Author Note: Thanks for the great response to the last chapter! Edward's blue pants were inspired by a photo on the BDE Contest's Tumblr.

Teasers for guessing the chapter title from .38 Special went to: OWT, sherylb, orion03981, Icequeen13082006, tawelephant, Midnight Cougar, Lady Moon Shadows, astonmartin823, and EdwardsFirstKiss. Seems like there was a lot of Googling of Southern rock bands!

Thanks again to moosals for pre-reading. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

Chapter 10 – Second Chance

Finding the floor where the English professors each keep an office, I look around for the door with CULLEN on the nameplate, but I can't seem to find it anywhere. And then I realize he's probably just borrowing Dr. Maltby's office.

I knock on the door once I find it, holding my breath while I wait for Edward to open the door. When it swings open, he stares at me in shock.

"Bella," he finally nods. "What can I do for you?"

He takes a step backward and I walk through the door, waiting for him to close it.

"Why did you wear the pants today?" I ask with a growl.

He looks down, shrugging. "Honestly, I just grabbed the next available pair and didn't pay any attention to them."

I narrow my eyes, trying to figure out if he's being sincere, but I don't think he's ever deliberately lied to me before.

"I'm still mad at you."

"Ok," he says slowly.

Before I can truly analyze what I'm doing, I pounce, standing on my tiptoes as I grab the back of his neck, pulling his lips toward mine. He's only startled for a moment before I feel his lips moving and his hands trailing down from my waist to grasp my backside.

Our kiss is hungry, the end result of 11 months of pent-up passion. His lips seem to be trying to devour me as he lifts me off the ground and shoves my back up against the wall. I can feel my favorite extra-large appendage right where I so need him. Our tongues tangle together as we get reacquainted with each other.

Suddenly we're moving again, and Edward sits with a plop in his office chair. I'm straddling his lap, rubbing myself over his erection as we continue to kiss. Thank god I'm just wearing thin leggings and a long shirt today. I can feel all of him beneath me, and it's glorious. One of his hands leaves my ass, coming up to massage my breast as his mouth finally breaks away from mine. He kisses along my jaw, and I eagerly expose my neck, letting him have whatever he wants.

I may go to hell for this someday, but it'll be so worth it. Absolutely nothing could tear me away from him—

Except that knock at the door. Fuck!

We both freeze, pulling ever so slightly back as we stare at each other, wide-eyed.

"Yes?" Edward calls.

"Dr. Cullen, it's Frank. May I speak with you for a moment?" a male voice calls through the door.

Edward hurriedly shoos me off his lap, motioning for me to take a seat in his guest chair. I quickly run my fingers through my hair, trying not to laugh as he reaches down to adjust himself.

"Of course," he replies. "Come in, Dr. Grady."

The door opens and a gray-haired man steps inside, looking surprised for a moment when he notices me seated on the other side of Edward's desk.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he apologizes. "I didn't realize you were with a student."

"It's fine," Edward replies with a small smile. "What can I do for you?"

I tune them out when they start talking about some sort of English department issue. I can barely hear them over the pounding of my heart anyway. I'm just thankful that this Dr. Grady knocked. I don't know exactly who he is, but I get the feeling that we could've been in very big trouble had he opened the door to find me writhing on my professor's lap.

Once the older man has left, I let out a long breath. That was way too close.

"English program chair," Edward clarifies quietly. I was right — big, big trouble if we'd been caught.

He stands up, walking around the desk toward where I'm seated. When he takes my hands, I let him pull me to my feet.

"This can never, ever happen again on or even near campus," he says seriously.

"But… it can happen?" I ask in a small voice. If he's suddenly getting cold feet just when I've decided to hell with it…

"As long as I'm your professor, a romantic relationship is prohibited between us," he explains. "In a little over two months, you'll be out of my class and we'll be free to date, though we'll need to remain discreet."

"So you want to wait until after the semester?"

"No," he sighs. "I don't. It's torture to see you and not be able to touch you. But I'll need to be much more careful than I've been with you so far."

"I don't want to wait either," I admit.

Edward gives me a little smile, stepping closer and putting his hands on my hips. Leaning down, he kisses me softly. "What happened to still being angry with me?" he whispers against my lips.

"I still am, but I want to kiss you more than I want to hit you."

Chuckling, he kisses me again, just as softly as before. I kiss him back and it's more like our first kiss in Lincoln Park last Fall than the hungry make-out session of five minutes ago.

"Bella," he whispers, "tell me why you like these pants."

I giggle, kissing him back just a bit harder to distract him, but he's on to me, and he pulls back, looking me in the eye. "Tell me," he repeats.

I can feel my face flaming, and he looks at me curiously when he notices my blush. "They…"

"They what?"

"They really show off the size of your…"

Edward's eyes widen and he laughs out loud. "Ah! So that's why you look like you want to jump me every time I wear them."

"Stop," I complain, shoving him away from me in embarrassment.

Still laughing, he pulls me closer, taking my hand and putting it right on his dick, which still feels semi-hard. I brush my hand up and down, amazed at the way it seems to grow larger by the second.

"Your hand feels so good," he whispers, kissing me again. "I know we need to take it slower this time, but god, I really can't wait to be inside you again."

"I can't wait to have that monster inside me again either," I mumble, my face heating up even more when I realize what I've said.

"Monster, huh?" he smirks, raising one eyebrow.

"It's huge."

Edward laughs. "Above average maybe, but I'm not that big."

"Sure feels huge to me," I retort, giving him a little squeeze.

"Ok," he says, taking a step back. "As much fun as this is, I have office hours now and someone else could knock on that door at any moment. Are you doing anything tonight?"

"I'm going to Six Flags with some friends," I reply, suddenly not as excited about my plans as I was earlier this morning.

"How about tomorrow? Will you spend the day with me?" he asks.

"Doing what?"

He shrugs. "I'll think of something."

"All right," I agree with a smile.

"Text me your address and I'll pick you up around 11?"

I wrinkle my nose. "I may have deleted you from my Contacts and blocked your number."

"Of course you did," he mutters as I take out my phone to reverse the decision I made in anger last year.

I feel very much like the giddy teenager I am as I get ready for my date with Edward on Saturday morning. I line up all of my clothes on the bed, debating the pros and cons of each one. I know it's ridiculous, I know he already wants me, but I want to remind him of why.

With the temperature expected to be in the mid-80s this afternoon, I settle on a pair of denim cut-off shorts and a cute, flowy top. Not too tight, as I don't want to look like I'm trying too hard.

I may also spend far too long curling the ends of my hair and putting on make-up.

I don't know what Edward has planned for the day, but I'm excited for anything. It's our first real date! I'm not completely over my anger, but I've decided to let it go and just see where things go from here. I'm looking forward to getting to know him better.

"What are you up to today?" Jake asks as I step out of my bedroom. He's leaning over the kitchen counter scarfing down a bowl of cereal. Alice has left already to spend the day with her parents, since it's her mom's birthday.

"I'm… going out," I hedge.

"I can see that," he laughs.

"I have a date," I admit. "A first date. I didn't want to tell Alice and have her picking out china patterns for our wedding."

"She does tend to get a little ahead of herself," he agrees with a smile. "Well, good luck! I hope it works out for you. Do I get to meet him?" he adds, straightening to his full, intimidating height.

"Not this time. I don't need you scaring him away."

Checking the time on my phone, I see it's almost 11, so I wave goodbye to Jake and head outside, walking toward the entrance to our apartment complex. Just to be safe, Edward probably shouldn't pick me up near our unit.

When his car pulls over, I shake my head. He drives a silver Volvo which looks like something more fitting for a man twice his age.

"A Volvo, really?" I question as I buckle my seatbelt.

"They're some of the safest cars on the market," he shrugs, his eyes glued to my bare legs.

"Are you a leg man?" I laugh.

"As if you didn't know that already!" He shakes his head, finally turning away.

"I didn't!" I swear, but as I think back, I remember the way he'd looked me up and down at our homecoming dance, when my dress ended above the knees in front. I remember that I was wearing a fairly short dress as part of my Halloween costume the day we had sex. I guess I should have known, had I put the pieces together.

"So where are we going?" I ask curiously.

"Well, I thought we could go to the zoo?" he suggests. "This might be the last nice weekend. I've heard a lot of good things about the zoo since moving here."

"So have I," I confirm. "I haven't visited it yet though."

Edward drives us to the St. Louis Zoo, located in Forest Park. The zoo is free, but they charge for parking, unless you can find an available spot along the street. Of course, with such a nice day, we can't find one and end up in the lot.

The first area we come to near the South Entrance is River's Edge, where the hippos and Asian elephants are, among several other animals. I snap lots of photos with my phone as we make our way along the one-way trail.

After exiting River's Edge, we consult our zoo map, and Edward ends up dragging me into the Insectarium. I shudder the entire way through.

"Are you ready for lunch?" he asks, still laughing at me as we step out of the building.

"Sure," I agree, and we head toward the Lakeside Café. After ordering lunch, we take a seat at an outdoor table near the lake.

"Can I ask you something?" Edward asks as we eat. I nod, since my mouth is full. "You said on the first day of class that you graduated from high school in the area?"

I nod again, swallowing quickly. "Lafayette High School. It's in the Rockwood School District in west St. Louis County."

"How did you manage that? I mean, who did you live with?"

"My mom and stepdad."

"Oh!" His eyes widen. "I guess I assumed you lived with both parents in Chicago."

I shake my head. "Just my dad. You would've met him at parent-teacher conferences, right?"

"I guess so," he chuckles. "It's pretty unusual for a father to get custody after a divorce, isn't it?"

"He didn't. I mean, not at first. Mom lived a bit of a nomadic life. She could never settle in any one area. We moved a lot, and every time a bit further from Chicago, where I was born. First it was Peoria, then Bloomington, then Springfield.

"I was spending Christmas with my dad in third grade when he found out how many different schools I'd already attended. He flipped out and called my mom to yell at her that she was a horrible mother. He threatened to take her back to court and sue for full custody of me, but I think she knew she'd lose, so she just let him take me without a fight."

"Wow," he mutters.

"She's finally settled down," I clarify. "She got remarried during my junior year. Her new husband, Phil, is a CFO for a big company here in town. He's pretty wealthy, from the looks of his house. And he seems like a really nice guy."

Edward smiles. "So how did you convince them to let you move in?"

"I didn't."

He looks at me curiously.

"It was Mom's idea," I explain. "I spent Christmas with her and Phil, and she noticed I was upset about something. I gave her a story about a bad break-up and led her to believe it was with a classmate. She suggested I could leave Chicago if it was that hard to be in the same school with him. I didn't agree right away, but after Angela and I saw you with Tanya at Cheesecake Factory, I made the decision to leave. I gave my dad the same story as Mom," I add.

"I know you said it worked out for the best, but I'm still really sorry to have chased you out of Chicago, Bella," he says, sounding sincere.

I give him a small smile. "It was the best decision for me at the time."

"Your friends wouldn't have believed that story, though, would they?" he asks.

"No," I sigh. "My dad's a cop, so I told them he had the opportunity to work an undercover case — meaning it was too dangerous for me to stay in Chicago."

Edward remains silent, and when I look up at him, he's white as a ghost. "Your dad is a cop? Jesus Christ."

A/N: So instead of doing the smart, safe thing and waiting until the end of the semester to start dating, Bella and Edward decided to hell with it, starting with a day at the zoo. Will that decision come back to bite them? They already almost got caught making out in his office.

Poor Edward, imagine learning that the high school student he had sex with is the daughter of a cop!

Next update on Monday with the rest of their date.

For a teaser: A Top 10 hit from a female singer who's more known for posing topless than any great singing talent. I liked her songs though.