Chapter 38

I woke up to gentle kisses all along the back of my neck. I grinned before I turned to face Edward. "I like waking up like this."

"Me too," he agreed.

"Can I take you to breakfast?" I asked.

"I have no problem with you showering me with riches." He ran his hand up and down my back, snuggling me closer. "Five more minutes, just like this, please."

We lay there caressing until my stomach rumbled. "Times up," I laughed, pulling away from Edward. "I didn't eat last night," I explained.

"Silly girl. Did you want to shower?" he offered.

"Nah. I'm only going to get dirty running around later, anyway."

"Okay, you can have the bathroom first."

"I can use the other one," I said.

"Why would you? Isn't your toothbrush in this one?"

"Are you saying I have bad breath?"

"You just woke up, of course you do." He got out of bed. "You snooze, you lose. I'll only be a few minutes."

I fell back to sleep while Edward showered and got ready to go. He woke me up with a sharp smack on my ass. "Up, lazy."

"If you hadn't rubbed one out in the shower and taken so long, I wouldn't have fallen back to sleep." I joked, sitting up and rubbing my eyes.

"How'd you know I took care of business, did you spy on me? Not that I'd mind or anything." He laughed, pulling shorts on under the towel he had wrapped around his waist. I took a few seconds to stare at his chest. I've laid on it, but never really looked at it. "Eyes up here, lady." I raised my eyes and he was laughing.

"It's a nice chest and I'm unashamed of my ogling." I shrugged and stretched my back. "Your bed is comfy."

"Well you can join me in it anytime. Get ready, I'm hungry." He tossed his towel at my head.

"I'm up, quit yelling." I shut the bathroom door behind me, hearing him laugh. It took me only a few minutes to wash up and get dressed. I found Edward in his kitchen drinking water. "Ready to go?" I asked, shaking my keys.

"Yep, let me lock up. I assume you're driving?"

"Unless you prefer to be in charge?" I batted my eyes.

"You're dangerous, aren't you?" he said, shoving me out the door.

We were seated and drinking coffee in no time flat. Yet another benefit to living in a small town. "Can't you smell the weather?" I asked, sipping my coffee.

"You can smell weather, Bella?" he queried.

"It's a combination of football and winter out there," I verified. Our food was dropped off and I jumped into my plate of waffles with gusto.

"Sheesh, woman, you act as if you haven't eaten in a week." He delicately cut up his sausage and I snorted.

I reached to his plate and stole a piece of bacon. "Thanks." I smiled.

"And you're a food thief. I may have to rethink this whole thing. Back to the weather, you were saying it smells like football?"

"Are you new or just being silly? Do you not remember living up here? Fall smells like football. You can smell it in the air. And winter? Yeah, you can smell that too. It's when the bite starts. Since it's now October, you can feel them both," I explained.

"Thanks, weather girl." He stole a banana slice out of my fruit cup.

"Hey!" I smacked his hand. "So, what exactly is this?" I gestured between us.

"This is breakfast," he scoffed and I kicked him. "Ouch! Quit abusing me. This is us. Are you not feeling it?"

"Not yet." I raised an eyebrow and we both laughed.

"Since you seem to need clarification, we're dating. You can't date anyone other than me. I basically own all your time now."

I laughed, spitting water on the table. "You slay me. So now that you own my time, what are my plans for the day smart ass?"

"I'm not good at time management. For now, you can make your own plans."

"Why thanks," I mocked.

We finished eating and I dropped him back at his house. "Will I see you later?" I asked.

"Are you working today?"

"Yea, I didn't get that much done yesterday."

He leaned in to kiss me good bye, turning it into a tongue war. "Then yes, you'll see me later, Bella." I watched him walk in his door, because I liked his butt. Once it closed behind him, I drove home. I took a shower and tossed in a load of laundry before I called Ben.

"Hey Bella, what's up?" Ben answered on the second ring.

"How's Ang feeling?" I loaded my dishwasher while Ben told me about her health. "Well, I'm glad she's feeling better. So, I was wondering what you were doing tomorrow around three."

"I work until five, but I'm sure I can leave early if you need me to, "he offered.

"No, Ben, don't lose any money over this. When's your next day off?"

"Wednesday."

"Perfect. Can you come over after three then?"

"What's this about, Bella?" he huffed.

"This is about you and me burying our hatchet a little at a time, okay. Please just be here around three."

"I'm intrigued, so yeah, I'll be there. "

"Thanks, Ben. Say 'hi' to Ang for me and I'll see you later this week." It felt good to have an actual conversation with my brother. It made me feel hopeful for our future. I tossed on some jeans and a tee and left my hair down to air dry before heading over to my office.

After a quick detour to Starbucks for a muffin, I was at my desk bopping along with some tunes. I had made a significant dent in my piles and that made me feel good. I had all the checks printed and ready for my signature as well as Mike's inventory list. I had highlighted a few things I wanted to talk to him about, so I signed the checks, put them in envelops, stamped them and headed to the kitchen.

Mike was sitting with Paul and Edward. They looked to be in a heated debate so I re-routed to Alice's office instead. I banged my knuckles on her doorjamb to alert her to my presence.

"Hey bestie, come on in." She motioned me to her desk, so I sat down and put my feet on the corner. "How'd it go with Edward last night?"

"The story wasn't as bad as I thought I might be, so great." I smiled huge.

"Where are things sitting between you and him?" she inquired.

"Nosy little girl. Things are progressing. We've shared a bed but not in the biblical way. Yet," I stressed.

"Good. I like you two together."

We chatted for a few minutes until I figured I'd given the boys enough time to fight it out. I bid Alice farewell and went back to the kitchen. I found Mike alone, stirring soup. "Can we chat?"

"Of course we can." He and I hashed out his request and agreed we needed another menu sit down with Edward and Alice involved. I noticed the time and decided I was done for the day. After grabbing my things from my office and the outgoing mail, I ran some errands and went home.

A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing