A/N: Soooooooooooo. Hope everyone's weekend is going okay.

Her tighter clothes were getting snug. Bella frowned at herself in the mirror, turning this way and that, examining her body.

There were women who loved pregnancy. Bella had never understood those women. There were no positives to pregnancy except the outcome. Some people liked the idea of a baby moving inside them. As far as she could tell, Bella wasn't one of those people. The idea creeped her out a little. Who knew? She supposed she'd have to see.

Regardless, as of now, she really wasn't a fan of the condition. Her body was becoming a stranger to her. Weaker and more sickly.

Thicker.

Bella frowned in the mirror and rolled her eyes at her reflection. She was far too aware of her looks these days. It went with the territory, seeing as she had to be on camera all the time. She was having to be careful about her wardrobe already, and it was still early.

Worrying about how she looked for work was acceptable to her. What she really shouldn't be concerned about was this little get together with Edward. It wasn't a date, she reminded herself. She absolutely shouldn't care about how her ass looked in these jeans or whether she should wear her hair up or down.

She'd liked it, a lot, when he snaked his hand into her hair, done up for the wedding, and sent it tumbling down her back. She still remembered the thrill of anticipation, how she felt wild and starved for his touch.

The kid...man...confused the hell out of her. Part of her couldn't quite take him seriously because he was so young. It was one of those ironic facts of life. When you were in your early twenties, you think you know everything. As you get older, you realize early-twenties you was a jackass. But, she also remembered how annoying she'd found condescending thirty-somethings when she was his age.

On the other hand, there was the part of him that had drawn her to him in the first place. The musician who oozed sex appeal—careless hair and that smirk that had been her undoing. She was attracted to him. There was no getting around that. She wanted him to be attracted to her.

She supposed she could be forgiven for feeling ever so slightly self-conscious about being nearly thirty-seven years old and accidentally knocked up when facing down a sexy twenty-something in his prime. And one who'd flat out told her he wanted to have sex again. She'd been serious when she told him she didn't think it was a good idea, but, well, she couldn't help that she knew for a fact he could play her body as skillfully as he played his guitar.

"Get over yourself," she instructed her reflection. This whole thing had her more out of sorts than she was used to being. Planning her life had always been a strong point. Now, she felt like she was living her life from one hour to the next.

Well, at least this next hour included a meal.

~0~

This wasn't a good idea.

When they'd talked a few days before, trying to decide where to meet up, the conversation had somehow gotten around to how she felt calm when she drove out to the lake. It was a nice set up—cute shops, restaurants, and other eateries.

Now, it seemed like this place would set the wrong mood. For one thing, it was a perfect day. Clear blue skies. A breeze ruffled her hair as she got out of her car. It was just breezy enough to cool off the late summer day. Even from a distance she could hear the lull of the waves on the beach.

Yeah. Romantic.

This was a bad idea.

She looked around as she started for the walk above the shoreline. She hadn't gotten very far when she spotted Edward leaning halfway into a Volvo of all things. Her step faltered.

Well. Someone had paid special attention to how good his ass looked in jeans. They were black. And painted on. He straightened up. Jesus, he had nice lines. His arms and shoulders had definition that pleased her eyes, especially in that black shirt. He stretched, his back to her, and ran a hand through his already-tousled hair.

"Okay, hormones, sit down." Bella shook her head at herself and walked forward to face the music.

As it happened, Edward didn't turn around until she was almost to him. When he did and saw her, she could swear some of the blood drained from his face. It only took him a split second to recover, though. He grinned, and his voice was smooth when he greeted her. "Hey, Bella." He hesitated a beat but then reached a hand out to take hers. He pulled her to him for a sweet hug, releasing her quickly. "How are you feeling?"

"Today is a good day. I might actually be able to eat dinner."

"That's a good thing."

"So, I didn't picture you in a Volvo," Bella said, teasing a bit as they walked toward the shoreline. "Isn't the bad boy musician image supposed to come with a motorcycle?"

He snickered. "How does that work? A guitar is about the smallest instrument for most non-classical musicians. It'd be hard to ride a motorcycle with a guitar strapped to your back."

"That's true."

"But the Volvo isn't mine. It's my mom's."

That raised a whole slew of questions again. If he and his mother shared a car, did he live with his parents?

Luckily, Edward continued without her having to think of a delicate way to proceed. "I had to sell my car." He sounded wistful. "Which sucks. It was a sweet thing. Fast. Lots of power."

"Spoken like a man who's had a speeding ticket."

"Ah, yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm good at that."

"Is that why you had to sell your car? To pay off all your tickets?"

"And then some." He shrugged. "What you said before? The bad boy thing? I guess I took that too far for a little while. I got into some trouble. My parents ran up a lot of debt to keep me out of jail. Selling the car didn't even put a dent in what I owe them."

For the second time in just a few minutes, Bella had so many questions.

"That sounds bad." Edward stopped short, turning to look at her. "I don't want you to think I'm dangerous. It wasn't like that. No one got hurt. I'm not ashamed to say a couple of days in jail set me straight. I work hard now. I'm figuring out my life."

Bella held her hands up. "You don't need to justify yourself to me."

"I kind of do, don't I? I wouldn't want to be around some kind of violent freak." He paused a beat. "I wouldn't want my kid to be around that."

"How do you know I'm not a violent freak?"

His lips did a weird crinkling motion as he tried to process that, and he waggled his eyebrows at her. "I guess I don't. But at least we know neither of us went to jail for being violent assholes, right?"

"Hey, everyone has to start somewhere."

They walked along for a few moments in a mostly easy silence before Edward laughed. "I was just thinking. It's funny to have a first date after—Well. Everything." Edward flashed her a grin.

He really did have the best smile. "I don't want to be a dick about this, but I just want to make sure we're on the same page." She glanced at him. "This isn't a date date. You know?"

He shoved his hands in his jeans pockets as they walked. "I know that."

"Neither of us were looking for a date that day."

His smirk came back. "That's true. It doesn't mean I wasn't looking for a date the next day though." He considered her. "Really? You never even thought about it? I was easy to walk away from?"

"Ha." Now it was her turn to grin at him. "Let me set the scene for you. I was getting ready to go—had somewhere to be—and there you were, fast asleep, bare-ass up." She tilted her head skyward. "You do have a nice ass."

"That's good information to have." He walked with the slightest bit of a strut, and Bella laughed. "I was a fan of your ass too."

"I remember." There had been little nips. The memory made her flush.

"So, after seeing me ass up, you did want to see me again."

"I didn't really think about it," Bella said. "I wasn't going to wake you up before I left. It's not that I don't date or that I'm against it. It's just never been a priority. And when I do date, it's usually someone who's known me for a while. I had a thing going with one of my first camera guys a few years back."

"Your camera guy?"

Bella went to the edge of the boardwalk, folding her arms over the railing and looking out over the water. "I guess we haven't talked about what I do for a living. I'm a field reporter for the news. You know. 'We're going to our reporter, Bella, who's on the scene with…'"

"You're on TV? I guess it's a good thing the only hickey I gave you was on your ass."

Bella burst out laughing at that. Edward grinned, but was quickly distracted by the clanging bell of the boat that did one hour cruises around the lake. He nodded his head in the direction of the dock. "Come on. I got us tickets for the sunset cruise."

"You already got the tickets?"

"I can get a refund if you want." He didn't sound remotely abashed. "But come on. You're just going to look at the lake? I mean, my preference is jet skiing, but I'm pretty sure that's a no-go for preggos."

Bella crossed her arms over her chest but took a few steps forward. "Are you trying to seduce me?"

"No. I'm trying to charm you." He fell into step beside her. "That's okay, right? Would it be so bad to find me charming?" He made a wide-eyed expression with a sweet, little-boy smile.

"Aw." She pinched his cheek. "Okay. We'll go. I haven't thrown up at all today. We should go find out if seasickness is yet another charming symptom of pregnancy."

Some minutes later, Bella stood at the railing of the boat, watching the ripples of the water as the boat moved. She felt a warm hand on her back.

"Are you okay?" Edward asked. "I thought you were kidding about seasickness."

Raising her head, Bella found him startlingly close. Her body thrilled with anticipation, as though she were expecting him to put his arm around her.

"I was kidding. At least, I hope I'm kidding. I was just looking at the water."

He set a ginger ale in front of her. "Just in case."

"Thanks."

"Mmhmm." Edward stuck his hand out, and Bella wondered if he was imagining what it would feel like to trail his fingers through the smooth, cold water. She'd always loved that feeling—the pressure the water made against her skin even as she cut through it so easily.

"So, what happened with you and the cameraman?" Edward asked, startling Bella out of her serene moment.

She cocked her head, her lips pursed. "Really?" she asked, amused. "That's what you want to talk about? Romantic history?"

"Hell no. I wasn't thinking about it like that. It was just a question." His lips turned briefly down as he looked out over the water. "If you told me yours, I'd have to tell you mine."

Bella had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. He was way too young to have that look on his face—like he'd had a lot of bad experiences. "You've seen some shit in your day, huh?" she asked, unable to help teasing him. Then, she considered a moment. "Does it have something to do with your legal troubles?"

His eyes darted to hers and his cheeks pinked. His voice was gruff when he answered. "How did you know that?"

She put a hand to his shoulder. "I'm a reporter. It's my job to read between the lines." She was curious, but Edward had said it was nothing violent, so probably nothing he'd done to the person. And, it gave some credence to the world-wary look that crossed over his face. She searched for a subject change instead. "So...what's your favorite color?"

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but then he laughed, ducking his head. When he looked at her again, his easy smile was back. "Really?" He turned, angling his body so his arm was propped on the railing and he was facing her. "That's like, one step above talking about the weather."

"Well, what would you rather talk about?"

She regretted the question instantly. His eyes darkened, sparked with flecks of mischief, and he glanced down at her lips ever so briefly before he looked back at her. "Truth?"

Though she knew it was a bad idea, she nodded anyway. Her heart had inexplicably picked up a too-quick rhythm.

Edward shifted again, somehow swallowing more of the already-limited space between them. "I want to talk about how much I want to kiss you."

Bella exhaled in a gust. It would be so easy. If she just leaned forward and tilted her head up. "That's not a good topic of conversation," she murmured.

His eyes traced over her features, and his tone was more curious than anything when he spoke again. "Why is it a bad thing that I want to kiss you?"

Because it makes me dizzy and stupid. Bella blinked sporadically and looked out at the water, wondering, not for the first time, why this guy made her so giddy sometimes. She studied her hands. "Look, kissing, all the physical stuff, it's nice. Obviously. But it gets in the way. It's too easy to do all that. We're supposed to be figuring each other out. We're supposed to be in it for the long haul, you know? Figuring out all the stuff that isn't kissing?"

"Because there's no kissing in the long haul," he said, not asking. "Why can't we do both?"

A flash of irritation went through her. She turned, leaning her back against the railing and crossing her arms over her chest. "Don't you know how to take no for an answer?"

He held his hands up in a placating gesture. "Hey, I'm over here. I haven't even touched you." His smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Not saying I don't want to—obviously—but I did take no for an answer."

"That's a fair point," Bella said, calming.

An uncertain look came over his face, and he rubbed the back of his neck. His cheeks went pink and he shifted as though he were nervous. "It's just...shouldn't we at least be thinking about it?"

It took Bella a minute to parse what he was really asking. "Do you think we should be together just because we're going to have a baby together?"

His cheeks went bright red at that. "Some people would say that's the right thing to do."

She opened her mouth, closed it, and then laughed somewhat maniacally. She ran her hands over her face. "I'm sorry. It's not that I'm not taking you seriously. Just...trust me. I know first hand what happens when you get married just because you got pregnant. My parents' marriage lasted less than a year."

"My parents got married when they got pregnant with my brother. They're still together."

"That's really great," Bella said gently. "I don't know their circumstances, but ours are that we barely know each other. Maybe I'm being too rational about it, but I can't go into a relationship based just on the fact I'm attracted to someone, and I think he's a talented musician."

He nodded, his posture easing somewhat. "That makes sense. I'm just saying we could have both. When you go on a date, if it goes well, you kiss on the first date, don't you? While you're still getting to know each other? I don't see why it has to be different."

Relentless, this guy. "It's bad timing, though. Let's just put aside we can't just date—because dating can end at any time, and we're going to have to figure out how to get along for the rest of our lives. The pregnancy aside, it's not a good idea. If everything goes the way I want it to, I'm going to be moving in a few months, maybe. Hopefully."

At first, he stared at her without comprehension. "Wait. What?"

"My boss just told me they're considering me for an anchor position at a different station."

"Like...in another city?"

"No." She couldn't read his face at all. "In another state."

Edward balked. "Wait. I don't… I mean, you can't… You can't do that."

Taken aback by the words and the anger in his tone, Bella took a step away from him. "Excuse me?"

"How could you even think of doing that?"

"How can I think of taking a better position?"

"Fuck the position."

Edward's raised voice caught the attention of the other cruisers. Luckily, they were docking again. Bella walked away from him quickly. She fumed as she got to the line well ahead of him.

It didn't take him much to catch up with her, and she was ready when he did. "Do you want to try that again? This time without telling me what I can and can't do with my life?"

"It's not your life."

Bella stopped short and glared. He was glaring right back. "You can't leave the state with my kid."

"Hey, ace. I don't know if you noticed, but the kid is currently lodged inside me. I leave the state, it comes with. And the fact you think you have anything to say about that is slightly psychotic. There's my life and there's your life. Get that through your head right now, or we're going to have a problem."

His eyes blazed. "You think we're not going to have a problem if you take my kid out of state?"

A chill went down her spine. "Are you threatening me?"

"Don't start drama. That's not what I meant. I'm just saying if you think you can do whatever the hell you want—"

"I'm done with this conversation." Bella spun on her heel, storming away. Edward called after her, but didn't follow her.

She shuddered as she locked herself in her car. So much for getting through a whole day without feeling like she was going to throw up.

A/N: I'm guessing the next chapter of this is going to speak to me pretty quickly, but my mojo has been conspicuously absent of late. Reviews feed mojo. I'm just saying.