We stared into each other's eyes, neither of us saying a word. I heaved a happy sigh and he smiled, pulling me closer. I nuzzled my head into his chest and fell asleep peacefully with Edward's arms around me.

Chapter 7

The next morning, I woke up by myself. My sad eyes scanned the room for any sign of movement or trace of Edward, but the only clothes on the floor were mine. I got an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach. Before I could sulk too much, I heard a knock at my bedroom door. I rushed to pull the cover up over my still naked upper half.

God, my sheets smell like him.

I composed myself as best I could and muttered, "Come in."

Alice pranced in, her usual cheerful self.

"Good morning, Sunshine!"

"Yeah, yeah." I really wasn't in the mood.

"Aw, it can't be that bad. It's Saturday after all, and you get to spend it all with your very bestest friend, me!"

This information perked me up a bit, and I remembered how much I had been missing her lately. "You're right, that is a very good thing."

"Sooo..." She dragged out the "O" a little too long. "What happened with you last night? I was a little unsure about leaving you alone with Edward, but Jasper vouched for him and I got pretty good vibes, so I figured you'd be okay. What'd you all get up to?"

"We went out to eat, as you so subtly arranged for us." She rolled her eyes. "We went to this restaurant, Luigi's, and had pizza."

"And?"

"And some wine."

"And?" She was obviously starting to get impatient, but I wasn't giving in that easily.

"It was red."

"And?"

"We had a nice old chat."

"Come on, Bella! AND?"

I immediately blushed and Alice's jaw dropped.

"Isabella Marie! Am I to infer that after pizza you all came back here for...dessert?"

I gave a weak nod.

She squealed, and ran over and jumped in the bed next to me. The force of her jump nearly made me drop the sheet, but luckily I didn't end up flashing my best friend.

"So? How was it?"

"Well," I tried to figure out how to put it into words. Nothing I could think of seemed to be able to do it justice. "It was...amazing, really. I don't think I can describe it accurately enough."

"Oh honey, I'm so happy for you."

"Yeah," I said. Then my unhappiness hit me again, and I looked down.

Alice noticed my shift in mood. "What's wrong?"

"The whole thing was a bad idea, Alice. I knew his reputation, and I never should have let it get that far. I debated all this in my head last night, but I just let my...lower half get the better of me. I feel so stupid right now."

"Bella, you are not stupid. You let your emotions win out over your head for once in your life. As long as you were safe about it..." I nodded and she went on, "then what's so wrong with that?"

I heaved a sigh.

"What do you mean you knew his reputation?"

"He orders flowers a few times a month, all for different women. He was angry in the store because I had sent roses to the wrong Rose. The same Rose he had just come from being with, I suspect, and then I basically fell into his lap right after that."

"Roses to the wrong Rose? You're losing me."

"The point being, he's obviously some kind of ladies man. I didn't even get to give him my number, yet I have his. Isn't that how they work, letting the women come to them instead of vice versa?"

"You don't know that, Bella. The flowers could all be work-related, or going to members of his family or something."

"Always yellow roses and always thanking them for a remarkable evening?"

"Hm," she replied. "Jasper didn't say anything about him being such a manwhore, just that he was always trying to prove himself at his job and worked really hard. But he hasn't known him for a few years, either..." She trailed off and looked back at my pitiful state. She threw her arms around me in a hug, and I hugged her back, fighting off tears.

"Come on, I'll make some breakfast."

She got up and left me to pout some more in my room. I was mad at myself for letting my hormones get the better of me. I was mad because I knew I was smarter than that. And I was especially angry that I felt so empty this morning. I glanced around the room one more time. Not even a note. Guess that settles that.

I finally crawled out of bed and hopped in the shower, effectively washing the last of Edward Cullen off of my skin. Ah well, it needed to be done. I let the water run down on me until it turned cold, and then turned the shower off. There was a knock at the front door while I was drying off. I knew Alice would get it, whoever it was, so I didn't rush to get ready.

Dressed and with my hair mostly towel dried, I stepped outside of my room into the kitchen. I did feel some better, at least. Alice was scrambling some eggs.

"Who was at the door?" I asked her.

"Delivery man with flowers. For you!" She pointed to our dining room with the hand that wasn't holding a spatula, and smiled at me. "Oh, and I nearly tripped over your shoes on my way to the kitchen this morning. I put them by the front door."

Ah, I must've kicked them off in the hallway when Edward was carrying me to the bedroom. I blushed, muttered "thanks," and walked quickly into the dining room, amazed to find a lovely purple orchid plant waiting for me. I smelled them, and they were heavenly. I ripped the little envelope with my name on it off of its stand and opened it.

Bella,

Please forgive my sudden departure. I was called into work bright and early.

I would've liked nothing more than to stay where I was, but unfortunately I had to go.

Thank you for an incomparable evening. Give me a call.

Yours, Edward

My stomach flipped a little, and I read it over again. And again. Then one more time just for good measure. I was really impressed to get an arrangement that wasn't roses, especially yellow ones. The card was actually a surprise as well, as it was much longer and more personal than any of the ones I had typed out for him in the past. Standing there with it in my hand, I knew I had to have had the goofiest grin on my face.

Alice's head poked around the corner from the kitchen. "Well?"

"I got flowers."

"I can see that, Bella. From who?"

"Edward," I said, looking up at her.

"Not yellow roses either, huh?"

"Nope, not yellow roses."

"Thanking you for a remarkable night?"

"An 'incomparable evening', actually."

"Well, that's definitely a start." She ducked her head back in the kitchen, while I continued to smile like an idiot.

Alice made a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and toast, and we sat at our dining table to eat and talk. My new plant was pushed to the side of the table so that I could see her while we talked, but also still keep an eye on it. I couldn't help looking at it every so often and smiling, which I'm sure was getting on Alice's nerves.

"They really are pretty, Bella."

"I know! And the message on the card was great too, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it sure was."

"When do you think I should call him?"

"Oh, I don't know. Soon to thank him for the flowers at least, but if he's working today, you should maybe wait a while."

"Yeah, I'll call him this evening. You know, just to say thank you."

She smirked at me, then after a few seconds looked lost in thought.

"I can't even remember the last time I got flowers from Jasper," Alice said, scowling a little. "Did these come from Eternally Yours?"

I leaned over to check the little envelope, and they were sent from another florist across town. I wondered briefly if he employed several florists for his serial flower-sending. That thought made me a lot less bubbly.

"No, from In Bloom. And Jasper doesn't need to send you flowers; you have his love and devotion. All I've got are these orchids." It was true, and it sucked.

She shrugged, and we ate the rest of breakfast in silence.

I helped her wash up after, and we talked about our plans for the day. I told her about Emmett's special request, and we decided to go to Molly's tonight to see him and hang out. It had been a couple of weeks since we had been, just the two of us, so I really was looking forward to it. She wanted to go to the mall first, so I told her I would just need to get my shoes and jacket and then I headed to my room.

I didn't know how long we'd be out, as Alice could make shopping an all day chore. She really was in her element at the mall, and could spend hours there just browsing. I was more of a "get and go" kind of shopper, but I had learned to compromise over the years with her. I would only visit the fitting room once, and only with an amount of clothes I could physically carry. She never tried things on, and they always seemed to fit her perfectly. I was never so lucky, so I almost always insisted on trying it on before buying anything. My fitting room rule got her to be a lot more decisive, and got us out of stores in under an hour most of the time. Of course when it came to a mall full of stores, it could still be an all-day thing. I decided to buck up and go ahead and call Edward now, in case I didn't get a chance to later. I grabbed my cell phone, fished his business card out of my jeans pocket from the floor, and dialed his office line.

"Edward Cullen."

I was half surprised when he answered, though I figured his secretary probably had the weekend off. He must be there working at the office by himself. God, I hope he's alone.

"Edward, hi. I just thought I'd call and say thanks for the flowers. I sort of expected it, to be honest, but they're very nice."

"No problem," he said. I thought he sounded a little off, like that noncommittal voice people use when they're trying to figure out who they're talking to. Or maybe he was just really busy and I was being paranoid.

"I didn't mean to disturb you. I can let you go."

"I'm sorry, I'm just really swamped right now with this case I'm working on. Can I give you a call back later on or tomorrow?"

"Sure Edward, that'll be fine."

"Alright. Speak to you soon, Bella."

"Bye." He did know who I was! My inner cheerleader got so worked up about this that I completely forgot that he didn't have my phone number. Shit!

"Bella, get your ass in gear! I want to get there before all the good stuff is gone!" Alice yelled from the hallway.

I hurriedly grabbed my shoes, purse and jacket and booked it to the front door, making a mental note to call Edward later when I got the chance.

Eight grueling hours later, we finally made it back home. Alice had been in rare form, and we ended up hitting two malls instead of one. She was in search of a top for this skirt she bought recently, and our usual spots were coming up empty. We ended up driving some more after we left there and she located one in an outlet mall out of town. And then she had to accessorize it, buy shoes, and so on. I felt like I had just walked a marathon, and I had never been so happy to see our house before. After helping her lug in her purchases, and my two smaller bags, we both flopped down on the couch. It was around 6:30 p.m., and we decided to head out around 8:30 for Emmett's club.

"Why don't you go lay down for awhile, Bella, and I'll come wake you up in about an hour and we'll get ready?"

I mumbled, "Okay," and shuffled off to my bedroom. I fell down on my bed and was passed out in a matter of seconds.

A/N: Tweaked this on 1/22/13.

I think some of you imagined that Bella would be waking up alone, but try not to go hating on Edward for that just yet - she's not, after all.

Next chapter is in beta, so should be out in the next couple of days hopefully. Thanks to Cat!

Thanks to you guys for reviewing. I love your theories and especially your feedback - it's a great motivator! :)