Author's Note:

Thank you all for the reviews! Please keep them coming!

We're back with Bella here, so let's see how she's feeling about things, shall we?

I do not own Twilight, and never will.

Chapter 6

BPOV

"Good morning, Ang!" I said as I breezed past my friend's desk on the way to my office.

I barely had time to hang my jacket on the back of my door and sit down at my desk before Angela appeared with two cups of coffee. She placed one in front of me and sat in a chair across from me.

"Thanks," I said. "What's up?"

"You tell me," She replied as she blew on her coffee.

I mirrored her pose and raised my eyebrow in question. She rolled her eyes as though I should be able to read her mind before continuing. "You're awfully chipper this morning," she said.

"What do you mean? I said good morning. You know…same as I do every morning."

"You don't usually say it like that. If I didn't know better, I'd say you got laid this weekend," Angela said with a smirk.

I laughed at her and said, "I think all the baby-making sex has fried your brain, my friend." She blushed and looked sheepish, and I laughed again at her expression. She and her husband Ben were trying for their second child, and I had obviously hit the nail on the head at my mention of abundant sexy times.

"Well, then, what's with the good mood, Swan?" she asked, and I rolled my eyes at her.

"You act like I'm usually a bitch. I'm always in a good mood," I retorted. I hoped she would let the subject drop at that, but I should have known better. I'd met Angela at freshman orientation and we'd both been English majors, so we'd become close through college. When we'd both gotten jobs at Twilight, we'd been ecstatic to start our careers together and our friendship had only grown over the years. She and Ben hung with me and the Cullen clan occasionally, but not as often since their daughter Hannah was born three years ago.

"Not this good," she argued. "Seriously, I distinctly remember you saying Friday afternoon that Alice was dragging you to the nursing home Saturday, and usually that is not your idea of a good weekend. So, what gives?"

I gave up and decided to tell my friend about spending time with Edward. Maybe it would be good to get her perspective. With that in mind, I answered her question. "Well, she did drag me to see Tanya Saturday morning, but we ran into Edward and Maggie as we were leaving. They were going to the zoo after they visited, and Maggie wanted Alice and me to go with them. Alice couldn't go, but I did. I mean, you know Maggie, who could resist?"

Angela sat and silently regarded me for a minute and then said, "Yes, I know Maggie, but I wonder…is it her or her daddy that you couldn't resist?"

It was official; my friend knew me way too well. I grimaced as I asked, "Am I that obvious? I guess that would explain Alice. For the record, though, while I can't deny that I enjoy spending time with Edward, I did go for Maggie."

"No, you're not obvious. In fact, I was only kidding until you confirmed it by asking me that." Angela said with a grin. I groaned at having been caught.

"Now, tell me what's up with you and the delicious Mr. Cullen and what you meant about Alice," she demanded.

Resigned to tell her everything, I began with the first time Edward and I had coffee and ended with him pulling out of my driveway Saturday night. I told her how I'd never really seen him as more than a friend and Alice's big brother, but that was definitely changing. I also told her about Alice seeming upset after finding out Edward and I had coffee that first time, and how she made it pretty clear she didn't want me hanging out with him and Maggie on Saturday. Angela leaned back in her chair as I finished filling her in and thought for a minute before responding.

"Well, it's clear that Alice is suspicious. I never knew Tanya all that well, but I remember you telling me how Alice was closer to her than you were. Maybe she thinks she's protecting her friend."

"But we haven't done anything wrong. Edward and I are just friends, and that's all we'll ever be," I said. I could hear the wistful note in my voice, but there was no changing the facts. I hadn't told Angela everything Edward told me about his relationship with Tanya, but regardless of that revelation, he was still married.

"I'm not saying you've done anything wrong," Angela soothed. "I'm just guessing at Alice's motives for her behavior. But it doesn't really matter what she says. You and Edward are allowed to be friends and you don't need her permission. She needs to let her crap go, though. You know I've always thought she had an unhealthy obsession with Tanya, and it got worse after the accident."

I rolled my eyes, though part of me agreed with her. I loved Alice, but Angela wasn't entirely wrong. I knew Angela had never been a big fan of Alice. They were friendly, but they'd never be close. Alice could be somewhat possessive of me, so when I'd become friends with Angela in college, she'd been jealous and tried to make me feel guilty about spending time with someone other than her and Tanya. I had pointed out her hypocrisy, since she had plenty of friends outside of me and our usual gang but she gave me a hard time for the same thing. Alice had never said another word, but Angela still didn't have much use for her.

"Anyway, enough about Alice, let's get back to the good part," Angela said with a waggle of her eyebrows. She giggled when I rolled my eyes at her, then asked, "When are you having lunch with Edward?"

"I don't know, I haven't heard from him since Saturday night. He said he'd text me sometime this week."

"Well, keep me posted," she said as she rose from her seat. "I guess I better get to work, my boss is real slave driver."

"Yes, I am, and don't you forget it," I laughed as she walked out of my office and shot me the bird over her shoulder.

Two hours later, I was finishing up some paperwork when my phone buzzed. I smiled when I saw it was a text from Edward.

Hello, how is your day going? – E

Pretty good so far, how about yours? – B

Let's just say the old adage about Mondays is holding true. – E

That good, huh? – B

Yeah, it's been great. I always love it when clients demand changes to a design more than halfway through the build. – E

I huffed a soft laugh at Edward's sarcasm as I typed my reply. I imagine that's how a few of my authors feel when I suggest changes to their manuscripts. LOL – B

Nah, that's your job. This woman is spoiled and demanding and has no regard for things like structural integrity. Or maybe just no understanding…lol – E

I giggled as I read Edward's description of his difficult client and I could just imagine what he was dealing with. Before I could reply, I saw the flashing dots indicating Edward was typing another message, so I waited until it appeared.

Anyway, I wanted to see if you could meet me for lunch tomorrow. Or another day if that doesn't work for you. – E

I glanced at my calendar and then answered in the affirmative. Tomorrow is good. 11:30? You name the place. – B

How about Carlo's? – E

Sounds good! I'll see you then. – B

Can't wait. – E

I smiled as I put my phone down and turned back to my computer. I knew I was potentially putting myself in a bad position with Edward. After all, we could only be friends, but I wanted more. Despite the part of my brain that told me I was playing with fire; I enjoyed his company too much to give it up. I just had to be careful to keep my feelings in check. Of course, I cared about Edward, we'd been friends and practically family for most of our lives. Spending time together one on one was just a new facet to our friendship but didn't change the heart of it.

The rest of Monday passed quickly. Edward and I exchanged a few more text messages throughout the day and I had also heard from Alice and made plans to have lunch with her on Wednesday. By the time Rosalie called me on my way home, I almost had to laugh at all the contact I'd had with my friends today. After a year of mostly keeping to myself, it seemed I was making up for lost time. Rose and I chatted while she waited for Tyler, her and Emmett's 9-year-old son, to get out of his martial arts class. I learned that Katie, their 7-year-old, was at dance.

"So, I heard you spent some quality time with my niece and her father this weekend," Rosalie said.

"Well, I went to zoo with them, if that's what you call quality time," I hedged, not sure where she was going with this.

"And cooked them dinner from what I heard. But no need to get defensive, Bells, I was just making conversation," she replied.

"I'm not defensive. I guess I just didn't really think about Edward mentioning it. I shouldn't be surprised though, there are no secrets in your family," I said. Although, considering what I'd learned Saturday night, that wasn't entirely true.

"Actually, Edward didn't say anything. I heard all about it from Maggie. I picked her up from school and dropped her off at dance with Kate, and all I heard from the moment she got in the car was Bella this and Bella that."

I smiled at that. "She just likes me because I let her drink juice out of a wine glass," I said with a laugh.

"Ah, yes, the special wine. I was informed that I'm the meanest mom ever because I've never let Katie drink out of a wine glass, which apparently means she's never been allowed to have any fun in her whole life." Rose said sarcastically. I could practically hear her rolling her eyes.

I laughed out loud at that before Rose announced that Tyler was coming out and she had to get back on the road to pick up Katie. I was pulling up at home as we said our goodbyes after a promise to get together soon. The rest of my evening was quiet, and I found myself anxiously looking forward to lunch the next day.

Tuesday morning, I took extra care with my hair and makeup, and pulled on my favorite pencil skirt and leopard print blouse. I told myself I wasn't dressing up for Edward, and that was mostly true, but I knew deep down that I wanted to look good for him. Even though nothing would ever come of it, feeling confident and sexy was never a bad thing. After my internal pep talk, having mostly convinced myself that my motives were innocent, I headed off to work. I should have known Angela would have something to say when I heard a low whistle as I passed her desk on my way to my office and I knew she'd be right behind me.

"Looking hot, mama!" she said as she entered my office right on my heels.

"Whatever," I said and rolled my eyes at her.

"I know you don't have any big meetings today, so I'm guessing you have a hot date?"

"No, I don't have a hot, or any other variety of date. I wear this skirt all the time, it's nothing new," I said.

"So, you aren't having lunch with a certain sexy architect today?" she asked. I should have known she'd never forget when I mentioned him and I having lunch at some point yesterday.

"If you must know, yes, I am having lunch with Edward today. But neither his sex appeal nor his chosen profession has anything to do with what I am wearing," I said primly. My friend snorted a laugh and pointed a finger at me.

"Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that, Swan."

"Don't you have some work to do? If you're bored, I know Mike could use some help. He's got a couple of deadlines looming and he's behind." I told her with an arched brow. I knew she hated the horror genre, so helping Mike Newton with his workload was not something she would enjoy.

"Fine, be that way, I'm off to work, Boss," she said with a pout and returned to her desk.

I guess I should feel a little bad about being short with my friend, but she was too close to the truth, and I preferred to keep my head in the sand. I'd make it up to her later, I thought then settled into work. Nobody but me had to know if I checked the clock every thirty minutes until it was time to go to lunch.

I told myself it was stupid to feel nervous as I straightened my skirt after stepping out of my car at Carlo's. It was stupid, but that didn't stop the butterflies from fluttering in my stomach. Nothing had changed, and nothing was going to change, but I felt like Saturday night had forged a deeper connection between Edward and myself. Regardless of what I was feeling, it didn't change the fact that Edward was my friend. I just had to remember that's all he was. Easy peasy, I thought as I pushed open the door to the restaurant.

I skimmed the dining area as I entered. I'd seen Edward's truck outside, so I knew he was already here. I didn't see him at first, but just as started to turn toward the hostess to ask, I saw his arm raise to wave at me from a booth in the corner. I smiled as I reached the table and sat across from him.

"Hi," I said. "I hope you weren't waiting long."

"Nope, just sat down a minute ago. How's your day going?" He asked.

"Good, how about yours? Better than yesterday, I hope?" I asked him as I picked up my menu.

Edward's answer was cut off as the waitress approached our table to take our drink orders. After she walked away, Edward started telling me about the nightmare client from the day before. We were laughing about the crazy ideas the woman continually came up with when our drinks were delivered, and the waitress had taken our orders for our entrées. I was amused at the waitress' obvious attempt at flirting with Edward, and I was pleased to see that he barely even looked at her. I had no place to feel possessive of him, but it was still nice that he only seemed to pay attention to me.

Conversation over lunch meandered from work to family to childhood memories. Talking with Edward was effortless, and I guessed that came from knowing each other for so long. We were comfortable with one another, but since hanging out alone was new to us, there were still a million things we didn't know about each other. We mostly kept to easier subjects, but Edward did tell me a little more about his marriage prior to Tanya's accident, and I told him a little more about my marriage to Jake. Before we knew it, lunch was over, and we both needed to get back to our offices. We parted ways in the parking lot with a hug and Edward placed a soft kiss on my cheek. I drove away still feeling the tingle where his lips had touched me, and I spent the drive back to work chastising myself for acting like a fourteen-year-old girl with her first crush.

Angela ambushed me as I walked back into my office, demanding details, but I was saved by the ring of my phone.

"It's Marcus, gotta take this," I told her, referring to the CEO and my boss at the publishing house.

"Fine, but you will tell me soon," she said before turning away and exiting my office.

I rolled my eyes knowing she'd corner me sooner or later, but I quickly turned my focus to work as I answered the phone. For the rest of the day, I stayed busy and managed to avoid Angela. She had to leave a little early, so she was gone by the time I left the office. I knew I'd be in for an interrogation the next day, but I'd deal with it when I had to.

Wednesday rolled around, and as expected, Angela was waiting to pounce as I entered the office. I ended up telling her about my lunch with Edward the day before, including how I was fighting this attraction. I felt like it was better to get it off my chest and out of my system than to deal with someone else noticing, like Alice or Rose at our next game night. Angela was sympathetic to my plight but had no advice. Not that I expected any, but it was nice to share the burden a little, and I knew my secret was safe with her.

Alice texted me mid-morning to ask if I wanted to meet at Carlo's for lunch. I suggested a sushi place she liked since I'd had Carlo's the day before and she agreed, so just before noon, I was on my way to meet a second Cullen for lunch in as many days. Once Alice and I were settled at a table with drinks and a variety of sushi on its way, Alice launched into the drama of owning a high-end fashion boutique. I laughed to myself at her bitching about what a drama queen this new designer was. It served her right, having to deal with someone who sounded an awful lot like Alice herself. I pointed this out to her, and we both laughed when she stuck her tongue out at me. We spent a pleasant hour over lunch, and I was happy to note that whatever awkwardness I'd felt around Alice the last couple of weeks seemed to have passed. We were waiting on the check when Alice broached the topic I was hoping to avoid.

"So, why didn't you want to have lunch at Carlo's? I thought you loved that place," Alice asked.

"I do, but I actually just ate there yesterday," I told her.

"Oh, I think Edward mentioned he ate there, too. Did you see him when you were there?"

I refused to feel guilty or hide from her when I hadn't done anything wrong, but I had a feeling Alice was not going to like my answer "Considering it was him I met there, yes, I did see him." I said casually, then watched her eyes narrow just as I'd suspected.

"Oh? So exactly how much time have you been spending with my brother?" Alice asked.

"Not that much. We just had lunch," I said.

"No, you had coffee, then a trip to the zoo, and now lunch. That's more than 'just lunch'," Alice retorted, bracketing her words with air quotes for emphasis.

"Ok, yeah, you're right. We have had more than 'just lunch'. Why is that such a big deal? Edward and I are friends. Friends hang out sometimes," I pointed out. I could tell Alice wanted to say something else on the subject, but she seemed to think better of it and changed the subject abruptly.

"Ok, whatever, so I wanted to tell you about this guy, Paul. He works with Jasper. He's cute and sweet, and I think you'll like him. I've already told him you'd be free Saturday, but here's his number so you can call him and confirm!" she told me enthusiastically as she slid a piece of paper across the table toward me.

"Um, no, I'm not really interested, Ali."

"Nonsense, you have to get back out there, Bella! And Paul's perfect! I'm sure you'll like him; you just have to give him a chance." Alice said.

"Alice, I said no. If I want to date, I will, but I'm really not interested right now. The last date I had was a disaster, and I'm not in the mood to waste my time. I'm fine being single for now."

"But, Bella, you have to get over Jake. It's time to move on," Alice wheedled. I took a deep breath and tried to calm my rising temper.

"Alice, listen to me. I am over Jake, and I have moved on. But even if I hadn't, it is my decision when and who to date. This is my life, and it's on my timetable, not yours. I love you, and I know you mean well, but you need to stop pushing."

I could tell Alice didn't want to let it go, but I would not let her walk all over me. She had to get the last word in though, so she shot me a pouty look and said, "Fine, Bella, I'll lay off, but I just want you to be happy and meet someone to spend your life with."

I didn't have a chance to respond as the waiter brought back our receipts and Alice stood and headed for the door. I shook my head as I followed her out and hoped she would really lay off like she had said. I could tell Alice wasn't very happy with me though, so I wasn't holding my breath.

Author's Note:

Well, she's determined to keep Edward in the friend zone. Think it will last?

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