Disclaimer: We don't own Twilight, but we do have a few tattoos...and there might even be a Twilight one in the mix somewhere.

Removed - Chapter 9

EPOV

After buying my coffee, I find a somewhat secluded table and wait for Bella to arrive. My knee is shaking nervously and my hands are making continuous trips down my pants legs, leaving a trail of sweat as they go, while I watch the front door.

My breath hitches as she crosses the threshold, wind-blown hair whipping around her neck and shoulders, eyes searching for me. She's so beautiful. She smiles and waves when she sees me walking toward her, but she turns me down when I offer to buy her coffee. Even though she claims that she should've bought my coffee since meeting here was her idea, I can't help but think she's distancing herself from me, so I relent and shuffle back to our table.

Moments later, Bella's sitting across from me at our two-seater table, her hands wrapped around her extra-large mug.

Stop watching her blow on her drink to cool it off, perv!

The awkward silence is killing me so I start with some small talk.

"So, how've you been?"

"Fine."

Super.

"Look, Bella, I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but wasn't there something you wanted to talk to me about?"

She gently sets her mug down, keeping her eyes downcast for a few seconds before finally looking up at me.

"I wanted to apologize for my behavior the other night."

Now, I'm confused. "Apologize for what? I'm the one who kissed you."

"I'm not sorry about the kiss, Edward, I'm sorry about running away."

Well, that's better than what I was expecting.

"I'm also sorry that it can't happen again."

Wait. What?

"I really liked the kiss," she says shyly before sipping her coffee, "but I can't go out with you if you're my patient."

"Oh, it's against office policy to date a patient?"

"It's considered unethical by the American Medical Association," she says, a small apologetic smile creeping up on her lips. "But it's also against my personal policy to date a patient."

"Can you elaborate on that?"

"A few years ago, I had a practice with my then-husband, Tyler. I thought everything was great; our marriage seemed solid and our practice was very successful. We were always together, but I ended up not being enough for him. I caught him having sex with a patient in one of our exam rooms. Turns out, he was sleeping with many of our patients."

"Oh, my God, Bella. That's horrible. I'm so sorry that happened to you." I tentatively stretch out my arm and rub the top of her hand with my fingers. "Don't ever think you weren't enough for him, though. He was the asshole!"

She smiles as she watches my fingers moving across her skin. "I know he was, but I was devastated when it happened. I immediately called my lawyer and moved out of our apartment. I sued for ownership of our business and won before I opened my current office. I also reported him to the A.M.A. for unethical behavior, which resulted in the loss of his license to practice medicine."

"I'm proud of you for standing up for yourself and making him own up to his mistakes."

"Yeah, I turned an awful situation into something positive, but it still took a long time for my heart to heal. Kinda like someone else I know," she softly speaks, before winking at me. "It was quite the scandal within our little medical community and it took a couple of years before people stopped associating Tyler's actions with me, even after I reverted back to my maiden name. That's why I don't date patients. I've worked too hard to have my career ruined now."

I open my mouth to respond but keep quiet when I see the fire in her eyes.

"I'm not saying that you'd cause trouble for me," she continues. "I'm saying that I'm just not willing to risk it."

"Bella, I'm not going to lie to you. I really like you and I'd love to see if there is something more between us, but I don't want to put you in a compromising position."

Well, I do, but not that kind of compromising position. Seriously, it's like my brain hasn't matured since I was sixteen.

"I really like you, too, Edward, but I don't expect you to wait for me."

"I only have a few sessions left until my tat's gone, right? Can we go out together after that?" I probably sound like I'm begging, but I really don't care right now.

A smile slowly covers her face and it's the first time she's looked genuinely happy since she arrived.

"I don't think that would be a problem at all."

Letting out a deep breath, I chuckle before saying, "Okay, then. Three more sessions with three weeks in between means we can have our first date in just over two months." Fuck, that sounds like torture to me and I can tell by the sadness clouding Bella's eyes, she doesn't like it either. But I don't want her to compromise herself for me; she's worth the wait.

"Let's just think of the next two months as being foreplay—really long and painful foreplay," I tease.

She laughs like I hoped she would and we soon fall into a relaxed and comfortable conversation. We both share stories about our childhoods, mine always include Emmett and Jasper, while hers mostly consist of her dad and best friend, Angela. When I ask if she has any tattoos, she blushes and tries to play coy, so I admit to seeing that brief flash of ink on her neck during my first appointment with her. Her blush deepens immensely but her eyes are playful when she says that I might find out in two months.

This fucking foreplay very well may be the death of me!

A/Ns:

We all love some good foreplay, right? Right? ;)

Don't forget, we'll be back tomorrow . . . same time, same channel!

Thank you SO so much for reading and for all of the awesome reviews you guys leave us!

As always, a big thanks to our rockstar beta, Mauigirl60!