Ms. Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight.

Chapter 14 - Anticipation

BPOV

"Yo, Marie! Do you prefer two double beds or one big, soft, cushy, king-size bed?" Alice asked in her little sing-song voice. She came strolling in my office, whistling some tune I'd never heard before while shuffling some papers around in her hands.

"Definitely a king-size bed," I confirmed. My desk was piled high with the end-of-month sales figures to go through, and I had a very important meeting with a new client in an hour. I put my pencil behind my ear and adjusted my glasses after they slipped down my nose.

"Ooh, sounds like someone might be expecting a guest in their room, huh? Care to share, you little vixen?" Alice plopped herself down on my comfy couch, putting her feet up. I had to admit she looked quite relaxed.

"Are we all comfy over there? Need a blanket, warm glass of milk . . . slippers or anything?" I laughed as I poured over the spreadsheets, typing numbers in my computer.

"Someone didn't answer my question." Alice bit down on the end of her pen and looked all sly and devilish.

"No, I don't have anyone sharing my bed when we go to Vegas. Not that I wouldn't mind anyone sharing my bed, I just don't have anyone at this particular moment." My mind wandered to Edward. It was too soon for me to ask him to come along with me on a business trip. I mean, we had only gone on one date, and although I was cooking dinner for him tonight, it certainly wouldn't be cool for me to spring an out-of-town trip on him this quickly.

Alice sighed. "Me neither. We're going to need to fix that situation too. What do you say we go out tonight to Mansion? I hear they've got a great new band playing!"

"Um, I'm afraid I can't tonight. Remember the guy I had a date with the other night?" Alice nodded her head. "Well, I invited him over for dinner."

"Ooh, two dates in a week? Sounds serious. Does he have a friend by any chance?" Alice bounced her way over to my desk.

Peering up at her over my glasses, I gave her a funny look. "I'm sure he has friends, but I don't know if they're single or not. Let me get to know him first, then I'll ask, okay?"

Alice pouted her bottom lip but nodded. "Hey, speaking of dates, do you think Rose left with Em the other night? I think those two are so doing the nasty. What do you think?"

Usually, I never stuck my nose in my friends business, but I had to give my two cents. "Oh yeah, those two are definitely sleeping together. What do you know about Emmett?" I figured my question was safe, and now that I had been working here for a little while, it was legitimate to be concerned about our mutual friend.

"Emmett? He's just a big old teddy bear. The other night at Rose's birthday party, he couldn't take his eyes off her. Any time she walks by his office while I'm in, or if we have a meeting, his face lights up like a Christmas tree." Alice loved to gossip and when she spoke, her hands didn't quit moving.

My suspicions were confirmed when Alice started talking about Emmett. She knew nothing about their drug business. If she did, she was a damn good liar, and definitely wouldn't have called him a teddy bear. I'd gotten to know her pretty well. She had worked for C&M for a few years, and if she was the least bit curious about anything, I'd have heard about it by now.

"That's sweet," I lied to her, knowing that Rose was going to get her heart broken once we infiltrated C&M.

"Not to change the subject, but we need to discuss the specifics for the Vegas convention. Emmett wants to introduce me to the northern franchisees, so I'll need you to set up meetings with them, preferably on the first day. That way I'll be acquainted with them at the start of the week." I pinched the bridge of my nose and set the spreadsheets to the side. "I'll need a list of the Exhibitor Schedule, and please make time with Emmett so I know which cars he'll want to display on the main floor."

Alice began writing feverishly, then stopped and looked at me. "I think we should show the Ferrari California in Midnight Blue. That car is so damn hot it just screams sex!"

I laughed. "Yes, it does. That's my favorite too. We'll need to see what our competitors are bringing as well. By the way, do you know if Mr. Masen will be going to the convention? I'd like to meet him finally."

Alice coughed sarcastically as she stood up to walk to the window. "He's supposed to be there and introduce the new line of Maserati's and Lexus'. That is, if he can keep his hands off the car models this year."

"Car models?" I asked. My curiosity was peaked.

"Yes, the ones that are about 5'10, 125 pounds, and come in blonde, brunette or redhead." Alice giggled, but I knew she was serious. I'd heard that Mr. Masen loved the women.

"It's interesting that he never comes in the office. Who makes his arrangements?" Now was as good time as any to start digging around about the silent partner in this company. Alice and I had developed a good rapport, and I'd wanted to ask about Mr. Masen for awhile now.

"Oh, I do. I talk to him on a weekly basis. He likes to keep to himself and trusts Emmett to run things here. He'll go out and meet clients though. Edward likes to stay quite busy." Alice put her finger up to her mouth and whispered. "Between you and me though, I think he has a side business. I don't think it has anything to do with the automotive industry though."

You don't know how right you are, Alice. "What makes you think that? Just because the man doesn't always come into the office doesn't mean he's up to no good." I thought I might as well play along to see what kind of information I could get out of her.

"Well, I always thought it was odd that he never comes in here, but who am I to question? He goes to the conventions sometimes, but hides in the shadows pretty much. Emmett and the VP's, like you, do all the schmoozing with our clients and competitors. Somehow, this year Emmett got him to introduce our clients newest lines−I'm just curious to what he promised him to get him to do it." Alice chuckled and sat back down on the couch.

"Hmm. Since I'm the new VP of Sales, do you think he'd meet with me? He is one of my bosses, and I'd like to at least meet the mystery man," I questioned Alice and she seemed to be thinking about it.

"Hey, maybe you can meet him in Vegas. I can ask Emmett if you two can introduce the new lines together. How does that sound? He's quite the attractive guy too, but since you're having dinner with your new Romeo, you might not be interested. Besides, he doesn't date."

Alice had totally gotten my interest now, and I was more than pleased it was her suggestion that we present our newest cars together. What a brilliant idea! I now had a reason to meet up with him other than being just another silly employee on the payroll.

"Alice, you're a genius! I think that's a wonderful idea. Do you think he'll go for it? Though I'm not so sure, because it sounds like he prefers doing things for himself and doesn't want a partner." I hoped she wouldn't change her mind about this.

"I don't think he'll care at all. I'm sure he'll be pleased to have someone share the load. Not to mention, you're pretty hot. You'd better watch out though– he loves gorgeous women!" Alice had nothing to worry about. No way would I get involved with a criminal, no matter how good looking he was.

"I'm curious about something though. What do you mean he doesn't date? I thought you said he loved women," I asked.

"Oh, Mr. Masen is afraid of commitment, I think. He's probably bedded half of Miami, all of them beautiful, but ditzy. Emmett jokes and says he'll grow up to be another Hugh Hefner! ″ Alice exclaimed, slipping her shoe off and rubbing her foot. I had no idea how she could always wear those damn high heels without tripping all over herself.

I was almost done with my figures and had moved on to the presentation I had prepared for the meeting with the new client when there was a knock on the door and Rosalie stepped in.

"Oh good. You're right on time. I was about to call you. Did you get a chance to look through the proposal I had delivered to you earlier?" I stood up and walked around the desk.

Rosalie nodded and sat down in the chair. "Yes, I got it. I was pleasantly surprised. It's quite thorough and very creative. I didn't know you had it in you."

"I'll take that as a compliment, Rose. Now, I don't know about you, but I really want to land this client. It'll be a really big feather in our cap if they buy into this today, and guess who'll look really good if we do – especially to the big boss?" I winked at her, and crossed my legs at the same time.

She laughed because she knew what I meant. "Touche, Ms. Dwyer. Consider me in."

XXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

If there was one thing on this earth, other than my job, I loved most, it was cooking. My grandma's special marinara sauce was always in my freezer and could be ready in no time. Since Edward would be here in couple of hours, I was counting my blessings that I had made some last week.

Cooking was therapeutic for me. When Grandma Dwyer died a few years ago, I had made food for over fifty people after her funeral. It made me feel closer to her, especially since I was the only one she ever shared her famous sauce recipe with.

So, I hoped Edward would enjoy it as well. I hadn't been this excited to have a guy over since−well, since never. I'd already known Dimitri because I worked with him every day, then I had a few blind dates and one night stands. When Edward touched me, my skin electrified. He was such a gentlemen and didn't even try to maul me on the first date. I couldn't decide if I was happy or disappointed. He also accepted my dinner invitation, so I'd better get my butt in gear.

Deciding what to wear was my biggest obstacle for the night. I ran upstairs, showered, shaved my legs, brushed my teeth and raided the closet. Working for the FBI, I definitely didn't make a lot of money; however, since I also worked undercover with C&M, I got to double dip. I liked to use that money for clothes. What the hell else would I spend it on?

Choosing a black Gucci mini skirt and Zac Posen halter tank, I tried to go casual chic. Hell, who was I kidding? I wanted to look sexy as hell, so I went for the best outfit that showed off my toned arms and muscular legs. I didn't kick box and do yoga for nothing! Once I put the finishing touches on my hair and swiped the last bit of mascara on my lashes, I dashed downstairs with twenty–five minutes to spare.

Throwing on my apron, I made my way over to the stove. My sauce simmered on low, and I put the wooden spoon in it to give it a stir. Afterwards, I tasted it and of course, it was as delicious as ever. I turned the other burner on for the shells and pulled the ricotta cheese mixture out of the fridge. While the shells boiled, I pulled out the salad and mixed it up with Grandma's special poppy seed dressing.

Hopefully, after this home cooked meal I'd have him eating out of my hands. Actually, I'd settle for a great make-out session on my couch instead. Maybe if I'm lucky and play my cards right, I just might get my wish.

I knew I was going to need a little liquid courage tonight, so I opened up my liquor cabinet. Rummaging through it, I spotted what I was looking for−Gran Patron, triple distilled and aged. Oh yeah. Pulling out the shot glass, I poured myself two shots. When I started daydreaming about pulling Edward down on my couch and doing nasty things to him, my phone buzzed which knocked me out of my dazed, horny-induced state.

Just thought I'd let you know I'm 5 minutes away. Do you need anything?

-E

My heart picked up a beat. Yeah, I definitely needed something all right. HIM.

Nope. Just yourself. When you get in the door, buzz my apartment number and I'll let you in. Hope you're hungry!

-B

I took my apron off and glanced in the mirror to make sure I looked okay. Hair curled and looking sexy? Check. Breath mint popped in mouth for minty fresh breath? Check. Nerves getting the best of me and heart beating too fast? Check and check.

Breathe, Bella. The house phone dinged, letting me know he was requesting permission to come up, and I hit the button letting it unlock. The shells were done, so I set those aside on the other burner to cool off. I thought it would be fun to stuff the shells together, kind of a getting-to-know-you-better project. Otherwise known as Project Get Close to Edward.

The doorbell rang, and I casually walked over to the door. When I opened it, I was met with the most glorious set of green eyes, beautiful blue flowers and a bottle of red wine.

"Hi," I said a little too enthusiastically.

"Hey. Wow, you look absolutely breath taking!" Edward said, as I opened the door wider, motioning for him to come through. I knew we stood and stared at each other a little longer than necessary, but I couldn't take my eyes off of him.

I blushed fifty shades of red. "Thanks. Are those for me?" I asked, pointing at the flowers.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry." Edward handed me the flowers, and I walked toward the kitchen in search of a vase. Heck, I hope I had one. Searching through my cabinet, I managed to find one in the very back.

"My God, something smells wonderful!" he exclaimed, as he followed me to the kitchen and set the wine down on the counter.

"Why, thank you very much. And thank you for the beautiful flowers too! They're such an interesting shade of blue. I don't think I've ever seen this kind of flower before either. What are they called?" I asked, running water in the vase and tearing the foil off.

"They're called bachelor buttons. You can look the meaning up later." He winked.

Damn, he just winked at me, and I swore my whole insides just fluttered. It's the feeling Alice was describing the other night. Huh. "Are you hungry?"

"Starving, actually. I had something I needed to take care of and didn't have time for lunch. Before I knew it, the day got away from me, and it was time to come over."

Feeling the affect of the Gran Patron, my adventurous side decided it was time to come out and play. "I was just wondering . . . would you like to do something you've never done before?" My head was down, but my eyes slowly rolled up to give him a lustful look.

His eyebrows shot up and his face gave me a skeptical look. "Seriously, Bella? Hmmm, now how would you know what I have or haven't done before? I'm very curious, I must say." Edward slowly walked around the island and stood directly in front of me. I could even feel his warm breath on my face.

Peeking up at him and reveling in his closeness, I said teasingly, "I know you don't cook, so I was just going to ask you to help me stuff these shells."

Edward smirked and jokingly replied, "I'd love to help stuff your shells, Bella."

I giggled and turned to take the shells off the stove, draining them in the sink. "Great. Why don't you open the bottle of wine and pour us a couple of glasses? You can find them in that cabinet by the fridge."

I could hear Edward groan a little bit as he turned around to get them. The sexual tension between us was growing and becoming harder to control, at least for me. I had a feeling it was the same for him too.

Preparing the meal was even more fun than I anticipated. Edward really had no idea what he was doing, but by the time we were finished, he'd done pretty well. I even think he enjoyed himself. With the shells in the oven and the timer set for twenty minutes, we grabbed our wine and ventured out to the balcony. The sun was setting and there was a light breeze blowing from the west.

"I'll have to admit that was the most fun I've ever had cooking," Edward teased, running his hand through his hair.

"Me too. It was nice – I usually don't get to cook for anyone since I still don't know too many people here. It's great to finally have someone over. You're my first, you know?" I knew that sentence had a double meaning as soon as I said it. Sure enough, he looked at me with a doubtful face.

"Really? I'm your first . . . guest?" I recognized his pause and grinned.

"Yep. You're my first. Other than my friend who helped me find the condo, but that doesn't count. I'm glad I have someone to cook for. Like I said, I love to cook and it's my grandma's secret recipe, so when I get a chance to make it, I'm in my glory. Plus, I miss her." I turned and looked over at the sun setting while my arms rested on the awning.

He joined me, moving closer so our arms were almost touching each other. He had a faraway look on his face like he was a thousand miles away. I suddenly wondered if he had a grandma too.

"What are you thinking about?" I whispered to him.

"Lots of things, actually. I vaguely remember my mom cooking, but when she did, she really enjoyed it. She whistled while she cooked and one Thanksgiving, she had whistled every Beatles song while making the whole dinner. She loved the Beatles, and we had every album."

He talked about his mom in the past tense so I assumed she had passed away. Should I ask him about her, or was it a sore subject? What the hell.

"Did your mom pass away?" I took a couple of drinks of wine after saying this, wondering if I wanted to know this story or not.

"Yes, I think so. I know that's a strange answer but I really don't want to talk about it right now. Is that okay?" Edward leaned in and brushed the back of his hand on my cheek.

"Of course. I didn't mean to pry," I said, my eyes closing, feeling the warmth of his hand on my face.

"You didn't. It's just a sore subject," he said quietly.

To lighten the mood, I asked, "So, did you learn anything new?" I giggled, my buzz now wearing off. Dammit. I'm going to have to sneak another shot in – it certainly helped the last time.

Edward brought himself closer to me, his face now inches from mine. Tiptoeing up, I moved nearer toward his lips. About the time our lips met, the damn timer on the oven went off.

We stopped and pulled away from each other, laughing at the timing of the situation. I sighed pretty heavily, and he knew the moment had now gone.

I ran into the kitchen to turn the timer off while Edward went to grab the bottle of wine to refill our glasses.

Grabbing my oven mitts, I opened the oven door and set the pasta on the granite countertop. Suddenly, a door slammed down the hallway and shouting started to ensue.

Edward and I looked at each other in confusion.

"What the hell is going on out there?" he asked, moving toward the door.

"I don't know. I heard my neighbor talking about a new couple that moved in two doors down, but I don't know anything about them." I took off the mitts and wondered if I should even open the door to see what was going on.

The shouting started getting louder, and then we heard things being thrown around on in the hallway.

A woman started screaming hysterically. I knew we had to peek out to see what was going on. With my training I couldn't just let someone get abused and not do anything about it. However, I couldn't blow my cover either.

Edward wasted no time opening the door. He was out in the hallway in a split second before I could stop him.

"Edward, wait!" I took off after him.

Sure enough, there was obviously a domestic dispute happening. The man had the woman's arm behind her back, twisting it which was causing her to scream.

"You need to get the hell off of her right now!" Edward screamed at the man and started moving toward him.

"This doesn't concern you pretty boy, so just go back to your little girlfriend and mind your own business!" The man now had one hand pulling at the woman's hair, yanking her head back to him.

If there was one thing I wouldn't stand for, it was a man beating on a woman. Ever since James slapped me and put me in the emergency room that night, I decided no man would be beating up on a woman around me ever again.

I wandered around Edward, realizing I had on my Gucci skirt and began to curse at myself for wearing it. "Excuse me; you really need to let her go. Now."

"Oh, really? And what do you think you're going to do about it – all 100 pounds of you?" The man snickered and just pulled the girls wrist up higher on her back and twisted harder. She let out a piercing scream and now more people were coming out of their apartments. Great.

"You might be surprised what a small person like me could do. Why don't you let her go and find out, asshole!" I was only about ten feet away from them when I felt Edward grab my arm.

"Bella, please let me handle this. You're going to get yourself hurt. Why don't you just go back inside and call the police, okay?" Edward moved around me and started gently pushing me back toward my apartment.

"I can handle him, Edward. Really."

The man shouted again. "Why doesn't everyone just go back to their little apartments and leave us alone. This doesn't concern any of you. See, Jennifer here decided to up and tell me she didn't want to see me anymore. I can't let that happen. She's the love of my life and I cannot let her go. I need to teach her a lesson, isn't that right, baby?"

Jennifer looked up at us, mascara running down her face. "Please, everyone. Just go. He's dangerous, and I don't want anybody to get hurt," she said between sobs.

That was it. I stormed past Edward, sticking my finger in the man's face. "You pissed off the wrong person tonight, asshole!" I side kicked the outside of his leg, making it buckle inward, while using a palm strike to his neck. Knowing he would be down for a second, I grabbed the girl and pushed her towards Edward.

The man struggled to get up and when he did, he pulled out a knife from his boot. Now it was going to get interesting. I knew I'd have to explain this all to Edward later, but it wasn't the time to think about anything else but making this guy pay.

"C'mon, little girl. Let's see how bad you are now." His right hand held the knife and his left was curling its fingers toward me, urging me even more. A strange tattoo looking like a black octopus peeked out under his sleeve.

"Bella, you need to move away from him right now. I'll handle it. Please!" He was begging, but I just pretended not to hear him. This situation was nothing, and I knew I could take him. Crouching down, I decided I wouldn't show off too much. I just wanted to show this bastard whose boss. Besides, anyone could tell he was high on something because his pupils were so dilated. This would be a piece of cake. I could move twice as fast as him due to his fucked up state.

"I would drop the knife if I were you. This will not end well, I promise. So why don't you be a nice little boy and give it to me." I thought I'd try being nice first, but I knew that wasn't going to get me anywhere. Looking to my left, I saw that someone was on the phone to the police, so it was a matter of time before they'd be here anyway. I'd just delay it a little bit and make this prick's day a little more difficult.

"Right, little lady. You got me once, I'm not gonna fall for it again. Try it, bitch!" he yelled, and I decided to give him a taste of his own medicine.

He lunged forward at me with the knife only to get a taste of a perfectly placed front kick to his jaw. He fell backwards to the floor again as the knife flew out of his hand. With his eyes rolled back in his head, Edward took the initiative and jumped on top of him, keeping his knees on the man's forearms to restrain him. As he regained his senses, the man struggled to get free and started bucking his hips to get Edward off him, but he was having none of it. Edward unleashed two punches to the guy's face which finally put an end to his struggling.

I looked up and the police were coming out of the elevator – nice of them to show up in a timely manner. Edward got off him and the police took over, slapping handcuffs on the man and leading him down the elevator.

He looked over at me as people cheered at us, clapping their hands and giving us high fives. It was a little awkward to say the least. We just smiled and told them all they could go back in and have a nice night.

Jennifer came over and thanked us profusely. She proceeded to tell us she had a restraining order against her boyfriend, and he'd gotten quite violent due to the many drugs he started taking recently. Things were great between them until he took a dive into the dark world of pills and heroin. She had tried so hard to get him help, but he either refused or made up excuses.

Edward listened to her intently, shaking his head like he understood exactly what she was saying. I sure knew I had – God knows I had been through it with Lauren. I silently wondered if Edward had a loved one who had been hooked as well.

We walked back in after saying our goodbyes and shut the door behind us.

"Well, I was certainly not expecting a night like this tonight. I'm sure you're starving−are you ready to eat something?" I asked him as he just stood there and stared at me.

"You're seriously thinking about just sitting down and eating after what just happened? And where in the hell did you learn to fight like that?" Edward had a look on his face of such disbelief; it was hard to look at him.

I knew I had to lie; it definitely wouldn't be the first time and certainly not the last. "My dad taught me mostly. Growing up, he said I should learn how to defend myself in case he wasn't always around to do it. I've taken some self-defense courses; I guess they came in pretty handy tonight."

He was sitting down on the barstool, his head in his hand, running it through his hair. I could tell something was on his mind, and he had that distant look on his face again. I hoped I didn't screw things up with us.

"Well, you did a great job out there. You didn't even seem nervous or scared; it was pretty impressive." Edward sighed and looked down at his feet. His face looked pained and his brows were furrowed. "Bella, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but I've lost my appetite. I know you went to all this trouble which I really appreciate, but I've just got a lot on my mind right now. I'll call you later, okay?" Edward got up, walking over to me. He bent over and kissed my forehead.

The next thing I knew, he had turned around and walked out the door. Just like that. I stood there, leaning against the bar, wondering what the hell just happened. Did I scare him away? My dinner was on the counter, staring up and mocking me for some reason. I picked up the casserole dish, walked over to the trashcan, and dumped it all in there. The night had started out so wonderful; how did it go so wrong?

Walking over to my office, I sat down at the computer and typed in what I was looking for.

Bachelor button – definition: anticipation

Well, I hoped he got what he wished for.