Chapter Four

I wake up to the smell of bacon and pancakes and coffee. My stomach growls and I blink the sleep from my eyes, momentarily confused about where I am. The navy blue and gray sheets are unfamiliar and then I see Edward's back to me, standing in the kitchen.

"So, you cook more than just dinner?" I ask, making my way over to him. His shoulders shake with laughter and I can see the muscles in his back through his gray t-shirt. "Impressive."

I take a seat at the island, thankful that Edward's shirt falls mid-thigh. "I don't always have guests to cook breakfast for and I'm usually still on patrol right now." He says, turning around, and placing a plate of pancakes and bacon in front of me. He places a coffee mug and coffee pot in front of me and I happily pour a cup.

"I don't usually let people cook for me, to be honest." I remark, spreading a pat of butter on my pancakes.

Edward glances at me, a playful smirk on his face. "Should I be honored?" He jokes, sliding two pancakes onto his own plate and grabbing a few pieces of bacon.

He stands across from me, on the opposite side of the island, and pours himself another cup of coffee.

Shrugging, I take a bite of bacon. "I'm just fussy about food and most of the people in my life really aren't the best cooks – my parents, especially."

"Don't you run your bakery with your friends, though? Or do you do all of the baking?"

"Alice and Rose are good at baking, but only because they follow my directions and know how I expect them to turn out. If I told either of them to come up with their own kind of cupcake, my bakery would probably burn to the ground." I chuckle, sipping my coffee.

Edward laughs, already more than halfway through his pancakes. "I can't bake for my life. Cooking an amazing dinner? Sure, no problem. Ask me to bake a cake and it isn't edible at all."

I cross my arms, resting them on the counter. "I'll keep that in mind."

After breakfast, I help him clean up again. There's a small voice in the back of my head that's reminding me that I am standing next to Edward, wearing nothing but his t-shirt and my underwear.

But Edward's gaze never strays far from my face and I don't know whether to be impressed or insulted.

"I'd hate to end this early, but I really need to get home and shower before I go to work." I sigh, after changing into my clothes from last night.

Edward is sitting at the counter, going through his emails and he stands up, making his way over to me. "I'm tempted to ask you to stay, but I have a feeling you wouldn't."

I shake my head, smiling. "Not a chance. I have a bakery to run." He drops his head in mock defeat, placing his hands on my hips and pulling me towards him. I rest my hands on his chest and he bends down, brushing the tip of my nose with his. "I really need to go…" I breathe, feeling my heart pick up speed.

"I know." His voice is low, husky. And then he presses his lips against mine and all sane thoughts go out the window.

All I can think about is his lips against mine and how soft they feel against mine and how my skin tingles when he places his hands on either side of my face.

And before I can even think about staying, Edward pulls back. "I'll call you later." He presses a quick kiss to my temple and then I head out the door.

I'm at the bakery by noon, freshly showered and in a clean pair of jeans and t-shirt. I'm re-stocking the shelves in the display case with freshly baked cupcakes, replacing the flavors that have started to sell out.

Rosalie is leaning against the counter while Alice is standing in the doorway to the kitchen. "Obviously something happened if you stayed the night."

Rosalie was grinning from ear to ear and Alice was shaking her head, a smile plastered on her pixie-like face. "Nothing happened!" I exclaim, again, for the fifteenth time. "We had dinner, drank, talked and kissed a few times and then he asked me to stay. After a movie or two we ended up falling asleep. Nothing else." I glare at a laughing Rosalie when I stand up, shutting the display case door.

"What about you?" I ask, turning to face Alice. Her smile suddenly disappears and I feel smug. "How was your date with Jasper?"

Rosalie gasps, "I completely forgot about your date with him!" Her eyes widen in excitement and I'm so happy to no longer be the subject of her questioning. "How was it?"

Alice groans, shooting me a glare, and then heads into the kitchen. Rosalie and I follow her. She's not getting off that easy.

She launches into details about her date with Jasper, about where he took her for dinner and how funny and kind he was, how much of a gentleman he was and how happy she was after their date – which didn't end until this morning. "There's just…something about him that makes him irresistible." Her eyes get a dreamy, far off look and Rosalie and I exchange glances.

"It's the uniform." I joke, pulling a batch of cupcakes from the oven.

Alice just shakes her head and grabs a piping bag, filling it with buttercream frosting and choosing to ignore Rosalie and me.

The bell rings up front, indicating someone came into the bakery. Rosalie heads up front while Alice and I stay in the back, frosting the cupcakes.

Business is slow throughout the day, only a handful of people coming in – mostly for coffee – so Alice and I started planning some of the holiday orders, coming up with a schedule.

We decide to close early, at five, and Rosalie heads off after Emmett stops by to pick her up. Alice stays back with me, helping me clear out the display case and clean the front counters. I take some of the leftover cupcakes and place them in a box. "I'm going to stop by Edward's place really quick," I tell Alice, grabbing the cupcakes and my keys. "I'll be back at the apartment later."

Ten minutes later, I'm standing out front of Edward's door holding the box of cupcakes in front of me. He opens the door, a smile spreading across his face, and I'm distracted by the fact that he answered the door in nothing but a towel – his toned chest on display.

"Hey." He leans against the door and nods at the box in my hands. "Those for me?"

I nod, finally prying my eyes from his chest to look up at his face. "They were leftovers and I figured you could bring them in to work for your coworkers." He takes them from my hands and I can feel my face getting warm with blush. "I'm guessing you're getting ready for work, so I'll leave."

He nods, frowning. "Yes, I got to get dressed, otherwise I'd invite you in."

Yeah, if he let me in there was no way he'd be on time to work. I smile shyly and fiddle with my fingers nervously. Why was I suddenly so nervous?

"I'll call you tomorrow afternoon. I promise." He bends down and presses his lips to mine.

"Be careful, please." I squeeze his hand quickly and then turn and head out to my car.

When I get back to the apartment, Alice isn't in her usual sweatpants and sweatshirt – she's in a pair of black skinny jeans and a pink top with black ballet flats. "We're going out for dinner tonight. Get changed." It isn't a suggestion. I shrug it off and go to change.

I throw on a new blouse, keeping the same jeans and boots on and then we head out, locking the door behind us and to the waiting cab.

There's a small bistro down the street from our apartment, we've been going there since we moved into the apartment sophomore year of college. It had some of the best Italian food I had ever had, and it didn't hurt that the owners loved our cupcakes and usually insisted on free drinks.

We're at the restaurant for a good two hours and have a few drinks. Heading out the door, I hail a cab and we head back home. Alice and I are giggly with the alcohol we've consumed and I feel light and warm.

Once back at our apartment, Alice hugs me goodnight and then heads to bed. I take a shower and, after changing into a pair of black sweatpants and a gray hoodie, I make my way into my bedroom and start my laptop up.

I go through a few of my emails – deleting spam and nonsense emails, reading some reviews sent in by customers and reading a few orders.

It's almost midnight by the time I shut my laptop down and start to get ready for bed, when my phone vibrates with a text. Glancing at the screen, I see Edward's name on the screen along with a message asking if I was still up. I shot back that I was and then a few seconds later, there was a knock at the front door.

Confused, I head to the door and open it. Edward is standing at the door, in a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt and then I saw his face – he looked worse than sad, close to depressed.

My heart lurches. "What's wrong? Shouldn't you be at work?"

He shakes his head, looking like he's on the verge of tears. "They sent me home…"

"Do you want to come in?" I ask and he nods, stepping inside. I shut and lock the door behind him and then turn to face him again.

I had grown used to seeing Edward being confident and happy, but right now…right now, his posture was slumped and he looked miserable. "Edward, what happened?" I asked, my voice low.

Saying nothing, he reaches out and pulls me into him, burying his face in my hair and holding me tightly.

We stand in the middle of the living room like that for a while, before he finally loosens his hold on me. "I'm sorry, you were probably going to bed. I'll head home." He starts to leave but I grab his hand.

"No, you're fine. You can stay." I don't know what's wrong with him right now, but I don't want him to be alone. He shouldn't be alone, not as miserable as he is right now.

Edward looks at me and then nods, following me to my bedroom. I slide in underneath my covers and he climbs in next to me and once again, pulls me close to him. I run my fingers through his hair, combing it with my fingers and I can see him relax a little.

He's quiet for a while and I think he fell asleep but then he sighs and says, "I had to tell a family that we found their six-year-old son…dead." His voice is strained and I can hear the pain in it. "My captain told me to take off; he said the first time is always the hardest." He laughs, no humor in the laugh. "The first time…He told me to be prepared to make those kind of home visits a lot." He sighs. "I just…I came straight here. I didn't want to be alone and I wanted to know you were safe."

I want to reassure him that of course I'm safe, but I don't say anything. I don't know how to comfort him for something like this. I let him curl up against me, his head resting on my chest as I continue to comb my fingers through his hair.