Hi there. Sorry for the delay in this update. RL went on a massive tailspin for both of us in the last few weeks, and we haven't had much time to sit at our computers at times, let alone write. We'll be updating again shortly, as the next chapter is almost finished as well. Thanks!


It had been a month since leaving the firm and long hours were still the norm. By six in the morning, Bella was at Edward's door, phone glued to her ear and a tray with two coffees in her hand. She'd smile at him, hand him his cup and head straight for their temporary office to work on various areas of her project. The woman was in constant motion, working hard and all the while setting up a networking party for the Friday before they officially open their doors on Monday. To help curb costs on the office renovations, they spent an average of three hours a day painting or doing some kind of finish work. Then, if something pressing needed extra attention, which was often, they'd return to his apartment and work until well after ten every night.

She was leaving the following day for California. For the last few weeks, she tried to find time in Jane's busy film schedule to even talk, let alone meet. It wasn't much, either, since Jane had promoting commitments and would leave in two days. They would be squeezing in an hour lunch meeting on Jane's first day back and even that seemed doubtful, but Bella was willing to take it. Thanks to her frequent flyer miles, the cost was minimal.

Edward wasn't quite ready to see her go. He'd become accustomed to seeing her every day since they had been working through weekends, too. They tried to have a couple of nights off here and there, they weren't often enough.

As he worked on an email with a potential client from Dubai, he watched Bella pace in front of the ceiling to floor windows in the dining room. She waved her hands around as she spoke in fluent Italian with the same passion she did everything else via Bluetooth. He wasn't sure if she was arguing with the other person on the line or simply talking.

She made it hard to concentrate sometimes, yet, when it was too quiet, he'd asked her something just to get her talking again. It wasn't necessarily her voice that made it difficult to work. It was the way she carried herself, slightly assertive and confident, both very sexy to him.

Pushing away from the dining room table, he gestured toward her to ask if she wanted a drink. She gave him a grateful smile and nodded, and he got up to grab a couple glasses and some cola since she had to drive home soon. Ignoring the remnants of their takeout dinner on the counter, he walked over and handed her a glass.

The voice on the other end of her call continued as Bella sipped, all the while keeping her eyes on him. She planted a hand on her hip as her brow creased and she rolled her eyes at whatever Jane had said. She mouthed a "thank you", drawing his eyes to the tantalizing fullness of her lips.

Unable to help himself, he fiddled with one the buttons of her jacket, skimming his fingers along an edge between her breasts. Bella didn't stop him; in fact, she often encouraged the little moments between them, keeping their desire on the surface. He gave her a wink and headed toward the bathroom after setting his glass by his laptop on the table.

With one look over his shoulder, he confirmed that her eyes were exactly where he thought they'd be—on his ass. He cleared his throat, making her startle and glare at him. He turned to watch her attempt to ignore him, only to bend over the table to grab something from the middle. His groan was louder than he intended, but it earned him a little shake and a laugh. The woman kept him on his toes, and he loved it.

In the bathroom, he went about removing his contacts, his eyes bothering him too much to continue wearing them the rest of the night. He rolled the sleeves of his light blue button-down shirt up his forearms and washed his face in the hopes of cooling himself down a bit. Their silent foreplay was often exhilarating and exciting but left him desperate for more. They had agreed to wait until, at the very least, each of them signed on a client. He was possibly months away from that happening, but Bella had the chance to pull it off shortly after they open the doors to their office.

He made a detour to grab a pair of glasses from his dresser and returned to finish off the email he'd been working on and end the evening with some research. When he made his way to the dining room, he found Bella gazing out the window. Her headset was on the table, her barely sipped glass of soda nearly dangling from her fingertips.

"Bella?"

She didn't turn, but lifted her glass to her lips to drink once more before she replied. "She keeps fucking changing the schedule. I'm leaving in a couple of hours."

"Damn," he murmured and sat down. If he went to her, he'd do something like kiss her, and feeling as he did at that moment, wouldn't stop there. With her leaving, he wasn't about to make that mistake. The first time he made love to her, he intended to have time to explore all of her, not watch her leave within minutes afterward.

"Sorry about earlier," she said with a half-smile on her lips.

He laughed then and sat back to watch her. "No, you're not."

She turned to say something, but her mouth dropped open instead. Twice, her lips moved, only for them to close again.

"Bella?"

"Since when do you wear glasses?" she finally managed, slowly walking toward him. She had discarded the blazer while he was gone, leaving her in a sexy blue blouse.

"My contacts were bothering me." He lifted his hand to adjust them slightly, trying not to react to the look in her eyes. Apparently, she liked him in glasses. Her eyes then lingered on his bare forearms, eliciting a shiver of desire to shoot up his spine and settle in his throat.

The fitted grey skirt she wore hugged her curves, and his hands itched to explore them. She had to leave if she planned to pack a bag and head out to the airport to make her flight. He reminded himself it was best to wait, that it would be worth it in the end.

"You're not playing fair," she whispered, settling her glass near his on the table. Her nimble fingers worked his tie loose, her eyes on the task and his throat. His own slipped up the outside of her thigh, her knees between his.

They had agreed to treat their temporary office as a real one, and that meant suits and matching attitudes. The only thing was that, by the end of their long days, jackets soon slipped off, their shoes laid discarded under their desks, and with every heated look, their resistance started to crack.

His fingers drifted along the side of her knee, desperate to spread his hand across the back and under the hem of her skirt, but he didn't. He wouldn't be able to resist touching more of her. A shift in her stance had the slit on her thigh spreading wider. His palm curled around the back of her knee, making her hands still on his tie. "Fuck."

"Damn, if I didn't have to leave," she hissed through a long exhale, tugging his tie free and tossing it on the table behind her.

"Have to wait," he said roughly. His eyes, however, were on the smooth expanse of her thigh. "Not enough time." Now, he sounded like the Neanderthal she accused him of being that night.

"I know," she said and stood up fully, but kept herself within his reach. "You know I'm going to miss you, right?"

His gaze met hers and nodded. "Me, too." The part of him that still held her, tightened around her thigh to emphasize his words.

She laughed and ran her fingers through his hair. "You're a man of so many words."

One side of his mouth tipped up as he shrugged. "You steal them most of the time." His forefinger circled the back of her knee, eliciting a gasp as he stole her words instead. Reluctant and suddenly tired, he removed his hand and propped it along with his other on the arms of his favorite chair. "Do you have any idea how much I want you right now? But I want more than a moment."

Bella tapped her lips with the tip of her finger, questioningly looking at him. She placed each of her hands near his elbows on his chair. Their eyes held as she leaned slowly toward him, giving him time to stop her. He didn't, since he knew her. She wouldn't kiss him now when she had to leave soon. Wouldn't start something they had no chance of continuing until days later. Yet, he'd take whatever she gave him.

Her breath was warm against his neck and shoulder. "When we finally have more than a moment to ourselves, I promise, I'll make it worth your while. I'm either going to climb on this chair and ride you hard or have you bend me over the table and fuck me from behind."

"Fuck," he groaned. "Go home, Bella." She laughed and nipped at his ear, making him grab her face for a searing kiss. He heard no protests but time, as always, made itself known as an alarm went off. The one for a call he had to make overseas; meaning they would have had to stop anyway. "Call me when you land." His voice was a whisper on her lips. "I don't care what time it is, okay?"

She nodded and straightened up her blouse. "You are one dangerous man." She grabbed a few other things, including the brand-new laptop he bought her.

"Says the woman that steals my words and breath on a daily basis," he said, cocking an eyebrow.

She simply shrugged and gave him a wink over her shoulder as she made her way to the door. "I'd ask you to walk me out, but I think it would be a little hard for you right now."

"Nothing little about it," he said gruffly, touching his fingers to his lips. He could still taste her.

She smiled at him as she opened the door. "Oh, I'm well aware of that."

"You need to go." They both knew she did, yet, it didn't make it any easier for her to leave. They whispered a goodbye before the door closed behind her. Edward took a few moments to gain some control and welcomed the distraction of his ringing telephone.

~oOo~

"This is ridiculous," Edward groaned and tossed his pencil into one of the wells in his desk. "It's only been a damn day."

One day without seeing her face, the way she scrunched her nose when she did math, the way she bit a corner of her lip when she worked and drafted out ideas. One single day and he was ready to lose his mind.

Things with the very high-maintenance actress and potential client, had not gone according to plan. Jane's promoting in the area had taken up most of her day and she'd had to cancel.

However, Bella had met up with a geologist, and hired a survey team to inspect the property and give her the information she required. She brushed up on current building codes for the area and possible new ones that were still awaiting approval, since the home would take considerable time to build. Delivering to the property alone was considered treacherous and with little convincing, she had Jane's husband hiring a crew to build an asphalt road for easier access.

Their calls since she arrived in California were mostly business and he missed her. Edward checked the time and hoped that since Bella hadn't called that the new meeting with Jane had gone smoothly. It had been two hours and that had to be a good thing, he hoped.

He paced the length of his dining room, sat down and spun around in his chair, her scent still lingering in just about every space of his apartment. Except for his bedroom—he hadn't dared show her his bedroom yet.

They'd had more than a few narrow escapes since all of it started, where only a brush of one's hand turned into a touch, and then to passion fueled words and lips. Their kisses still visited his dreams, where they continued unburdened by work, phone calls, and two am video conferences.

It was hours later, when she finally returned his call. "I've been worried about you."

He heard her hum and pictured her smiling. "Sorry, Jane insisted on a dinner meeting with about ten other people. Do you have any idea how hard it is to talk architecture and design in a five star restaurant while surrounded by loud, anxious idiots?"

"You haven't been to my family's holiday dinners." She laughed and then he heard her hiccup. "Bella, are you drunk?"

"Only a tiny little bit."

"Bella."

"After we talked for a bit, she kept handing me drinks and introducing me to some people in the industry. This might be a good thing. They all have my card, if Jane refuses to hire me, maybe one of them will."

"How did you get back to the hotel?"

She laughed and her voice was slightly breathier than before. "Half naked since it's so freaking hot out here, but she called me a limo."

"Get some rest, Bella," he said softly. "You're coming home tomorrow, right?"

"I should be landing around nine-thirty."

"Good, good." He heard some rustling in the background. The kind of sounds someone made when they're changing, in or out of clothes. "What are you doing?"

"Getting comfortable. I hate high heels."

He knew all too well, which was a shame since they made her long legs look spectacular. "I know."

"Edward," she whispered, a little laugh had her repeating his name again.

"What?"

"What are you wearing?"

Edward pinched the bridge of his nose. He would not have his first real intimate moment with her, by having phone sex.

"Get some sleep, Bella."

She sighed deeply. "Good night, Edward."

~oOo~

A few weeks later, they got the final approval to go ahead and move in. Bella arrived early at the office, determined to get some work done. Jasper, Edward and Alice, along with some movers, were on their way with another load. Jasper had furniture to set up and move, and a few minor installations. Alice had pictures and artwork to place, which included directing Jasper, her assistant, and movers.

Bella was on her fourth cup of coffee, moving from room to room to clean the glass walls. Most had sticky plastic sheeting on it still, but to get the overall effect they wanted to achieve, they had to be spotless. Periodically, she'd stop by the sign on the wall behind where the receptionist desk would be located. The red on the gorgeous lettering stood out against the grey wall, and she could not restrain the smile on her face as she polished it.

She paid special attention the "Q" of Quantum Architecture & Design, swearing when she noticed a tiny nick toward the end. She heard commotion directly behind her, the others talking loudly as they carried boxes. Jasper and Edward grunted as they passed her to drop off another section of the large, curved desk Jasper had custom-built offsite.

"Edward, for the love of God, just fuck her already. She's constantly stroking anything that looks like a dick."

Bella choked on the gum she was chewing to stop her from having another cup of coffee. She was becoming addicted. "What the hell, Alice?" She stopped rubbing at the nick and noticed she was in fact stroking the tail of the letter "Q", and immediately dropped her hands.

"I did see her do that with the pen Edward bought her," Jasper snickered behind her.

"Leave her alone," Edward said, rubbing his mouth as he smiled at her. "I think it's clean, Bella." She didn't miss the teasing quality of his words.

"If you keep licking or rubbing your lips every time you look at her, you're going to be all chapped," Alice quipped, winking as she headed further down the hall.

"Considering his eyes are always on her ass whenever she walks by…" Jasper dodged the towel Bella threw at him, running toward Alice.

"Think about it, guys," Alice said, while opening a box on one the makeshift tables. The permanent one would be there soon. "I know you've got your phones and laptops glued to you, and you're busy, but it helped Jasper and me when we first started working together. The tension was through the roof, once we got it out of our system, we could concentrate better."

"I knew it!" Edward ran a hand roughly through his hair as he glared at Jasper. Bella watched from the sidelines, having been oblivious that there was something between Alice and Jasper. She was too preoccupied with her own attraction and the business that she hadn't noticed.

Edward continued to glare, advancing toward Jasper like an overprotective cousin. "If you hurt her, I will have you blacklisted so fucking fast, that you'll never work in construction again."

Bella had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from moaning. I should not be turned on by this!

Jasper put up his hands defensively as he backed away from Edward but stopped long enough to kiss Alice's cheek. "I have no intention of doing that, besides she'd kick me in the balls if I even considered it."

She waggled her eyebrows as she returned Jasper's kiss with one of her own. "You bet your cute ass I would." Alice patted Edward's shoulder as she passed him, going for another box. "Don't be jealous, cousin."

"I'm not," Edward said gruffly. He checked the new all black watch Bella gave him as a gift for getting the final the night before. "I have to meet the movers at my apartment." He ignored his cousin and Jasper and walked over to Bella.

God, the man could walk. If he was arrogant, she'd have called it a strut. Thankfully, arrogance was not his thing. Confident, yes, and she loved that about him. Less than a foot away, he skimmed a finger along her bare arm. Such a simple touch, and yet, it elicited a wave of goose bumps its wake and made her shiver. She worked to hide it, but the tilt of one side of his mouth told her she hadn't succeeded. "You okay?" he asked, cocking his head toward the Alice and Jasper.

"They don't faze me in the slightest. Do you think they're right, though?"

Edward placed his hands on each of her arms and tried to soothe her, not for the first time noting how tired she looked. For the last week, he'd had to put his foot down and drive her home; if not, she'd work twenty-three hours a day. She had been exhausting herself trying to get things rolling with the company. Two days earlier, he had to carry her to his car when he found her asleep at her desk after one of his phone calls. All that contributed to her stress and lingering doubts about everything they were doing.

"We're not like them. Nor have they held back attraction for years as we have. So no, they're not right. It worked for them, and maybe it could for us, but this is worth more than a 'maybe'. I don't want to leave you after making love to you, to make a damn phone call or hop on a plane to New York. I guarantee you, the moment I have you, I'll want to remain beside you for hours, wake up with you and say that 'good morning' you can't wait to hear in bed. Right now, neither of us can do that, but soon, we'll have the time for all of that, and not need to make it. Don't you think it'll be worth it in the end?"

"Yes, I do." She placed her hands on his chest, looking up at him. "I'm so glad that when one of us weakens, the other is there to hold it together, remain levelheaded. You're so close to signing Toshiro and though I feel like the cliff house is precarious, I do have confidence that I can create what she envisions. She just needs to stop freaking changing the vision."

He laughed and brushed his lips against hers for only a moment, but it held more promise than a quick fumbling in nearest broom closet would. "I'll be back in about an hour, if those damn movers aren't late again."

Bella watched him go and had to fan herself. Dressed in jeans and a button down, wearing the watch she bought him, he was a pleasure to see. At the elevator, he looked over his shoulder and caught her staring at his ass, again. He then posed with a hand on the wall, a cocky smile, and a come-hither look.

"And here I thought you weren't arrogant."

"Good thing I wear it well," he said as he entered the elevator and with a smirk, he was gone.

"Just fuck already," Alice said, reappearing from one of the offices. "You two are so hot for each other and the sexual tension bleeds into everything and everyone around you."

"It does not!"

"Yes, it does," said one of Alice's assistants named Mark stated. "I went home last night and had to fuck my girlfriend the moment I walked in." He shook his head, looking pleased rather than put out. "Watching you two orbit around each other is like soft core porn."

"I'm going to office now and never coming out."

Alice, Jasper, and Mark laughed as she walked away with the flip of her hair and sudden need to scratch her shoulder with her middle finger.

~oOo~

"That's the last of it," Edward said, placing the lamp on Bella's desk. He looked around and loved the layout. He could easily see her from his office any time he wanted, and she could do the same.

Bella joined him, touched the base of it to switch it on, and smiled when it lit up. "We're officially moved in." They each leaned against her desk side-by-side, looking at each other with matching grins.

She leaned against his shoulder, and within a second, he brushed his lips against her forehead. Her hand curled around his bicep, and asked, "What are we doing to celebrate tonight?"

"I have a video conference call with Toshiro in two hours that I need to ensure I'm prepared for." She felt his apology in his next kiss, this one on the top of her head. "Besides tomorrow night is the cocktail party where we can celebrate."

"Not together." She knew they'd spend most of the following night mingling, socializing, and networking. In that atmosphere, there would be little time for them to talk alone, much less celebrate.

"I need to go," he said a few minutes later. "I hope Alice and Jasper are gone. I do not want to walk in on them again." Bella felt his shudder move through him.

"They are. Alice said my bedroom eyes were making it impossible to concentrate on decorating." She looked up at him, testing their effect on the only man she wanted. His eyes widened slightly, dropping down to look at her lips, his own parting as if in anticipation.

"Don't look at me like that."

"You shouldn't, either."

His hand curled along the back of her neck, pressing his lips to hers in a bruising kiss. Even at the odd angle in which they sat, she felt heat radiate off him. He tasted of mint and something sweeter. His lips were soft, but his fingers tightened in her hair the moment she moaned at the slow slide of his tongue along hers.

"Go," she gasped and nearly groaned when he immediately backed away. "Don't you dare wear the blue suit tomorrow night, I won't make it." As earlier agreed, they'd take the following day off to rest up for the party.

At her door he stood, his stance shifting from side to side. "If you wear something backless, I won't be held responsible."

She snapped her fingers, playfully put off. "I was planning on a sexy, black dress."

He watched her for a moment longer and held out his hand for her. "Come on, let's head out." The moment she stepped beside him, he tucked her against his side. In the parking garage a few minutes later, neither had the heart to say goodnight.