A/N: Sorry about the wait. Crazy life is crazy, and this story always throws me for a loop. Onward! I'm already so late for work.

"I'm just saying you owe me, is all."

Edward leaned his head over the edge of the bed in his trailer and looked upside down at Bella. "Explain your thought process here."

"I have information the paps would pay top dollar for. Edward Cullen-suave, graceful, debonair Edward Cullen-looks like a Tumblr cat when he dances."

"What the fuck is a Tumblr cat?"

"Haven't you ever seen cats on Tumblr? Where they're doing that cat thing where they flip flop all over themselves?"

Edward frowned at her. "I didn't flip flop all over myself."

"Ah, I was there. I beg to differ." She made a flailing motion and cackled at him.

"First of all, I can dance." Edward scoffed and shook his head. "Those games aren't about dancing. You just...move your body in random, weird ways."

"That is exactly what you did," Bella said, a note of glee in her tone.

"Well, it makes for an amusing story, Swan. Maybe an anecdote in the tabs, but they're not going to pay top dollar for that information."

She wore a shit-eating grin. She held up her phone wordlessly and pressed play on a video. A video of him dancing at her party several nights before. Edward got up so fast, he nearly fell off the bed. Then, in his haste to get turned around, he got tangled in his own limbs and fell off the bed.

Bella guffawed. "Oh, my God. If I'd have been filming that, I'd be a goddamned millionaire."

Edward pushed to his feet and sprung at her. "Give me that phone, Bella."

"Ah, I think not, stud." Bella danced backward, nimbly avoiding his grabby hands. "You can't take someone else's phone."

He lunged again and ended up braced against the wall as she'd hopped up on his bed in the limited space. "I can take their phone if they have extremely embarrassing videos they're threatening to make public."

She hopped off the bed onto the couch. "I'm not threatening. That's the point." She jumped to the booth that surrounded a small dining table. "That's why you owe me, you dim bulb."

He caught her around the waist just as she was climbing onto the table. She squealed, kicking her legs and sending him off balance. Somehow, he managed to stay upright though they ended up most of the way across the room. She was tucked up against him, her back to his chest, hunched over as she tried to escape his grip.

"Give it," he demanded, trying to get at her hands.

"Never!" She held her hand, phone clenched tightly in her fingers, as far away from her body as she could.

His arms were longer, of course. He closed a hand over hers. "You'll rue the day, Swan," he said, holding her tighter around the waist to keep her still.

She giggled and pitched her body so it dragged them both forward. "I know kung fu," she said, breathless with laughter and exertion. "Don't make me hurt you, Cullen."

"Take me out of commission again, Swan, and I'm pretty sure it's not going to look like an accident." He got a hold of her scrambling hand again and pried at her fingers. "I have you right where I want you."

As he said it, they teetered again, and he shot a hand out to catch himself against the wall. It was then that the moment caught up to him. They were both red-faced and breathless. Their position-his hand braced against the wall, his body bent over hers, one arm dragging her back so her hips met his-was damning.

He should have let her go. That instant, he should have released her and apologized for his vaguely malicious words. Her giggles had died on her lips, and she'd stilled in his arms. He panted, his breath hot against her hair. His words, if he'd been to speak just then, would have vibrated against her ear. It was a consuming pose, threatening in the right context, and he was suddenly befuddled about how they got here. What was the context in which they'd arrived at this moment?

Dizzy, he swayed. This time, she was the one who reached out to catch herself, to catch them both, against the wall. One more step and he could press her right up against the surface, pin her body with his and…

He shuddered and took a deep breath. It was a mistake. The sweet, clean scent of her hair, of her, did nothing at all to clear his mind.

A thump made both of them jump, and Edward swallowed a groan as her pert ass bumped against him. He let her go and they each took a step back, facing each other. Edward rubbed the back of his neck, and Bella put a hand against her flushed cheek.

After a moment, Edward stepped forward again. Her eyes went wide, and she sucked in a sharp breath. He held her gaze until he swooped down to pick up her phone-the source of the spell-breaking thump. She blinked erratically, and he grinned, holding the thing up in front of him.

She took a deep breath and set her mouth in a thin line, though the spark in her eyes told him she wasn't really annoyed. Edward smirked and tilted the phone toward her. "I'm going to trust you with this very sensitive information. Just remember one thing."

"What's that?" she asked, her fingers brushing his as she took the phone.

Edward ducked his head. It would have taken nothing at all to kiss her, as he very much wanted to, but he didn't. He held her eyes. "I know where you work." He let his eyes stray to her lips and back up. "Friend."

Her eyes seemed to go unfocused. Edward was smug as he stepped back again, but it didn't last long. He barely had time to process the fact she'd moved before he found himself on his back on the floor, the breath knocked out of him. She was kneeling beside him, her hand against his chest, pinning him down.

"As long as you don't forget I can take you anywhere, anytime." Bella leaned in so her hair tickled his face. "Buddy."

She stood again and offered her hand to help him up. Laughing, he took it and let her pull him to his feet. "You're a dangerous friend to have."

Her grin widened. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm a petite innocent flower."

"Uh huh. Innocent my ass."

Someone rapped on the door. "Mr. Cullen. You're wanted on set in fifteen," one of the production assistants called from outside.

"I'll be there," Edward said, not looking away from Bella.

She moved to sit in his chair and propped her feet up on the desk. "Go work for a living."

"And leave you here alone?"

"What?" She gave him an innocent smile. "It's not like I'm going to hack into your laptop looking for more dirt."

Edward shook his head. "Innocent my ass," he said again and left.

~0~

By mid-week, the pap pics of Edward and Bella's night out were widespread, and there was another letter. The edge to the letter was increasingly irritated and its tone more menacing.

I'm close, it said. I'm watching.

Edward, Bella, Emmett, Jasper, and Gianna sat together to decide their next move.

"They're not lying," Bella said. Edward was surprised to hear the slightest tremor in her voice. She'd drawn her legs up onto her chair in a defensive gesture.

"What do you mean?" he asked, his voice quiet. . He started to reach out to put a comforting hand on her knee but drew back just in time. Emmett was already beginning to give him crap for how much time Bella spent in his trailer.

"She was there," Bella said. "Or he was."

A chill went down Edward's spine. "What?" Emmett asked, frowning. He'd been there that night too, of course. Watching.

"In the letter, she references what I was wearing, including a 'that ugly as hell bracelet.'" Bella reached over and tapped on a bracelet on the other woman's wrist. "Whenever we go out, Gianna gives me this to wear." She shuddered. "In all the pap pictures, I have a jacket on, covering my wrist. None of the pictures I've seen from inside the place, the fan pics, are showing the bracelet. That means the person was close enough to see the bracelet for his or herself."

"Crap," Emmett said, rubbing his jaw.

"That's what we wanted," Jasper said. "We want them to show up so we can figure out who it is." He patted Emmett's shoulder. "You weren't going to get them on the first night. You knew that."

"Yeah," Emmett said, but it was easy to see he didn't like the idea anyone had been that close without his knowing it.

Gianna took a shuddering breath. "It really is serious, isn't it?"

"Serious but not necessarily dangerous," Jasper said. "A lot of celebs have had fans get too close before. They almost never have the forewarning you have now, for one thing. Most times, the fan gets systematically closer to them without writing these kinds of letters. The most that's come out of it for others is a couple of home break-ins. Scary, of course, but no physical harm done."

Gianna shook and wrapped her arms around her shoulders.

Edward put a hand to the center of her back. "It'll be fine." He looked to Bella. "Are you still okay with this?"

She huffed and put on an approximation of a cocky grin. "Yeah, it's fine. They don't even know I exist, right? More than likely anyway." She shrugged and patted Gianna's knee. "They're right. You'll be fine. We all will."

~0~

"Oh, Jesus Christ."

Edward had taken one step inside the on-set gym and had to step right back out.

"You okay, boss?" Emmett asked. His grin said he wasn't really concerned. He could figure out easily enough what Edward's problem was. The larger man stepped over to the door, peered in, and stepped back out, whistling. "I see what you mean."

Bella was in there-alone-in workout shorts and a sports top. Every line of her body seemed to shine, as though her skin was highlighted in gold. It was sweat. He knew that. That didn't seem to matter. She was at the leg lift machine. Edward was very much distracted by that fact. The split second glance he'd gotten kept replaying over and over again in his mind. He shook his head hard, and Emmett laughed at him.

"Wow. That bad, huh?" his bodyguard said.

Edward scoffed, irritated at the heat in his cheeks. He jerked his head in the opposite direction of the gym, indicating Emmett should follow.

"Hey, don't get all twisted about it," Emmett said, keeping pace with him. "It's just funny, that's all. You said she turned you down preemptively, right? And it's not like you don't have other options. Plenty of willing flesh out there for you."

Edward shook his head, leaning up against a wall. "Her flesh is as willing as mine is." For a second, was distracted by the memory of the lust in her eyes all those times they found themselves too close. "If I kissed her, she'd kiss me back. I'm pretty sure the sex would be of the mind blowing variety."

"Then what's the problem?"

Edward ran his hands through his hair, huffing in frustration. "I'm going to need you to keep a handle on your dude bro right now."

A grin tugged at the corner of Emmett's mouth. "Okay. Sure."

"She'd hate me in the morning, and that's just not acceptable."

Emmett's grin came out full force. "Ah huh. So it is like that. Ha. I told your sister. I told her."

Seeing Edward was less than amused, Emmett cleared his throat and did his best to school his features. "So you like her."

"No," Edward said sarcastically. "I only let her hang out in my trailer all the time because I think she's the stalker, and I don't want to push her over the edge."

Emmett cocked his head, his brow furrowed in deep thought. Edward groaned. "No, Em. There's no way."

"It would make a bizarre sort of sense, if you think about it. I mean, that would explain why we haven't found any consistencies in the last three outings."

Since they had firm confirmation that someone was stalking Edward or Gianna, Emmett and his team had been on high alert. When Edward and Bella went to get coffee-Bella still posing as Gianna-they catalogued everyone in the vicinity. So far, except for a couple of PA's that had already been accounted for, there were no repeats.

"It's not her, Emmett. That doesn't even make sense." It did, in a way. Bella would have known about the bracelet, obviously. "No. No, it makes no sense. If she was the stalker, she'd have seen for her own eyes there's nothing going on between Gianna and I. That's this person's big thing, right? That Gianna is using me, isn't good enough for me. Whatever."

Emmett put his hands up in a placating motion. "You're right. You're right. Sorry. I was just thinking out loud, that's all." He chuckled, trying to laugh it off. "She'd be a mad genius if she pulled that off, right?"

"Right," Edward said, the word coming out gruff and grumpy.

Emmett smacked his upper arm. "Do you have the junior high school boy in check or what? Ready to get back to the gym?"

Edward narrowed his eyes. He would bet Emmett wanted to get back to the gym to ask Bella surreptitious questions to prove or disprove his latest theory. Once he got something into his head, it wasn't going away until he got some sort of resolution.

"You go ahead. I have machines at home. I'm not going to go doughy if I wait a few more hours," Edward said. He didn't want to be there for many reasons, not the least of which was that he didn't think he could hold his temper.

That and there was a small part of him-tiny, miniscule-that was afraid Emmett's bizarre theory might be right.

A/N: Hmm.

Thoughts?