A/N: Thanks to all the new story followers - I'm so glad to see people are enjoying this story. Things are about to get pretty 'hot' between Bella and Carlisle in this chapter. Please read & review!

Chapter 7 – Mr. March (cont'd)

Bella could tell by the look in Carlisle's eyes she had him hooked. But with Alice in the room, this was going no further. She couldn't just ask Alice to leave – that would be too obvious. What to do, what to do?

As she wracked her brains, her eyes were drawn again to Carlisle's chocolate-covered body. Let's be honest, that piece of sweet-tasting hotness was hard to ignore. A light bulb clicked on in Bella's brain.

"So, Carlisle… I've got the shot I need. My apartment's just upstairs – you can use the shower before you head off if you want."

"Aww, what? You're not going to lick me clean?" he pouted. Bella laughed; the humour was restored to the situation.

"Tempting… but I'll pass. I'm cooking Italian tonight – don't want to spoil my appetite." She patted her stomach.

"Okay, that's fair enough. I love Italian food."

"Oh really?" asked Bella, innocently. Thanks Rosalie! "Well, you're more than welcome to stay for a bite after your shower. I'm making pasta arrabbiata - Nonna Isabella's secret recipe…" she added, temptingly. The grandmother she was named for wasn't actually Italian, but Carlisle didn't have to know that.

"Sure, that sounds great – if it's not too much trouble for you."

"Not at all. I always make too much anyway. Alice, do you want to join us?" She looked at her friend with her best 'don't-even-think-about-saying-yes' face.

"Oh, I'd love to, Bells, but I have, uh, another make-up job to go to, remember?" Bella cringed – Alice was such a terrible liar. Luckily, Carlisle didn't seem to notice. Either that or he was just glad of the lie…

"Right, yeah. I remember you saying now. That's a shame."

"Sorry," Alice shrugged. "Hey, why don't you take Carlisle upstairs to get cleaned up and I'll lock up down here?"

"Thanks Alice, you're a star," said Bella, fishing the studio keys out of her pocket and throwing them over to her friend. "Okay, Chocolate Boy – grab your robe and I'll show you upstairs."

"Yes ma'am," Carlisle did a mock salute and jumped up to fetch his robe, giving Bella and Alice the perfect view of his tight butt as he did so.

"Mmm-mmm," said Alice, under her breath. "That is some hot chocolate, right there."

oOo

Bella smiled to herself as she chopped up the red chillies for her arrabbiata sauce. Right now, there was a hot, naked male model washing himself in her shower – and there was zero chance of Cock-blocker Cullen interrupting them. She could feel herself getting aroused at the thought of what was to come. After two close encounters, she felt tightly wound like a coiled spring. She was getting desperate for some real action.

She'd been tempted to offer to scrub Carlisle's back. Following their heated moment in the studio, Bella had an inkling he wouldn't protest. But she lost her nerve at the last minute and set about preparing dinner instead. There was no rush. They had all evening… and all night.

Suddenly, the phone rang, interrupting Bella's line of thought. She put down the chopping knife, wiped her hands on a dish cloth and picked up the cordless phone. "Hello?"

"Is it true he's in your apartment?" It was Rosalie.

"Wow, good news travels fast," laughed Bella. "Alice has such a big mouth. Anyway, if you know he's here, why are you calling? You could have been interrupting something."

"Alice told me you were cooking dinner. I figured I'd have time to give you a quick good luck call."

"A text message would have sufficed, Rose." Bella could see a blond figure approaching from the corner of her eye. For a split second, she thought it was Mike. She shook her head to dispel the vision. Who am I kidding? she thought. Mike never looked that good in a bath towel.

"Er, look Rose, I've gotta go. I'll call you later, okay?" Bella pressed the hang up button on the phone as Rosalie was midway through wishing her good luck. She turned to her guest and flashed a smile. "Good shower?" Carlisle's wet hair was slicked back and he was wrapped in one of her pink bath towels.

"Yes, thank you. I'm not sure pink is my colour, though. What do you think?" He did a little twirl, giving Bella a 360-degree view of his gorgeous physique.

"Oh, you are workin' it, girlfriend," Bella joked. "So what, you had so much fun on the photo shoot that you didn't want to get dressed again?"

"Yeah, I'm considering converting to naturism," he deadpanned. "Actually, I just left my clothes downstairs in the studio."

"Wait here, I'll run down and get them for you." And the award for The Sentence I Should Not Have Said Today goes to…

"It's all right, don't bother. I can see you're in the middle of cooking. And besides…" he paused, taking a step closer towards Bella. "I kind of like being naked around you."

Bella froze. She felt like she was at the top of a rollercoaster ride, about to fly down the steep drop. This was it. It was really happening.

Carlisle moved closer still, reached his hands out to slip around Bella's small waist and pull her towards him. He bent his head down and lightly placed his lips upon hers, tentatively giving her a butterfly-soft kiss, as if to see how she would react.

She responded by kissing him back more passionately, parting her lips to allow his tongue to dance with hers. It felt so good. After years with Mike, their once ardent kisses had deteriorated to perfunctory pecks on the lips. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt something as luxurious and sensual as someone else's tongue in her mouth.

Bella moaned and slid her hands around Carlisle's waist, immediately moving them down to his bath towel-clad butt and squeezing hard. She pulled him closer and could feel his excitement pressing against her, begging for attention. Suddenly, she felt the material loosen under her fingers – Carlisle had untied the towel at the front. Bella let go her grip and the bath sheet dropped to the kitchen floor. She hungrily replaced her hands on the smooth, bare skin of Carlisle's ass, sliding them round his narrow hips to feel the hardness that had been nudging into her so insistently.

Carlisle groaned into Bella's mouth as she began to stroke and pull. His own hands moved to the buttons of her shirt, which he started to swiftly undo, pausing to cup and squeeze the swell of her breast as he did so.

Suddenly, he stopped what he was doing and broke away from the kiss. Bella opened her eyes and saw Carlisle's eyebrows drawn together in a look of concern. "What- what's wrong?" she asked, letting him go.

"I- I don't know. It feels… hot. Like, really hot." Bella noticed Carlisle's face was starting to turn a strange shade of red. He looked down and she followed his gaze, to where his hands were cupped protectively over his junk. "Holy shit, it's burning! Bella, what the hell have you done to me?"

"I- I- Nothing!" What on earth was happening? She looked around the kitchen in horror.

Her eyes landed on the chopping board.

Red chillies.

"Oh my god, Carlisle! I was chopping chillies. I didn't wash my hands. Oh crap, I'm so sorry!"

"Ice! I need ice!" he begged, tears now streaming down his eyes. Bella rushed over to the freezer and pulled out a bag of frozen peas, thrusting them in to Carlisle's hands. He took them gratefully and shoved it over his burning crotch.

"You- you should probably take another shower to try and wash it off. Oh Carlisle, I cannot tell you how sorry I am!" Carlisle nodded and limped off, crablike, to the bathroom, stopping to scoop up his discarded bath towel on the way.

"I give up," said Bella to herself, when Carlisle was out of earshot. "I totally give up."

She picked up her spare set of keys to the studio and headed downstairs to fetch Carlisle's clothes. Talk about a recipe for disaster.

A/N: Poor Bella! (Or should that be 'poor Carlisle'!) Is this girl ever gonna get lucky?