His right hand came up suddenly, reaching into his pocket, and I panicked.

He's got a gun! I pushed him too far and he's going to exact revenge!

"Rosebud!" I yelled. "ROSEBUD!"

Chapter 3

"What?"

He then pulled out...his wallet. My heart, that was just a second ago about to leap out of my chest and onto the counter between us, slowly started to resume a normal beat. I stared at his wallet and heaved a massive sigh of relief. When I finally glanced back up at Edward, I noticed he was looking at me very oddly. Okay, so maybe I had overreacted a tad.

"Nothing, it's nothing. I was just thinking about a flower order."

He raised an eyebrow at me.

"For Emmett, of course. An important flower order for Emmett to make."

He seemed to accept that, and offered me a slight smirk in return. Good grief, that was a close one.

He pulled out one of his business cards from his wallet and laid it in front of me. I picked it up and read the first few words.

Edward Cullen, Attorney-at-Law

Ah, a lawyer. That helped to explain the steely gaze. Below his name and the name of his firm were three different phone numbers to reach him, via his cell, office, and fax machine. Hmm, no home phone number listed. Wait, why would I even care about that?

"So," I said, clearing my throat and hopefully without cracking my voice, "what can I do to fix this?"

"Credit my account for the old bouquet. Send a dozen to Rosanna and a dozen to Rosalie."

"Yellow roses again?"

"Yes."

"Thanking Rosalie for a remarkable evening?"

His jaw clenched slightly. Wow, I really have a knack for getting it to do that. "A remarkable day."

"Charge it to your account as usual?"

He nodded. I wrote everything down and smiled to myself for my keen business sense at the end there. I'd somehow managed to keep the customer satisfied; Alice would be so proud….Oh shit, Alice!

I picked up the phone.

"Alice! Are you there? Alice! It's okay, don't do anything!" I can't believe I had forgotten that she was on the line listening to everything, especially to a very alarmed me yelling out our code word.

"Is there a problem?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow at me once again. It was incredibly sexy, but I had no time to think thoughts like that when there could be sirens and cop cars pulling up at any second. I hung the phone back up.

"Um…." and just then we were interrupted by my best friend and her boyfriend busting through the front door. Alice was in front, with Jasper just a few steps behind her. Jasper looked in my direction to make sure I was safe while Alice's eyes darted back and forth between Edward and I.

"Bella, are you okay?" she said, looking cautiously at Edward as he turned around to face the two of them. "I haven't called the cops yet, but I can do that right now."

"No Alice, everything's alright. Mr. Cullen..."

"Jasper Whitlock? Holy shit! Is that you, man?"

Alice and I glanced back at Jasper, who looked confused for a second, and then

understanding seemed to suddenly hit him.

"Edward? Hell man, it's been years! What's going on?"

Jasper walked forward to shake Edward's hand, while Alice and I just looked at each other in disbelief.

"Hold it just a second here!" Alice said, putting her hands out in front of her as if to stop everything. "Jas, you know this guy?"

"Yeah, actually. We shared a dorm in college – I haven't seen him in years, though. Last I heard, you were practicing law down in San Francisco or somewhere?"

"I came back about six months ago, and I'm still a lawyer," Edward replied, his face friendly again.

"Wow, I had no idea you were back in town." Jasper shook his head at this new information, and smiled. "Anyway, Edward, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Alice."

"Err, hi there," Alice said, a bit warily.

"Hello," Edward beamed back at her.

He glanced my way, perhaps expecting me to be introduced to him as well. I thought about doing it myself for a couple of seconds when nobody else seemed to offer, but then Jasper had resumed talking again and he instead turned back at his old friend.

The two guys started to chat it up about old times presumably, and I motioned sharply with my head for Alice to come over to where I was.

"So you're really okay, Bella?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Sorry for the bit of panic back there. I tried to tell you everything was fine, but you were already on your way, I guess."

"God, I was so worried!"

"I know, Ali, and I do appreciate it. I'm relieved you turned up regardless, and also glad you didn't call the cops. Not sure how I would've explained that one." Sorry officers. I kept poking and poking at this customer who was already pissed off before I started until he went completely ballistic and tried to attack me with...his business card. Yeah, better that I didn't have to try.

"I would have called them if Jasper hadn't been with me, though I still would've come over here myself to defend you. Nobody messes with my Bella."

"Aww, now I feel loved." She really does care about me, I reminded myself.

We hugged, and then Jasper remarked, "So Ed, did Bella get you sorted?"

Edward looked over at me. "Bella?"

Yep, that would be me. I gave a little wave in response, and he smiled.

"Yes, I think she has. There was a little mix up with a previous order I made, but I think it's taken care of now. I can only hope that Emmett gets it right this time."

Before I could react to this, Alice piped in, "Well, Bella can only take the orders and make the arrangements; Emmett has to make sure they get to the right place."

I felt all the blood drain from my face. Horrified, I looked over at him.

"Oh yes, of course. Bella is in charge of the orders." He glowered at me, but with a slight gleam of amusement in his eyes. I had been found out but he didn't seem to be too upset with me, thankfully.

"Anyway Bella, Jasper and I need to get going soon. Have you had dinner yet?"

"No, I'll probably just get a sandwich or something when I get home."

"So, you don't have any plans to go out or anything?" Hmm, what was she up to now?

"No Alice, I don't."

"I haven't had dinner yet, either. Care to join me?"

Holy shit, has Edward Cullen just asked me out on a date? No, no, of course not. He just happened to be hungry at the same time I was and merely suggested that we combined our efforts to locate food, nothing more. That knowledge depressed me.

"Look, you don't have to..." I started to protest.

"Honestly, it'd be a pleasure. Besides, any friend of Jasper's can't be that bad."

Oh great. Now I was back to feeling like "Just Bella" again. I really didn't want a pity meal out of anyone, especially from this fox who seemed to make a habit out of wining, dining, and sending flowers to however many chickens he could get a hold of. Alice seemed to sense my hesitancy, and decided to speak up.

"Oh come on, Bella. You gotta eat, and I'll feel better about leaving you alone again tonight." She looked at me pleadingly. As much as I knew it wouldn't be the best idea, I had a hard time saying no to my best friend.

"Alright, fine. Let me get my things and close up. I'll meet you all out front."

Alice beamed again and gave me a one armed hug, then glided over to where Jasper was. I went to the back and checked that the door was locked, flicked off the lights, grabbed my things and headed out to the front, locking the front door for the second time tonight. I turned around and noticed Edward was outside by himself, standing by a lone silver car at the curb. I looked around for Alice and Jasper.

"They were going to be late for the film, so I told them to go on and I'd look after you," he replied, obviously getting what I was searching for.

"Look after me. Great." It was a condescending thing for him to say, but there was nothing in the way he said it that made me suspect he meant it to be rude. I grimaced anyway, and stood where I was.

"I don't see any other cars; do you park in the back?" He asked after scanning the parking lot with those amazing emerald eyes.

"No, I walk in. My vehicle isn't the most reliable lately, and it's not really that far."

"I see. Well then, your chariot awaits."

He bowed slightly and opened the passenger door for me. I got in and snapped the belt around me. He watched me, as though making sure I did just that. Once he was satisfied, he gave me a sexy crooked smile that made my heart flutter, and then closed the door.

From irate customer to roving predator in the bat of an eye. I knew that this wasn't a date date, but I still had butterflies in my stomach at that moment. This was going to be some night.

Wow, I'm glad to see that many of you have added me to your alerts and seem to like my little story! I'm having a good time with it, and that's made even better when I hear from you guys. Reviews are very inspirational to writing, too. That's all I'm sayin'.

Chapter 4 will be up soon.

Thanks again to Cat for having my back! ;)