Author's Note: Stephenie Meyer created Twilight. I created this work of fan-fiction.

I really loathed couples cooking classes. I teach a variety of cooking classes at the community center, but when I originally volunteered for couples classes I had been in a relationship myself. Now that I am bitterly single I seem to have a shorter fuse for the lovebirds. I arrived at the classroom early to set up for the class on sauces I was teaching to six couples tonight. In the midst of chopping herbs, my cell phone buzzed in my pocket. Surprised, I accidentally dropped the kitchen knife and jumped back in time for it to not land on my foot.

Sometimes I wonder who let the world's most uncoordinated girl teach cooking classes.

I dug the phone out of my pocket and answered, "This is Bella."

"Bella, this is Dave calling from Cullen Creative. How are you this afternoon?"

"Doing well. How are you?"

"Well, I'm excited to be able to give you some good news. The copywriter position is yours if you want it. Everyone was impressed by both you and your portfolio."

"Really?" I gasped. "This is so amazing! I absolutely accept!"

He chuckled on the other end of the line. "Great, Bella. We're excited to have you. When can you start?"

"I can start tomorrow," I said without thinking.

"Tomorrow is Saturday, but how about Monday?" He was definitely openly laughing at me at this point. "I'll meet you at the front desk at 8:00 to show you around and introduce you to everyone."

I sobered up a little and agreed to his suggestion. I kept my voice more calm through the rest of our conversation, but I began hopping around, doing a little dance in my excitement. As soon as we hung up I squealed and turned my little dance into full-on ass-shaking and shimmying until I accidentally kicked the knife that I had left on the floor. I bent over to pick it up and heard a voice behind me.

"I hope you're going to wash that before we start cooking."

I spun around, wielding the kitchen knife, and found the most amazingly gorgeous man standing in the doorway to the classroom. The moment was so overwhelming; I was in a state of shock between the job offer, kicking the knife, and the surprise of finding out I wasn't alone. Dumbfounded, I stood there with the knife and took all of him in. His jeans and t-shirt made him appear pretty average and unassuming, until I noticed the body and that face. He was tall with an average build that didn't make him too skinny or too bulky and muscular. From across the room I could see the intense green of his eyes and he had the most beautifully disheveled bronze hair I had ever seen. He either spent hours making it look like that or he rolled out of bed that way.

God, I hope it looks like that in bed.

At the realization of my own ridiculousness, I lowered the knife and blushed furiously. I tried to stammer out a response when he crossed his arms over his chest, leaned on the doorframe, and gave me cockiest, sexiest grin I have ever seen. I couldn't maintain eye contact any longer or my face was going to be completely crimson. Turning back towards the teaching station, I set the knife down in the sink. I selected a new knife from the drawer and went back to my herbs. Yes. I would pretend nothing happened and that he wasn't staring at me.

"I'm sorry. I probably scared you when you were clearly celebrating something," he finally broke the silence. "And of course you're going to wash the knife. I was just giving you a hard time."

I continued chopping, but found the ability to speak again. "Are you here for the class?"

"Yeah. Sorry, but we got here a little early and my…uh…date is on the phone." He motioned to a tall blonde who was animatedly talking to someone on a cell phone in the hallway behind him. She was tan and leggy with big boobs and I immediately hated her.

"Ah. Well you're just a few minutes early. You have your pick of the cooking stations."

He moved from the doorway and into the room, taking a seat at a station in the second row.

"So, what are we making tonight?" he asked.

"We are going to make each of the 5 mother sauces," I replied.

"Mother sauces?"

"Béchamel, espagnole, hollandaise, veloute, and tomate." I said with my best French accent.

He raised an eyebrow in my direction. "I know the one that goes on Eggs Benedict. Is a Bechamel the one you use for cheese sauce?" A few other couples had come into the room and settled in at the different stations.

I giggled like a fool and nodded. "Very good, uh…"

"Edward."

"Very good, Edward. You have two out of five. The mother sauces were developed by the French. You can make any sauce by starting with one of these five."

"You're not starting the class yet, are you? I still have two minutes!"

It was the blonde, Edward's date, who was accusing me and staring daggers. She was still on the phone, but had tilted it away from her ear while she shouted at me.

"Tanya, calm down. I just asked her a question and made polite conversation." The fact that Edward looked completely annoyed with her made me elated. "Can you please just wrap up your call?" he asked, rolling his eyes. I busied myself with the last of my preparations and the last of the couples filed in. Finally, Tanya joined Edward at their table and I started class.

"My name is Bella Swan and I'll be your instructor tonight. Welcome to the couples sauce class."

XOXOXOX

The class went fairly smoothly. Most people coming to a class this advanced have a good grasp of basic cooking techniques. There was a lot of spoon feeding between the lovebirds and only one couple's espagnole brown sauce burned. As I made my way around the room to assist at different stations, I couldn't help but overhear snippets of the conversation between Edward and Tanya.

Tanya: "I don't want to keep whisking. It'll be fine if you just let it sit."

Edward: "Can you stop texting long enough to help me here?"

Tanya: "This is lame. Let's go back to your apartment."

Edward: "We're at a cooking class at the rec center, Tanya. No one told you to wear 4 inch heels."

I was standing in front of their station and saw that the roux for their béchamel was dangerously close to being overcooked. "Remember, everyone, the longer you cook a roux the less thickening power it has."

"Are you saying we did this wrong?" Tanya demanded. The accusatory tone never left her voice whenever she spoke to me.

Before I could answer, Edward rescued me again. "She's just trying to help. She is the instructor here. Let her instruct."

I had walked back to the teaching station at this point, but Tanya's next words reached my ears perfectly clearly.

"That mousy bitch needs to mind her own business."

I was too shocked to ignore this last remark. I would make sure it was her last of the night. "Please leave my classroom. Right now." I pointed to the door for extra emphasis.

Tanya immediately obliged by grabbing her purse and throwing it over her shoulder. "I'm happy to. Come on, Eddie," she said.

"No, I'm staying. And I told you not to call me that." Edward went back to stirring the milk into his béchamel.

I still had my finger pointed at the door and Tanya huffed as she walked towards it. When she walked through the threshold one of the guys from another couple started a slow clap, but no one joined him. I resumed my perusal of everyone's progress.

XOXOXOX

The sauce class was always a messy one and there were a lot of dishes to be washed. Everyone was usually a good sport about helping afterwards. Edward took longer since he didn't have any help and he was the last student in the classroom. When I finished at the teaching station I went to help him dry his dishes. Even with all the various cooking odors we had created in class, I could still smell him. It wasn't just cologne; most of that smell was him.

"You don't have to do that. I've caused you enough trouble tonight," he said.

"Yeah, but it's okay. I have to lock up behind you anyway."

Also, I want to stand here and smell you.

"I'm sorry about Tanya. She can be a real pain," he sighed as he scrubbed a saucepan.

"That's all right. It was the first time someone's girlfriend has called me a bitch, though."

"Tanya is not my girlfriend." He made a disgusted face as he said the word. "My mother seems to think we belong together and I agreed to this class mostly to appease her."

I tried not to show my excitement. "Well, thanks for staying to finish the class."

"Of course. I learned a lot. Unfortunately she was my ride."

"Would you like a ride with me?"

"I can probably walk. It's a nice night."

I began hanging the dishtowels to dry. "Oh. Okay."

"Actually, would you let me buy you a drink? There's a place across the street. It's the least I can do after letting her make a scene here tonight."

I'm sure my eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. "Sure!" I squeaked.

Get a grip, Bella, or else you're going to need to change your panties.

XOXOXOX

We were halfway through a beer each and here's what I had learned about Edward so far: He graduated from Dartmouth with a business degree, but draws and paints for a living. He grew up in Seattle, but shied away from details about his parents. He loves baseball and sports cars. He has a married older sister who is a costume designer for major Hollywood films. I took note of these things, but the fact I was still most excited about was his single status.

It felt so natural talking with him, especially when it was just the two of us and there weren't any bitchy Amazons in spike heels around to yap at us. We were nearly done with our beers when he reminded me of my embarrassing blunder before class.

"So, what sort of celebration was I interrupting when I walked in this afternoon?"

I groaned and put my head on the edge of the bar, letting my hair hang in front of my face. He pushed some of it back behind my ear and I was jolted by a little shock of electricity at his touch.

"Sorry," he apologized.

"It's okay." I took a deep breath. "Well, what I was celebrating was the job offer I had just accepted. Do you know the big ad agency here in Seattle, Cullen Creative?"

Edward's eyebrow rose again and I interpreted the look on his face as a sign that he was impressed or intrigued.

"Yeah, I know it," he said. "What are you going to be doing there?"

"I'm a copywriter."

"I thought you were a chef."

"English was an easy major. I took culinary classes in addition to college."

"So will you stop teaching at the rec center?"

"I teach there mostly for fun. It doesn't pay enough to live on. I've been working at a few different restaurants for a living while I've been trying to get into advertising."

"I see. Well, that is a cause for celebration. Time to switch to shots."

My eyes widened and he reached over to lightly pat my shoulder. "It'll be okay, Bella," he said, smiling. Again the little jolt ran through my body at his touch. I suddenly couldn't believe I was having drinks with this guy and having such a good time.

Don't worry. You'll get drunk, make a fool of yourself, and send him on his way soon enough.

I did my best to ignore my annoying thoughts and did what any hot-blooded girl would do in this situation. I kept up with him – shot for shot – whether it was Jack, Jim, or Jameson that was in front of us in those little glasses.

XOXOXOX

We were a few drinks beyond intelligent conversation. Instead we were laughing hysterically as we made up stories about the bar's other patrons.

"That couple over there is clearly on an internet date," I said, unabashedly pointing.

"How can you tell?"

"Come on. It's written all over her face. 'eHarmony did NOT tell me how much this guy loves his mother.'"

Edward bent over laughing and even though I was incredibly buzzed, I was still in respectful awe of him and his attractiveness. I was the moth to his flame. Sick puppies don't look as pathetic as I felt.

He was still laughing and had tears in his eyes. He put his hand on my knee to steady himself (I think) and I gladly let him keep it there. I wasn't so steady myself and I swayed a little on the barstool as I tipped back the last of my beer. I felt his hand slide a little higher up on my thigh. I put my hand over his and he looked at me.

Damn you and that fucking grin!

"You're a lot of fun, Bella Swan. Am I keeping you out too late?" He slurred his last words a bit.

Is it possible I can hold my liquor better than him?

"Nah. This is just different than my original Friday night plans."

"Which were…?"

"You don't want to know."

We stood and Edward reached for his wallet, putting a few bills on the bar. The bartender took them and nodded while I was still digging for my wallet. He put his arm around my shoulder and said, "I got this. Let's share a cab home."

"Do you even know if we live in the same direction from here?"

"Doesn't matter. Let's go."

He still had his arm around me as we walked out into the chilly night. As soon as the cold air hit my face, my knees buckled like a collapsing tent pole. If he hadn't been so close I would have surely hit the ground. He steadied me on my feet and helped me to the curb and into a cab.

When did he hail a cab? And how exactly did I come to think I was holding my liquor better than him?

I don't know why, but he still had his arm around me in the cab. The change of temperatures between the warm bar, the cold outside, and the warm cab made my buzz surge through every pore. I turned into Edward's warm body and nuzzled his neck. He brushed the hair out of my face and traced his fingers along my jaw.

"Bella, sweetie, tell the driver where we're going."

I murmured the address against Edward's neck and his hands began exploring through my hair and over my back. The cab pulled away from the curb and Edward lifted my chin. Suddenly he was kissing me. It was drunken, messy, frenzied, and amazing. His hands moved under my jacket and pulled me tighter to him. Brave and drunk, I ran my fingers into that fantastic hair and pulled myself into his lap.

Oh my God. This is fucking amazing.

I opened my mouth to his deepening kisses and with his hands in the back pockets of my jeans he pulled me hard against him. There was no mistaking the hard-on in his jeans. I let out an uncontrollable moan and the cab driver blatantly cleared his throat. I pulled away from Edward's kiss and looked in his eyes. I almost kissed him again to get that grin off his face. He pulled his hands out of my pockets and slid them down inside the back of my jeans. I buried my head in his shoulder while he squeezed my ass and rubbed me against him.

The cab ride probably took only ten minutes but it felt blissfully longer. We continued intermittently making out and dry humping in the back of the cab until we came to a sudden stop. I looked out the window and saw that we had reached my place. Edward helped me off of his lap and out of the cab. I re-opened the vault that is my purse and began fishing for my keys. I vaguely heard Edward bribing the driver to wait for him.

Edward stood patiently and I was eventually triumphant in finding my keys. He leaned in for one more delicious kiss and said goodnight.

I let myself into the foyer and waved at him through the glass door. I watched as he got back in the cab, and then climbed the stairs to my place. After trying a few different keys, I finally made it inside, staggered down the hall, and face-planted on the bed. I was about to pass out any second, but I got the idea that I would text him to say thanks. I rolled over and pulled the phone out of my jacket pocket. I blinked, bleary-eyed and scrolled through my contacts looking for his number.

I did get his number, didn't I?