All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, no copyright infringement intended.

Chapter 10

When I arrive home, Josh and Leah are nowhere to be seen. Then I remember it's because I left the office early, and they would still be at playgroup. For once I was thankful that I had the apartment to myself. I wiped the tears from my eyes and reached into my purse for my cell scrolling down the list of contacts until I found Rose's work number. I hit the call button.

"Hello, you bend em I mend em. Rose speaking." It usually made me chuckle when I heard her answering the phone like that.

"Rose, it's Bella," I sniffed. She must have picked up just by my tone that something was wrong.

"Bella, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" she asked worriedly.

"Um, I'm just been really stupid, Rose, I don't even know why I'm crying," I sniffed again. "Is there any chance you could drop by later? I could really use someone to talk to, and I don't want to call Alice. She's still buzzing about her date with Jasper and I don't want to bring her down from her high."

"Of course I will, do you need me to come now? I'm not overly busy and the guys here can handle things."

"No, Rose, honestly, it's nothing that can't wait," I told her truthfully. "Just come by later. I'll cook us dinner and we can have a chat once I put Josh to bed."

"That sounds great. I'll be there around 7.30, okay?"

"That's perfect. Thanks, Rose, I'll see you later." I hung up and went to the bathroom to wash my face. I looked in the mirror, my eyes were red and puffy and my cheeks were tear-stained. I quickly threw some water on my face and patted it dry.

Rose knocked on the door a little after 7.30. I had pulled myself together by then and realized that I was being a pathetic mess. "Come on in. I'm just about to serve dinner," I said cheerfully.

"Well, this is a turn around for the books. I thought you were about to throw yourself off the roof with the way you sounded on the phone," she said, flipping her long blonde hair over one shoulder.

"Oh, you know me, Rose, I always like a bit of drama. I just had a shock that's all. It was nothing really."

"I smell bullshit!" Rose was never one to mince her words.

"Look, all that happened was that I walked in on Edward and his girlfriend getting it on. I was shocked, that's all. I wasn't expecting it. I freaked out, came home and called you. End of story." Okay, I was playing it all down because I felt like a fool, but no-one needed to know that.

"Edward, as in your boss, Edward?" she asked.

"Yeah, we've started to get along really well lately. I just didn't expect to walk in and find his girlfriend riding his crotch that's all."

I gave Rose a couple of hard slaps on the back as she choked on her water.

"No, seriously, she was riding him?"

I shook my head trying to get rid of the mental image. "Well, I'm not really sure what was happening. I didn't stay long enough to find out".

"Bella, why would it bother you so much to see your boss with his girlfriend?"

"Oh, shit, I don't know," I kept myself busy by serving up our steaks. "I suppose I kind of have a crush on him."

"You have a crush on him? Bella, that's great. Well, kind of, I mean, he's got a girlfriend obviously, but we all kind of thought you'd gone off sex since you had Josh. You've never shown any interest in anyone since mystery man in Vegas," she said whilst piling a heap of salad onto her plate.

"We?" I asked. "Are you telling me that you have all been sitting around discussing my lack of a sex life? Jeez, Rose, that makes me feel really great."

"Oh, Bella, it wasn't like that. We were concerned, that's all. Come on, 18 months is a long time. We were worried that the hole was going to heal over. We all know that you have Roger, but let's face it, it's no substitute."

"Are we really going to discuss this?" I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Obviously, what else is there to discuss?" she said raising an eyebrow in return.

We glared at each other across the table for ages before we both burst into laughter.

"So, you like Edward?" she finally said.

"Yeah, I liked him from the moment I saw him, but he was really strange. I think he hated me at first, although I really don't know why. He avoided me and when he did see me, he wouldn't even acknowledge me, let alone speak. It was only when I went to work for him that he started making an effort. Since then we have got along really well."

Rose swallowed down a mouthful of steak. "Is he serious with the girlfriend?"

"Yeah, as far as I know. I'm not sure how long they have been together, but I've seen her with him a couple of times and they look close. VERY close if this afternoon is anything to go by," I laughed.

I was now starting to see how ridiculous this whole situation was.

"Well, maybe we should find out. We should bring Alice in on this. Didn't you say that Edward was Jasper's brother?"

"Don't even go there, Rose," I warned. "Leave Alice out of this. There is no way we're going to let her start pumping Jasper for info. I've never even met the guy, but no way would I inflict that on him. Alice is enough to put up with during the best of times, without her interrogating him as part of Project Edward!"

"We'll see," she said while finishing off her meal. I just glared at her. It was no use going against Rose; she always got her own way.

I sent her on her way a little after 11pm. I checked on Josh, showered, checked on Josh again and climbed into bed. I was exhausted and had to be up early the next day to face Edward.

I arrived at the office by 8.30, I figured that it was the least I could do after running out the way that I did. I had decided that I would apologize for my action and try to be nonchalant about the whole situation.

Just after 9am, there was a knock at my door and there was Edward looking sheepish.

"Bella, I can't apologize enough for what happened yesterday. Please say that you forgive me."

He looked at me expectantly.

"Edward, really, there's nothing to forgive," I sat back in my chair trying to look indifferent. "Seeing you like that with your girlfriend wasn't something that I was expecting that's all. It was my fault, I was a little shocked and over-reacted."

"Bella, she's..."

"No, Edward, really. Let's just put the whole thing behind us," I told him with a smile.

"Are you sure? Only..."

"Yes, Edward, I'm sure."

He let out a sigh of relief. "Well, in that case... I got you these... as a white flag," he retreated back through the door briefly before returning. He held in his hands the most beautiful arrangement of English garden flowers, full of lush white roses, purple stock mix, and delicate lavender wax flowers. They were presented in a beautiful clear glass vase with a purple satin ribbon.

"Oh, Edward, you didn't need to do this," I said as I walked around my desk to take them.

I stood in front of him as he held the flowers in front of his chest. I reached out my hand and felt the delicate petals of the white roses, closing my eyes I took in the floral sent as it wafted though the air.

"They really are beautiful, Edward. Thank you," smiling I opened my eyes to look him in the face.

He looked at me and swallowed. "You're more than welcome, Bella," he said quietly before handing me the arrangement. Our eyes were locked, and I felt a moment of familiarity before Edward turned and walked away back to his office.

"Oh my, those are lovely," Esme said looking at the flowers as she waltzed into my office after lunch.

"Yeah, they're from Edward," I told her matter of factly. I wasn't about to tell her why Edward gave me flowers, but knowing Esme, she had already put 2 +2 together and come up with 8.

She raised her eyebrow at me, "Really?"

"Don't even go there," I told her sternly. "We had a misunderstanding and the flowers are an apology."

"Edward actually apologized for something?" she asked. "Interesting!"

I shook my head at her. There was no way that I was getting into this with Edward's mother. I wasn't about to rat him out to her either over the whole Lauren thing. Esme would just have to jump to her own conclusions, and judging by the smile on her face, she already had.

"They are really beautiful though. He must have put a lot of thought into those" she said with sly grin.

"Drop it, Esme," I screwed up my eyes and gave her an evil glare.

"Knock, knock, anyone in?" A voice called from the doorway.

"Jake!" I shouted running to him. I flung my arms around him and buried my head into the crook of his neck.

"The nice lady at the desk showed me to your office. I wanted to surprise you," he said as he picked me up and spun me around.

"Well, you have certainly managed that. Come in and meet my friend, Esme." I couldn't believe that Jake was really here.

"Esme, this is my good friend and bad influence, Jacob Black," I told her after he'd put me back down. "Jake, I'd like you to meet my equally bad influence, Esme Cullen." They shook hands warmly, and then Jake proceeded to fill Esme in on how it was actually me who was a bad influence on him. They hit it off immediately, and I was left to finish up my work while those two went off to look at some photos of Esme's latest design project together.

I gave Jake a 'keep your mouth shut about my secrets or otherwise- you're- dead' look, and in return he gave me a one fingered salute as he left the office. Just like old times.

Later that evening, Rose put Josh to bed while I met up with Angela, Ben, and Jake, for dinner at the 'How To Cook A Wolf' restaurant on Queen Anne Ave. I had never been before, but Ben had taken Angela, and she had raved about it. I was quite impressed. It was really sleek with its curved wooden ceiling and trendy young couples perched at its tables.

"So," Angela said, as she took a bite of her New York Strip. "Are you looking forward to Saturday, Bella?"

"Why, what's happening on Saturday?" Jake glanced between all three of us.

"Bella, Rose, and Alice are hitting the town," Ben laughed, taking a sip of his wine. "It's the poor unsuspecting men of Seattle that I feel sorry for," he continued with a chuckle.

I gasped with fake horror. "Excuse me, I'm right here," I said as I waved my hands in front of Ben's face. "Besides, we're not that bad."

"Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but the last time that you went out on the town with Rose, you came back carrying a baby." Ben laughed as he wiggled his eyebrows at me.

"Angela was there too. It's just as much her fault," I said as I winked at Angela.

"Don't bring me into it, I was an innocent party. I wasn't there when you took off with the sperm donor," she chuckled.

"Hang on!" Jake said. "You're having a girl's night out?"

"Hmm," I nodded whilst tucking into my Tagliarini.

"So, where's my invite?"

"Jake, I'm sorry but the last thing I knew, you were not a girl," I told him in all seriousness.

"I don't care. I want an invite. I can be one of the girls. Besides you just know that you won't have half as much fun without me there." He did have a point.

"Okay," I held up my hand up in surrender. "You can come, but keep your hands off any hot men. They're ours," I joked.

Jake, clapped his hands together in the campiest manner that he could muster up. He still didn't pull it off. He might be gay, but he's the butchest man I know and camp is definitely not his style.

We finished off our meal, drank another bottle of wine between us, and paid the bill. It had been a really good evening. Angela had said that she would drive over around 5pm on Saturday to pick up Josh, and would bring him home around lunch time on Sunday. That would give me plenty of time to sleep off my hangover... Hopefully, anyway.

We said goodbye to Angela, and Ben. Jake was driving me home due to the fact that I still hadn't sorted myself out with a car. As we neared the front of the restaurant I was surprised to see Edward, dining with Carlisle, and Emmett. They were obviously talking business as they had a mountain of papers on the table in front of them.

"Bella," I heard Emmett's booming voice call before he wrapped me up into a bear hug. "Hi, Emmett." I choked, barely able to breathe.

"Hello, Bella," I heard Carlisle say as I pried myself out of Emmett's arms. "Why don't you join us?"

"Oh. Sorry, Carlisle, but we've already eaten." I told him truthfully. "But thank you for asking."

I looked at Edward who was looking between between Jake and myself with a strange, pained expression on his face.

"Bells, aren't you going to introduce us?" I heard Jake say from behind me.

"Oh, yes, sorry." I mumbled. "Jake this is Emmett, Carlisle, and Edward Cullen. Edward is my boss," I told him. "And this," I said gesturing towards Jake, "is one of my best friends, Jacob Black."

They all stood and shook hands, and I'm sure I heard Edward let out a whoosh of air and mutter the word 'friend' to himself before he smiled warmly and shook Jake's hand.

"I suppose we could stay for a little while," Jake, said with an amused look on his face. "One drink won't hurt."

I knew that look; it meant one of two things. Either Jake was eyeing up one of the Cullen's or else Rose or Alice had told him about my little boss crush. My bet was on Rose.

We took a seat. Jake pulled up the empty chair next to Emmett, while Edward stood and pulled a chair out for me to sit next to him.

"So, how long have you two known each other?" Emmett asked as Carlisle ordered another bottle of wine.

"Too long," I told him and I gave Jake a 'don't show me up bitch' death glare.

Emmett chuckled as Carlisle proposed a toast, "To friends and colleagues." We all clinked glasses.

"So, what is it that you do, Jake?" Carlisle asked.

"I'm a photographer. I'm based in California. It's not very often that I get to come back to Seattle," he told him. "I'm just here for a visit to spend some time with my sister, and catch up with a few friends."

"A photographer, eh?" Carlisle asked impressed. "That's quite a hobby of mine."

From then on, Emmett, Jake, and Carlisle had their heads together discussing all things photography.

I suddenly felt a warm breath of air on my cheek, and Edward whispered, "Looks like they're going to be at it all night. Maybe we should have our own party."

I looked into his eyes, our faces were just inches apart, and all that I could think about was just how hot it had suddenly become, yet I was shivering. I picked up my glass and drank it all down in one gulp. Edward sat back in his chair and laughed while picking up the wine bottle and pouring me another one.

"So, you and Jake are just friends?" he asked as he moved his chair a little closer to mine.

"Um, yeah," I nodded. "We go back years. He's my friend, Angela's, brother. We've been through a lot together."

"Such as?" He cocked his head to one side expectantly.

"Err, well, just the usual, really," I told him. "He comes in handy for beating up cheating boyfriends." I laughed to myself at the memory of Jake, beating up my ex three years ago when I caught him getting a blow job off some skank at a party we had gone to.

"I'll remember that," he smirked, taking a sip of his wine, his eyes never leaving mine. "What else?"

I swallowed. Hard!

"He was my rock when I found out that I was pregnant," I blurted out. I mentally wanted to slap myself for leaving me wide open for questions.

Edward looked confused. "So, you're just friends, but he's Josh's father?"

"Umm, no. He's not Josh's father, he was there to support me that's all." I could see a thousand and one questions racing through Edward's mind, and I was hoping and praying that he wasn't about to ask them.

I had no such luck!

"You've never mentioned him, are you still together?" he asked.

There's nothing like being straight to the point is there? I shook my head.

"No, we, err, we have nothing to do with him, and he's not in our lives," I said quickly, looking down and circling the top of my wine glass with my finger.

Edward leaned in towards me and slowly whispered into my ear. "His loss is someone else's gain, Bella."

I thought that my heart was going to leap out of my chest. His face was once again just inches from mine. Our eyes locked on one another before he lowered his gaze to my lips and slowly licked his.

Am I imagining things, or is Edward Cullen flirting with me? Jeez, I can't even think straight.

One thing that I did manage to remember was that he had a girlfriend, and there was no way on this earth that I would ever go down the 'office fling' road.

"So, is there someone else?" He took a drink and slowly leaned back in his chair again.

I wasn't sure how to answer that, I mean, come on, who wants to look like the desperate saddo who no-one wants to date. Yet at the same time I didn't want to give a man who was already involved with someone else the wrong idea; or maybe even the right idea, because let's face it, Edward Cullen does things to my body that should be illegal just by looking at him.

I decided to just tell the truth. After all, being single... and desperate is nothing to be ashamed of.

Edward must have asked the question louder than he intended because before I had a chance to say anything, Jake answered for me.

"Bella's been in a relationship for about 18 months now, haven't you, Bells?"

WTF!

I don't quite know what game Jake's playing, but I shoot him a death glare, it has absolutely no effect. So I pick up my glass and take a large drink.

"Really, Bella, you've never mentioned a partner before," Emmett sounded intrigued as he leant forward awaiting my answer.

"What?!" Jake says, shocked. "You've never told them about Roger, I'm surprised at you, Bells."

I choked, hard!

So hard that I couldn't even breathe, I was gasping for breath. My eyes were watering, Edward, was slapping me on the back, and Jake just sat there with a satisfied grin on his face. Bastard!

Carlisle handed me a glass of water and I finally managed to calm myself. Thankfully, due to my near death experience, Roger had been completely forgotten about and the conversation had moved on to something else. I was happy to just sit back and pretend to listen to whatever it was that they were talking about, because inwardly I was planning Jake's death. Images of Chinese water torture, and fingernails being pulled out flashed before my eyes.

I was brought back down to earth by Jake, mentioning my name.

"Bella, we need to get going."

"It's been nice meeting you all, but we really have to go. Bella here needs her beauty sleep," he said to everyone.

Did he REALLY just say that I need beauty sleep? As if the Roger comment wasn't bad enough.

I'm seriously going to kill him, and it won't be quick either. I blushed a hundred different shades of red as I said my goodbyes.

Edward rose and gave me a peck on the cheek, saying "I'll see tomorrow, Bella." I simply nodded as I made my way towards the door.

As soon as we got outside I wasted no time in hitting Jake around the head several times with my purse.

"I'm. Going. To. Kill. You." I shouted with every swing that I took at him. Jake found it highly amusing as he headed for the car while trying to dodge my well-aimed blows.

Thank God he lives in California. I had forgotten just how stressful life with Jake could be.

A/N Poor Bella, will she ever get over the humiliation of Roger? Jake certainly makes his presence felt doesn't he?