start dinner with a relieved smile on my face. It sounded like things were back to normal between them. I just really hope they had talked first. And that they hadn't desecrated my precious futon.

Only Edward and I were allowed to do that.

My breath hitched at the errant thought as an image of Edward and I – a tangle of naked limbs on the futon – invaded my mind.

Edward and I… Oh my!

Rose and Emmett decided to grace me with their presence then, bursting my bubble of lustful imaginations. They were both red-faced and giggly. Rose was radiant as she helped me grill the fish while I prepared the tortillas.

They told me over fish tacos that they had finally talked and resolved their issues. Em was going to go to London next week and after he's made arrangements for her, Rose will go to him and stay for the first two months. They looked happy with their decision, and while I was going to terribly miss my friends, I was infinitely glad things were alright between them now.

After dinner, as I was loading the dishes into the dishwasher, Em announced that they should get going and scurried to Rose's room mumbling something about fetching her stuff. I knew better; he was giving us privacy to talk it out. Better not waste time.

"I'm so sorry, Ro, I-" I stopped when she hugged me fiercely, stealing my breath.

"Stop right there, Isabella Swan."

There's the Rose I know. Tough and demanding.

"Yes, Ma'am," I returned her hug and smiled into her shoulder.

"You are the only one besides Em who sees through my bullshit and I'm so glad you called me out on it."

"I'm glad you didn't kill me for doing that!" I joked and she poked me in the side.

"Ow, Rose!"

"I love you for always being there for me," she whispered.

"I love you too, Ro. You would do the same for me," I said with absolute certainty.

"I love you for letting me crash here and for letting me eat all your ice cream." Her voice was getting shaky now and my throat constricted with emotion.

"You know you're the only one I share my ice cream with."

"Oh, we should so get matching BFF tattoos," she jested, trying to control the inevitable waterworks.

I gave a wet chuckle, "Yeah, on our asses!"

"Now that would be fucking sexy!" Em put his two cents in.

"Shut up, Em!" We both said at the same time and then fell into fits of silly giggles.

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July 9, 2011

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I nervously paced the length of my apartment, waiting for Kate to arrive.

The reps of Black Wood had postponed the get-to-know-you dinner until now, unwittingly putting my Blow-Edward's-Mind plan on hold. It was finally happening tonight, and while the butterflies in my belly guaranteed that I wouldn't be able to appreciate the cuisine, Leah assured me I would enjoy "knocking his socks off".

With a swipe on its screen, I brought my phone to life to check the time again. It was 5:45 pm. Kate should be here any minute now.

I went into my bedroom and stood in front of the long mirror, making sure everything was as it should be. The dress Emily lent me was a deep purple one shoulder number that reached my knees. It flowed over me like a second satiny skin, pleated throughout, with a beaded medallion on the side. I'd paired it off with nude lace peep-toe Jimmy Choo pumps.

My skin had a faint pearly glow due to the baby oil concoction I'd applied. I'd kept my makeup light – a little mascara, a hint of blush and soft pink lip gloss. I ran a brush through my silky straightened hair that fell halfway down my back, just for something to do.

Not for the first time that night, I began second guessing my choice of apparel. Was it inappropriate for what was essentially a business dinner? Was I overdressed?

My phone beeped then, signaling Kate's arrival.

Nothing I can do about it now.

Shrugging on my jacket, I took a deep breath, gave myself a mini pep talk, and stepped out.

"Hello, Ms. Swan. How do you do?" Kate's driver, old Mr. Jones, was waiting for me downstairs with an umbrella and a kind smile.

"Hello, Mr. Jones. I'm doing very well, thank you. How are you?"

"Can't complain, Ma'am," he held the door of the black sedan open for me and the umbrella over my head, as I carefully got in.

"Bella!" Kate gave me her hand in greeting, "You're gorgeous, my dear."

"Thank you, Kate." I smiled, pleased, "You look great."

"Pshaw," Kate waved me off. "You should qualify that sentence with 'for an old lady'"

"Well, it's true," I teased, "You do look fantastic for an old lady!"

"Ha!" She laughed and then proceeded to entertain me with her and Garrett's, as yet undecided, post-retirement plans.

Half an hour later, we had reached our upscale destination. The hotel was extremely chic – Kate seemed to be pulling out all the stops to impress the Black Wood people.

My hands tightened on my clutch as my stomach fluttered with nerves. I followed Kate as she sauntered over to the tall, black-haired maître d' and greeted him like an old friend. He took our coats and I concentrated on my breathing while they talked. His name drew my attention to their conversation.

"Mr. Masen has already been seated, Madam."

"Splendid!" Kate clapped her hands happily and the maître d' offered to usher us toward our table.

Kate looped her hand with mine as we walked behind him. I was captivated as I took in the large windows that framed a spectacular view of New York's skyline. It was raining lightly and the heavy gray clouds obscured the stars above; not that you could ever see them in the city, anyway.

"…surrounded by Harvard-educated idiots. And for the record, I have a strong objection to your tie."

His voice was laced with condescension. Once I might have found it unattractive, but now it was strangely… appealing. Although, I'm sure it wasn't conceit that I found appealing – it was him.

The strong set of his shoulders was relaxed, as he pored over a file on the table. I'd noticed how he always leaned slightly forward as if ready to assert his ownership of any situation. The confidence his posture exuded was downright sexy. As was the furrow between his eyebrows.

"Why? On what grounds?" I just noticed the lanky person sitting next to him. He looked like a kid masquerading as a man in a too-big suit and a mismatched skinny tie.

Edward looked at his tie with disdain, "On the grounds that A, it's too skinny; B, it doesn't match your suit and C, it's way too skinny."

"Edward!" Kate called out from across a few tables, uncoiling her hand from mine in order to wave at him.

His eyes flitted to mine, shifted to Kate and then returned to mine. His eyebrows rose infinitesimally as he took me in. Gray-green eyes lazily roamed from my pumps to my calves, lingering at the curve of my waist. Invigorated by his reaction, I practically sashayed forward, grateful that Kate was ahead of me. The butterflies in my stomach went wild, but it wasn't nerves fueling them. It was Edward's gaze, slowly moving upwards, as if feasting on my body. He took his time when he got to my exposed shoulder. By the time his piercing eyes met mine, I was all but vibrating with the raw energy flowing between us.

A throat cleared impatiently, interrupting the loaded moment between us.

Edward stood up gracfully, crooked smile firmly in place.

"Hello, Kate. Isabella. You both look lovely."

The low baritone of his voice as he said my full name struck a chord within me and I had to bite my lip to muffle a gasp.

"Thank you, Edward. And who do we have here?" Kate asked, gesturing to the man-kid, who was still seated, looking at me with a gaping mouth.

"This is Eric Yorkie, my Associate," Edward gritted through his teeth, "whose job will be in jeopardy if he didn't shut his mouth and get his ass out of here this instant."

He punctuated the sentence with a sound thump to the table that got the Yorkie kid's attention. He immediately picked the file off the table and shoved it into his messenger bag, letting the chair screech as he got up.

"I want the due diligence on my desk by 8 am, Monday," Edward reminded him sternly, "and when I say 8, Yorkie, it means you should have it there by 7:45. Now scoot."

The poor lad scurried out of there like a rat escaping a sinking ship.

"Oh Edward, you could've been nicer to the boy," Kate clucked her tongue as Edward pushed her chair in for her.

"I could've," he gave her a cheeky grin.

Then he stood behind me, waiting for me to sit down.

I lowered my ass slowly and chided him with an indulgent smile on my face, "You're breathtakingly insensitive."

"Well, seeing as you have permanently snagged the 'breathtakingly beautiful', the rest of us will have to make do with being breathtaking in any capacity." He whispered into my shoulder, making me shiver visibly.

He thinks I'm breathtakingly beautiful!

Once we all were seated, Kate and I on either side of Edward, the maître d' came up to our table, this time ushering the Black Wood reps.

"Ok, kids, they're here." Kate said quietly, "Put on your game faces."

We all stood up to greet the new comers and my welcoming smile waned when my eyes fell on the dark-complexioned man with an easy, familiar smile.

"Jake." Jacob Black. Black Wood. I wanted to hit myself in the head for not making the connection sooner.

"Bell?" His tone was colored with candid surprise and a hint of wonder "Wow, you look… wow."

Two splotches of pink appeared high on his cheek bones.

Interesting.

Of course my own cheeks were on fire, as well. There we stood blushing like two teenagers on prom night. I couldn't help it, really. He was my first and seeing him, in front of Edward no less, is a little awkward.

"Impressive vocabulary for someone in the publishing business," Edward interrupted our staring contest with his dry comment. "You certainly have a way with words."

Kate grunted her disapproval while the other man standing next to Jake moved forward. He was rather stocky in stature with a chubby face and a few glittering fixtures in his teeth.

"Mr. Masen, it's an honor to meet you. I'm Gary Coleman," he enthusiastically shook Edward's hand, not the least bit concerned about his lack of professionalism. "I'm Black Wood's legal advisor."

"Good for you," Edward responded with a pleasant smile but I could detect the sarcasm in his cocked eyebrow.

Gary laughed boisterously as if he hadn't heard anything funnier, his tummy jiggling slightly.

"I'm Jacob Black, co-founder of Black Wood," Jake thrust his hand at Edward.

"Edward Masen," Edward responded, not bothering to explain his link to Norman & Norman.

The two men shook hands, sizing each other up in the process. Standing to his full height, Edward was taller than Jake, his shoulders squared and his aristocratic chin high. He was, as always, impeccably dressed, in a khaki suit, paired with a striped sky blue shirt and a navy blue tie. Jake's attire consisted of a casual black jacket over a white V neck shirt and black slacks. The defined squares of his pectorals were visible over the thin material of his shirt. Jake had always loved working out: he was ripped. From what I could tell, Edward wasn't a fitness freak like Jake but he was toned and his biceps were to die for.

"Gentlemen, I trust your flight was pleasant?" Kate smiled at our guests, trying to dispel the lingering tension in the air.

"It was pretty uneventful," Gary chortled, obliviously "but I figure that's a good thing. No terrorists aboard!"

Kate chuckled politely. I could practically hear Edward's eye roll.

"Gentlemen, this is my right hand, Bella Swan. She's going to take over when I retire." Kate introduced me and then arched an eyebrow at Jake, "Of course, you seem to be acquainted with her already, Jacob."

Jake looked at me and showed off his pearly whites in a huge grin, "Yeah, Bella and I go way back."

I snorted delicately, and put on a winning smile, "Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Coleman. Mr. Black."

"Aw, don't be like that, Bell. We were-"

"Were. Period." I looked Jake dead in the eye, letting him know I wasn't going to tolerate his levity.

"Shall we, then?" Edward smirked, waving toward the table.

Everyone murmured their assent and started to settle down. My breath hitched when I felt a warm hand come to rest at the small of my back. When I searched Edward's face, I saw that while the curl of his lip was intact, his eyes had tightened.

Is he jealous? God, I hope so.

He ducked down to whisper in my ear, "How bad was it?"

"What?" I frowned in confusion.

He pointed at Jake with his head, confirming my earlier suspicion. I bit my lip to curb the megawatt smile threatening to break free.

"He broke my nineteen year-old heart when he moved to Chicago for his MBA. My best friend swore if she saw him again, she would chop his dick off."

Edward snickered as he helped me get seated before sitting down himself. We all perused the menu and Kate carried out most of the small talk from our side of the table. I buried my head behind the tall menu because, through it all, I could feel Jake staring at me.

"Is it bothering you?" Edward asked in a hushed voice.

"No Edward, I absolutely love it when my exes appear out of nowhere and gape at me creepily," I deadpanned.

Without warning, his hand came to rest on my bare knee. I stopped breathing. Then his thumb started making these sensual circular motions on my skin and my heart rate soared.

"What about this?" He blew into my ear.

"What about this?" I parroted breathily.

"Does this bother you?" His pinky ventured under the hem of my dress.

"No," I sucked in a much needed breath.

"I did represent him, yes," Edward said much loudly, looking at the other end of the table. His fingers didn't relinquish the sweet torture. I blinked out of my daze, trying to understand what was going on above the table.

"One of my friends was on jury duty for the case and I got to live vicariously through him." Coleman fawned over Edward, "You were outstanding, even though it was your first time in court after-"

"Yes it was," Edward said with finality in his tone, his hand tightening on my knee. I heard Kate quietly chastise Edward for being rude. He shrugged, unaffected.

Across the table, Jake was scowling at Edward and Coleman looked sufficiently cowed. Kate attempted to salvage the situation. It helped that dinner arrived then, distracting Dumb and Dumber even further.

After dinner, I excused myself to the ladies room. I touched up my lip gloss and smoothed down my hair.

I almost groaned when I saw Jake waiting for me outside, but my grimace couldn't be controlled.

"Hi," he said softly.

"What, now you're going to start stalking me?"

"I wasn't stalking you, Bell. Jesus, I just- I wanted- you look beautiful."

"So I've heard. Anything else?" I stepped to his left to make my escape but he blocked me.

"Bell, please. I just need to talk to you. Is that too much to ask?" He looked sincerely heartbroken and it rubbed me the wrong way. I hadn't broken his heart – he'd broken mine.

"There's nothing to talk about," I was getting more annoyed by the minute, "Yes, we were together. We're not anymore and frankly, I couldn't be happier about that fact!"

"Is it because you have someone else in your life?" He asked, "Is it him?"

"Who I am with is none of your business."

I attempted to get out of there, but this time his hand clasped around my wrist, stopping me.

"Bell, come on-"

"Is there a problem here?" Edward stood at the end of the hallway, staring daggers at Jake.

Oh, thank God!

Jake let go of me as Edward came closer, "Are you alright, Bella?"

"Yeah," I said as he gingerly took my hands and brought them toward light, examining them for any bruising.

When he was sure they weren't harmed, he pinned me with his gaze. His expression was so tender it took my breath away. I beseeched him with my eyes to kiss me.

Kiss me, Edward. Show him I'm yours.

His eyes dropped to my lips and back. His head whipped around to glare at Jake and then, before I knew it, we were moving. It took me a minute to realize we were headed toward the exit of the hotel and a thrill danced down my spine.

"Edward, Kate-"

"She can handle herself. Text her that you're going home with me." He kept dragging me.

My stomach quivered with eagerness as we collected our coats and went out into the night. I dutifully fired off a text to Kate.

Tonight, he had a different car, and I was slightly disappointed that I wouldn't get to see him drive again. Edward rattled off my street address to the driver as I got comfortable against the leather seat. He held my hand in his but made no move to take it any further. Occasionally, his thumb would swipe along my hand, making my breath stutter.

Similar to the other night when he'd dropped me off, he opened the door for me and escorted me up to my apartment. Unlike that night, his hand was on my waist, making my insides feel warm. Also unlike the other night, this time, I wouldn't let him go until I got what I wanted.

I quickly unlocked my front door and left the door open in invitation. Divesting myself of my jacket, I went into my kitchen to get two bottles of water. When I came out, he was still standing warily in my doorway, his thumb worrying his brow, looking like he was going to skedaddle.

"Oh, not again!" I sighed in defeat.

He stared at me, nonplussed.

"I swear I don't get you, Edward Masen. You're attracted to me. Don't even bother trying to deny it because you have that look in your eyes. You lock me in your gaze like you're a panther and I'm your prey." His eyes got darker and I could no longer look him in the eye without losing my train of thought.

"And sometimes – sometimes you look at me like you want me; not just how a man wants a woman but like you want me by your side." I felt like a callow girl, speaking of things she knew nothing about. "You touch me innocently, yet you manage to ignite a desire within me the likes of which I've never experienced before. You do all these things and then you come this close to kissing me but you let the moment pass you by, or worse, you run away–"

"You're precious," He declared tenderly.

"I don't care – wait, what?" I was a little surprised to see that he had managed to close the door during my rant and was now standing barely a few inches away from me. His eyes had the look I'd just described and my stomach did a back flip.

I heard a quiet, "Fuck this," and then he stepped closer so that his body brushed mine, his scent enveloping me, making my heart beat a wild rhythm.

He reached out and brushed my hair aside, leaving my right shoulder bare. Then he dipped his head down and I felt his nose gliding against the newly exposed skin, breathing me in. My hand came up of its own accord to hold his head to my body.

"Isabella," he breathed against my ear, his voice ragged with desire and my fingers grasped at the short hair at the back of his neck in response.

He nudged my neck lightly and I automatically tilted it, eagerly giving him access. One of his hands snaked around my back, bringing me closer still, while the other worked its way through my hair to the back of my head. He brushed a feather light kiss to my clavicle and then nipped and licked his way up the curve of my neck. My eyes rolled to the back of my head with pleasure when he blew on the moist trail he left with his mouth.

"Edward," I panted, as his lips moved to the edge of my jaw.

"God, I can't think of a single reason why I resisted you for so long," he pressed a kiss to my ear, "I'm sure there were plenty of them, but I don't care anymore."

"As much as I would love to hear all those reasons, I think you should kiss me before I decide you're not worth the wait," I teased, tugging at his ear lobe with my teeth.

"You really shouldn't have said that," he growled, sweeping me off my feet. Literally.


AN: Oh shit! *ducks out of the way of a dozen tomatoes*

So.. hehe.. whaddya think? Thanks for bearing with my erratic update schedule, folks. School is officially over for the summer so I'm going to make an effort to update more frequently. Also, I'm gonna try to write ahead as much as I can.

I hope you're still with me and I really hope you're going to write something in the box below and press the "Post Review" button. Even if it is just to tell me what a ginormous bitch I am for leaving it there.