I peered through my windshield at the entrance of the chic little restaurant, tiny beads of sweat starting to form on my forehead. Exhaling shakily, I turned up the air conditioning in my car and tried to relax while The Beatles sang about a face they couldn't forget. Great, even a bunch of old guys are screwing with me. The Volvo parked next to me told me that my annoyingly punctual tormenter was already here, and had probably been waiting patiently inside for more than the six minutes I had been sitting in my car, hoping I could muster up the bravery to go in and meet him already. Or the nerve to swerve out of the parking lot, speed home and stream an episode of The Vampire Diaries on Netflix instead. But I wasn't the sort of person to stand someone up; I made a commitment, so I would stick to it.

Steeling my nerves, I put on my ready-to-conquer-the-world face, and stepped out of the car. The hostess ushered me to the most private table in the room, where my beaming date stood up as I neared him. He really is a gentleman, isn't he? For some reason it annoyed me a little. His sparkling eyes locked with mine as he reached for my hand and pressed it to his lips, just as soft as they were the day before. My greeting froze in my throat. We sat down, and I took a brief moment to ogle him; his face was its usual perfection, but rather than the work clothes he had been wearing the day before, tonight he rocked a cream cashmere sweater under a casual grey blazer, and dark grey pants. Glancing up, I saw he was doing the same to me. I myself was wearing a snug, midnight blue sleeveless dress with black peep-toe heels and very light makeup. I supposed I looked pretty, but I could never be described as beautiful. I wondered what his assessment of me was.

"You look breathtaking, Dr. Isabella." The bastard seemed to enjoy my sudden blush, smiling wickedly. Damn him! "I almost thought you weren't coming."

"So did I. In fact, I nearly stood you up for an episode of Vampire Diaries," I shot back. Let him squirm a little.

"Oh, but you didn't. It's satisfying to know that you chose to spend your night with me over such a wide selection of attractive men. Thank you for the compliment, Dr. Isabella," he said smoothly, that infuriating grin still plastered to his face. Damn it, he got me there! Only a lawyer could turn such an obvious insult around to their favor…

"You can drop the Doctor Isabella, you 's just Bella. It makes sense for us to be on a first name basis now, don't you think? Since apparently I'm hitting on you and all," I said dryly.

"That's a great idea! Hmm, Bella," he tested out my name, a thoughtful look on his face. My heart sped up. God, it sounded divine on his lips. "I like it. It suits you."

Before I had a chance to reply, the waitress arrived. Thank God. I didn't know what I would have said to him; this man had a way of destroying my brain-to-mouth filter, so that words I would never say to anyone just tumbled out in his presence. I hated that I couldn't trust myself to be rational around him, that he constantly threw my world into chaos. After we had ordered and the waitress left, he turned his gaze to me again. Yay, here we go! Let's see what nonsense I'm gonna spout out this time!

"So, Bella, what did your father say about you going out with me tonight?"

"Actually, Edward, I didn't tell him yet. He thinks I'm having dinner with my friend Angela." This was a topic that I'd wanted to get some things clear about, so I was glad he brought it up. "Charlie and your dad are friends, and I don't want their relationship to be affected by anything that happens in ours. At least not for the time being."

"That makes sense, I guess. Carlisle and Esme know I'm going out with someone, but I didn't mention your name. I thought you mightn't be too keen on that, at least not for the time being." He repeated my words cheekily, while I tried to decipher his exact meaning. What, was he already forming expectations as to how serious our relationship would become? It was only the first date! I decided to stop thinking about it, to let it go; I always overthought things.

As we ate, we found out more about each other, continuing from where we had left off the day before. We were both 26, and lived and worked in Seattle, with the distance between our homes only about a twenty-minute drive. Our careers were solid; we had both worked quite hard to reach where we were. His passion and intelligence impressed me, and I could only hope I had a similar effect on him.

Our conversation didn't stay very long at all on careers, however; he peppered me with questions about my favorite books (we both loved to read), my favorite music and bands, my hobbies; at my probing, he revealed the same information about himself. We talked and laughed ourselves breathless; I decided I loved his laugh. We had so much in common, and yet we were more than different enough for our conversation to be always stimulating. Somehow, I felt I had known him forever and yet not long enough; I knew so much about him, yet I wanted to know more. Never in my life had I felt this way about anyone, and I never wanted to stop feeling the way I did when Edward looked at me, or smiled at me, or laughed at something I said.

I felt we hadn't had nearly enough time together when the waitress brought the check, but a glance at my phone revealed it was 10:30; we had been here for three hours. I wanted to split the check, but Edward swept it away before I had the chance to complain. He offered me his arm as we left, and instead of saying something snarky (which seemed to always entertain him), I took it, feeling the soft muscles of his bicep. I'll bet he's ripped. He led me to my car, and we stopped at the driver's side. I let go of his arm and turned to face him. My heart leapt into my chest as I did. Christ, I'll get hypertension if I spend more time with this man. His emerald eyes searched mine, and I couldn't help but return his gaze. His fingers came up to brush a few strands of my hair behind my ears, my skin tingling where he touched me.

"I had the most wonderful time tonight that I've had in the longest while, Bella," he said softly, sincerely. I smiled at him sweetly.

"So have I," I replied, matching his tone. He smiled back a little, almost shyly. He was too sweet, too cute. I just couldn't resist.

Usually, I wasn't that bold, but like always, Edward Cullen made do things I wouldn't normally do. I reached my right hand up to the back of his head, pulling him down, and pressed my lips against his, kissing him. His lips were so soft, yet sculpted, and felt amazing against mine. For a second, he seemed a little surprised. You and me both, buddy. But then he pressed back, and started moving his mouth against mine, giving me the best kiss of my life. Suddenly, he broke away, leaving me bereft and a little peeved. Damn, it was too soon. We both took a second to regain our breaths. Then he met my eyes again. Oddly enough, he had the gall to look a little pissed off too, as if he were the one who was pulled from the best kiss of his life! His eyebrows were furrowed, his lips pressed into a thin line. Then he started talking, when I knew he could put his mouth to much better use.

Frowning at me, he said: "You stole my thunder!" What the fuck?!

"What?!" was the most coherent reply I could manage. I was frowning now, too.

"You heard me. Bella Swan, you stole my thunder. Damn it, I've been planning on kissing you and hopefully stealing your breath away since I first met you! Did you know how badly I wanted to do that?! But no, you just run along and kiss me and steal my breath away first! While I just stand there like a moron! It's so damn unfair!" he ranted, moving his arms about, actually sounding angry. Later, I thought it was the cutest thing ever, but at that moment, I was just pissed that he had stopped kissing me because I had been the one to kiss him!

"Well, maybe if you hadn't taken so long, you would've gotten to kiss me first! But you hesitated! So it's all your fault that your plans were ruined in the first place! Now you can just stand there whining about it, or you can show me what you had planned since yesterday!" I snapped at him, my hands folding across my chest. His mouth fell open. It was almost funny; he was the picture of astonishment. Quickly gathering himself again, he closed his jaw and took a step towards me, his eyes burning into mine. I was pressed against my car door.

"So, you want me to show you what I was planning?" he asked softly. I nodded, dazzled by him and unable to find my voice. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, while his gaze lowered to my lips. His hand came up to gently brush my right cheek before cupping it. He leaned down, his lips feather light against mine. And as he delivered on his promise, I realized I had been wrong; this was the best kiss of my life.

Our lips locked together fervently, moving feverishly against one another. The heat of his lips against mine felt incredible, and I needed to feel more. However, just as I was about to swipe my tongue against his lips, I felt his tongue probing my lips. I nearly laughed; it seemed he wouldn't let me "steal his thunder" this time. As our tongues met, it was all sensation, and I tangled my fingers into his soft bronze locks. The hand on my cheek moved into my hair, and his other wrapped around my waist, pulling me flush against him. His body against mine was too much, too good. We would end up having sex in the parking lot if we didn't stop soon. I couldn't do it though; his tongue tangling with mine, exploring my mouth; my fingers in his hair; his fingers in my hair; his strong, muscular body pressing into mine; it all just felt so sensual, so amazing. Thankfully, he stopped it, breaking away as we untangled our bodies. My face was probably as red as a tomato.

Edward grinned sheepishly at me, and I could help but smile back. I wanted to tease him a little, so I asked: "You've been planning that since we first met? That makes you seem kind of creepy, you know, not to mention presumptuous…"

"Really? You didn't seem to have a problem with it ten seconds ago, in fact, you couldn't seem to get enough-" I interrupted it with a playful hit to his shoulder as we laughed. Pulling me into his arms, he gently caressed my blushing face. "Would you like to go out with me again sometime, Bella?"

Despite his efforts to dazzle me, I found my voice. "Yes, Edward, I'd love to."

"Great," he beamed at me. "How about this Saturday?" It was Wednesday, so I thought I could handle two days apart. Plus, I had to spend some time with Charlie over the next two days, since I was really supposed to be visiting him.

"Sure, that sounds good. Call me later, and we'll talk about it." We had exchanged numbers in the restaurant. At this, he tightened his arms around me, hugging me. I lifted my face a little to kiss his cheek. He kissed mine right back, and I giggled. We pulled apart.

"I'll see you then, Bella." He opened my door for me, and I got into the car.

"See you, Edward." As I drove off, I couldn't help but feel that now, we were just a little more than acquaintances.

A/N: Thank you so much everyone, for all your support. Honestly, TNFA was just a little experiment that I did so I could familiarize myself with how to publish stories here. I just created an account on FF, but I've been reading fanfics here for over 3 years now. Anyway, I'm glad you all like it so much, and I'll try to publish at least one chapter per day. Have a wonderful day, everyone!