Here is my entry for the May to December Romance contest. This was my first contest and I'm so pleased to say what a wonderful experience it was. Everyone involved was kind, helpful and very quick to give encouragement to a scaredy-cat author. I can't thank them enough! I didn't win anything but the experience was well worth the time and effort it took to right this little story.
This contest only once again proved that the talent in this fandom is incredible and we are all lucky to be given the chance to read these amazing authors! I also want to thank all of you readers. You are the reason we do this. Your continued appreciation and encouragement fuels us all!

I want to thank my betas, Mullet86 and Sunflower Fran. They both stepped in when I needed them the most and helped me get this out to all of you. I seriously could not have done it without them.

Summary: For over a year, her gorgeous young intern has teased her. After having one tequila shot too many, will she finally have enough courage to call him out and make him put up or shut up?

Disclaimer: The author does not own any publicly recognizable characters herein. No copyright infringement is intended. This plot is mine and many of the instances it contains were taken from my real experience with my own much younger Edward.

Tequila Courage

"Beep, deep, bip, boop, beep" The beloved R2D2 sound effects chiming from my cell phone jolted me out of a sound sleep. Sleepily, I glanced at the clock on my bedside table. It was after midnight on a Tuesday morning, only one person texted me on a workday that late or early, depending on how you looked at it … Edward.

Just thought you would like to know, Remember Me is on NetFlix.-E

Despite the late hour and the much-needed beauty sleep that was slipping through my fingers, I quickly responded to his text.

Yeah? Is Taylor still super-hot?-B I sent the text, and like a complete loon I sat up in bed, in my pitch-dark bedroom and waited for his answer.

Since I heard you tell Janet that actor dude looks like me, I gotta go with YES! -E

Dammit!

The thrill of receiving a late night text from the hot, young object of my illicit fantasies, was all but gone. Edward knew I thought he was hot?

Shit!

I tossed my phone onto the table and pulled the covers back over my head. How would I be able to face him tomorrow at work?

"He's so into you." I rolled my eyes at my obviously crazy friend and continued to input all of the expenses fromthe sales department into the company's accounting software.

"First, could you find a less annoying place to sit?" I made a big show of pushing her tiny butt off the corner of my desk, grabbing the invoices she'd been sitting on. "And secondly, he is not into me." I snorted at the absurdity of her previous statement.

As expected, Alice ignored my request to move. "Hmmm, let's take a look at the facts. Hesends you late night texts to tell you that your favorite movie is on, or a knock-knock joke or movie quote." She oh, so cleverly ticked off the so-called facts on her tiny fingers. "He comes into work on his day off just to see if you need any help, he stays after his shift to hang out, he talks to you about everything going on in his life, and in a fit of jealousy he drew moustaches, fangs and devil horns allover your Robert Pattinson calendar." I cringed at the memory of the atrocities he inflicted on that beautiful man's face.

"Alice, it wasn't a fit of jealousy. He just wanted to make fun of me, and yes, we talk about everything. He's an intelligent and funny man, we're friends, but there's no way in hell someone like Edward is into someone like me."

Take that Tiny Tina. The truth always wins out.

Predictably, Alice rolled her big hazel eyes at me. "Bella, you don't see yourself very clearly. And you're missing all of the signs. He's into you." With that little nugget of bull crap floating in the atmosphere, she left my office and I got back to my accounts.

"Hey, do you want me to stay tonight?" Edward turned around from the filing cabinet so quickly that he nearly caught me staring at his ass. Luckily, I've become quite the master at hiding my wandering eyes.

Putting on my professional face, I looked right into those emerald green orbs and lied. "Nah, I can handle the end of the quarter stuff." Inwardly I was shuddering at the thought of the hours I'd be spending in the office this weekend. But my need to be in control didn't allow me to accept a lot of help, especially with something as important as closing the fiscal quarter.

"Besides, I'm sure you have better things to do than hang out here and help me balance budgets and figure tax payments." My job as the head of accounting at Aro Industries wasn't glamorous by any means, but it did keep a roof over my head, food in my refrigerator and a steady stream of doggie treats flowing for my dog, Bear.

Basically, I lived my life making sense out of other people's nonsense. My days were pretty tame, but the addition of a twenty-two-year-old intern with sexy bedhead and a killer smile, made my days much more enjoyable. At thirty-two years old, I'd achieved everything I'd set out to do, professionally. The personal side of my life, however, was a void. No husband, no children. Not even an ex-boyfriend I could publicly hate or regale my friends with tales of his tiny dick and total lack of bedroom skills while privately hooking up with him late at night to exercise my frustrations.

I was such a loser.

A loser with a gorgeous man to stare at.

Things weren't that bad.

With a finely honed skill that only women possess, I smiled and pretended that his nearness didn't make my panties wet and my thighs clench.

"I always have better things to do than fix the sales departments mistakes on their quarterly reports, but that's not what I asked. Do you want me…?"

In my dreams, in my bed…

"God yes! I want you!" I answered loudly without thinking. Damn my five-year dry spell! It was allowing my libido to speak before my mind could catch up and slap a gag around its big mouth.

Edward's eyes grew wide in surprise. I'm sure they matched my own giant orbs. I didn't even try to clean up my word vomit. Shame faced, I swung around in my office chair to face the wall and began clicking numbers on my adding machine as fast as my chubby Swan fingers would go. I hoped that he'd think I was super busy and not say anything about the line I just majorly crossed.

As my adding machine clicked and clacked at high speed, I gradually felt the heat leave my face.

Apparently, Edward was going to let me off the hook.

My breathing slowly returned to normal.

I'd just about returned to my normally professional status of uptight, queen worker bee, when the intoxicating smell of Edward surrounded me like a cloud of pure sex. I swear that man's scent leaves me stunned stupid. I'm convinced that if the military ever got a hold of him and weresomehow able to mass-produce and bottle his scent, they'd have a weapon of mass destruction in their hot little hands. Sure, the weapon would only be effective on heterosexual women and gay men who found Edward attractive, but believe me, there would be plenty of people willing to do their nefarious bidding for another hit of eau de Edward.

His scent got stronger, indicating he'd moved closer to me. My fingers paused over my keyboard as my stomach involuntary sucked in and my boobs pushed out.

He was so near.

My whole body clenched with the knowledge.

Like a deer caught in the headlights, I was unable to move for fear of blurting out that I frequently masturbated to fantasies of him taking me hard up against the wall in my office.

Sometimes telling the truth isn't a good thing.

My chest seized as his breath tickled the fine hairs on my right ear. "Bella, if you want me, all you have to do is call." The sound of my name leaving his gorgeous lips felt like a caress across my neck,

I heard my office door open and close.

Phones rang and people moved around in the nearby offices as I sat paralyzed at my desk. I'd lost all concept of time and hadn't moved until Alice practically knocked me out of my chair.

Tiny Tina is deceptively strong.

"What the hell happened here?"

I wasn't really sure.

What the hell did happen?

"Bella, how long have you been sitting here?" I couldn't answer her. I had no idea how long I'd been sitting there. A quick glance at my desk phone showed the time as ten minutes after five in the afternoon.

Holy shit!

Edward only worked until four on Fridays, which meant that his statement had paralyzed me for nearly an hour!

"I'm so fucked!" My head hit my keyboard with a loud clunk.

"Whoa, girlfriend, why don't you tell me what happened before you commit suicide by computer?" Alice eased my head off the ergonomically correct keyboard.

I leaned back into my desk chair, my shoulders and back groaning with the movement. Can your muscles atrophy after only an hour of inactivity? I stood up to stretch my arms when a more insistent problem than tight muscles made itself known.

"I need to pee. " And gather my thoughts, but first, I really needed to pee. I got up and headed for my open door.

"You're stalling. But that's okay, I'll wait. The girls aren't expecting us for another thirty minutes." She smiled, sitting down in my recently emptied chair, crossing her arms over her chest.

Shit! I'd forgotten I'd promised to meet everyone for drinks tonight.

Ignoring Alice's inquiring eyes; I skittered off toward the bathroom.

Thank God, I was alone in the room.

If anyone had heard my groan of relief as I emptied my bladder, they'd totally think I was doing something entirely inappropriate for the workplace and probably would never shake my hand or share an elevator with me again.

The warm water rolling over my hands in the sink was soothing as my mind tried to make sense out of what had happened. While my verbal outburst had explicitly stated that I wanted him in a very physical way, as usual, Edward's ambiguous answer had my head in a tailspin.

"If you want me, all you have to do is call."

There's no way he meant that statement to imply he wanted me to call him for anything other than help with the accounts.

Right?

He was messing with me because, one, I'm way too easy to mess with and two, he's figured out I have a crush on him so he's taking advantage of me. That's what hot guys like Edward do.

Right?

The face staring back at me from the mirror looked as confused as one person could be.

The person in the mirror did know one thing for sure, I was fucked!

"Damn it, Bella, pull em' up and get out here! "

I swung open the restroom door to reveal my impatient friend. "Here's your stuff. I shut your computer down, let's go." I caught my purse in the air as she turned and headed for the elevators.

"Alice, what about protocol?" Company policy strictly forbids anyone else to have access to my computer.

"Protocol, shmotocol." She poked me in the chest with her tiny finger, "You, my friend, need a night off and the girls are waiting. "

"But…" I protested.

"Who is the head of Information Security around this joint?" She asked and poked the down button exactly three times before snapping her fingers twice.

Alice had a few quirks.

"You are."

"Exactly. Am I going to bust my own ass?" The doors opened and I followed her into the metal box.

"No," I admitted.

"So, drop it!" She ordered, before hitting the button for the ground floor twice and tapping her foot three times.

The trip was quick as we were only five floors up. Alice refused to use the stairs after five o'clock. She was afraid that the doors would lock and she'd be stuck in the stairwell until morning. I tried to explain that night security checked the doors regularly throughout the night, but she refused to believe me.

"I'm going to wait until the time my first tequila shooter has been consumed before demanding you spill your guts. So, use this time wisely and get your thoughts collected." Alice smirked and turned up the street towards the bar where we were meeting everyone.

I followed slowly and did as she suggested, knowing that she would indeed demand I spill my guts, and with the addition of tequila, her demands would be very difficult if not impossible to ignore.

"Hey beautiful!" I cringed at Rose's choice of adjective. I've never been beautiful.

"Hey Rose, Angela, Tanya," I greeted the girls and took my seat next to Rose.

"Sorry, we're late," Alice pointed in my direction, "someone had to take a twenty minute bathroom break to collect herself before the inquisition." I opened my mouth to fire up a retort, but Alice had already turned away from me and was flagging down a waitress.

"What's going on?" Rose asked while motioning for Alice to order her another Tequila Sunrise.

"Nothing." I was only putting off the inevitable; I knew that Alice wouldn't let this go. I just hoped she'd let me down a couple shots of truth serum, before forcing me to spill my guts. Because as we all know, gut spillage is so much easier with a tequila painkiller.

"Liar," Rose answered before turning away and asking Angela about some case they were working on at work. I let out a breath and tried to relax. I knew what was coming and I knew how it would end. The girls would all tell me lies about how into me Edward was and how I should jump his bones. I would give into their little fantasies, mainly because I rather enjoyed thinking about a gorgeous man like Edward naked and sweaty above me in my bed or in his bed all naked and sweaty…

"See what I mean?

"Oh, yeah."

"Definitely."

"She's fucked."

"What?!" I demanded of the four smirking harpies.

"You know 'what'. Now, spill before I get the tequila tipsies and forget what we're talking about." Alice grabbed a lime off the nearby tray and proceeded to throw down another shot. At this rate, all I had to do was stall for five minutes and she'd be dancing on the tables, oblivious to me and pretty much everything else.

"Oh no, you don't. Wipe that smirk right off your face, missy. I'm pacing myself." Alice winked and pointed to the large glass of water on the table.

Damn it!

"Well, I'm not pacing shit. I've got my eye on that big guy working the door and I figure he's due for a break in about twenty-minutes. So, tell us all just what the frigg is going on before I leave you bitches and go jump me a bouncer!" Rose slammed another shot, forgetting the salt and lime. She was a bit hard-core.

"C'mon Bella."

"Just tell us."

"You're only putting off the inevitable."

"For the love of fuck, spill it, Swan!" I cringed as people at the tables nearest to us turned our way. Rose shrugged her shoulders at them and grabbed another glass off the table.

"Fine!" All four women looked expectantly at me.

"Today, in my office, Edward said something, well, actually I said something first and then he said something in reply and then, no wait, he said something first…"

"Dammit, woman, spill your guts before I shove this lime up your ass!" Rose warned.

"He asked me if I wanted him and I said 'yes please' and then he said if I wanted him all I had to do was call." I grabbed a glass off the table, downed my shot and slumped back into my chair.

"Did he really say…?"

"…that if you wanted him…"

"…all you had to do was…"

"Holy fucking shit!" We all turned to stare at Rose. We were used to her outbursts, but this one was even more explosive than usual.

"Bella, did he really say that?" I nodded at Alice's question and reached for another glass.

"Wow!"

"Damn!"

"Shit!"

"You're fucked. But hopefully in the good way this time." Rose winked and nudged me with her elbow.

"What are you going to do?" Alice asked solemnly.

"Do?" I chuckled and grabbed another drink. "There's nothing to do. I had to have misunderstood him, there's no way a man as gorgeous, smart, funny and young as Edward would seriously be interested in a plain, boring, old woman like me."

"Old? Watch your language! I'm older than you." Rose poked me in the side.

"Rose, he's twenty-two years old!" Why do they continually forget that vital fact?

"You think that a younger man wouldn't be interested in you?"

"Alice, please don't start that crap." I looked pointedly at her. "If anything, he was just playing with me. I guess he gets off on screwing with my head." Something he'd been doing pretty much since he'd started at Aro, Inc. over a year ago.

"Oh, he totally wants to play with you. But you're just too scared to let him." I opened my mouth to deny Rose's accusation, but her knowing eyebrow lift made me keep my mouth shut.

"Look, I've had enough of this shit. All you need is a little self-confidence. See my hot bouncer?" She pointed out into the crowd towards the bar where a black haired linebacker in a tight T-shirt and even tighter jeans was leaning with a beer in his hands and a mouthful of pretzels. Pretzel pieces fell out of his mouth onto the bar as he laughed at something the bartender said. "He's at least five, maybe eight years younger than me. Do you think that if I walk over there he won't be checking out my rack and ass?"

"Rose,I look at your ass when you walk by." We all turned to look at Angela. "What? She has a great ass."

"That's exactly my point and thank you Ang." Angela winked as Rose blew her a kiss.

"What am I missing?" Tanya slurred slightly. "Why haven't you pushed that man up against a hard surface and shlicked a nipple, I mean flicked, no licked a nipple?" Evidently, the tequila was taking its toll.

"Tanya, my friend, you are drunk. But you do ask a valid question. Bella, don't you think it's time you let him lick your nipples?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, why don't you go after him?" Et tu Angela?

"Why? Oh, I don't know. I guess being publicly humiliated for misreading a few innocent texts from a young, gorgeous man and subsequently being rejected by said gorgeous man is just not on my 'to do' list. We're friends. That's it." I snatched the lime wedge out of Tanya's loose grip and downed the closest shot. The alcohol burn only fueled my frustrations over the whole situation.

"Innocent texts? Doesn't he send you videos of him playing the guitar and singing?" Alice asked.

"So?" I should've felt badly for the snarl in my voice but honestly, the whole thing was starting to wear on me.

She raised an eyebrow at my tone. "Does he do that for anyone else in the office?"

I let out a deep sigh. "I don't know. For all I know he's posting them on YouTube."

Alice grabbed her phone and made a big show of scrolling through her phone. "Hmmm, I don't have any clips of that green-eyed hottie serenading me. I also seem to be missing the picture he sent you of himself naked from the waist up flexing in the mirror." I cringed as four sets of eyes zeroed in on me.

"You have naked pictures?" Rose demanded. She grabbed my phone and began scrolling. I tried unsuccessfully to get it back.

"Dog, dog, flowers, rainbow," Rose looked up at me from my phone. "Really, Bella? This better get a lot more- oh my God! It's practically porn!"

Again, I unsuccessfully made a grab to get my phone back, but she pitched it to Angela.

"Oh my God, he sent you this?" I hung my head and nodded slightly as she showed Tanya the picture of Edward's naked torso.

"Niiiice. I'd do him." Tanya attempted to wink but only succeeded in loosening one of her fake lashes. While she tried to fix her falsies, I recaptured my phone.

"Still think it's all innocent? Girlfriend, you need to push all that age crap aside, gather up your courage and go all in on that boy." Rose stated knowingly.

I didn't know what to think anymore. Nothing made sense and I lived my life making sense out of everything.

"Bella, guys just don't do this kind of thing for no reason. He's trying to tell you something. Either that or he's a super douche, jackass that needs attention like the rest of us need air. And if he is that kind of a dick then…"

Alice halted her speech as a good-looking blond man walked up to our table with a tray full of drinks.

"Ladies, I hope you will accept these from my friends and me." I found his light Southern drawl kind of cute and sweet, and by the dopey look on Alice's face, she found him to be more than sweet.

Ever safety conscience, Angela eyed the offered drinks cautiously. "Who are these friends?"

Blondie pulled his eyes from Alice to answer Angela. "Allow me to introduce us. I'm Jasper, that's Emmett." Rose's eyes narrowed and she licked her lips when he pointed to the bouncer she'd been eyeing all night like a slab of cherry-chocolate cheesecake. "And that's Edward."

Edward?

My Edward?

Emmett gave a small wave from the bar before moving to the side, revealing the bronze haired god that had been both the delight and the bane of my existence for the last year. He'd changed his clothes since leaving the office. Gone were the pressed, charcoal pants. He'd replaced them with black jeans but had kept the amethyst dress shirt.

Thank God!

Edward looked right at me and raised his glass in greeting. His sleeves were pushed up over his elbows, revealing his toned forearms. Damn our office dress code for hiding this kind of arm porn from me Monday through Friday.

The smirk I'd become so familiar with over the last year was affixed to his full, sexy lips.

"Bella, it's your Edward!" Angela clapped her hands in excitement.

"God, he's more gorsheous in person," Tanya slurred.

I nodded simply.

Yes, ladies, he is gorgeous. He is also way out of my league.

Jasper smirked at Angela and Tanya's comments but continued pressing his initial intent. "So, can I tell the fellas that you'll accept our offerings?"

"Yes. Thank you." Angela was always so polite.

"Shuuuur, I could usth another dtink." Tanya leaned over and grabbed a drink off the tray, but was quickly intercepted by Rose.

"Tan, I think you've had enough." Tanya made a pouty face but grudgingly relinquished her hold on the glass. She was an easy-going drunk.

"Why don't you invite your friends over so we can thank them properly?" Alice's eyelashes were flapping at a rate of speed that was akin to the speed of a hummingbird's wings. I moved my chair back in case she took flight.

"I think they'd like that, beautiful." I swear Alice swooned as he turned and waved Edward and the big guy over.

Damn!

Damn!

Damn!

How was I supposed to act with him outside of work?

I was still kind of his boss; actually, I guess Felix is really his boss… The girls all agree that he was coming on to me. But that doesn't make sense and I'm a sensible woman. But he smells so good. I bet he feels good too. God! I bet he feels really good! I bet he's one of those guys that always makes sure the woman finds her 'happy place' before he finds his. You know like those guys in the romance novels?

God, I want to lick him!

Is it hot in here?

How many tequilas have I had?

Two, three?

If my slightly blurry vision was to be believed, there were five empty glasses in front of me. That's three over my normal limit.

I downed another shot for courage and tried not to swoon myself right off my chair as Edward strutted over.

Strutted!

The man strutted like a weekend matinee idol.

I'm so fucked!

I didn't want to do this anymore.

He was turning my mind to mush.

I needed to know what all of those late night texts, videos, and the visual porn meant. And what the hell was up with him practically giving my ear an orgasm this afternoon in my office?

My eyes focused on the sexy man headed my way when I noticed the rest of the crowd doing the same. We chose this bar because of its location. It wasn't overly far from where all of us worked around the city, but it was also close to the college and drew in a fair number of coeds.

Those coeds were currently watching my Edward's ass.

I couldn't blame them for staring, he had a great ass. But they were pretty and young and I hated them for that.

Edward finished his catwalkand pulled a chair over from the table next to ours, placing it right next to mine.

"Bella, with all of the work you had planned to do, I didn't think you'd be leaving the office all weekend." Why did the sound of his voice make me want to kneel down, open my mouth and pray?

The pain, of my fingernails digging into the palms of my clenched fists, helped me focus and keep my breathing steady and even as he sat down next to me.

"Alice insisted I needed a night off. It's not wise to say no to Alice." Edward chuckled lightly and lifted his glass to his berry-colored lips. I watched in open-mouthed awe as the amber liquid left the tall glass and traveled down his long, graceful neck. I watched his Adam's apple bob when he swallowed. Suddenly, my mouth filled with saliva and I found myself mimicking his actions.

"So, you come here often?" In spite of the gorgeous presence sitting beside me, I laughed at his question. It was such twenty -something guy pick-up line. It served as a good reminder that he was a twenty-something guy.

"What? Did I say something funny?"

"Did you hear yourself? You just used the oldest college pick-up line in the history of pick-up lines."

Edward's face reddened slightly with embarrassment.

"It's okay. It's funny, sometimes I forget your age. It's good to be reminded." He frowned slightly at my statement.

"So, bootiful boy, do you wanna jump Bella or what?"

"Tanya!" Angela admonished.

"Whayt? I wanna know," Tanya demanded.

I was sure my eyes would pop out of my head at her words. By the look on Edward's face, he was just as mortified.

"Tanya, it's not your place…"

"Pffffft." Tanya waved off Angela's attempts to quiet her. I looked for help from Rose and Alice only to find them sucking the faces off Jasper and Emmett.

Tequila tends to loosen those two up a bit much.

"So, you gonna answer me, pretty boy?"

"Um, I'm not exactly sure what you're asking." Edward grimaced slightly at Tanya's question. He began rubbing his neck, clearly embarrassed by my well-meaning, but soon to be kicked in the shin by a size nine sensible shoe, friend.

"Tanya, stop." Underneath the table, I raised my foot, ready to strike.

"Bella, the boy shent you nekkid pitchers, he wants to sex you and he needs to get to the sexing or get off the pot."

Hmmm, the woman did have a point.

I lowered my foot.

Still, Edward looked really embarrassed. His face wouldn't be that shade of red if he'd meant for us to be any morethan friends. I needed to stop this before I lost him completely.

"Lookie here, green eyes, our girl needs to know, do you or do you not want to get all up in Bella?"

Oh, fuck!

I turned to the bright, red-faced man beside me and promptly threw Tanya under the bus.

"Ignore her, Edward, she's clearly drunk." Tanya made a very unladylike snort and rolled her eyes at my statement.

"Um, yeah well, she's…"

"You know, Bella, I think her questions are valid."

"Angela!" I couldn't believe that my usually neutral friend was chiming in.

"What? If the answer is 'no' then at least you'll know." Angela smiled sheepishly.

Abandoned by Rose and Alice, embarrassed by Angela and Tanya, I had no choice but to distract Edward and make a run for it. I would have to quit my job, sell my house, andchange my name…

"Bella, can we speak alone?"

Damn!

I forgot all about the whole distraction and running away in disgrace plan.

"I guess so." Inside, I was screaming, 'No!' I weakly stood up from the table to follow Edward. I grabbed one more shot to drown my sorrows when he told me the truth … That he wanted nothing more from me than friendship and would be asking for a department transfer first thing Monday morning.

I followed Edward through the crowd and tried not to sneer at the girls who openly eye-fucked him as we walked past. He wasn't mine, but they didn't know that.

Edward directed me to an empty table in the corner by the restrooms.

I sat down, placed my drink within easy reach and waited for Edward to let me down easy.

At least I hoped he'd be nice about it.

He'd be nice about it.

Right?

There was no reason to be mean.

"Bella, I want you."

Huh?

I waited for the rest of his statement, but he just sat there drinking his beer with a serious look on his face.

"You want me to what? Move, get you another drink, stop talking to you?"

"No." He sat his glass down and ran his long fingers through his beautiful hair before letting out a frustrated sigh, "I want you. That's it."

"What?"

"Stop saying, 'what.'I tried to be subtle, I tried to be cool." He smiled and looked off to the side before fixing his emerald gaze fully backto me. "You have no idea how difficult it's been to not throw you down on your desk or up against the wall in your office and have my way with you."

"Wha…"

"Stop!" He sighed and took my hand.

Normally, his touch would render me stupid, but apparently, the heady mixture of confusion, adrenaline and strong Mexican alcohol was the antidote to my usual reaction. I wasn't paralyzed by his touch; on the contrary, I kind of wanted to pull away because what he was saying made no sense.

"I guess I'm not as suave as I think I am. Bella, what did you think those texts and videos meant?"

"I don't know. I thought you were just looking for attention." I cringed as he laughed at me. I tried to pull my hand from his, but he held on tighter.

"Bella, look around." He pointed out into the bar where the coeds were congregating. "Do you think I'm hard up for attention?"

I didn't need to look.

I knew there were lots of women staring at him. They were staring exactly as I do it when he's not looking.

Ugh, I didn't need him to remind me how gorgeous he was. I pulled again and succeeded in removing my hand from his. He sighed as I tucked both hands into my lap.

"Wait, I didn't mean for that to sound as douchie as it did. Bella, I sent you those videos and texts because I wanted your attention."

"Why?"

"Why did I send you that stuff? I just told you…"

"No. Why do you want my attention?"

"Because you're smart, funny, kind, you always have time to listen to a friend and you never judge anyone. You're the most beautiful woman I've ever met and I can't stop thinking about you."

I heard his words, but they still didn't make sense. I was too plain, too dull, and too old to be with someone like him. A vibrant, gorgeous young stud like Edward deserved to be with one of the young hotties that had been checking him out all night. He should be with someone of his own age…

"Don't you ever refer to yourself as plain or dull. That's bullshit! As for you being too old? What the hell does age have to do with attraction? And who decides what makes sense? We're adults, if we feel it's right for us to be together then whose business is it to tell us that our relationship doesn't make sense?" I felt my eyes widen and my mouth fall open as he answered the statements I didn't realize I'd voiced out loud.

"Bella, I'm attracted to you and I want to be with you. Not one of the women here can hold a candle to you. Please, don't let my age turn you away from me. Please." He pleaded.

Could I believe him?

Should I believe him?

God, how I wanted to believe him.

Edward's eyes bored into mine; I was powerless to look away from his green gaze. He leaned closer. Without thinking, I reached out and stroked the stubble on his jaw. The hair was just as soft as I'd imagined.

"Bella," he moaned, leaning into my touch. "You have no idea what you're doing to me right now."

Maybe it was the tequila coursing through my veins or maybe it was the knowledge that the most beautiful man I'd ever met, just admitted that he couldn't stop thinking about me and wanted me, but suddenly I felt emboldened.

I licked my lips and attempted to remember everything Rose and Alice tried to teach me about seduction.

Without moving my hand from his face, I leaned closer to him. "Edward, what am I doing to you?" I wasn't sure if my voice had the breathy quality that Rose claimed drove men crazy, but from the look on Edward's face, something was working.

"Fuck. Are you serious?" I nodded, never looking away from his eyes. If he meant what he'd said then I wanted this. As crazy as it sounded for him to feel this way for me, I wanted him and I wasn't going to leave any moreroom for misinterpreted messages.

"Tell me, Edward. We've wasted so much time not being honest with each other."

His eyes grew dark and murky.

He began breathing in long deep breaths and his nostrils flared sexily with each breath.

The change was startling.

Gone was the sweet, beautiful intern that brought me my favorite mocha latte on Fridays and who always made sure there were plenty of my favorite pens in my plastic Edward Cullen cup every Monday morning. Where was the intern that quickly accepted every assignment given to him and always followed my directions to the T?

In front of me was a different man. This was a man who was at home taking the lead. And I was ready to follow.

"Tell me." I urged.

"This dress you're wearing, you wear it every second Friday. I mark the days off on a calendar to make sure I spend extra time in the shower those mornings." Edward's lip curled slightly and he continued. "As you sit at your desk drinking coffee, I fantasize about slowly untying the tie, right here." My breathing hitched as he gently tugged at the tie on my dress.

"After I get you untied, I'll slowly peel the dress away from your shoulders, revealing the lace bra that cradles the breasts that haunt my dreams."

He knew I preferred to wear lace bras?

"Edward…" I breathed out slowly as he leaned in and kissed me. His lips were just as soft as I'd always imagined. He deepened the kiss right away, leaving me no time to pull away.

As if that was going to happen.

Edward leaned forward, pushing me back. The back of the chair pressed into me as Edward's mouth pulled harder at mine. A low moan escaped my mouth and Edward growled in return. His left hand moved to my waist as his right hand moved up to my right breast. The fact that we were in a public bar was of no concern when the hand at my breast began to rub slow, even circles around my hard nipple.

The feelings he was awakening in me were foreign.

I wasn't a virgin, but this man made me feel as if I were, while at the same time making me want to push him down onto the table, climb up and ride him until he was begging me for a break. I wanted to finally lick all of the patches of golden, smooth skin he'd been teasing me with for a year.

It didn't make sense for him to want me, but if he wanted me, he could have me.

I pulled away from his mouth, gasping for air.

Edward's mouth moved up my jaw to my ear. "Do you want this? Do you want me?"

I suddenly realized, I hadn't said the words.

"Yes," I moaned, moving to pull him closer to me.

"Then we'll do this right. It's going to kill me to stop but I'm not going to rush and I'm certainly not going to allow anyone else to watch." With one more slow, moan-inducing nibble, he pulled away to sit back in his chair.

"No," I demanded while grabbing his shirt and desperately trying to pull his lips back to mine.

Edward chuckled and stilled my hands. "Don't worry, baby, we're not done. We just need to move to a different venue."

He called me baby!

My last boyfriend never used endearments. I'd forgotten how much I liked them.

As Edward stood up from the table, I allowed my gaze to run slowly up his lean form. Even in the dim light of the club, his beauty was undeniable. His long legs ended at surprisingly thick and muscular thighs. His waist was perfectly proportioned over his legs, it led to a wide chest and broad shoulders.

Was it normal to want to lick his clavicle?

"Bella, I'm loving the sexy as hell eye-fuck, but I would really, really like to get you somewhere a little more private." He held out one of his long-fingered hands and winked at me. "Bella, come with me."

My hand was in his before he had a chance to blink his impossibly long lashes.

I tried to keep the smirk off my face as the mouths of all those young coeds fell open in wonder as we walked back through the crowd.

That's right bitches! He's mine!

My skin may not be as tight, or my teeth as white as yours and I just may have found a couple random gray hairs the other day, but he's walking out with me so you can all suck it!

My internal tirade was delivered quite spectacularly in my head, but all I could do on the outside was glare. Which I think I did just as well as the silent tirade, if the look I got from a leggy redhead could be believed.

Edward slowed down just long enough for me to grab my purse off the table. I waved a quick good-bye to Tanya and Angela.

Angela mouthed, 'Go get em' while Tanya just leered at Edward. I turned to find Rose and Alice. They were both still attached to Jasper and Emmett, but broke away long enough for each of them to give me a thumbs up.

"See? Your friends aren't hung up on age." Edward smirked.

"Well, my friends aren't hung up on a lot of things. But they may be right about this thing."

Edward stopped abruptly, catching me by the arms when I fell into him. He leaned down and whispered in my ear, "They're definitely right about this thing. Trust me."

I don't remember it being so cold outside when we'd arrived. The air now had a distinctive chill. I was regretting not grabbing a sweater when I left the house this morning. Edward wrapped his arm around my waist and tucked me close into his side. "Is your car nearby?"

"No. Alice and I walked from the office. We usually get a cab home."

"This is going to sound bad, so just give me a break." I nodded.

"Your place or mine?"

"Are you kidding me? You're the king of the bad lines." I was bent over with my laughter.

"Hey, I'm working with what I've got." He pushed me up against the nearest wall. My laughter died as soon as my back hit the bricks.

Edward rested his arms on either side of my head and pushed his body into mine. "I'm willing to explore my voyeuristic side, but tonight I'd really like a nice firm bed with soft sheets over a stone, cold wall. But I'll do it if you want me that way."

"I want you any way I can have you." Damn, verbal vomit!

"Oh, baby, you really shouldn't have said that." I didn't realize I'd said that out loud, but from the look on Edward's face, I was going to be very happy that my mouth had a mind of its own.

Edward claimed my mouth with a vengeance. The hand that wasn't at my waist was at my neck, holding me in place for his almost brutal kiss. His tongue slid into my mouth and I moaned as it wrapped around mine.

Edward pulled away abruptly and I slumped against the wall. His kiss sapped my strength. My body felt as if it weighed seven hundred pounds.

Edward's arms tightened around me. "God, baby, what you do to me." His nose skimmed down my neck, before resting at my clavicle where he placed a light kiss.

He pulled back with a groan and took my hand. "I live over by the university, with Emmett. And, um, my place isn't the cleanest. But my car is here." He grinned sheepishly at his admission.

"Oh, so you want to go to my place?" My place was clean but was I ready to have Edward in my space? You want him inside you, but you're balking at sharing your bathroom? My inner voice made a good point.

"Um, yeah, unless you don't mind wading through empty beer bottles, boxes of pizza crusts and piles of dirty laundry."

"Um, I could skip the dirty laundry."

"Your place?"

If I was going to do this, take a twenty-two-year-old man home and let him sex me up six ways from Sunday, it would be nice to wake up in clean sheets. Or semi-clean sheets.

"Yes. Edward, take me home."

Edward wasted no time. He practically dragged me to a sensible silver sedan.

"A Volvo, Edward?" I teased.

"Hey, it's the safest car on the road and it has three hundred horses under the hood." He grinned at his car's need for speed. I held in my own grin. I was also a bit of a speed demon having grown up with a father that loved classic muscle cars.

I directed Edward to my townhome on the west side of town. As we drove, my mind began to drift back to the many ways that this was all wrong.

He was too young.

We were at different places in our lives.

I was a decade older than him.

How could there ever be a future for us?

Would there be a future?

Or was this just a fling for him?

Did I want a fling?

"Stop thinking whatever it is you're thinking," he ordered from the driver's seat.

"Edward, there's so many reasons why we shouldn't do this." In my haze, I hadn't realized that we'd already arrived at my home.

"Shouldn't do what? Enjoy each other's company?"

I shook my head slowly, "You know that's not exactly what we're going to be doing if we continue down this path."

"I know exactly what I want to do. And I'm pretty damn sure that you want it too. What I don't know is why you're so hell bent on over thinking our age difference. Why do you do that?"

Was he serious? "Edward, our age difference is a huge…"

I didn't finish the sentence as Edward's mouth descended upon mine with a vengeance. My body reacted immediately to his attack. My hands went to his neck and pulled him closer as his hands gripped my waist tightly. He didn't touch me anywhere but at my waist and lips. He didn't have to entice me with erotic touches to my breasts. I was already addicted to him.

We pulled apart, panting for air, but our hands never left each other's bodies. Edward placed his forehead on mine and sighed. "Bella, our age difference is just a number. It doesn't define us. Do you think that I would be less attracted to you if you were the same age as me? I'm attracted to your intelligence, humor, kindness- the list goes on and on. I'm not one of those guys who go after older women for fun. I'm attracted to you and your age has nothing to do with it."

"But you have to realize that our age difference will cause problems for us in the future."

"Future?"

Oh God, he's only looking for a fling.

"You want a future with me?" Edward asked, grinning.

I shrugged at his question. I didn't want to expose myself any more than I already had.

"Bella, stop. Stop pulling away from me." He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. I knew from watching him do this at the office that the action meant he was either thinking really hard about something or frustrated.

"Look, tonight can we just be Edward and Bella? Two people attracted to each other who want to be together?" I opened my mouth to say something, but he cut me off.

"I'm not saying I don't want a future with you because honestly, I can't see tomorrow, next week or even next month without you in my life. But tonight I can't see past the wanting." Edward put his hands on either side of my face and held my gaze. "I've watched you for the past year and it's been a testament to my strength to not have attempted to seduce you months ago. Your body sings to me. The way you move around the office, so sure of yourself. The way you stand up to Felix and Alec when they try to dump more work on you and when you force Jane and James to get their reports turned in on time or face your wrath. God, it's so fucking sexy."

His words lit a fire in me that I didn't know existed.

"Edward, take me to bed. Now!" I demanded.

I barely had time to blink before he was out of the car andwrenching open my door.

Edward grabbed my hand and yanked me out of the car. "You don't know how long I've waited for you to say that."

I smiled at his admission, thinking back to all of the times I'd wished I'd been strong enough to say those words and have him push me over my desk and take me.

Channeling the confident woman he thought I was, I took his hand and pulled him towards my front door.

We entered my home and immediately my back hit the wall next to the entrance. I registered the sound of the door shutting rather than seeing it done as my vision and senses were completely obscured by the gorgeous man in front of me.

He'd kissed and touched me in the bar and the car, but his actions now were more hurried, more intense.

His hands grabbed roughly at my waist but moved quickly to the neckline of my dress, pushing the fabric aside to grasp my breasts. He squeezed them, rubbing both nipples with his thumbs.

"Edward…" I moaned as he moved one hand from my breasts to the knot of fabric at my left side. My knees buckled as his fingers skimmed my bare skin. His feather light touches felt more intimate than sex had felt with my last boyfriend, Jake.

"So soft," he murmured into my neck. His touch became more insistent.

"I've watched you wear this dress all year wondering what you were hiding under all of the prim and proper façade." His deft fingers quickly made short work of the tie holding my dress together. He quickly pushed aside the two halves of the soft knit and dipped his hand lower to find the soft lace of my La Perla panties. I was a sensible woman with a weakness for Italian lingerie.

The forgotten dress fell from my shoulders to pool onto the floor.

"You don't ever disappoint do you, Miss Swan?" He joked while his fingertips stroked the expensive lace covering the part of my body that was already weeping for him.

I couldn't stand him touching me so intimately without touching more of him. I moved quickly and began tugging at his dress shirt. I unbuttoned it with a dexterity I didn't know I possessed, tossing it to the floor and moved to the buttons on his jeans.

"That's it baby, take me. Take what you want. Show me the confident and passionate woman I know you are." Edward's words tickled my ear and spurred me on. His jeans fell to his knees in seconds and my hands clutched at his firm ass, pulling him harder into me.

In my hurry to touch him, I hadn't registered that he'd managed to slip his hand under my panties and was already stroking my aching pussy.

His lips skimmed down my neck and met his right hand at my right nipple. They worked in harmonious tandem as his left hand shifted and he slipped a finger intomy wet channel.

"Oh, God!" I gasped as he added a second finger.

His mouth popped off my hard nipple. "God isn't here," he breathed over my aching breast, "It's just you and me."

To prove his point, he pumped the fingers in my core while flicking my clit with his thumb.

"Edward…"

"That's better," he crooned before taking my lips in another crushing kiss. His ass flexed under my hands.

I could feel my wetness leaking out of my pussy, through his fingers. I should be embarrassed at my lack of control.

I wasn't.

"Bella, I need, I need more of you. Please." My heart soared while my body clenched at the pleading in this beautiful man's voice.

"Bedroom," I panted.

I groaned loudly when he pulled his beautiful fingers from my center. "Don't worry I'll take care of you." He promised with a quick kiss.

I leaned heavily on the wall while Edward leaned down to finish removing his jeans and shoes. Unabashedly, I allowed my eyes to soak in the view. I knew he was beautiful, but an unclothed Edward took my breath away.

"I feel the same way." His eyes found mine as he stood up.

How did he know what I was thinking?

I took his hand and walked us down the hallway to my bedroom. I couldn't explain where the strength came from but for the first time I acted like the strong, confident and passionate woman Edward said he saw in me.

"On the bed. Now!" I ordered.

"Yes ma'am." Seeing his long, lean body laid out on my lavender, Calvin Klein comforter had every cell in my body screaming, 'mine! '

Remembering every porn movie I'd seen, I crawled up onto the bed on all fours and made my way up his body to straddle his waist.

His hands encircled my waist as I leaned over him to turn on my bedside lamp. I'd never had a twenty-two-year-old man before. I wasn't going to pass up watching every toned muscle move as he took me.

"God, you're beautiful," he moaned as my weight settled on his hard cock.

"God isn't here," I smirked, throwing his words back at him while rubbing my pussy on his shaft.

"Oh, someone thinks she has the upper hand."

I squealed as Edward flipped us so that he was the one doing the rubbing. My legs clenched around his waist as my hands tightened on his shoulders.

Edward's beautiful green eyes were darkened with lust. "As you've probably guessed, I like strong women. And we'll explore that part of your character later. But first, there's a part of you I want to explore more." The sound of my expensive panties being ripped from my body should have pissed me off.

It didn't.

"Fuck! Look at you. You're dripping." Edward held up two fingers. My arousal was evident on his long digits.

In a flurry, my bra was removed, as were his briefs.

"I can't wait. I'm sorry, but I need you now." I nodded and watched as he magically produced a condom.

Sensing my confusion, Edward explained his trick. "Um, I grabbed it out of my jeans. I figured you'd want me to wear one."

"Thank you." I was grateful that he'd remembered to act sensibly. After Jake, I'd decided to give my body a break from the hormones. I wasn't currently on any birth control.

I watched as he rolled the condom onto this considerable length and positioned himself at my waiting entrance. "Look at me," he ordered. I tore my eyes from where we were almost connected to look into his eyes.

"I want you with everything I have, but I will walk away right now if you can't tell me you've put our age difference behind us. From now on, I want us to be just Bella and Edward. Two people exploring this world together in an equal partnership. Please tell me it's okay. Please." Despite the intimate position our bodies were entangled in, I got the feeling that his words had stripped him more naked than the loss of his clothes had.

"Edward," I sighed his name softly while cupping his jaw in my hands, drawing him in for a long kiss. His cock pushed at my swollen labia as his tongue pushed into my mouth. He drew back from the kiss, his eyes searching mine. "You're the smartest, funniest, sexiest and most capable man I've ever met. You constantly amaze me with the kindness you show everyone around you. For the last year, I'd denied myself the chance to be with the most amazing man I've ever met because I didn't have the courage to allow you into my life. I was a fool. But no longer will I allow fear to get in the way of our chance at finding something real simply because you were born ten years after I was. If you want me, I'm yours."

I was amazed at how easily the truth fell from my lips.

Edward smiled sweetly for a moment and then his eyes darkened with lust. I barely had a moment to hold onto his broad shoulders before he filled me completely. He caught my gasps with his mouth before pulling away and setting a delicious rhythm inside me.

"Then gather all of your strength because I plan to take you on the ride of your life." He promised.

"It's about time."