A/N: I completely forgot to mention last chapter for those of you who might not know what Harlequin is. Harlequin is an extensive series of mushy dramatic romance novels. Never read any myself so can't recommend them one way or the other. Hopefully I justly describe them. If not let me know.

Once again I would like to send out thanks to my Beta TwilightFan4Life. I would also like to thank Halojones for your incite. The hits my story received after posting the last chapter was incredible. I hope you enjoy Edward and Bella's "date." Let me know what you think.

As always I own nothing Twilight.

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Harlequin

BPOV

I ran back into the house and paced around the living room waiting for Edward to arrive. Five minutes and he'd be here. Oh no, he would be here right? He wouldn't not just not show up? Would he? Stop, Stop that Bella!

Renee walked into the room seeing my pained expression. She knew exactly what I was thinking. She always said I was like an open book.

"Bella, don't worry. He'll be here. If he's anything like his cousin Alice he'll be here. I know you're nervous with this being your first real date, but it will turn out just fine. One day you two will look back on this day and laugh about all the anxiousness feelings you experienced on this very night. Believe me, my first date with your dad," I cut her off right there.

"Mom, I don't mean to sound flippant, but your way back when story is not going to help me right now. I have to focus on my breathing," I said in all seriousness.

She chuckled and pulled me in for a big hug, "I love you Bella, you're going to be fine. No foot in your mouth, I promise."

I looked at her incredulously. How could she know that? It was in my human nature to walk around with my foot in my mouth if I was even slightly attracted to anyone of the opposite sex. Oh, no what had I got myself into. Dear Lord, take me now. Calm down, I had to keep reminding myself. How is it that Alice and Renee could be so sure everything was going to work out? Could they see the future? I was beginning to wonder.

I was jolted back to reality with the ringing to the doorbell. I took a deep breath and smiled warily at Renee. I walked over to the door and slowly opened it. There stood Edward looking more amazing the ever, if that were even possible.

He cracked a big smile; "Good evening Bella. So are you up for our tour?"

"Sure," I said in the calmest voice I could muster. "Let me grab my jacket.

Renee walked over and introduced herself, "Hello, you must be Edward. I'm Bella's mom, Renee. So where are you guys off to tonight?"

"I'm not sure Mrs. Swan. Bella is our navigator. She'd know more than me, I'm not familiar with this area at all," he said apprehensively.

I knew she didn't expect him to answer. She was just feeling him out. I had already told her what we were doing. I eyed her and said, "Bye, Mom. I won't be home too late."

"By 10:00, Bella. Have fun and drive safely," she instructed.

Edward held the door for me as I got into his car, a Silver 1995 Volvo 850. It had been his parent's car, which they had given him when they got a new Mercedes a couple months back. He nearly ran around to the driver's side and slid in beside me. It was apparent that I wasn't the only one excited about this evening.

He turned to me saying, "So, where are we off to first?"

I took a deep calming breath and did what the girls had suggested, "Well, Edward I wondering if there was any place you'd like to see first?"

He sat for a moment in thought. "I've really only heard a few things about the area, such as the hiking available in vast expanse of forests, fishing on one of the many rivers, and First Beach. I do believe that fishing and hiking are out for this time of the day, so why don't we head over to First Beach? We can do the other things some other time," he said confidently.

I eyed him suspiciously. I was getting the sinking feeling that something was going on here and I could bet Alice was the mastermind of it all. How could she have known what he'd say almost word for word? It was like what he'd said was almost rehearsed. And then Renee, so sure everything would work out, I wouldn't doubt if she were in on it too. I would definitely have to probe this subject with him later.

"Your wish is my command," I said anxiously. My nerves were still a little wound up.

I pointed him in the direction of First Beach as we pulled out of my driveway. I told him it was approximately fifteen miles and would take about thirty-five minutes.

"Not the way I drive," he smiled devilishly.

I reminded him that Charlie was the chief to the Forks police department and that he wouldn't appreciate his daughter's date getting a speeding ticket. Possibly endangering her life.

"He does carry a gun you know?" I teased.

"So, this is a date is it?" he asked hopefully.

Crap, did I just say that out loud? How will I recover from this one?

"Um. I mean no, that's not what I meant. Shoot, you know what I mean," I said tripping over my words.

"It's o.k. Bella. I don't care what we call this. I'm just glad to be spending time with you," he said sweetly.

How did he do that? How was he always prepared to say the most perfect thing, the thing that would give my confidence a boost?

"Me too," I said almost in a whisper as I turned and smiled shyly at him.

We arrived at First Beach in record time. He had managed to knock ten minutes off our travel time. His driving did not make me feel nervous in the slightest. To be honest, I felt quite safe with Edward.

I suggested we leave our shoes as we were getting out of the car so that they didn't get filled with sand. I grabbed my jacket and we made our way down to the beach. It was as beautiful as always.

Looking out over the crashing waves, we talked about the unique rock formations. How they looked so black from a distant, but on closer inspection of the fragments on shore, they were really made up of an array of different colors.

As we continued our conversation, we both became more relaxed. Edward had brought his camera and had been snapping random pictures. He ran a few feet ahead of me and turned abruptly taking one of me to my surprise.

"Ahhh, Edward, don't do that. There are so many beautiful things here. Don't go wasting your film on me."

He looked at me questioningly, "Why do you do that? Bella, you obviously don't realize that you're just as beautiful as anything here. Stop second guessing yourself."

Feeling embarrassed and not knowing how to react to what he just said I elbowed him in the side saying, "Stop."

"Stop what? I'm just speaking the truth. I guess I'll just have to find a way to prove it to you." he said assuredly.

I smiled nervously and replied, "Whatever." Hoping he would drop it. I loved that he thought of me that way, but at this moment, I was feeling uncomfortable not knowing how to react.

We came across some large driftwood logs that had been pulled to shore and were arranged as a seating area around a make shift fire pit. I motioned for us to sit down.

"You sit, I'll be right back," he commanded as he headed back down the beach towards the car.

I sat impatiently wondering what he could be up to now. I smiled with anticipation. Everything was going great. I really felt so comfortable with Edward. He sure did know how to pump up a girl's ego. He was very charming.

I saw him returning and he was carrying a blanket and a basket. Basket? No doubt about it now, this was definitely all prearranged. I would have to thank Alice; her little plan was definitely making this evening easier for me.

"So, what do you have there," I asked curiously.

"Um, well, I kind of packed us something to eat just in case we ended up here," he smiled sheepishly.

"Oh really? Just in case? No planning? No help at all from someone we both know by the name of Alice?" I teased.

"O.k., O.k." he confessed. "With Alice's help, I kind of had this planned out ahead of time. I thought maybe it would ease some of the anxiety we were both sure to be experiencing. You're not mad are you?"

"Mad, are you kidding? This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. You have witnessed first hand my problems with speaking when I am nervous," I said sounding grateful.

Suddenly over come with emotion, I stood up, walk over to him, and gave him a quick hug. I jumped a back as if being caught doing something wrong.

"Oops, sorry about that, momentary lapse of memory. I forgot this isn't a date." My face heated up.

He smiled playing along, "Oh, I see. No problem, all is forgiven."

He spread out the blanket and we sat resting our backs against the driftwood. He laid out the food he'd brought. There was chicken salad, you know, that kind with grapes and nuts, pita bread, and fresh sliced fruit. He smiled as he informed me the salad had NO onions. Apparently, Alice had let him know that I detested onions in any form or fashion. I tell you this boy was too perfect for words.

As we ate we chatted about nonsense stuff like, what were our favorite foods, what were our least, what kinds of hobbies we had, our favorite colors, that kind of stuff.

The light was beginning to fade and he suggested that we stay and watch the sunset. We really could not have been in a better spot to watch it. It was magical, the perfect way to end a perfect evening.

When the sun was completely down, Edward reached into the basket and pulled out a flashlight handing it to me. We would need it to help us see our way back to the car. He grabbed the blanket and the basket, and then he reached out and took my free hand.

Smiling up at him, I tauntingly said, "Good sir, I'm not sure this is allowed being that were not on a date or anything of that nature."

He chuckled. "Well, Madame, I guess some rules are made to be broken."

(I just had to let you know I absolutely love this part!..lol)

We road back to my house in silence. It had been a wonderful evening. My face was beginning to ache from all the smiling. I'm sure his was too.

We arrived back at my house, again in record time. He again held my door open for me as I got out of the car. We made our way up to the porch. We stood in silence for a moment, both seemingly not knowing what exactly to do or say.

Edward broke the silence. "Hey, can I ask you something?" I nodded yes. "You know this community service project Alice has been talking about? I again nodded. "What would you say about being my partner?

Trying not to sound to excited I smiled saying, "You know, that's a great idea." I definitely had not seen that coming.

His smile brightened. "Great."

I repeated, "Great. Well, I better go in now. I guess I'll see you Monday." I went to turned, but he stopped me.

"Bella, wait," he said taking my hand. He kissed it lightly and continued, "I had a great time tonight, and I hope we can do it again sometime." He let go of my hand and made his way back to his car. I stood there until he drove away.

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A/N: Next chapter Preview: Rosalie arrived about five minutes later with a huge grin plastered on her face. We grabbed her hands and ran up stairs to Alice's bedroom squealing the whole way. She already had blankets and pillows in a circle on the floor with a gigantic bowl of popcorn and three sodas in the center. We all fell into position ready for the questioning to begin.

THANK YOU for reading my story. I know this is not a recent post, but I still read, appreciate, and respond to all reviews. For those of you who haven't reviewed I'd love to know what your thinking. Just a couple of words would really make my day. :)