BPOV.

For the first time in a while, the first half of the week was different from all the previous workdays. Now my thoughts at work were not only about my patients but also about one handsome surgeon. The fact that Edward and I were in the same building, just on different floors, never left my head. The most annoying thing in this situation was that we almost didn't see each other. There was only one day when we had lunch at the same time, and we spend almost all this time together, catching the eyes of envious nurses. On the same exact day, we exchanged our phone numbers, and from that moment, we texted each other at all possible times.

It was Wednesday, and I was at home wondering what to wear. Edward didn't want to tell me what he had come up with for us, and it really annoyed me, but at the same time, I was actually pleased that he wanted to organize everything himself and not just take me to some random restaurant that I chose like the other guys did. But now I faced a difficult choice of what to wear. Should I choose something more casual or something more classic? My eyes fell on a never-worn cocktail dress. It was a short satiny emerald green dress with a v-neck cut. Was it too much for a first date? When I looked at this item of clothes, I immediately imagined the eyes of my surgeon. My? I smiled slightly at my mental slip and pulled out the hanger with a dress. Alice would had been proud of me. My phone vibrated, and I saw messages from Edward.

"Are you excited about tonight? Just two hours. X" Edward

"Someone is cocky much? But well, you got me. I'm looking forward to it." Bella

Not waiting for an answer, I immediately headed to the bathroom. After some time of getting ready, I was done. My long hair flowed over my back in light waves, an elegant make-up on my face, and, probably, the most significant thing in my image is an unhidden gleam in my eyes. After putting on my silver heels, I sat down on the sofa in the living room to mentally prepare myself. It was a while since I had a date with a man whom I really liked. Rose never missed an opportunity to joke that I probably had already rusted in terms of dates. What if it was true? Rosalie managed to tell me a little about Edward, not all, of course, rather a few crucial facts from his previous love life to convince me that I have nothing to fear from a relationship with him. She said that he had several serious relationships in the past, and he broke up with one girl not so long ago, in Chicago. Rose didn't go into details but said that their separation wasn't pleasant. Was she the main reason for his urgent move? I planned to find out a little more about his past directly from him.

After a while, I received a message from Edward, indicating that it was time for me to go down. Grabbing my clutch, I hurried downstairs. The first thing I saw was Edward, casually leaning back against the door of his silver car. I involuntarily admired this view but tried not to show it. A slight smile played on his lips as soon as our gazes met. His eyes carefully slid over my body, stopping slightly in the area of my neckline, and then he hastily turned away as he was trying not to be caught, but I saw everything and sent him a teasing smile.

"Hello, Bella." He exhaled noisily as I approached him. His hand gripped mine gently, and he pulled me even closer to him to kiss my hand. "You look sensational."

"Thank you." I smiled at him, mentally cheering that I made the right choice of dress.

Edward hurried to open the car door for me and quickly moved into the driver's seat. Lounge music was playing quietly in his car, and it smelled in the most incredible way. I could live there.

"Maybe now you are ready to tell me where we are going?"

"My friend told me about one place. It's an Italian restaurant, to be more precise. I heard they make the best pasta there. This will be our first stop. Rose said, you love Italian food." He looked away from the road to see my reaction to his plan.

"Yeah, it's true. My grandmother was half Italian; she believed that American cuisine was simply not worthy of her attention. She probably was the one who made me love food so much." I smiled, remembering our noisy family evenings from my childhood when we came to visit Grandma Maria. "You said this is just the first stop. Do you have any other plans?"

"Actually, yes, but it will be a surprise for now." He winked at me, knowing that I don't like being kept in the dark. "I think you'll like it."

The rest of the ride was extremely comfortable as if I had known this man for years. We didn't talk much, but we didn't need it.

Edward drove up to the parking lot of a luxury restaurant, located on a cliff next to the ocean. He helped me out of the car and then offered me his hand to head towards the building. We took our time enjoying the warm evening and the closeness of each other.

At the entrance, we were met by a young hostess. She was a tall girl with a beautiful smile, which was directed exclusively towards Edward.

"Good evening. Do you have a reservation? "

"Yes, there must be a table for Cullen."

"A table for two. Is that correct?" A hint of disappointment slipped in the girl's singing voice, but I couldn't blame her.

Edward simply nodded at her question, clearly sensing the interest of the young hostess. She escorted us to our table, which was next to the large window, and I took a moment to appreciate a breathtaking view of the sunset and the ocean. My favorite sight.

"It's a magical place. Now I don't even care much about food. I'm ready just to sit there watching." I once again looked in fascination at the view opening in front of me, amazed how I had never visited this place before.

"I'm glad you like it, but I still hope that the food won't disappoint us either."

A few minutes later, our waitress approached us to bring menus. I slowly skimmed through the main part and then switched to the bar.

"What would you like to drink, Bella?"

"Just a lemonade." I replied with a smile. "I have a feeling it won't be awe-inspiring if I get drunk on the first date." Edward laughed softly, bowing his head in response to my phrase.

"Oh, I don't know. I doubt it will be quite an interesting show."

"Perhaps another time. I'm trying not to embarrass myself here, plus I want to remember everything about tonight."

Edward stretched his hand across the table to mine, and I was distracted by our touch, turning my hand so that he stroked my palm, drawing some intricate lines on it. It was challenging to remember what we were doing here and that we were far from alone. Probably, I could have sat there in that position all evening, but the waitress came up to take our order, and we had to break our contact. Maybe we had to arranged our date at home?

"I'm so glad you agreed to spend time with me today." Edward said gently.

"Yes, me too. Perhaps Rosalie mentioned the fact that I don't do that often." All previous cases, when other handsome colleagues invited me to a join to the dinner flashed before my eyes. None of them had attracted my attention before.

"You mean dating?"

"Yeah."

"May I ask why? I hardly believe that no one asked you before." The strange intonation in his voice caught my attention, and I raised my gaze to him.

"No, that wasn't the problem." I smiled tightly, trying to formulate my response. "It was more about the fact that I didn't want to go out with any of them. I know that we shouldn't discuss our past relationship on the first date, but I want you to understand some of my actions better. My ex-boyfriend, Jacob, he betrayed my trust in the worst possible way. I don't want to go into details right now. If you wish, we'll talk about it later, not on now. Just know, I don't trust people easily, and this date means a lot to me."

Edward gave me a serious look and nodded, indicating that he understood me.

"I appreciate it. I like you, Bella, a lot. I fill this pull towards you. It has never happened to me before. Not long before l left Chicago, I was in a serious relationship, we were together for a year and a half. Now I know that I really didn't have any deep feelings for Tanya, although it seemed to me that it was love. But I was just comfortable with her. She didn't work, so we always found time to meet. With my schedule, it was actually a miracle. I thought that she loved me until the moment I came from work early. She was with another man in our bed, in my apartment." He smiled bitterly. "It was like I was a doused with cold water. It was a moment than her real attitude towards me was revealed. She even blamed me in everything. So I can get your feelings."

What a bitch. I took his hand again in a soothing gesture, letting him and myself feel the soft wave of emotions that roll over us every time we touch. Soon the waitress arrived with orders, and our conversation turned into a more relaxed direction. We talked about our mutual friends, Edward even came up with some funny stories from his childhood with Rosalie and Jasper.

"I hope you still have room for dessert?" Edward asked mysteriously.

It depended on whether Edward himself was on the menu.

"I always have a place for dessert."

He gave me a grinning smile as if he could read my mind. Edward, can you hear me? Of course, he can't read minds! Stop it! I blushed slightly from my thought process that further exacerbated the situation.

To my big surprise, Edward ordered a couple of desserts for takeout and asked for a bill.

"We're not staying here?"

"No. In fact, I wanted to move our date to another location, so to speak, visit our meeting place."

"Are we going to the beach?" I smiled at him, letting him know that I liked the way he was thinking.

"Yes, I hope you don't mind. Moreover, I promised earlier that I'm more than ready to keep you company. Or just I missed the beach romance myself when I was in Chicago."

"I don't mind." I beamed at him in response to his smile. "I'm sure that Wind city is full of its own romance, although I've never been there."

"Yeah, Chicago has its advantages. Probably I'll be able to show some of them to you one day."

As soon as the bill was paid, we headed to his car together, holding portions of chocolate fondant in our hands. The drive to the suitable beach was short, and after ten minutes, we were standing in the parking lot, deciding who would carry what.

"I'm afraid you'll have to take off your shoes to not ruin them with sand." Edward nodded pointedly towards my feet. "I'm going to lay out the blanket, and you do what you need.''

True to his word, Edward left me by the car and walked towards the water. I carefully unbuttoned my shoes and stood on the cold asphalt, which had cooled down in the evening.

''Cold?'' Edward's voice was full of worries about me standing barefoot on the freezing road. "Can you take two desserts at once?"

"Yeah, sure."

As soon as I headed towards our blanket, I felt hands on my back and waist, and then the world began to spin around me.

"Uh." A surprised gasp escaped from me when I realized that he had picked me up and carried me. "Edward! Put me down!"

"No." He grinned and continued on his way with me in his arms. "We don't want you to catch a cold after our date."

I wanted to argue further, but he was already carefully putting me on a blanket bedding. In fact, I didn't mind, the last man who carried me in his arms so lightly and naturally was my father, and now this gesture concealed some incredible feeling of warmth and security, but outwardly I didn't show it. Playfully rolling my eyes at him, I unfolded our containers.

"Thank you. But now we have to heal your torn back."

"Oh, come on." He laughed and sank down next to me on the blanket. " I'm stronger than I look."

Like he looked weak. I decided not to comment on anything else, but just took a spoonful of chocolate dessert and put it in my mouth. Again, my eyes closed, and I tried with all my might to contain the groan that wanted to erupt. I licked my lips and opened my eyes to find his face very close to mine. His eyes were fixed on my lips, and his irises seemed darker than usual. My breath suddenly became harder, and I felt electricity between us.

"Bella, can I kiss you?"

Instead of answering, I brought my face closer to his, and our lips met. He pressed me closer to his body, and I felt a wave of excitement from the place of our kiss to the very toes. He ran his tongue over my lower lip, and I opened my mouth for our tongues to meet. Everything around me was simply lost at this moment. The only thing that I could feel was my frantic heartbeat and his touch. In response to his actions, my hands themselves went to his hair and neatly weaved into them. He kissed me softly but still demanding. At some point, he groaned, and this sound vibrated all over my body. I felt how a knot of excitement was tying at the bottom of my stomach. We kissed, and it was the best kiss of my life. When there was no air left in his lungs, he pulled back and sent me his unique crooked smile, and I felt as if I had won this life.

"I've wanted to do this for a whole evening."

"Don't hold back next time." I smiled with the corner of my mouth, still recovering from the kiss.

He quietly laughed at my advice and hugged me by the shoulders, pulling me to his chest. We ate our dessert in silence, enjoying the gentle ocean breeze. Our date was coming to an end, and this thought made me incredibly sad. The way home was silent, both tired after a long day, we just enjoyed each other's company. When he drove up to my house, he left the running car in the parking lot and went to walk me to the door.

Stopping at the entrance, Edward silently turned me back to the door and leaned over to kiss me again. I was wrong before. This one was the best kiss in my kissing history. I put my arms around his back and let my hands dive into that thick hair again. His tongue skillfully moved against mine using the necessary pressure, and his hands moved gently up and down my back, causing shivers along my spine.

"I should probably go. " Edward said reluctantly.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right." Leaving one last light kiss on his lips, I pulled away.

"Bella?" I heard his quiet voice, and I turned around. "I know we only had one date, but will you be my girlfriend? I understand if you are not ready or you want to wait for at least a third date. Or…"

"Yes." Was my simple answer.

Perhaps it was actually early, but I already felt an incredible attraction to this man, and thoughts of denying this feeling were stupid and unreasonable. In response, I was rewarded with his stunning and sincere smile, and at that moment, it became absolutely clear that I had made the right choice.