Alright, I'm giving it a shot. I'm continuing the story Bookstore Blues. No, no - hold your applause. Lol

Just hope you all enjoy it.

Bella paced nervously in her apartment's living room, chewing her bottom lip until it was plump and red. This date had seemed like a good idea when she'd agreed to it, but truth was, she didn't do this kind of thing. Ever. She didn't even agree to blind dates set up by trusted friends, so what on earth had possessed her to agree to basically the same thing with a complete stranger who admitted to stalking her?

'Stalking you back,' the little voice in her head reminded her, not that it was very helpful.

'Shut up' she told herself, frowning. A glance at the clock on the wall showed that Edward the Beautiful Green-eyed Tuesday Stranger would be arriving - if he were on time - in four minutes. 240 seconds.

Bella doubled over in place, wrapping her arms around her stomach, fighting a feeling of nausea. She kept trying to tell herself she could do this, but the voice telling her she couldn't was louder.

A whole sixty-seven seconds before he was supposed to knock, before she could completely convince herself it would be perfectly fine, there was a knock at the door. Bella jumped, stabbing her side on the corner of the bookshelf. Frowning, she rubbed her side and moved to answer the door, pausing a moment to smooth her simple, casual blue sundress into place.

She opened the door, and the air dispersed from her lungs. He stood before her, hands buried in his pockets, green eyes peering up at her from the curtain of hair over his forehead. Gorgeous. How could any one person be so gorgeous? It definitely wasn't fair to the rest of humanity.

Then he grinned, and her lips involuntarily mimicked his in response.

Edward jerked his head behind him slightly, grinning because he simply couldn't help it. "Ready to go?" he asked quietly, remembering the slightly nervous look in her eyes.

Bella smiled, a little hesitantly, and grabbed her small purse before nodding and following him out.

He led her to a sleek black car, one that she couldn't possibly put a name to because she knew next to nothing about them. Her childhood best friend, Jacob, had tried to teach her, but had gotten nowhere. He'd called her a 'lost cause'. She crashed his motorcycle shortly beforehand, though, and she suspected he stopped because he was afraid of her damaging anything more precious than that.

Edward smiled widely as he opened the door, closing it softly behind her and rushing around the front to his side. When he started the car, its smooth purr was a startling difference to Bella's truck, which sounded more like one of the nitro cars in drag races… if it had a really bad cold.

Bella didn't know what to say - her nerves over her rash decision on Tuesday were keeping her mind immobile and this just made her more anxious.

Edward glanced over at her, noting how she was chewing her bottom lip in obvious agitation, and quickly tried to think of a way to break her out of her anxiety.

"Is there anything specific you want to do tonight, or are you more of a play-it-by-ear kind of girl?" he asked. He had plans, of course, but if it would make her more comfortable if they did something she wanted, he would be all for it. Edward hated situations that made people uncomfortable or upset, and always did his best to avoid them.

Bella glanced at him in surprise, jerking out of her arguments with herself about the rash date, and then looked down at her hands where they rested in her lap. "Whatever you had planned is fine," she said softly.

Edward nodded. "There's this place I like to go," he said, glancing sideways at her, "the service is good and friendly and the food is great. I thought I'd take you there, then play it by ear."

Bella nodded, swallowing in an attempt to alleviate her dry throat. It didn't work.

When they pulled up at the restaurant, Edward hurried around the car as Bella unbuckled and opened her door, trying to remind herself why she'd thought this was a good idea. Edward gently helped her stand, grinning crookedly. Bella offered a slight smile back, the best she could do while her stomach was hosting the tryouts for the circus act in her body. She expected Edward to release her hand, but he didn't; instead, he kept it loosely gripped in his own and rubbed his thumb soothingly over the back.

They were led to a table and Edward held out her seat. Bella blushed, not used to such actions. Holding open doors, pulling out chairs… she half expected him to bow and kiss her hand.

Bella grabbed the menu and glanced over it, completely blind as to what was written on it. Her eyes had a mind of their own, and kept shifting up to stare at the man across from her. When she realized she was staring, she'd quickly glance back down, but somehow, her eyes always managed to return.

One time while she was staring, Edward looked up as well and caught her. Bella flushed, but Edward just grinned, folding his menu and putting it down. Making her eyes return to her menu, mentally chiding herself, Bella selected the first thing her eyes could actually focus on that sounded like something she could eat, and folded her menu onto the table. Where before her eyes couldn't stay off of him, now they couldn't seem to even flicker to him.

"Do you work at the bookstore full time, or part time?"

Bella's head snapped up with the question, and she flushed. "Oh, um, part time. I'm finishing my degree online."

Edward smiled at her, and Bella couldn't help her lips smiling back. A small bit of tension finally drifted away. "What do you do?" she asked curiously. He'd said his father and grandfather had been volunteer firefighters, but nothing about himself. "Besides save damsels being hunted by cannibals," she added, a small smirk pulling up her lips. Every time Mike came up to speak with her now, she kept picturing a savage wild crazy-guy. To say it kept her amused was a slight understatement.

Laughing, Edward leaned forward in his seat. "I'm in the middle of trying to start my own business, with my best friend. She does all the hard work, really. Actually, she's sort of taken control of the whole project," he admitted with a soft chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck. "But I also work down at the coffeehouse on Central. Just so that I don't go completely broke while waiting."

Bella smiled, more of her nerves drifting away as they spoke. It was just so comfortable speaking with Edward. "What kind of business?"

At that, Edward turned a little red, but he laughed easily. "I was going to make it a little coffeehouse, but my friend, Alice, had other plans. She wanted to make it a sweets-store. It'll probably end up with both."

Bella nodded. "That would probably be good, though. I mean, two different selections on what to buy, more customers."

He nodded as well, then shrugged. "I let Alice take care of the setting up of the business, but trust me. Once it starts, I'll be the one she delegates all the managing work to. Alice is more of a people person."

The conversation flowed easily as their order was taken, and until we were given our food. Edward told the most funny stories, and it made her sorry when the food was finished and paid for.

Edward grabbed Bella's hand as they started out of the restaurant, twining their fingers together and smiling down at her. "So what do you want to do?"

Bella bit her lip, looking around. "Um… why don't we just walk for a while?"

"Sure," Edward agreed easily, "Come on." He nodded his head to the side and Bella followed him. They were quiet for a few minutes, just enjoying the cool air around them and the tranquil night. A small breeze tickled Bella's hair, brushing coolly against the back of her neck. She shivered lightly, but Edward glanced at her in concern.

"Are you cold? Did you bring a jacket?"

Bella smiled up at him. "No, it was just a little breeze."

He didn't appear entirely convinced, and untwined their hands. Bella tried not to let her face express disappointment; when his arm wrapped over her shoulders and pulled her closer to his side, she felt her face flush with heat.

Edward watched the pleasant blush on her cheeks and decided he wanted to get that reaction out of her as often as possible. The pink color blended beautifully with her pale complexion.

They walked and talked a little more, and Edward confirmed many things he'd guessed about her from his Tuesday visits to the bookstore. She was shy, but spoke passionately when a subject she felt confident with was broached. She knew a lot about classic books, and she could find popular modern books to compare them with. Her laugh was beautiful, and her smile was serene. His attention often drifted to her lips, but he was pretty sure he managed to keep that from her notice.

Bella glanced shyly towards Edward again, unable to keep from smiling a little more as she noticed his eyes pause near her lips again. She wondered if he noticed that he did that or not. She couldn't help but notice that whenever she blushed, he ran his hand through his hair, and his eyes would travel to her lips again. It was cute, in a slightly embarrassing way.

They reached his car again, and once again Edward opened the door for Bella. Bella blushed, but also managed to smirk at him. "Laying on the manners pretty thick, are we?"

Laughing, Edward shut her door and went around to his side. As he sat down and started the engine, he smirked over at her. "Totally. The plan is to draw you in now, and then become a lazy, rude asshole once you're in my clutches."

Bella laughed, cheeks hurting from the wide smiling she'd been doing all night. "Very evil."

The ride back to Bella's place was far more comfortable from the ride to the restaurant, and once Edward stopped in front of her place, she hesitated on making a move to get out. Edward twisted around in his seat to see her better, running a hand across her cheek and tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear.

"I had… an amazing time, Edward," Bella said quietly, biting her lip as she smiled. Her lips twitched towards a larger grin as his eyes focused on her lips again, then back to her eyes.

"That's good. Does it mean my evil master plan is working?"

Bella grinned, her cheeks heating slightly. "I don't know." She took a breath and reminded herself that being bold didn't always lead to bad things. Just look at tonight as an example. "I think you're going to have to do a little more than opening doors and such to win me over completely."

He raised a brow. "Is that so?"

Bella nodded, licking her dry lips and finding her voice had gotten lost. Edward's eyes watched the movement of her tongue, and she blushed again, which drew his attention to her cheeks. He brushed the back of a finger across them again.

"That's such a beautiful reaction. I love it." His hand started to brushed through his hair again.

Bella grinned. "I love watching you run your hand through your hair."

He stopped halfway and pulled his hand away, looking faintly startled by the action, then grinned at her. "Subconscious habit."

Bella smirked, reaching her hand up to brush some hair out of his eyes. "It's cute. Especially when you're watching my lips at the same time," she teased.

The faint red hit his cheeks again, and Bella grinned, delighted. "You're adorable," she admitted with a laugh.

Edward's eyes locked onto hers, burning and sparking with a light that froze the breath in her chest. He didn't say anything, just leaned forward and caught her mouth with his, pressing himself closer.

His lips were silky, warm, and made Bella gasp with surprise. With a pleasured sigh, Bella relaxed towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck comfortably. After just a few moments, though, the pleasure from the kiss was shadowed by the discomfort of their position in the car.

Edward pulled back slightly, watching the lightly unfocused look fade from Bella's eyes. He swallowed thickly, then pulled back some more, getting out of the car and moving around to help Bella rise from the seat.

She smiled at him, cheeks still pink from a blush, and squeezed his hand lightly. They walked up to her door, and stopped there. Bella leaned back against her door, not letting go of his hand. Not quite ready to admit the night was well and truly over.

Edward brushed her cheek one last time, stepping so close that their bodies brushed. "Thanks for giving the date a chance, Bella."

Bella grinned. "Well, if it meant getting rid of a stalker…."

Chuckling, Edward leaned a little closer. "I'll call you tomorrow."

"Can't wait," she murmured, staring at his lips, hoping for another kiss. If he didn't initiate it, she just might.

Smirking slightly, Edward leaned forward and brushed his lips lightly against hers once, twice. The third time, it was more than a simply brushing of lips, and Bella decided that being bold was definitely a good thing. Heck, she should probably thank Cannibal Mike for putting her in a position to be rescued from.

"Good night Bella," Edward whispered, breathing off by just a bit.

Bella grinned, licking her lips. "Night Edward."

He walked backwards, and Bella reached for the doorknob without turning to look. Once he was in his car, she finally turned the knob and stepped inside as he drove away.

Closing the door, Bella leaned against it, grinning goofily.

Oh, yeah. Stalking guys in the bookstore was definitely a good thing.

I'm not sure just how long it will be - not very. I'd think only about five chapters tops. Thanks for all the votes that got us to round three, this is my thank you to all of you. More of the story.