Chapter 10 – Low Hanging Fruit:

AN: Sorry for the delay – I just finished up getting my MBA and the last few weeks have been hell. Huge thanks to Poo235 (congratulations), LittleSecret84, Isabel Grace, SandsandSirens. Now that school is over, I should have more time to write. Oh and I bought a book called Corporate Bullshit, so I'm including definitions.

Low Hanging Fruit:1) something easily attained or accomplished 2) something that's easy to do

When we left Bella and Edward they were at training….

"Bella, wait up. We need to talk about this."

Bella was tired. She had stayed at the Blue Shack far too late last night drinking. Even after leaving she had stayed up too late. It was only the second day of training, and already things with Edward were awkward. The energy between them left Bella with constantly wet panties; she had almost given up on wearing any at all.

Their first night at Merit Ridge, she thought Edward had gotten over their kiss in his car. He never mentioned it. For that, in all of her avoidance glory, Bella was thankful. During their first day of training, they had barely talked. Though, they had been put into separate classes. In fact, all of the partners who were attending training had been split up that day. It was supposed to be a day of self-discovery.

Bella knew herself fairly well. She had smirked at the term self-discovery since she, with the help of George, tended to discover herself quite frequently. Self-discovery in corporate training wasn't about getting yourself off with your trusty vibrator; it was about learning about yourself through well researched tests and self quizzes.

If Bella had to answer a question about if she often… one more time she was going to puke. She knew damn well she was an introvert and didn't need Myers or Briggs to tell her that. She also knew that she was a thinker in her communication style. Most of this self-discovery yielded the same result out of Bella throughout the day, a long exhaustive "duh!"

In all honesty, Bella could have probably learned more about herself from doing quizzes in those fashion magazines that Alice always kept in her tote bag, but she had muddled through the day. Her only respite had been the breaks and lunch time. Those had been the only parts of that first day she had seen Edward.

Edward, Bella assumed, according to Myers-Briggs was an extrovert because throughout the day he was seen talking to one person or another. He had seemed so comfortable gabbing with the other men wearing the standard Big Bad uniform of blue shirts and grey pants. She would never admit that she was relieved when she had entered the dining room and he had waved her over to sit by him. She hated making small talk with people she barely knew and would probably never see again.

The afternoon session had yielded more self-discovery and for the compliance portion of the day, a daring video presentation on what was and wasn't sexual harassment. The video, using the voice of a well-known actor, had made use of the phrase, "This is sexual harassment. This is not." Thank goodness the lights were off so that her classmates couldn't see Bella's constant eye rolling.

That night she had sat with Edward and a few of the people he had class with that day. Edward could easily join in on any conversation and he had been discussing the Giants football season and how it paled in comparison to the previous years'. Bella had sat there, wishing she knew more about sports. Of the many things in life she had learned to fake, conversations about sports was not one of them. So instead, Bella had poked around her chicken and vegetables and nursed what would become her first of several drinks of the evening.

Later at the Blue Shack, while Edward had played pool, that one drink turned into several others. As the night wore on, the corporate gathering place had cleared out. First, by people who had families and kids, which accounted for about 98% of the people attending the training. Then, the single people from overseas, all two of them, left as they claimed they were succumbing to jetlag. Finally leaving Bella, Edward and the bartender.

Both had been sufficiently inebriated when they had decided to walk back to their rooms together. As they had walked, Edward's hand slid from the small of Bella's back down to her ass. At first she didn't say anything as they had arrived in front of Edward's room first.

It was there that Bella had turned to him, thus removing the contact his hand had made with her ass, and drunkenly stated, "That, Eddie, is sexual harassment."

Edward took his hand and placed it on her breast, squeezing her tit like a piece of fruit. "That is not sexual harassment. This is sexual harassment, and don't call me Eddie," he had said as he squeezed it again.

Bella had allowed Edward's hand to remain on her breast as she moved her hand to cup his crotch. She gave it a light squeeze, careful not to hurt his family jewels. She could feel that he was quite large and aroused.

"No, that is not sexual harassment. This is sexual harassment, Ed-ward."

"Fuck yeah, it is and I like it!" Edward had replied as he pushed Bella against the door. His hips had pushed into her hand a little more. Her breast had smooshed up against his chest, and she could feel her nipples were erect.

Neither had made a move with their lips, but as each of their hands had shown the other inappropriate places to touch, it had seemed inevitable where this night would lead.

"We should get out of the hallway. There could be cameras or someone could see us," Bella had said as Edward fumbled for his key card.

It had been almost on cue that the nice woman from housekeeping had come wheeling down the hall. Her cart had squeaked as it came closer.

The squeaking had been enough to scare Bella sufficiently. She had taken it as an omen that this was not the time nor the place for this type of encounter, and so she had untangled herself from Edward's grasp and slipped quickly to her door.

"Edward, not tonight. Not like this," she had told him before closing her door.

Unfortunately, not getting off and knowing a thin wall was the only thing separating her from Edward had kept Bella up most of the night. She had heard him take a very long shower, and she had wondered if it had been cold. Then she had heard him watching television before his room had gone silent. Eventually Bella succumbed to her own sleep.

Now, her she was being chased by him again. She had grabbed a piece of fruit on her way to class in an effort to avoid any awkward confrontations. She, however, quickly learned upon entering the learning center that today's lesson was about partner discovery.

"We could have gotten a jump start on today's lesson last night," Edward said, finally catching up to her.

Bella turned around to try to say something, but she couldn't think of anything to say. Edward wasn't embarrassed about what had transpired last night, but now wasn't the time to discuss this.

Thankfully, before things became anymore strained, the instructors announced class was going to be starting, and Bella and Edward headed into the classroom to receive today's marching orders.

The day was relatively simple. Each group of partners was given a blindfold. One partner was to blindfold the other and lead them on a trust walk around campus. Each group could go wherever they pleased. Once at their destination, the person who had been blindfolded would then share the results of their day of self-discovery with their partner. In the afternoon, they were to switch roles.

Bella looked toward the window – it was a beautiful fall day outside. The air was crisp, but she was certain that her heavy cardigan she had put on over her satin tank top would be sufficient.

"Why don't you go first?" Edward suggested, playing with the blindfold in his hands. Not replying, Bella bit her lip. "Don't you trust me?"

"Yes, but no." Bella did trust Edward, but she didn't trust herself with him.

Edward didn't have a chance to reply; the instructor had come over to see what was prolonging these two. They were definitely the youngest pair at training, and the pair that had been working together the shortest amount of time.

"Have you two decided who is going to be blindfolded first?" the instructor asked.

"Bella will be. She trusts me," Edward quipped.

"Great, well, get started. You may want to walk around campus. It's a nigh day out."

"I have a few places in mind," Edward replied.

The instructor nodded and walked away as Bella snatched the blindfold out of Edward's hand. She had tied a single knot around the back of her head when Edward came around behind her and tied a tighter one. He placed his hand on her hip and whispered in her ear, "Well, I think Big Bad's got a kinky side, or perhaps you do?"

Before she could answer, Bella felt her hand being pulled by Edward as he led her out of the classroom. He was very careful with her, instructing her whenever there were steps, holding doors open for her and keeping their hands clasped together the entire time that they walked.

In the abyss of darkness, Bella relied on the sensation beneath her feet to give her clues about her whereabouts. She knew as they left the building because, not only was everything quieter outside, but she could feel the shift from industrial-grade carpeting to asphalt on one of the many nature paths around Merit Ridge.

As Bella grew more trusting that Edward would not let her fall, she grew more silent. Instead of asking how many steps she needed to take, she allowed him to steady himself behind her. It didn't take a genius to realize that for Bella and Edward this was much more than a trust walk. The closeness and neediness she felt for him now came out of necessity.

"Okay, we are almost there. Sorry it took so long. I wanted us to be away from the others so we could talk. Really talk," Edward said as he came to a stop. Taking Bella's hand he turned her around so that she was facing him. With one hand, he pulled down her blindfold.

Bella looked around. Holy cow. I didn't even know this place existed. "How'd you find this place?" She asked as she looked around the meadow. It had to be beautiful here when the weather was warm. Now she saw large leaf piles, and the clearing they were in was surrounded by tall, but bare, trees.

"I was told about it when I was here for rotationer training. I wanted a place where we could talk and not worry about being overheard."

Bella thought Edward was going to kiss her, so she took a few steps back and sat down on the grass, not caring if she ended up with grass stains on her work clothes. Always one to play by the rules, she proceeded with following the list of instructions for their given tasks.

"So the results of my self-discovery… I'm an INTP. You know – introverted, intuitive, thinking and perceiving?"

Edward joined Bella and sat across from her. "Your perceptive and intuitive? Really?" He smirked.

"What? I'm perceptive."

"Oh, I'll give you introverted and thinking but intuitive and perceiving are both another story."

"Why?"

"Some things are so abundantly obvious, Bella, and yet you have to make everything so analytical and difficult. What kind of learner did the learning test say you were?"

"I'm a visual learner. I can usually see something and I get it. Why? What are you getting at?"

"I learn by doing. For me to fully understand something, I have to do it. So, for me to understand you…"

"You have to do me?" Edward isn't making any sense. Though nothing today was making sense, in fact, nothing had made sense since they had watched their lives flash before their eyes two days ago.

"Bella, did you not have caffeine this morning? You can be so dense. Don't you see – us. This thing between us isn't going away, and ignoring it or letting our drunken selves take over doesn't help. Frankly, it's driving me nuts. You're driving me nuts."

"Edward, what are you trying to tell me? You want me?"

"You make me crazy. Fuck corporate policy. I don't want us to do something and blame it on alcohol. I want to blame it on my heart."

Bella, who hadn't had caffeine this morning, was trying to comprehend all the words coming out of Edward's mouth. He wanted her as much as she wanted him. Of course, he had the balls to say it out loud. Hey, he has balls, literally. I don't. "I'm sorry," she said out loud. "I'm sorry I think about consequences and I fully think before I speak." Okay, not all of the time. She thought of the few Freudian slips she had at work…

"Well, then it's a good think I am an aggressor when I communicate. I try to push my ideas on others. Right now I have an idea about us that I want to push on you."

Bella looked around. They really were isolated from the rest of the Merit Ridge campus. "I'm open to your ideas."

Edward slid over to Bella and began to kiss her. It was soft and tender at first, not hungry and desperate like the kiss they had shared in the car. Bella pulled Edward closer, tugging on his hair with her fingers. She had once dated a man who voluntarily shave his head – always had felt strange to kiss him and not thread her fingers through his hair. Edward's hair was thick and soft. Bella made a mental note to find out what conditioner he used.

His weight now over her, Bella slowly widened the space between her legs until it allowed enough room for Edward to push himself between them. His hands moved to explore the thin fabric of her tank top that she tried to pass off as business casual. As they slid down so that they were both lying in the grass, Bella wrapped her legs around Edward's torso and pulled him closer to her.

"Fuck," Bella whispered between kisses.

"Really?"

"No, fuck, what are we going to do now?"

Edward sat up. "Oh, that's fine. We can pretend like this never happened. I'll go head back to the learning center now."

"Oh, no you don't!" Bella pulled Edward into another marathon lip lock, and the two went tumbling to the ground again.

It wasn't until Bella's stomach, which was not full at all from her miniscule breakfast of a banana, began to rumble that the two realized they would have to resurface and face reality. Yes, for these two, their morning of partner discovery had meant an entire morning filled with making out, exchanging saliva, and some heavy, albeit over-the-clothes, petting.

"So we have to do this again after lunch for you?" Bella asked as they walked hand-in-hand back to campus.

"Yes, another afternoon full of partner discovery, and there is so much of you I want to discover," Edward said as he plucked a few dried leaves from Bella's hair. "Perhaps we should try to sneak back to one of our rooms instead. You are one messy baby."

Bella felt her face grow hot as she tried not to look at Edward. Part of her was extremely excited he had been so aggressive and finally put their relationship out there, but she also knew that, at least while he worked under her, this relationship was extremely taboo. She wondered how well they would be able to hide it. Thankfully, as they approached the dining room building, she felt Edward's grip loosen, and she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Do I look like I've been rolling around in the woods?"

"Yeah, but we'll tell everyone you fell instead."

"Thanks a lot."

Bella ate lunch and tried to make conversation with the few people she had conversed with previously. Most people had stayed around the learning center for the morning's activities, and only a few had ventured outside. When asked where they went, Edward explained that they had gone on a nature walk and explored the campus. Bella bit her lip and tried to suppress her giggles.

After lunch, they headed back into the main classroom, where Bella found her long forgotten but much beloved Blackberry blinking with new messages. Reluctantly she checked in with the real world. Nothing was pressing, but she did have several BBMs from Alice asking how things were going. Bella wasn't sure how to respond, so she didn't and looked over at Edward who was smiling at her. She wasn't ready for the real world and the world that she and Edward were creating to merge.

Yes, it would be hard to realize the synergies in that merger. How would they act when they were back in the city? Would this be just a fling? How could she evaluate Edward objectively when she was no longer objective?

"Bella, it's time for you to blindfold me." With a finger, Edward held up the black blindfold for Bella to tie around him.

Hmm I wonder if we could keep this? This could come in handy later. Bella thought of not only having Edward blindfolded but handcuffed to her bed. She then thought about her being blindfolded and being spanked.

"Are you going to sit there licking your lips, or are you going to blindfold me?"

Bella complied and led Edward back to the hotel rooms. After making sure no one was watching them, she led him down the corridor to their rooms and reached into her pocket and pulled out her key card.

"Stay here." She slid the card into the door and quickly went inside, making sure that everything was in order to have a visitor. Once her dirty underwear was out of sight, she retrieved Edward and brought him inside.

After the door closed behind them, Edward quickly removed the blindfold and started to inch closer to Bella.

"Hold on. We still have an assignment to do, slacker."

"Fine. Extrovert, intuitive, feeling, and perceiving. I learn by doing, which you already know, and I'm aggressive, which you also already know. Happy? Let's go back to where we left off." Edward threw the blindfold on the bed and led Bella by the hand over to it. She sat down facing him as he moved closer to caress her face.

Catching his hand, she stopped his hand from traveling any lower. "Slow down, tiger. Let's not rush this. I'm not going anywhere."

"You better not."

As Bella realized she still knew very little about the man she was quickly falling for, she tried to think of things other than work, their relationship, or training to talk about.

"Let's ask one another questions?"

"Again? Don't we always play that game?"It did seem pretty trite. "How about we each talk about things we like, and when we have something in common, we each take off an article of clothing?" Edward suggested, raising an eyebrow.

Staring into his sparkling green eyes, she couldn't say no. "I like pizza!" she exclaimed.

"Wow, me too," Edward said as he began to unbutton his button-down Oxford shirt. As she watched him, Bella quickly took off her cardigan. "Well, that was an easy one."

It took all of twenty minutes for the two of them to strip down to nothing but their underwear.

Bella glanced down at Edward in his box briefs. He was completely edible in the tight black cotton, especially with the now protruding bulge. She definitely wouldn't need George this week, perhaps ever.

"So much for taking it slow." She shrugged, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him into a tight embrace.

Edward pulled away for a short moment. "So much for a lot of things," he murmured into her ear as he went back to pressing his lips to hers and his body into hers.

AN: I couldn't stand anymore UST. Let me know your thoughts. I will respond with a teaser (when I have something to share).