Chapter 3 – Mr. February

"You let him go? But Bella it sounds like it was a sure thing!" Rosalie was every bit as disappointed as expected. Bella could picture her on the other end of the phone, twisting her long blonde hair in frustration.

"Rose, I tried, I promise! But I was totally cock-blocked by Esme's nephew. I can't believe you didn't tell me he'd be tagging along!"

"Bells, I'm so sorry. It was all very last minute. I just didn't get the chance to let you know." Bella wasn't sure she believed her friend. It would be just like Rosalie to fail to mention something like this, for fear of Bella pulling out of the dare. "You're not going to give up now, are you? Think of this as a dry run. From what I hear from Alice you definitely made a good impression."

Bella sighed and smiled to herself. "Yeah, you're right. I did a pretty good job. Who knew I could be such a minx?"

"That's my girl!" squealed Rosalie. "Now, let me give you the skinny on Mr. February…"

Rose's description of Mr. February – real name Riley Biers - had been accurate down to the last detail. His portfolio picture did not do him justice and he was an absolute sweetheart. He warmly greeted Bella, Alice and Edward as he arrived at the studio, presenting them all with the fresh muffins he'd brought. "How sweet!" proclaimed Alice.

Sweet was right. Bella felt a moment of guilt at what she had in store for him. Riley had an air of innocence about him and if all went to plan, she felt like she might be corrupting him. She shook away the thought as often as it came to her. Don't be ridiculous, Bella. Just because he's a nice guy doesn't make him a virgin sacrifice. He's probably had more lovers than you.

Once again, Rose had dug up everything Bella needed to know for Operation Seduction. Riley's turn-ons were long, freshly shampooed hair (check – Bella was sure to flip her hair in his direction at every opportunity), girls who were into alternative therapies (check – Alice had thoughtfully dotted some aromatherapy candles around the studio), and lingerie (check – Bella was saving that one for later). Bella was determined to get it right this time. And she even had a plan for getting rid of Cock-blocker Cullen.

Bella looked over to Edward, where he was busy looking through her collection of lenses. Alice had already made herself scarce. Now was her chance. She sauntered over to Riley in what she hoped was a sexy way and said in a low voice, "So Riley, Rosalie mentioned to me that you're a part-time masseur."

"Yeah, that's right. It helps pays the bills when the modeling work is running low." He smiled a gorgeous grin.

"Oh that's great, because… um… my back has been killing me lately. All that time spent hunched over the camera, I guess." Bella stretched as if to emphasise her point, letting her loose tank top ride up to reveal a strip of creamy skin. "I was wondering," she glanced over at Edward again, checking he was still engrossed in his task, "is there any chance you could stay back after the shoot and give me a quick massage? I'll pay you, of course."

"Sure, it'd be my pleasure. Come here, let me feel how tense you are." Riley moved round behind Bella and put his hands on her shoulders, slipping his fingers underneath the thin straps of her top. She shivered involuntarily at his cool touch. He gently kneaded around her neck and the top of her back, an inviting taster of what was to come later. A teaser trailer for the main event. "Hmm, I can certainly feel a few knots here," he diagnosed. "Don't worry, I'll have you fixed in no time."

"Great, looking forward to it," said Bella, with a coy smile. She realised she was fluttering her eyelids at him and stopped immediately. Jeez, did she really just do that?

Plan in place, Bella went about setting up the shoot. Unlike Emmett, Riley seemed more self-conscious about stripping off and left it to the last moment to drop his robe. Bella politely averted her eyes, as tempting as it was to check him out. She would have plenty of time to look at him through her camera lens and she didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable.

The February shoot was themed around Valentine's Day. How original, thought Bella. But Rosalie had been quite insistent that this is what the readers of Eclipse magazine would expect. She'd taken her inspiration from American Beauty, and Riley was now getting himself comfortable on a low bed covered in rose petals, with Bella's camera fixed above him on a scaffold and a single red rose clutched in his hand.

"Edward," Bella called over. "Can you please scatter some more rose petals over Riley? Make sure he's, um, covered up." She smiled smugly to herself. Any straight guy she knew would freak if they were asked to decorate another man's private parts with rose petals. If this didn't make Edward quit, she didn't know what would. Bella – 1, Cullen – Nil.

"Sure, no problem."

What?!

She looked on in mild horror as Edward casually picked up the bucket of roses and walked over to the bed, totally unfazed by her request. He artfully littered a few of the petals over Riley's body, and even joked to the model, "So how was your day at the office, dear?" Both guys laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation. Bella inwardly fumed.

"Er, do you want to do the honours, dude?" Edward asked, pausing when he'd scattered the petals as far down as Riley's nether regions. Being careful not to disturb Edward's work so far, the model reached into the bucket and grabbed a big handful of petals, before trying to bunch them up into a kind of floral jockstrap. "I think this is probably works better on female models," Riley laughed.

"Here, this should do it," said Edward, dumping the whole contents of the bucket onto Riley's lap. "Bella, does this look okay?" Bella wandered over to see what a hash the guys had made of it, but actually they'd done a pretty good job. Under the guise of inspecting their work, she let her eyes wander over Riley's body. He was slimmer than the muscle-bound Emmett, but nicely toned, with his hip muscles forming a deep V down to the pile of rose petals. Bella felt the urge to follow the lines of the V with her tongue… She flushed, and parked the thought. Work now, play later.

Like Emmett, Riley got the shot pretty fast. There was a sweetness about his warm brown eyes and wide smile that made the picture feel romantic as well as sexy. The perfect combination for Valentine's Day. Bella knew she should be feeling nostalgic about the numerous V-Days she had spent with Mike – but she couldn't. As much as she tried to remember some of the romantic things he had done for her, all she could recall was the tacky greetings cards he used to buy her. It's meant to be ironic, he would say, Valentine's Day is such a Hallmark occasion. It's not actually supposed to be romantic, you know. Bella felt a twinge of sadness at the memory.

Edward hovered around watching her work, but she didn't mind, even if his multitude of questions were pretty annoying. She had her 'date' planned with Riley for after the shoot, so there was plenty of time to get rid of Cullen before then.

"OK, we're done," announced Bella, taking the last frame. "Amazing job, Riley, that was perfect." He nodded a 'thanks' as he jumped off the bed, spilling rose petals everywhere and quickly pulled on his robe. "Edward, you're done, too. You can head off home now."

Edward looked puzzled. "Don't you want me to stay and clean up?" he asked, gesturing to the rose petals covering the studio floor. "I thought that kind of menial work was in my job description." He laughed at his own joke.

"No, it's fine, I've got this. You've done enough for today," said Bella, firmly. Edward shrugged and began to pack up his things. After what felt like an eternity, he closed the door behind him. Bella let out a sigh of relief. Now it was time for the real work to begin.