When he finally woke up, it was with a start. Edward always made a habit of setting his alarm clock and adhered to a strict sleeping schedule because of the shifts he pulled down at the fire station but today, he had woken up naturally. He sat up, noticed the rumpled sheets and the faint indentation of the pillow beside him before he remembered what had happened the night before.

But she was gone now. Edward looked around the room with a dismayed frown. Had she freaked out and left? That was his first assumption at least until he swung his legs over the side of the bed and started for the door. He was halfway there when he was hit with the distinct smell of freshly brewed coffee.

Bella.

He yanked the door open and headed straight to the kitchen where, true enough, Bella – still clad in his football jersey – was moving about the kitchen obviously looking for something. She hadn't noticed he was there so he took the opportunity to watch her as she worked and (in particular) admiring the way the hem of his shirt rose up high on her thighs when she bent over to fetch something from the fridge, sending him just the quickest glimpse of the smooth tight curve of her naked ass.

Eventually, Edward cleared his throat. "Good morning." He said huskily, smiling at the way she whirled around in surprise.

Bella had woken before Edward had that morning. At first she hadn't known exactly where she was or who she was with and her body had tensed when she'd felt the stirring arousal of a man pressing into her in his sleep from behind. It had taken her a few moments to remember that Edward had more or less rescued her from the events of last night and had allowed her to stay the night. It was him that she had woken next to.

Not wanting to wake him just yet, Bella had quietly and slowly slipped from his grasp and had padded silently into the kitchen, closing the door behind her. She'd stood in the kitchen for a while wondering on what she was going to do with herself. The events of the previous night were flooding back to her now and she knew that something had to be done. But she couldn't see many options for herself. She had no money to pay back her debt. She had no other job that she could take up that would pay as well as the gig she had at Indulgences. She still had a little over $10,000 to go. Which roughly equated to another three or so weeks at this job. She was so close. If she could just see this out then maybe she'd come out on the other side okay. And it wasn't as though she was alone now. Edward was here. If anything, he was someone she could talk to. But that's all he can be, she reminded herself. Edward couldn't do anything more for her situation than be someone to talk to. And even that was pushing it. The dangers that implicating this on him brought were too great.

She blinked her eyes trying to remove the drowsy feeling she was suffering from a lack of sleep. Checking the time on the microwave she could see it was just a little after ten in the morning. She'd only managed to get five hours of sleep.

"Where's the damn coffee…" She murmured as she began to look around the kitchen. She found it easily enough and went about boiling the jug. Edward had a coffee machine but she wasn't about to start that up in case it woke Edward from his sleep. Also, she had no idea how to use it.

She was peering into the fridge looking for his milk when Edward strolled into the kitchen, clearing his throat and startling Bella. She still wasn't wearing any underwear and knew the view he must have seen. She straightened up the milk in hand, a warm blush heating her cheeks as Edward looked her over.

Since when did Bella get embarrassed by how she looked?

She herself cleared her throat. "Morning…" She offered him a shy smile. "Coffee?"

"Please!" Edward replied and took a seat across from Bella on the island. "Did you sleep well?" He asked.

"Yeah…" Bella felt awkward standing in Edward's kitchen. Tension hung between them. "Um… Thank you. For last night… For everything."

Edward stood up and moved around the kitchen island, his arms reaching out to pull Bella to him in a single move. "You don't have to thank me for that." He pulled away and gave her a smile which she returned.

"Here, let me get that. Why don't you sit down?"

Bella took a seat and for the next thirty minutes watched as Edward made her breakfast. She'd never had breakfast made for her like this and something about it made her ache.

But, she realized with a start, she liked it. She could almost pretend that Edward and she were together… That they had a life together and that this was a regular thing for them.

"Bon appetite." Bella smiled as Edward placed her plate in front of her.

"Sorry, I'm not much of a cook…" He'd made scrambled eggs, tomato and bacon. The eggs were a little runny, the bacon a little too crispy, and the tomato was singed.

Bella laughed and shook her head. "I'm sure it'll taste amazing."

By the time they'd finished the breakfast it was nearly eleven o'clock. Bella thanked Edward again as he walked her to the door and let herself in, slipping out of sight as she closed the door behind her.

He knew that things were messy but at least Bella would have the sense to know that she couldn't go back to Indulgences.

Except that they hadn't really talked about that. They hadn't talked about what they were going to do from here. Edward had offered his money, but Bella had refused. Out of pride? He sighed, weary.

Maybe there was a way of getting the money to her anonymously?

But more importantly, who was this guy that had put Bella in her corner.

If this were a play I would say that would have to be the end of Act One.

Am going to take a short break. No longer than a week though. Promise!

Please review and let me know what you've been thinking of the story so far. Your comments will help me post faster. ;)