A/N: I do not own these characters

Thanks to everyone for the reviews. They inspire me to keep going….. Even though my heart is breaking.

"Alice, please! Not now!" I glared at her in a way that said you are not welcome.

"Edward, do you seriously expect me to leave you when you look like this?" Alice locked the door.

I looked in the rear view mirror. I looked like shit.

"Here, put your chair back and close your eyes. " I did as she said and I felt something cool cover my eyes.

"Seriously, Alice, is there anything you don't have in your purse?" I was starting to relax with the cool sensation on my eyes.

"Jasper called me. We're confused, Edward. He said that Bella is a mess and that Jessica came to visit you at work. So I talked to Bella and she said that you talked to Jacob and then everything went terribly wrong. Do you mind filling me in? I do know both of you. Maybe I can help."

"Alice, was she using Jacob?" I had to get that out. Since they were college roommates, Alice would know.

"No, Edward. Jacob helped Bella become the woman she is. He was there for her when she really needed him. See, Bella had her heart broken by a boy she deeply loved in high school. His family moved away and he never tried to contact her. Everyone was really worried about her. But then Jacob found her. He brought her back to life. At first it was just friendship, but it developed into more. It was good for both of them through the end of college. That's when Bella discovered that what she felt for Jacob was gratitude, not love. I remember when she decided to leave him. It broke her heart to hurt him. But she couldn't marry him, not when she wasn't in love with him."

"I think I got involved too fast, Alice." I looked her in the eye. She was one of my most trusted friends. The picture she painted was much different from the one Jacob had described. "I don't know her well enough to know who she is, but I let her close enough to hurt me."

"What did she do to hurt you?" Alice put the towelettes back over my eyes.

I explained my conversation with Jacob and what happened after at the office.

"Edward," Alice's voice was soft. "You have to realize…. Jacob knows Bella very well. He knows the way she talks, the way she acts, the way she thinks. He could very easily use that knowledge to make you think things that weren't true."

"I didn't believe him when he told me. But then Bella told me that she expected my dad to give her better cases because of us." I had said 'us'.

"Well, I think you are right about one thing. You two need to take it slower. I talked to her on Sunday, Edward. She really likes you and I can tell you like her. I would hate to see that ruined because of Jake." Alice placed her hand on my arm.

"Thanks, Alice." I pulled the towelettes off my eyes and pulled my chair to sitting. "How do I look?"

"Really, I would love to take you shopping." She eyed me up and down. "But all in all, you look much better." Alice got out of the car.

Black was going to be getting a visit! I called his firm and set up an appointment for later that day. For now, I had to get some work done. And unfortunately, that meant seeing Bella. I looked in the mirror again. I looked presentable. I slowly walked back to my office. Once I was inside the door, I saw Bella sitting in a chair, facing my desk. I took a deep breath. I had to get this over with.

"Swan," I acknowledged her.

"Mr. Cullen." Her voice was devoid of emotion.

"Have you reviewed the case?" Talking about business was the best I could do given that I still wasn't sure of her motives.

"Yes, sir." Her answer was curt. "And I think you have set up a good case for the client. It is the same strategy I would have used."

"I am glad you are on board with the strategy." I walked around the office and sat in my chair facing her.

"You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend." Bella was looking in the file.

"You didn't ask." I was smug.

"Is it serious?" She looked up at me through her eyelashes.

"As serious as it can be when I'm fucking other women." I stared her down.

She gulped. "Women? As in plural?"

"Do you have a problem with that? It would seem to me that what I do shouldn't matter to you as long as you get the good cases." I wasn't about to let her off the hook.

"Edward, I am sorry for that comment." She reached her hand across my desk, placing it over mine.

I pulled my hand out from under hers and started writing on the case file. "Is that all you are sorry for?"

"What else is there?" She looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"You knew exactly who I was on Friday. You didn't let on. Why?"

"I was enjoying the mystery of it, the fun of the nick names. I knew you would find out who I was. I just wanted you to like me first. I thought it was going well, until this morning. I guess you don't like surprises."

"Keeping secrets erodes trust." I looked up from the file to look her in the eye. "I wanted to be with you Bella, but now I am not sure. And anyway, it was a reminder to keep my social life out of the workplace. I think it best if we just put the weekend in perspective. It was fucking great. Now it's over and time to get to work. I have a feeling we will be working together on a few cases. We are both adults, I am sure we can handle it."

"Edward, was that the door being closed on us?"

"Yes, Bella, it was."

"If I didn't work here, would it be different?" She kept her eyes on the file.

"I can't say for sure, Bella. I don't take well to being lied to. You can call it mysterious if you like, but I call it lying. Nevertheless, I think you are a valuable asset here and I don't want to see you leave."

"Okay, Edward, I can understand that. But I didn't think I was lying to you."

"Well, I feel like I have been lied to." I put the file down and looked at her across the desk, decided it was better to look at the file, and picked it back up.

"Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?" She moved closer in her chair.

"Just do your job well, Bella. That's all I can expect as your co-worker. Now, can you go to the library for me this afternoon to find some precedents for our strategy?"

Back to business.