Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

We stood locked in our uncomfortable embrace for the space of a heartbeat, staring at each other, waiting for the other blink and lose this ridiculous standoff.

"Mr. Cullen?" the bartender asked him causing me to grin as he continued to stare at me with those damn all knowing eyes of his.

You lose I mouthed to him, causing him to roll his eyes while masking a smile that had haunted my dreams. It was the same smile he would always give me when I would beat him at a game since I knew better than most that there was nothing that Edward hated more than losing at anything. It was the same smile that told me that he was almost as pleased with my victory as what I was. It was an odd reaction, but Edward had always been an odd boy.

"Your table is ready," the bartender continued on as Edward turned towards him with a fake smile.

"Thank you," he replied with a curt nod while continuing to hold me to him as if I was about to escape when escaping was the last thing on my mind. I needed him so there was nowhere to run except towards him.

"Table?" I questioned him as I wiggled against him, feeling his body hard coiled and ready to strike as it was pressed against mine.

"Yes, I was going to buy you dinner," he explained in an irritated huff as he looked at me with a stubborn look that I was used to when it came to Edward.

"I don't think…" I started to say, but he stopped me.

"Don't get too ahead of yourself, Bella," he laughed as I watched him shake his head at me.

"It's just dinner," he shrugged as if it were nothing and it probably was to him since I had no doubt there were random women constantly fighting for his attention.

Wordlessly, he let go of me as the young waitress appeared to lead us to a secluded table. I watched Edward lead the way with a confidence that he had always lacked when we were young. It was that swagger that caused the other women in the bar to turn and look at him as we passed by, yet he seemed oblivious to it.

Once we were seated and the waitress had left us to our own devices, Edward turned to me with that smart ass look of his that always made my blood boil.

"So, you were saying?" he continued on with that damn grin that needed to be wiped off his face.

"You are not making this easy," I gritted through clenched teeth as he watched me.

"Yeah, well, I learned from the best when it comes to not making things easy," he laughed slowly, taking his jab at me as he watched me stew in anger before him as if my discomfort delighted him

"What is that supposed to mean?" I demanded from him as he chuckled at my reaction.

"That means what it means, Bella," he sighed as his laughter died out to the weird silence that filled the space between us. It left me disorientated and out of step with this grown up version of the boy I used to know.

"Why don't you stop stalling and just tell me why you called me since it's pretty clear you didn't call to rekindle our friendship," he mocked with a grin, but I could hear the bitterness in his voice.

"Don't you dare act like I was the one who hurt you, Edward Cullen," I growled at him, calling him out on his bullshit behavior.

"I wasn't the one who left you…" I began, but he interrupted me once more.

"If this is about your so called marriage to Mr. Fucking Perfect I don't regret a thing. I was only doing what a friend would do. A real friend, not the fake ones that you insist on surrounding yourself with," he half yelled at me, causing the other patrons to turn away from their own private conversations to stare at our very public one playing out before them.

"Where is Mr. Wonderful? Is he still fucking his secretary or weren't you aware of that?" he spat out at me and then watched, waiting for his words to cause a mark.

"I don't know and…I don't care," I sputtered in response to his cruel, yet truthful words.

"You are a horrible liar, Bella," he mumbled as he looked down at his drink that he had carried over with us with as switched tables. He almost disappointed as he brought the glass of beer up to lips to take a slow drink as if the answer to whatever worries he might have would be found in the dark brew.

"Anyway, this has been fun, but I think I will call it a night. You're still not over him and I… I can't deal with you like this," Edward announced as he pushed away from the table to leave me once more.

"Don't!" I practically screamed at him as I watched him stand up to leave me once more. I found myself scrambling to hold him there with me, willing him to hear me out even though begging him for help was the last thing I wanted to do, yet the only option I had left.

"I need your help, Edward," I sputtered out in a rush of words as I saw what little options I had for paying for legal fees fade away as he stood before.

My words caused him to pause, but it wasn't enough and I knew that. I had always needed his help so this wasn't new. He would need more. He would need more incentive to help me after everything that had happened between us since the last time he allegedly tried to help me.

"And… I know you need mine," I scrambled to say as he began to walk once more.

"Rosalie came to the bakery," I continued on as I watched him stop.

"She told me... She told me about Garrett and Kate. She told me about his plans to give the company to him," I continued on, gaining what little confidence I had lost with him attempting to leave.

"She told me and I have a solution, Edward. I have a solution for both of us," I continued in a rush of words as he turned slowly to face me once more. The look on his face was skeptical at best.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he demanded from me in a growl that was meant to intimidate, but I could see through him.

"I'm not the only bad liar here, Edward and you know exactly what I am talking about," I replied with a saucy grin the cover up the fact that I was on the verge of tears.

"I know you are on the brink of losing the company. Rose told me. She told me that your beloved grandfather, being the epic prick that he is, has announced his interest in letting Garrett take over at his retirement," I rambled as I watched him pale before me.

"He wouldn't do that," Edward countered back with a grim look on his face. I had him. It was clear just by the look on face that I was right; that I knew too much and he hated it.

"Oh come on, Edward, even you don't believe that line of bullshit," I chuckled, smiling through my hollow victory.

"You know he will and all those years of ass kissing, all those times you bit your tongue and performed upon demand like the good little lap dog he wanted you to will all be for naught," I continued on, watching him shift uncomfortably before me as I called out every truth I knew about him.

"What does it matter to you?" he demanded in a gruff tone that did not deny my accusations against him.

"It doesn't," I shot back and then watched him stagger for a moment as if I had physically hit him.

"I just think that we can help each other, that's all," I explained as he continued to stand there, staring at me eyes narrowed in distrust. I watched him take a deep breath as if to steady himself before turning to sit down across from me once more.

"Ok, Bella, you have my attention, what great plan have you hatched in twisted mind of yours?" he asked in a soft voice that was laced with mockery, but I knew him better than that. The mockery was just a cover for the curiosity that burned bright in his eyes.

"You need a wife, Edward," I stated in a voice that more calm than how I felt inside.

"That's what your grandfather is upset about. The leader of Cullen Consultants needs not only to be a pillar in the community, but also a family man. He needs to be a well rounded individual with interests in the cultural events of our piss ant town as well as the social dilemmas it faces," I stated in a stern voice that was supposed to sound like his asshole grandfather.

"You remember all his ramblings?" he asked me with a grin that was pure and true, reminding me of the friend I had lost years ago before this untouchable man took over in his place.

"Of course I do," I snapped back a little too harshly for the sweet memory we were sharing of Saturday mornings spent together, laughing as his grandfather cited the virtues that the leader of Cullen Consultants would need to have.

"That's what I'm offering here, Edward. I will marry you," I stated in a flat tone as he watched me with a blank face. He was always good at showing no emotion and this time was different since I had no idea how to gauge his reaction since he gave nothing, but that damn blank stare.

"Ok, then," Edward countered back quickly as the grin fell from his face.

"I need a wife, but what about you?" he demanded as he looked at me with an expectant look before waiting.

"I need money," I confessed feeling sick to my stomach as I confessed my need to him. I hated to beg and while I had convinced myself that if I was offering to help him as well it wasn't begging, but I knew the truth. It was begging. It was me pleading for something that he had always taken for granted and I had always lacked.

"Of course you do," he chuckled slowly, adding to embarrassment with his laughter.

"I heard about your business and its faltering cash flow. I also know no one will touch you because of Jasper's gambling debts," he continued on with a slow laugh that burned my skin. It lit the flame of hatred in my system as I looked at him with dark eyes even though this was not the reason I needed money. He had no idea about Jess's kids and that was fine. I didn't want him to know since it was bad enough that I needed his money, I didn't want his pity, yet his belief that I would be suckered into paying for Jasper's mistakes was almost laughable. It was aggravating in its own right that he would dare think I would be so dumb to pay for a man whom I couldn't even commit to enough to actually marry. It was just another reminder of how little he had actually known me.

"Don't look so surprised, Bella. Everyone knows what goes on in this town," he sighed as he looked at me, waiting for me to say something, but there were no words that I could say that would make this conversation any easier or better.

"You have no idea," I managed to mumble as he watched me with dark eyes that seemed to be waiting on something from me, but I had nothing to give. What he knew was a lie, but I wasn't about to correct him since it didn't matter why I needed the money, it only mattered that I did.

"I told you not to marry him," he finished with a tired sigh as if the conversation was wearing upon him.

"And I told you to mind your own fucking business," I shot back causing him to grin in return as if he liked the fire he saw within me.

"Yeah, I remember," he commented softly as he looked away as if the memory of him coming to me before my wedding demanding that I not go through with it after months of silence from him.

"It doesn't matter, Edward," I commented, pulling him back to the present and the offer at hand.

"It doesn't matter at all. All that does matter is now," I finished as he redirected his attention to me once more instead of some moment from the past he was trapped within. I waited for the space of a heartbeat as he watched me, calculating something that I could only guess was my worth before smiling at me once more. It was smile that was too bright to be sad and too devious to be anything other than willful determination to profit from a bleak situation. It suited him better than the melancholy that I had witnessed surrounding him during our time part.

"You're right, Bella. You are right," he stated with a grin that was bright as he waved our waitress over once more.

AN:

Thanks for reading!

Xoxo

Mamasutra