A/N: Thanks so much for your patience. This Edward is hard to talk to. Tight lipped mofo!

"Hey!" Edward protested and leaped to his feet as his phone was yanked out of his hands.

Alice danced out of his reach in a game they'd perfected as children. "Little brother, when you can't stop looking at your phone long enough to get three sentences in a row out of your mouth, you lose your phone privileges."

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't find your babbling about the Paris fashion show riveting. Give it."

"Uh huh." Alice was way too nimble for anyone's good. How she kept darting out of reach while never taking her eyes off the phone was beyond him. "So it has nothing to do with you cyberstalking Bella's tumblr page, right?"

Edward snatched back his phone, glaring at his sister. He'd have come up with some lie if she were anyone else, but she wasn't. She was his twin, and she already knew he was full of shit. "If I have to share her with the world, I might as well reap the benefits of getting to know what she's thinking."

Alice stood there, hands on her hips, staring at him for three full seconds before she gave him a smack upside the back of his head.

"What the hell, Alice?"

She sat next to him. "That's a stupid comment to make from the person who got home on Saturday night and updated his status to 'I'm feeling sleepy.' You think she isn't cyberstalking you just as hard as you're cyberstalking her? Was that the kind of crap you wanted her to post on her Facebook? Or were you looking for a video of her playing with herself, thinking about you?"

"Don't be disgusting."

Alice rolled her eyes. "You're lucky I've been busy the last couple of days. I wanted to kick your ass when I saw that update. Sleep." She scoffed. "What kind of bullshit was that?"

"It was late when I got home. I was tired."

"You went out of your way to make a bullshit post after what must have been a good date. You posted that knowing she would see it. You're playing with her, and that's fucked up."

"That wasn't my intention." He ran a hand through his hair, agitated.

Alice tilted his her head, studying him. Then she laughed. "Oh, man. You're really fucked, aren't you? That's what your problem is. Usually you're with a chick and you're in control, but you're out of your mind with Bella, aren't you?"

"Gee, and this whole time I thought my problem was the girl I'm dating sells her body."

"No, the problem you're having is that the girlfriends you've had never hit you this hard. You never get this deep."

Edward was already shaking his head. "That's ridiculous. We've had two dates and have technically only known each other for a few weeks."

"What does that have to do anything? Edward, I knew Jasper was the one for me the first night I met him."

"Come off it. You two were friends for years before you got together."

Alice gave him a cool look. "Yeah, we were. Imagine going through that. Every time you two idiots went out trolling the bars for babes...well, it didn't feel good. But just because it took me a few years to admit it doesn't mean I didn't know from minute one."

"That's not the same. You had a feeling, and you still had years to get on the same page. Years after you knew him well."

"Maybe, but that's not the point. Maybe all this angst isn't about her nudes. Maybe the nudes are an excuse. Love is scary, little brother."

"I'm not in love with her."

"Sure you're not."

"I'm-"

The sound of his phone chiming had him distracted instantly.

Busy tomorrow?

Edward was suddenly glad his sister couldn't pick up the erratic beat of his heart. She did, however, cuddle up to him so she could see what he was staring at. She cackled. "Oh, good. Looks like she's not going to wait for you to get your head out of your ass."

Choosing to ignore his sister, Edward texted back.

Other than work? No.

"Are you sure you're not too sleepy?" Alice asked, and she flicked his ear.

There's a film I want to see at Sundance Sunset. Indie film. One night only. You want to be my date?

"Movie dates are code for canoodling in the back seat," Alice said.

"See, this is what happens when you're an uncultured swine. You don't go to a Sundance movie to canoodle. It's not some Michael Bay, pointless action flick like you and Jazz lgo to," he teased.

"Maybe you shouldn't get with Bella. I don't know if I could stand hanging out with two pretentious assholes."

~0~

Alice and Edward worked within a few blocks of each other and so carpooled to work on the days she couldn't work from home. That day, before Edward got out of the car, Alice grabbed his arm.

"I'm not kidding. That 'I'm feeling sleepy' crap you pulled is devastating. You're lucky Bella was strong enough to get over it and stupid enough to ask you out. You always say you don't like games, little brother. Don't play games with her. I get that what she does for a living is an issue. We all have issues. You don't get to claim the moral high ground by default."

As he made his way to the parking lot at the end of the day, Edward wondered if there was some truth to his sister's claim. He wanted to dismiss the idea the status update was an asshole move. He'd been sleepy.

But the reason he was so damn exhausted was he'd spent the whole car ride back from Orange County driving himself insane. Maybe he posted that status update because he was sleepy, and maybe he was just a little bit bitter about the fact Bella had him tied up in knots. Part of him was irritated at the fact he had to think so hard around her. It was supposed to be easy, wasn't it? You like someone. They like you and that was that.

Except that Alice was also right that the relationships he'd had never ran this deep. He liked the women he'd been with, and they'd liked him. In the end, that had never been enough.

Bella was already in her car waiting for him when he got outside. She didn't see him at first, and he was able to watch her for a few seconds. She was rocking out to whatever she was listening to. His lips quirked as he fought a grin, but as usual, his enjoyment of her won out.

Maybe his life would be simpler if he didn't like her, but he did. He really did.

He was probably smiling like a moron when he got in the car.

"Hey, stud." She flashed him a grin as she turned down the volume. "How was work?"

"You know. Working with an injury is never fun. Even if most of my job includes a lot of typing."

Bella's brows furrowed in concern. "An injury? What's wrong? Did you hurt yourself?"

"Typical abusive behavior, Swan. Pretending you had nothing to do with this." He rolled up his sleeve, showing off the bruise from her golf ball. It was only beginning to fade.

"Oh, wow." She winced in sympathy, skimming her fingers over the discolored skin. Her eyes found his. "I really got you, didn't I?"

A shiver went down his spine at her touch. Her head was close enough to him he could have kissed her easily, but he had other ideas. He twisted his shoulder toward her. "Make it better?"

Amusement cut through the guilt in her eyes, and she smiled again. She held his gaze while she leaned forward to brush her lips over his skin. "Better?"

"Hmm, that's not what you did before."

There was a surprised kind of pleasure in her eyes, like he'd just answered a question she hadn't asked. He had exactly one second to feel like an ass-Alice was right, his online indifference had to have hurt her-before she was kissing him.

It was a soft kiss and quick. He pressed back against her, raising his hand to cup her cheek briefly before she pulled away.

One question answered. They still weren't trying to be just friends.

~0~

The movie didn't start for an hour and a half.

"You want to get dinner?" Bella asked.

"Sure."

"Know any place good around here?"

"I'm not too familiar with Sunset, actually."

"Well, how about we walk until we find something that calls to us?"

Edward offered her his hand and smiled when she took it. "That sounds like a good plan to me."

By the time they'd settled for a little bistro that didn't have a long wait, Bella was regaling him with stories about the interviews she'd been conducting.

"Oh, they're adorable. Some of the things they say. You know I'm not one for business suits or anything like that, but I had this one kid come straight from the beach. Flip flops, beach trunks, one of those tank top things that actually gets smaller in the back, and, and sunglasses he wore the whole time. Inside."

Edward laughed. "How do you know he came from the beach though?"

"Oh, I could be stereotyping, I suppose, but the sand he left all over my store and my office is pretty damning evidence."

"Well, there is that. So I guess he's out then."

Bella shrugged. "I don't know."

Edward raised an eyebrow.

"Obviously we're going to have to have a talk about bringing the beach with him, but just because he's a surfer dude doesn't mean he can't be a good employee."

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at that."

She eyed him over her tea, but she didn't comment. "I like his vibe."

"Oh, well. As long as he has the right vibe."

"I have my own vibes," she said with a wink. "But don't worry. If I do hire him, I'll make sure to make some more steadfast choices too. There's this other kid, James…"

~0~

The movie was bad.

Edward shifted in his seat, bored out of his mind. His distraction was dangerous. Being in the dark with Bella so close was dangerous in and of itself. Without the movie to divert his attention, he was beginning to fixate on the random ways he wanted to touch her.

She probably wouldn't mind holding his hand. He pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth, inwardly chiding himself for the juvenile trick that came to mind. If he left his hand palm up on the armrest beside him, she might take the initiative herself.

But then again, he wanted to do so much more than hold her hand. He suspected if she put her hand in his, he would work his fingers up the inside of her arm, or maybe he would put his hand on her knee.

Edward jolted when felt the press of a toe against his ankle. She'd kicked off her shoe so she could tease him. He glanced at her, seeing that while her eyes were on the screen, she was smirking.

There was nothing funny about the movie they were watching.

Smirking himself, he gave in to temptation. He put his hand on her knee, brushing his fingertips along the inside of her leg. He turned and pressed a kiss to her cheek. She sucked in a breath, but she didn't stop him. She found his hand and began caressing his fingers. For something so simple, it was a surprisingly intimate.

He readjusted himself in his seat, turning his attention to pressing tiny kisses in a path from her cheek up to her ear. He grinned against her skin when she swallowed a small squeak. "Shhh," he whispered in her ear. "Watch the movie."

Bella huffed. "It's a bad movie," she whispered back.

He chuckled, letting his warm breath kiss her skin. "It is a bad movie."

"Shh," someone said.

Edward put two fingers to her chin and turned her head toward him. "Yeah. Shh," he said, and he kissed her to keep both their mouths busy.

~0~

After the movie, they ducked into a bar. That was his second mistake. Drinking when he'd spent the last half of the movie getting progressively drunker on kissing Bella. He'd had half a mind to pull her back to her car, but no. That couldn't be right.

Not yet.

But all the questions he had in his head mixed with alcohol and lust had him in a strange mood. Still, they had a good time at the bar, picking apart the movie and sharing kisses that lingered longer as time went on.

Eventually, though, they had to move on. They were almost back to her car, and Bella was talking again about how nervous she was for the restaurant to open, when the words slipped out.

"If your restaurant is successful, will you keep doing what you're doing?"

Bella's step faltered. Her hand slipped from his.

"I'm sorry," Edward said, though he wasn't sure that he was sorry for asking. He was sorry that the happy atmosphere around them had dissipated in an instant.

"No, I want you to be able to ask about it." She stepped away a few paces, wringing her hands. "If this is going to work, we have to be able to talk."

"But I didn't want you to be upset."

Bella shook her head. "You didn't do anything, really." She reached for his hand and played with the tips of his fingers. "I know this isn't simple for you, but it's not easy for me either. I can understand your discomfort, but I have limits." She looked up at him. "Whenever you ask me something about my work, or I can see you're thinking about it, I'm afraid you're going to say something I can't put up with.

"I'm realistic. I wish this wasn't a problem for you the same way I'm sure you wish I'd never taken even a picture. I don't know where you are with this." She gestured between them. "But I'm at that annoying point where I want you to think everything about me is amazing. Obviously, you're ashamed of what I do."

"I never said that," Edward said.

"Didn't you?" Bella leaned against her car, wrapping her hands around her arms. "I get that you're trying to figure out if you can accept this about me. And this part isn't your fault. But this is the first time in years I've wished I was someone else. Someone with a normal job."

"I'm not ashamed of you." He took her hand again. "I don't understand. I really don't understand, but it's not shame. I don't think you should be ashamed."

"What's to understand? It was a business decision. That's all."

"Is it?" Edward raked a hand through his hair. "I just want to know how it started. Why would you even think of it in the first place? Did someone-" He bit his tongue, but it was too late.

Bella narrowed her eyes. "Did someone what?"

Edward shook his head. "Never mind. That's-"

"You're not one of those who think the only people who get into this kind of work have been hurt that way, are you?"

Edward swallowed hard, wishing his head was clearer than it was. "That day in the Twisted Vine, you said Mike Newton was a horny, handsy bastard."

Bella gave a humorless laugh, pushing off the car. "You want to feel sorry for me?" she said, beginning to pace. "You don't want to be ashamed of me, but you want to feel sorry for me? Because you can't believe I would choose this?"

"That's not what I meant."

"I did choose this," Bella said.

God, she was fabulous when she was furious. Her eyes sparked and her cheeks flushed, and he was just making a mess of this conversation. His eyes followed her back and forth trek toward and away from him.

"No, I've never been raped. I've never come close. Have guys touched me when I didn't want them to or say creepy shit? Well, yeah, because yes, all women, but-"

He caught her hand as she passed and pulled her up against him. Her words cut off in a yelp as she collided with him, and he didn't give her a chance to continue her tirade. He kissed her. Hard. He pinned her back against her car and snaked his hand down around the back of her leg. He tugged and she responded, wrapping one leg up around his waist.

"I'm sorry," he said between kisses. He moved his lips down to her neck, tilting her head back so he could kiss her throat. "I'm not ashamed, and I don't want you to be ashamed."

Shame was still the wrong word, but he wasn't going to come up with the right word today.

Bella sighed and cupped his cheeks, bringing his face back up. She kissed him, urging his mouth open. She tasted like the cherries she'd asked for with her Pepsi. Her hands running up and down his back sent such a thrill through him, his nipples hardened.

Among other things.

He pulled back.

Bella's hands rested on his shoulders. She panted-they were both breathless-and licked her lips. Her eyes fluttered closed briefly and she took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes, they were calmer. She scratched her fingers through the tendrils of hair at the base of his neck.

"What I'm doing...there is a finite timeline with it." Her lips quirked up at one side. "We're not as young as we used to be, Cullen."

She stroked his cheek. "I don't know what I'll do if the restaurant succeeds. I've seen enough Kitchen Nightmares to know it can take years for a restaurant to fail. But I won't always be this. I know that."

Edward moved his hand to her hip and pulled her toward him for another kiss. "Witch," he whispered against her lips and kissed her again.

A/N: Many thanks to songster and barburella.

How we doing, kids?