They professed their love. Edward talked to her dad. Now, the date.

EPOV

I was standing in my bathroom, staring at the mirror. My tie would just not work the way it was supposed to. Of course, this was mostly due to my nerves. Never in my life had I ever been so nervous before a date. Of course, I had never felt this way about anyone either.

I glanced at my watch and realized how late it was. We had to leave soon or we would be late for our reservations. I was taking Bella to Godersi La Vita. It was our local Italian restaurant. Translated it meant enjoy life, which is, ironically, what we were trying to do.

Finally giving up on the tie, I decided to just wear what I was in. I had on a simple, dark blue button up shirt and black pants. I pulled on my jacket and headed up to the main house to get Bella.

When I walked in the front door, I was accosted by Alice and Rose. "Guys, what's going on?"

They both laughed. "Nothing. She'll be down in just a second."

Sure enough, footsteps at the tops of the stairs caught my attention. I looked up and felt my breath stop.

There stood Bella in a beautiful midnight blue dress. It stopped just below her knees and tied around her neck. Her hair was hanging loose around her shoulders in curls. And, surprisingly, she was wearing heels. She also had on her signature blush. She was devastatingly gorgeous. I was going to have my hands full keeping guys away tonight.

When she reached me, I placed a kiss on her cheek and whispered one simple word in her ear. "Wow!"

This only managed to bring about another round of blushing.

While she was hugging Rose, Esme, and Alice, I was dragged away by the men.

Emmett played protector. "Behave yourself. If you hurt her, I hurt you."

Carlisle was just the opposite. "Don't worry about anything tonight but enjoying yourself."

Jasper just smiled. He always was a man of few words.

I was finally able to collect Bella and lead her out to my car. I never drove it to work because it just wasn't suitable for police work. It's a high gloss black 2009 BMW Z4 sDrive 30i. Of course, it wasn't suitable enough for Bella either. She deserved so much more.

We carried on a casual conversation the whole way to the restaurant. It was so nice that we could just be ourselves without a worry in the world.

BPOV

When I looked down the stairs and saw Edward, my heart stopped. He was so handsome in his suit. Yes, I'd seen him dressed for work before, but this was different.

I knew I was blushing the whole way down the stairs under his stare. I had never been looked at like that before.

He placed a gentle kiss on my cheek and whispered the word "wow" in my ear, causing my blush to fire up again. The feel of his breath on my ear caused more than just a blush to fire.

Before I could respond, he was dragged away by the guys. Alice immediately turned to me. "Now, Bells, don't worry about anything. Your purse is stocked with anything you may need. Breath mints, pepper spray, uh, protection." I blushed while the others laughed. "What? Better safe than sorry."

"Uh, yeah. Thanks Ali." Rose took my hands and pulled me into an embrace. "Remember, hon, he's one of the good ones." I nodded and turned towards Esme, who had tears in her eyes.

"Esme, are you okay?" She smiled a watery smile and moved in front of me. "I'm just so happy, sweetie. You went through so much lately. Yet, you looked past that to what could possibly be a wonderful future for you. You're mother would be so proud."

I could feel the tears wanting to spring forward, so I quickly hugged her and made my way back to Edward.

When he led me outside, I was shocked at the car sitting there. I knew it was a BMW but that was as far as my car knowledge went. Other than that, I could tell you that it is what anyone would call a sexy car. And, it was a convertible.

He opened the door for me and I slid onto the leather seat. It was so comfortable.

He climbed in beside me, started the engine, and put the top down. I looked up and saw the night sky was cloudless and full of stars. Beautiful.

We talked on the way to the restaurant, and I finally asked the question that kept coming back to me. "Why don't you ever drive?"

He looked over at me and flashed his sexy crooked grin. "You think I want Em in here?"

I laughed, immediately seeing his point.

We pulled up to the restaurant. Godersi La Vita. I couldn't tell you how long I'd wanted to eat here. But, of course, it was something other than salad or grapefruit, so it was forbidden.

We walked up to the hostess. "Hi." She was staring hard at Edward. I know he's a handsome man, but hello, he's with someone. I stepped forward. "Hi. We have reservations. Masen for two."

She shot me a slightly evil look but corrected herself when Edward looked at her from me. "Right this way." She led us to our table and walked away without further comment.

"Well, that was interesting." Edward's comment was dripping with humor. "What?"

"Is my Bella jealous?" I snorted. "Yeah, right. She just needs to learn to keep her tongue in her mouth instead of drooling over someone else's man."

He smirked. "Oh, so I'm your man now?"

I blushed profusely, not realizing exactly what I had said. "Um, well…"

"I don't mind. As long as you're mine as well." I looked up to find him with a loving expression on his face. "Sounds good to me."

The clearing of a throat pulled us from our gaze. "Can I take your order?" Great, so we're going to go through this again. The waiter wouldn't even glance in Edward's direction. But, he changed that quickly.

"We'll both take the mushroom ravioli and some red wine." He finally looked over, cowering slightly when he saw the look on Edward's face. "Uh, yes sir. Right away."

"Is my Edward jealous?" I couldn't help the giggle that slipped out. He blushed when he realized what happened. "Yeah, right. He just needs to learn to keep his tongue in his mouth instead of drooling over someone else's woman."

I laughed at his using the exact words I threw at him.

A few minutes later, we were dining on the most delectable ravioli I had ever tasted. I didn't speak until we were finished. "Oh, man. That was awesome. How'd you know it was my favorite?"

He smiled. "Esme. She said you always asked for it when you visited her with your mom."

I smiled fondly at the memories. "I miss those days."

I was going to say more but the look on his face stopped me. He wasn't even looking at me either. He was looking over my shoulder.

"Edward? What is it?" I waved my hand in front of his face, trying to get his attention.

"We need to go."

He threw cash on the table to cover the meal and tip. As we turned to leave, I saw what caught his attention.

Sitting two tables behind us was none other than my own nightmare. James.

EPOV

I was watching as Bella was animatedly eating her dinner. You could tell she hadn't had the ravioli in a while. Esme told me it was her favorite, so of course, I wouldn't order anything else for her.

She was telling me about the old days when a flash of blonde caught my eye. I looked up and my blood froze. There was James, two tables away.

I heard Bella trying to get my attention. The only thing I heard was the voice inside me saying, "Get out! Now!"

Thankfully, we were finished. I pulled out my wallet and threw enough money on the table to cover the bill and the tip, although the only tip I wanted to give the waiter was proper etiquette on not staring at other men's girlfriends.

"We need to go." Bella didn't argue; she just stood up and followed.

Then, I didn't feel her behind me. I turned and saw she had stopped and was staring at James. Only instead of fear, I saw something else on her face. Something that sent a shot of pride through me. Her face was full of anger and strength. She was full of fight.

I took her hand and pulled her away from him and out to the car. After a quick check to make sure he didn't do anything to it, we hastily made our way home. I was already forming a plan.

I took out my cell and called Emmett. I made plans for him to meet us at the guest house after making sure the main house was secure. We pulled in the drive and Bella and I ran to my house.

As I locked the front door behind me, I asked her the all important question. "Do you have the .38 here?" In a response, she ran into the bedroom and brought it out. "What do you want me to do?"

"Go ahead and get changed. Meet me back in here. Make sure it's something you can move easily in. Something tells me tonight is the night."

She reached out and pulled my head to hers, giving me a quick, hard kiss, and then ran into the room to change. I unbuttoned the first couple buttons of my shirt. I ran into my own room to pull on a pair of jeans. I, then, went back into the living room to pull on my running shoes.

Bella came back out and I pulled her into a tight embrace, not wanting to let her go yet.

Three quick raps on the door drew my attention. I looked out the peep hole and seen that it was Emmett. I let him in, quickly relocking the door. "Everyone up there ready?"

He nodded. "Let's get him, man."

As Em and Bella went to sit on the couch, I turned out my lights and then joined them. Then, we waited.

I know, I know! I just had to kill their date, didn't I? I promise. I'll make it up to them in the end. Review and let me know what you thought.