I know people are interested in Edward's POV, and I understand why, but this is Bella's story and journey. I want readers to discover answers when Bella does. Meanwhile, I like making you wonder about him. Mwahaha.

Maybe once the story is complete, if people still have questions about Edward, I'll do an EPOV outtake.

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Thanks to:
Di, my editor,
Paige, Aileen, Rachel, and Renee, my prereaders.

Stupid Little Game
Chapter 4

Nearly a month into my employment, I read something on the online company newsletter that filled me with horror and dread.

Mandatory Company Event
Friday, May 15, 6:00 pm
Twilight's End on E Chicago Ave.
Karaoke and Cocktails

I'd met Colin Smith and Stuart Devaney, the cofounders of the business where I worked. They'd both seemed like normal, happy-go-lucky family men who loved their company, but obviously, they were sadists in disguise if they were making employees attend such a function.

The company fostered what they called a No One is Smarter than Everyone working environment, which basically meant that guidance and support was intermingled throughout the departments. In my role as an Account Manager, I could seek assistance from a number of co-workers across the board, as well as from Alice, my immediate supervisor, or Edward, the head of my department.

Of course, I'd have quit before ever seeking guidance from Edward. Fortunately, there didn't appear to be anything I couldn't do without him.

But in the company's quest to foster an open working environment, they held mandatory, bi-annual employee events outside of the office. Except for Colin Smith and Stuart Devaney, anyway, because Alice said they didn't want to make anyone feel self-conscious at these events.

What a great way to get out of attending.

Unable to get out of attending, Alice and I arrived late at the club on the night in question. There was a sign on the door that read Closed for Private Event.

This was such a bad idea. Who hosted employee get-togethers with booze? It seemed like a recipe for disaster. Plus, had I known I'd be expected to attend such a thing, let alone possibly sing at it, I might have declined the job. Short of pretending to faint, I was going to do whatever I could to get out of it.

Twilight's End was intimate and gorgeous, and looked like we were outside at night. Dark blue walls lit with tiny decorative strings of lights led my eye to the black dome ceiling with a glow in the dark sky of the constellations.

Was that the Big Dipper?

"Wow," Alice said.

I looked over at her, and saw her head was also tilted back.

The seating was dark blue velvet with a raised stage at the end of the room, upon which stood three microphones and dual mounted TV monitors. Soft rock played through hidden speakers as Alice led me directly to the bar.

"Let's gird our loins," she said. "We're going to need it."

Beyond the bar, clustered in front of the stage, were our fifty-or-so coworkers situated around small square tables, some of which had been pushed together to form bigger seating areas. A few people were standing. With glasses or beer bottles in hand, all of them seemed to be chatty and in good moods, utterly unfazed about the prospect of singing in front of everyone.

Among them stood Edward, bronze hair glinting under the dim lighting, crisp button up shirt undone at the throat, with the sleeves rolled up past his strong forearms. I'd done a good job avoiding looking at him whenever he passed near my cubicle at work, pretending he didn't exist even if he hadn't extended me the same courtesy, but there was no missing him now. He was talking, easily commanding the attention of everyone nearby, smiling wide and showing off those perfect teeth of his.

Suddenly aware I was staring, I jerked my gaze away, but not before he caught me.

Damn it.

"Two Long Island Iced Teas, please," I heard Alice say.

"Alice," I yelped. "I'm not getting drunk."

And there went my internal radar as Edward approached.

"You two are up first," he said behind me in his unmistakably smooth voice, and there was a distinct tone of laughter in his tone. "You know the rule, Alice."

I kept my gaze on Alice. "What rule?"

"Last ones to the party go first," Edward said.

I gaped at Alice, noticing the signs that revealed her guilt—the way she bit her lip, the hunch of her slight shoulders, the blush on her cheeks as she met my eyes. Since she'd treated me to dinner before we got here, she'd deliberately ensured we'd arrived late.

What the hell?

"You–you–you," I stammered, feeling as if the ceiling was caving in. Kind of hoping it was, actually.

"It's not entirely her fault," Edward continued over my shoulder, and I felt his warmth as he moved closer. Too close. "We do this to all the new hires if we get the opportunity."

They what?

"Give us a few minutes," she said to Edward. "Bella needs some fortification."

"Fine," Edward said.

He still hadn't moved away, and I wanted to slam my elbow back into his stomach. Of course, that wouldn't have fostered the healthy employee interaction this little shindig was supposed to generate.

"We'll make an exception for Bella just this one time."

"Isabella," I gritted, moving away from him.

Alice, who looked perplexed and fascinated by our interchange, handed me a drink. It was heavy and icy cold in my hand, and I imagined turning around and throwing it into Edward's face.

"I'll go first," he said.

I finally relaxed as I felt him move away, noticing the crook of Alice's eyebrow.

"You were a pretty good supervisor up to this point," I growled at her, and she laughed, thinking I was joking.

We found chairs next to a big, dark-haired guy with a quick smile that fell when he saw me sit.

"You're not singing?" he asked.

"Not if I can help it," I replied dryly, as Edward climbed up on the stage. He looked easy and comfortable up there, but then he would have to be, being in charge as he was.

It was really unfair for such a douchebag to be so good-looking.

"Edward's cutting her some slack," Alice said, and raised her Long Island Iced Tea. "Bella needs some liquid courage first. Bella, this is Emmett McCarty. He works in Advertising."

Emmett was still looking at me in surprise. "But he never lets the new hires get out of this."

"Oh, she's not getting out of it," Alice replied, as I frowned.

The soft music in the club cut off then, and I heard the loud beginning strains of George Michael's "Praying for Time." As Edward plucked up one of the microphones, he spoke briefly as the music played.

"I'm changing things up by going first this time, but everyone still has to play. Especially Isabella."

Oh no, he didn't just call me out.

His amplified voice against the music sounded nice. Really nice. And as he began singing the first nonsense words to the song, my body's temperature climbed.

Was there anything Edward Cullen couldn't do well?

Fucker.

Edward's voice wasn't as light or smooth as George Michael's was, but he still sounded pretty good. As I glanced around the room, I saw that everyone was into his performance. Especially the women, but what woman wouldn't be attracted to Edward?

Jessica Stanley, the company's receptionist, looked like she was panting. I could actually see her chest heaving.

Alice tapped my shoulder. "Drink. He's going to make you sing next," she threatened.

Fuck.

I took more than a few sips from my drink, wincing and glaring at Edward up on the stage as he sang about God keeping score. Each time his gaze swung my way, my traitorous heart lurched. As the song neared its end, his eyes met mine and held. Somehow, he seemed to make his expressive eyes carry the message he was singing.

"And it's hard to love
There's so much to hate
Hanging on to hope
When there is no hope to speak of
And the wounded skies above
Say it's much, too much, too late
Well, maybe we should all be praying for time"

By the time he was done singing, I didn't know if my blood was boiling more from anger or desire.

I hated him.

Hated that he had this power over me. After my past with him, I shouldn't be attracted to him at all, and I didn't understand how I could be now.

And as our gaze held, he gave me a smirk.

I wanted to flip him off so badly.

Instead, I preempted him; I didn't give him the pleasure of having to call me up to the stage.

Since I knew I was next, I took another quick gulp from my drink and stood, while Edward was still being catcalled and receiving accolades for his performance. In my navy pencil skirt and white wrap around blouse that tied high on my hip, I knew I looked good, so I took comfort from that. So while I was nervous as hell, I also felt confident.

It was probably the alcohol.

Surprise lit Edward's gaze as I made my way to him, maybe from my ready compliance or the challenge in my eyes. I couldn't help smiling as I stole his catcalls and applause, although I was sure he didn't have a clue about why I was smiling.

I was rising to his dare, the prick.

He wasn't moving as I climbed up the stage to him. He was standing still, waiting for me with a kind of entranced look of puzzlement on his face, which threw me for a moment. I didn't want him looking at me that way; it stole my breath.

Instead of walking to him like I'm sure he expected, I stopped at the far microphone.

"Ladies and gents, it's Isabella Swan, our newest Account Manager," Edward said smoothly, sounding unfazed by my move. With a sweep of his arm, he set his microphone back into its stand and, ignoring the steps, hopped off the stage with a flourish. How old was he, twelve?

"Uh, hello," I said, momentarily at a loss under everyone's stares. I spun to the karaoke machine's song choices, praying they had what I was looking for. When I found it, I almost jumped with joy, only barely restraining myself.

After I entered the song's code into the machine, I turned back to my audience of coworkers and smiled woodenly. Edward, I saw to my shock, hadn't returned to a seat. Instead, he was standing nearby with Tanya, casually leaning back against a wall with his arms crossed.

Was he trying to intimidate me?

Didn't he know those days were over?

Long over.

I couldn't sing well. My voice was always a little off key. But I was determined to nail this song, whatever it took. I squared my shoulders and took a breath, forgetting the microphone was below my mouth, ruining my moment of bravado.

"Hey, give me a break, this is scary as hell," I admitted into everyone's soft laughter.

"You got this," Alice yelled.

I did. I got this. I'd get it, or die trying, anyway.

As the song began, I glanced at Edward because the words were immediate and were for him.

"Don't look at me," I whispered into the mic, hoping I racked him with my stare. Hoping I'd rack him with this song.

The women in the audience began whooping.

"Whoa, girl!"

"Yeah, get it."

I couldn't begin to make the nonsense sounds Christina Aguilera made at the beginning of the song, so I waited for the words, looking anywhere but at the man standing too damn close.

"Every day is so wonderful
Then suddenly, it's hard to breathe
Now and then I get insecure
From all the pain
I'm so ashamed"

I tried to make the words conversational like Christina did in her song, drawing out the "a" and "o" sounds. I was actually pleasantly surprised; my voice sounded good, mainly because the register of the song was low enough for me.

Looking out at my audience showed they were into my version of the song, and I felt my body relax.

I could do this.

I was doing it.

Feeling brave, not caring if it was the alcohol, I looked back at Edward as I sang the next words.

"I am beautiful no matter what they say
Words can't bring me down
I am beautiful in every single way
Yes, words can't bring me down, oh no
So don't you bring me down today"

As soon as I began singing, Edward's stance changed; his arms dropped from being crossed, and he stood up from the wall. Before I looked away, I thought I saw pain in his eyes.

I hoped that was what it was.

I wanted him to hurt.

I wanted him to feel all of it, to remember how he'd once hurt me.

But I also wanted him to see he hadn't broken me.

And as I continued with the song, I felt it myself. I might have been broken once, and I might still remember the hurt too well . . . but I wasn't broken.

No, I was singing about how I was beautiful in every single way, and nailing it.

As I sang the last words, I looked back at Edward with my head held high. I even smiled.

Edward wasn't smiling. He was remembering, hurting, I could see it from there. See it in his body language.

I was glad.

I was.

"Oooh-oh-oh, yeah
Don't you bring me down today
Yeah, ooh
Don't you bring me down"

I held his gaze until the last word. Feeling cocky I'd succeeded with my dart, I smirked at him.

My audience was going crazy, tearing my gaze away from the man who was moving over to the front of the stage.

"That was awesome, Bella!" Jessica yelled.

The women were catcalling me as loudly as they'd done for Edward. Maybe they were even cat-calling louder, because the song I'd just sung was for all of the girls who'd been relegated to corners, who'd been ignored, or been jeered at. I'd just shown them all they couldn't be kept down, that they wouldn't be kept down.

As I placed the mic back in its stand, Edward moved over to the bottom of the steps, and my heart stopped.

No. I wouldn't let him near me.

I was in heels, but that wasn't going to stop me, damn it. I was flying high.

I walked to the edge of the stage and hopped off like Edward had. And I had two seconds to enjoy my victorious dismount before my heels slid out from under me, and I landed on my ass.

Fuck.

Before I could get my legs under myself, I noticed there were two different hands coming at me: Edward's and another man who I hadn't yet met. Ignoring Edward, even though he was closer, I looked past him up into the other man's face, reaching out for his hand.

Save me, stranger. Please.

"Excuse me, Jacob," Edward said with a scowl, roughly shouldering the other man out of the way as he leaned down to me. I tried to pull back, but Edward sensed my move and, lightning quick, reached forward to grasp my hand. His fingers came warm and strong around my hand, and I felt a spark of tingling sensation as he pulled me up. His tug was so hard I was propelled into his chest, and had to use the palm of my free hand to keep from falling completely against him.

Mouth agape, my entire body icy-hot in awareness of being so close to his, I stared up at him in angry shock. He was nearly a head taller than me, which meant his stomach was in perfect range for a gut punch and, oh man, did I want to. As his hands came to rest against my upper back—ostensibly to steady my poor, klutzy body—my fingers curled and I dug my nails into the fabric covering his warm chest.

"People are watching," he ground out, his eyes black with anger.

I rearranged my face into a toothy smile. "Let. Go."

He released me so abruptly that I tottered unsteadily away from him.

Fucker.

Then, he took my upper arm in his hand, as if I was drunk on my feet and needed assistance walking, and escorted me all gentleman-like back to the table where Alice was sitting with a fascinated look on her face. I knew she saw the little ways I tried to yank away from him, that she saw him drag me close in a forced, good-natured hug.

"Behave," he said and laughed, as if we were having the best time.

"Fuck off," I bit back, using his favorite phrase, smiling as widely as he was.

"Wow," Alice said as I almost fell into my seat. She could barely control her smile as Edward's hands came to rest on my shoulders. He bent forward, the side of his head almost against mine. His mouth was inches from my cheek.

"I think we need to talk," he said, squeezing my shoulders meaningfully, then louder, "Thanks for the song and dance," he added suggestively, then he was gone. He walked quickly back to the other side of the room where I saw Tanya move in close to commiserate with him.

I kept feeling the way he'd squeezed my shoulders. I had goosebumps.

What the hell?

And, he thought we needed to talk?

Shit, shit, shit.

"This is historic!" Alice laughed, drawing my attention away. "I've never seen such heavy, meaningful performances. Edward's was actually kind of sexy."

Edward wasn't being sexy by singing that song. He'd only been making a point, and annoying me in the process, because yes, damn it, he had been sexy up there.

"Aren't you up next?" I asked, pointing a finger at the stage.

"What is going on with you two?" Alice asked, ignoring my question. "I thought you met him for the first time only a couple of weeks ago, but it's apparent now that you have some kind of history. Spill."

I was saved from replying when people began chanting her name.

"Alice, Alice, Alice."

She made a weird sound of impatience. "Oh, damn it all to hell." As she stood, she leaned close to me. "This isn't over."

Over? Fuck that, it wasn't even going to begin.