For beachcomberlc, 'cause I like her. And Julietoo, too.

For the rest of you, to hopefully make you smile.

This was not edited by any sort of professional.

Edward stood there in stunned silence. There were still announcements of other winners going on behind them. Bella was so pretty close up. Just so pretty. He felt like he was thirteen again and seeing a girl for the first time since hormones over took his brain.

Bella shuffled her feet. He kept staring at her not saying anything. It was just this side of creepy and edging over quickly.

"Hi. I guess we've never been formally introduced. I'm Bella Swan. I think both my best friends are doing your co-workers." She felt so damned awkward holding out her hand waiting for him to either shake it or cut it off and eat it.

"Aaaaahhhhhhuuuuummmm, I'm Edward Cullen. I know all about you." Great, now she's going to think he's some crazed stalker, he wanted to smack himself.

"Oh really? Well, that's great. I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening, Edward." She turned to leave and find a security guard when his hand reached out and grabbed her's.

"Wait, I'm sorry. I'm usually more suave than this. I'm not crazy, I swear. I just, I just, I'm so impressed by you and your cooking skills. And you're just so hot...oh fuck. I didn't mean to say that out loud. Good night, Bella." If it were possible, he would have liked to melt into the carpet and live out the rest of his days as a dust mite. He could be happy as a dust mite, it's a quiet life he's heard.

Instead the knee to the crotch he expected, she laughed. She really laughed. Bella had never meet a guy with so little poise before. She had expected a cocky bastard not a bumbling fool. There was something familiar about him, something outside of the food truck arena. She had seen him somewhere outside of tonight and that magazine. But she couldn't quite place her finger on it.

"Come on, Edward, let me buy you a drink. I think you might need one." Much to his joy Bella tugged on his hand and lead him through the crowd to the bar. She bought them both a shot of Don Julio Blanco. Edward felt immensely better after a stiff drink and regain some of his composure.

"You wanna try that again? I'm Bella Swan." She smiled indulgently at him. May as well give him a do over.

Edward beamed at her and reached out his right hand to try their introduction again, hopefully this time without to oratory vomit.

But just as he did someone bumped into Bella propelling her forward. Edward snaked his left arm around her so she wouldn't bounce off him and fall backwards. He looked down at her as she raised her face to his. The temperature in the room spiked and there was a pounding noise in his ears. He could get lost in her eyes. He watched as a bloom of colour rose on her cheeks. The tip of his tongue danced across his bottom lip and her eyes lowered to watch it.

"Um, Edward?"

"Yes, Bella?"

"You can let go now."

"I'd really prefer not."

"Edward." The suddenly louder tone of her voice caught his attention. She very pointedly looked down causing him to glance down as well. His right hand, the one that had been innocently reaching out to shake hands, was now well acquainted with her left breast. Her very firm and luscious left breast. His hand contracted of it's own volition as he watched it.

He had felt his fair share of boobs in his life; small perky ones that were extra sensitive to his touch, juicy fat ones that you could make a meal of, hard silicone injected ones that could never live up to the real thing. But this boob, this marvel of flesh, blew them all out of the water. Mostly due to the woman it was attached to but also due to the glory of the thing itself. His other hand twitched to squeeze it's mate. To scientifically compare the two for weight and stature.

He looked back into Bella's eyes as she cleared her throat.

"Fuck me. I'm sorry." He yelped as he snatched his hand away from her chest.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." He kept saying over and over with both hands over his face.

Bella let him flagellate himself for a while before she absolved him of his sins.

"Edward? Edward, it's okay. It was an accident. Come on, calm down." She pulled on his wrists.

Edward took a deep breath before lowering his hands and looking at her.

"I really am sorry, Bella."

"It's not that big a deal. It happens all the time in the kitchen, close quarters and all. I can't count the number of times Emmett's hands have ended up on my ass by accident. Don't worry about it, okay?"

"Alright, thank you for not over reacting" The mental picture of Emmett with his hands on Bella sauntered through his mind and he resolved to kick Emmett's ass at the next available time.

"Look, I'm going to head home. It was nice meeting you and congratulations on winning. I'll see you around sometime." She lifted up on to her tiptoes and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Thank you, Bella. Wait, how are you getting home?"

"Cab, I'm sure there are tonnes outside. Good night." She was tired and keyed up at the same time. She just wanted to get into her warm bed and sleep the night away.

"Hang on, I'll walk you out." He helped her get her wrap from the cloakroom wondering why she was giggling too much to get it for her self. Not that he minded any chance to prove to her that he wasn't a complete asshole.

There weren't, however, tonnes of cabs. There weren't any at all. Not put out, Bella decided to walk. Edward insisted on accompanying her home for safety. Bella felt oddly comfortable in his company, now that he had settled down. Once they got to talking for a while he turned into a more normal guy. She was a little disappointed that her power panties were going to go to waste and her dry spell would continue. Although Edward was really attractive and sweet there was no way she was going to sleep with him, especially tonight. There were too many entanglements between them for a one night stand. Plus with Emmett and Rosalie and Alice and Jasper all starting something, there was no way to have anonymous albeit hot sex with him. She didn't know him well enough to know if she wanted to start something more with him.

They talked family histories and culinary interests. They discussed movies and books. It was a seamless, easy conversation. They found that they had a great deal in common.

"Did I tell you how lovely you look tonight? That is a great dress." Edward mentioned as he followed behind Bella to her third floor apartment.

"Thanks."

"But what's with the four red beads on your shoulder? I didn't have the guts to ask before." He wanted to run his fingers over the beads but knew that if he ever wanted to be allowed to touch her in the future he needed to keep his hands to himself for the rest of the night.

"It's silly. I needed a bit more colour. That way it's not a real green dress, that's cruel." She giggled a little to herself and prepared to explain.

"Barenaked Ladies?" Edward's eyes lit up. He loved the quirky band.

"You know the Ladies?" None of her friends liked the band, they tolerated her need to play them once in a while but not too often.

"Love them, I have for a long time." He had been introduced to the band as a teen, their name capturing his attention first, then their music.

They reached her door and she dug her keys out of her purse while he waited.

"Thanks for walking me home, Edward."

"I'm really sorry about before, Bella."

"Don't worry about it. Shit happens to all of us. You're a nice guy."

Edward cringed, that didn't sound promising.

Which is why he was so surprised when Bella turned from unlocking her door and wrapped her arms around him. This time both of his hands were on her back much to his disappointment. But the hug was nice.

They both pulled back a little. And then in a very natural and organic way, they both leaned in for a kiss.

It started off slow. A gentle, soft kiss that grew. It was electric and hungry. It was completely unexpected but they both felt as if this was what they were meant to do for the rest of their lives. Bella never had a kiss like this before, one that reached every cell in her body and set them aflame. Edward whimpered when her tongue pushed against his. He had never kiss another, all other women were wiped from his brain by Bella. It was all encompassing and it wrapped around them like a second skin.

The sound of a door closing nearby shocked them out of their embrace. They could only stare at the other in disbelief. Eventually Bella blinked.

"Good night."

"Good night, Bella." Painful as it was, he removed his arms from around her and watched as she unsteadily walked through her door. He knew that there was time yet for him to be invited inside but not tonight. His future was in that apartment and there were steps to be taken to fulfil that future. It was delicate right now, move to fast and the sparks between them could flashover. They needed to be nurtured, fanned and fed, until they reached full flame. He would wait. And love every damn minute of it.

AN: Sorry for the delay. The stuff, you know, it happens. Epi in a few days. Thanks for reading. I love the reviews. You guys are awesome, you know.