A/N: This is a little birthday present for a persistent little pumpkin we all know and love. I fell in love with her words and then her, and I'm so privileged to call her my friend.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, B! I love you more than Edward loves pumpkin… and you're about to find out that's a WHOLE LOTTA LOVE! Enjoy, Dirtbag!

"Yes, Jas. I told you I'd be there and I will. I'm just waiting for my pumpkin seeds to finish in the oven. They have about five minutes left," I say into the phone.

"That's what you said last year about the pumpkin bread, but you never showed up. You can't miss it this year over your stupid-ass pumpkin obsession, man! My new co-worker, Bella, is coming and I really want you to meet her. I think you two will really hit it off, if you just tone down the pumpkin love a little."

I can tell Jas is still upset about me missing his annual Halloween party last year, but it wasn't REALLY my fault.

"Oh, don't bring that up again. I told you, I didn't realize how much stronger the Spiced Pumpkin Martini was than the Pumpkin Punch. If I'd been in any condition to drive once the pumpkin bread was done, you know I would've been there," I huff indignantly. It's not like he's never gotten drunk and not been able to drive before!

"Whatever, dude. Bring your gourd-loving self over here, pronto," Jasper replies.

"It's only pumpkins, not all gourds, you ass. I didn't see you complaining when you scarfed down the pumpkin bread the next day. I'll be there in ten." I hang up before he has a chance to reply.

I know he doesn't really mean anything by it and I'm not totally crazy, I know my love for all things pumpkin is a bit… extreme. The thing is, you can only get really good, freshly grown pumpkins a couple months out of the year, so you have to take advantage of it while you can. The store bought stuff will do in a pinch, and I always make sure to stock my shelves for the inevitable pumpkin craving that hits mid-summer, but there's nothing like real homemade pumpkin soup on a chilly October night.

Yum!

The timer dings and I grab my oven mitt to pull the seeds out of the oven. They really need to cool before I eat them, but I can't resist scooping a couple up and blowing on them before popping them in my mouth. I close my eyes and moan appreciatively. This is one of my best batches yet. I quickly slide the rest of the seeds into a Tupperware dish and leave them on the counter to cool. This is my fifth batch and I figure I'm about halfway done. Ten batches should last me through the year, right?

I extinguish the lights in the five Jack-O-Lanterns displayed in my kitchen, living room, and bedroom, grab my jacket and keys and head outside. I went a little overboard last year with a total of sixty-seven pumpkins displayed inside and outside of my home, so I decided to tone it down this year. I went with an even fifty, only carving about ten of them. Besides, when you carve them you can't eat the delicious pumpkin inside.

And it's the meat of the pumpkin that I really love.

{_} {_} {_}

I pull up to Jasper's house just a couple minutes late. He started a new job as an accountant about a month ago and invited several of his new co-workers, so I'm not surprised to see new vehicles parked in his driveway. He's been trying to set me up with this Bella chick since he started, but tonight is the first chance we've had to meet. This isn't really the best time of the year for me to start dating someone new, what with all of the cooking I do, but if she's cute and we hit it off tonight, I can find a reason for us to take it slow for a while. That way if things work out between us, we'll be together almost a whole year before she realizes my obsession, and I still get the next three weeks to perfect my pumpkin cookie recipe! I'm thinking I'll ditch the walnuts and maybe add cranberries in my next batch.

Emmett greets me at the door and I can tell something is up by the look on his face. I shrug out of my black leather jacket and wrap it around a chair in the entryway while he bounces around me like an overgrown puppy.

"Edward! Oh man, I am so glad you are here, buddy!" He has a huge, shit-eating grin on his face as he claps me on the back.

"What's up, Em? I told you guys I would be here. I don't know why you can't let that go," I mutter.

"Just happy to see you, bro. Jas has a really nice surprise for you. Oh, and he made some of those shitty pumpkin cocktails you love, too. All the girls were going gaga over them," he says as he leads me to the kitchen. I wave or nod to everyone as we pass through.

"What's wrong with you, man? You're acting weird—more than normal even." We reach the kitchen then and before Emmett can answer, I utter, "Holy fuck."

"That's why!" He grins back at me.

Standing in the kitchen is the most beautiful sight I've ever seen in my entire life. Her long brown hair is tied back in a ponytail with tendrils falling to frame her heart-shaped face. Her eyes are a deep cinnamon brown, and when she smiles at something Rose says, she lights up my world, just like the flame that lights up a Jack-O-Lantern to reveal its inner beauty.

And that's not even the best part.

Adorning her petite, with-curves-in-all-the-right-places body, is a bright orange, sexy pumpkin costume.

Emmett leans over and even though he's whispering, I can hear the glee in his voice, "Apparently, you and Bella have more in common than Jasper realized!"

I think my heart actually stops as I realize this girl is here for me.

I manage to close my mouth before I see Rose glance at me and then not-so-subtly point me out to Bella and say, "That's Edward."

Bella peeks over at me and smiles softly before quickly turning away, realizing she was caught checking me out.

That's when I panic.

I grab Emmett and back out of the kitchen only to run into Jasper. He's wearing the same shit-eating grin Emmett had on when I arrived. I quickly shake my head and walk to Jasper's bedroom, pacing his floor before they even arrive.

The guys actually have the decency to look a little concerned at my frantic behavior, though I can see the delight in their eyes at this turn of events.

"Dude, calm down. This is a good thing! She's perfect for you! You should've seen her go on and on about how much she loves pumpkin when she saw Jasper make that frou-frou pumpkin shit they're drinking in there." Emmett waves his hands around as he tells me how much the beautiful woman in the other room loves pumpkins. His words actually calm me a bit, and for a moment I get lost in a vision of the two of us making pumpkin dumplings together. The recipe is rather involved, and I can imagine how much easier it would be if I had help.

My mind wanders to other things we can do with pumpkin, but Jasper speaks up before I get too lost in the thought of eating pumpkin dip off her naked body, "Yeah, man. What's the deal? She keeps a cute little pumpkin girl on her desk, like something you'd get out of a Happy Meal. I knew I had to introduce you when I saw it. I didn't realize how into them she was until tonight though. It's like you guys were MFEO."

Emmett throws Jasper a confused look. "What the fuck is EFMO?"

Jasper's cheeks turn pink as he says, "MFEO, ass. It means 'made for each other.' Alice is sucked into this book, and I get a play by play every night when she reads in bed."

Emmett just stares at Jasper before saying, "Dude. That sucks. You're so pussy-whipped."

Before Jasper throw an insult back to Emmett, I clear my throat, "Ummm… guys. Can we get back to me, please? How in the hell am I not going to screw this up? You guys tolerate my pumpkin obsession because you know ten months out of the year I'm a normal guy, but she's meeting me at the peak of my crazy! There's no way I can play this off. I'm too nervous. She's looks damn near perfect, even without the pumpkin costume, and I can't mess this up!"

"Don't be so uptight, Edward. Just pretend like it's not the middle of pumpkin season, and try not to give her your laminated list of why pumpkins are the most versatile gourds."

"Shut it, Em. I never laminated the damn thing and you know it, and if you guys hadn't gone on and on about butternut squash, I wouldn't have needed to do it."

"You gotta admit that butternut squash ravioli kicked your pumpkin ravioli's ass," Emmett tries to goad me. For once, I have more important things to worry about than defending my love for all things pumpkin.

"I'm serious, guys. That girl in there is fucking gorgeous. Do not let me mess this up," I plead.

Jasper comes to my rescue. "No worries. We got your back. I really think you are freaking out over nothing. Em and I give you hell over this whole pumpkin thing, but girls probably think it's cute or some shit like that. They're all over those pumpkin drinks you sent me a recipe for. Now come on, let's go introduce you two pumpkin lovahs."

He winks at me and I flip him off halfheartedly but feeling better about meeting Bella. I just need to tone down the pumpkin love long enough to impress her tonight.

Piece of pumpkin cake… just don't mention her costume.

I repeat the mantra over and over in my head as we head back into the kitchen and join the girls' conversation. My eyes are glued to Bella, and my mind is scrambling to think of something witty to say when Jasper introduces us. It shouldn't be too difficult. I'm a well-rounded guy, just don't mention her costume. Before I know it, Jasper speaks up.

"Bella, this is my best friend, Edward—the guy I was telling you about. He owns his own furniture design company. He's also a big golfer—kicks my ass every time we play." I silently thank Jasper for giving me an opening and take Bella's hand gently as Jasper introduces us. Her eyes are even more beautiful up close, and my stomach churns when she smiles at me again. Don't mention her costume! Don't mention her costume!

"Nice to meet you, Edward. I'm glad we finally got a chance to meet. Jasper's had nothing but good things to say about you."

Oh my pumpkin, even her voice is perfect!

Tell her you're excited to meet her, too, and don't mention her costume.

I return her smile and say, "I really like your pumpkin costume."

What the fuck! The only thing I was trying to avoid! Fuck you, you stupid mantra! You were supposed to work!

I'm contemplating just turning and walking out when her eyes light up. Still smiling, she responds, "Thanks! I was born on Halloween so I kind of have a thing for pumpkins. I dress as some kind of pumpkin every year actually. Last year I dressed as one of those adorable pumpkin babies you see in pictures. The year before that I dressed as a BDSM pumpkin. I carried around handcuffs and a flogger all night. You can imagine the looks I got! I guess it's a little silly if you think about it."

"NO!" I exclaim, then stop myself and dial it back a little. Bella has no clue what she's just done to me. It's possible this girl loves pumpkins almost as much as I do.

Well, probably not—but close!

As if loving pumpkins isn't enough, she hints she has a kinky side by dressing as a Domme pumpkin, too! I may already be in love with this girl.

I feel my pants getting tight as thoughts of her in that outfit swim through my head. Trying to keep her attention focused on my face, I spit out, "I mean, I love pumpkins, too. It's such a versatile vegetable. You can have it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if you think about it."

I can see the warning sign 'STOP TALKING NOW' flashing in my head and snap my mouth shut before spouting additional accolades about pumpkins.

Bella just laughs and says, "Don't forget snacks, too. I had pumpkin chips for the first time this week."

My ears perk up at this. I haven't heard of pumpkin chips. I make a mental note to get on Wikipedia when I get home and find out more about them. They should really rename it Pumpkinpedia considering how helpful it's been for all of my pumpkin queries.

"Oh yeah? I've never had those," I say, trying to hide my excitement. "I made pumpkin chili today and it was really good. Have you ever had it?

"No, but it sounds good. What's in it?" Bella inquires. I can't believe she's actually interested.

"It's basically turkey chili with pureed pumpkin added. It gives it such a great flavor. I think next time I might add chunks of pumpkin, too, so you can actually bite into the pumpkin and maybe a can of black bea…"

Jasper interrupts me before I can finish, "Edward! Have you told Bella how much you love to ski, yet? He could be a ranger he's so good. In fact, he actually saved a novice skier once who was separated from her douche of a guide. The poor girl ended up on a double black diamond slope, but our boy noticed her from the ski lift and went down after her. Spent over an hour helping her down the mountain. Incredible, huh? We called him Heroward for months!"

I realize I must've been getting a little pumpkin zealous and accept Jasper's praise with the appropriate level of modesty. "It really wasn't a big deal. I'm sure if anyone else had noticed her they would've done the same thing."

"Maybe," Bella smiles, "but that's still really impressive. I'm okay on skis. Nothing to write home about, but I can make it to the bottom of a green or blue no problem. Maybe you can teach me sometime?"

Hell yes! This is a good sign! Jasper must think so too, because he excuses himself and leaves Bella and me alone.

"I'd love to," I smile back to her.

"Sounds like a plan, then, and now that Jasper's gone… tell me more about this pumpkin chili!"

I laugh at her conspiring gesture to keep it between the two of us, like we'll be scolded if other people knew we were talking about pumpkin recipes. I can't believe my luck. This girl is perfect. We spend the rest of the evening talking in the kitchen and even manage to talk about things other than pumpkins.

I discover her dad is a cop, she's an avid reader, and she even dreams of writing her own book someday. She has a yellow lab, which she adores, and she loves to play tennis. She claims her tennis instructor, Brad, says she's his favorite student, which I don't doubt for even a minute. Bella peppers in stories about her friends while we talk, and I come to the conclusion she's one of the kindest, most loving and generous people I've ever met.

When we're the only two left at the party, we face facts that it's time to part ways and I walk her to her car. My hand is resting on her back as we reach the driver's side door, and I gently grab her hand to turn her toward me.

"So…" I start, laughing at how nervous I am.

"Yeeessss?" Bella questions, teasing me a bit.

I grab her other hand as well and link our fingers together.

"Weeeelllll, I hope I'm not being too presumptuous, but I was thinking maybe I could take you out sometime? Soon?" I deliver my best smile.

"I'd love that, Edward. Actually, since Halloween is officially tomorrow a few of my girlfriends are taking me out dancing for my birthday around nine. Would you like to join us? Or is that too soon?" She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth, and again I can't help but think of how lucky I am. This woman is so beautiful.

"Nope. Not at all. That sounds perfect. How about you come to my house before and I'll cook dinner. I think I have an idea for something you may enjoy," I say, winking at her.

"That sounds great. Thank you," Bella smiles up at me.

I'm not ready, but I know it's time to say goodnight. I gently tug her hands to pull her a step closer to me. "If you don't mind, I'm going to kiss you now."

"I don't mind at all," she replies a little breathlessly, tilting her head towards mine.

I wrap my hands around her tiny waist, fingering the ruffles from her sexy pumpkin outfit. She rises up on her toes and rests her arms on my biceps as I gently claim her mouth. Her soft lips mesh with mine, and I realize this girl could be the one. First kisses don't usually light up every part of my body and make me feel like we just plummeted down the world's highest roller coaster.

My fingers squeeze her hips tighter, and I pull her closer as her arms wrap around my neck. She can probably feel me getting hard against her stomach, but when she opens her mouth to me I'm too far gone to care. She tastes sweeter than the richest pumpkin cheesecake, and I'm so lost in her kisses. So lost in her.

Suddenly we're cloaked in darkness, and I realize Jasper turned off his outside light. Taking this as my cue, I slowly break our kiss. She laughs again and rests her forehead on my chest.

"That was… nice," she says.

"Understatement. But yeah, you could say that again."

"That was nice," she repeats, smirking up at me.

"Ahh… and she's got jokes, too, ladies and gentlemen! Looks like I won the prize tonight!" I retort, tickling her sides gently. "So, I'll pick you up tomorrow and bring you back to my place for dinner before we go out?"

"Sounds good to me. Thanks for tonight. It was a lot of fun." She pops back up on her tiptoes and brushes her lips against my cheek. She places another kiss on the corner of my mouth, resting there for a moment longer than necessary and sighs, "I'll see you tomorrow, Edward."

I open her door for her and watch her pull out before getting in my car. Looks like this is going to be the best pumpkin season yet!

{_} {_} {_}

It's the weekend before Thanksgiving and Bella is over at my house again. She's going out of town to visit her family later this week, and it'll be the first time we'll be apart for more than a day or two since we met last month. We're doing it up right tonight, since Thanksgiving will unofficially mark the end of pumpkin season, by making spinach-stuffed pumpkins, vegetarian pumpkin lasagna, and a traditional pumpkin pie for dessert.

Bella's worked herself seamlessly into my life and now whites are whiter, brights are brighter, and everything tastes better—even pumpkin. Somehow, even though she loves pumpkins almost as much as I do, being with her helps tone down my crazy obsession. There's no doubt that I've fallen in love with her, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up telling her tonight.

Oh, and also I'm hoping tonight we will finally seal the deal.

We agreed early on not to rush into anything and while part of me says—it's only been three weeks, moron—another bigger part screams—three weeks of amazing conversation, laughter, kisses, and rounding every base but home. Just do it!

I'm thinking that last part is going to win tonight.

First, I have a confession to make. Bella's finishing up grating the mozzarella cheese to sprinkle on top of the lasagna when I finally get the courage to speak up.

"Bella, I really need to talk to you about something." I'm so nervous I can hear my own voice shaking.

Bella apparently doesn't notice, because she just glances at me and smiles, "Sure. Lay it on me."

"Umm… well… you see. I mean, I wouldn't even bring this up, but your dad is a cop and I know you're going to see him this weekend, and if he runs a background check on me or something, I don't want him to be surprised, so I figured I'd just go ahead and tell you now. You know, in the interest of being honest with one another and all that." Oh my God. I'm rambling and I can't stop. This is not how I wanted this to go. I wanted to play it off like it's not a big deal.

Bella looks at me suspiciously. "What would my dad find on your background check?"

"Oh, man. This is so embarrassing. I swear, Bella. You've gotten to know me and you know I'm not a pervert, but Emmett dared me, and I was so drunk, and we were young and dumb and in college." I clench my hands into fists to avoid pulling at my hair and showing how nervous I am.

"Just spit it out, Edward." I can hear Bella's patience waning. It's unsettling. We've yet to have our first argument, and I can't stand the thought of letting her down.

"I was arrested once for lewd and lascivious behavior, public indecency, and public intoxication. It amounted to nothing really. I didn't even have to go to jail. They basically just gave me a slip of paper, and then I showed up in court and paid my fine," I spit out as fast as possible, like that makes it sound better.

Bella quirks an eyebrow at me. "What exactly did you do?"

"Fuck. Damn Emmett to hell and back," I sigh. "I fucked a pumpkin in front of our apartment complex in college." Bella's lifts her hand to cover her mouth and her eyes go wide. I look away and continue to get it all out as quickly as possible. "It was so late, I didn't think anyone would see me. Emmett had been on me all night about doing it as a joke, and then he triple dog dared me to do it. You can't back down from a triple dog dare, Bella. Not even in college…it's in our male DNA. I was only going to do it for a minute so he'd shut the fuck up, but apparently a cop had been watching us the whole time. She showed up pretty much the second my pants were down. And I was so, so drunk. She made some comment about me having sex with a pumpkin and I came back with, 'Well, it must be after midnight, it was a girl when I started!' Obviously, she was not pleased. I probably would've gotten off if I hadn't been a smartass."

I peek over at Bella and she has tears in her eyes, and I just know I've ruined everything. Fucking Emmett and his dumb ass. Unexpectedly, Bella wraps both arms around her stomach, bends at the waist, and starts laughing hysterically. Like, I've never seen this girl laugh so hard—and we've done a lot of laughing over the past three weeks. She straightens and looks at me, wiping tears from her eyes before curling over and dying of laughter again.

Suddenly, she pops straight up and takes off for the bathroom. "Shit! I think I just peed myself!" A full thirty seconds later, I can still hear her laughter through the closed bathroom door.

This is a good thing, right? I mean, she doesn't hate me at least. Though, I suppose she could just think I'm the biggest loser ever.

She finally comes out of the bathroom, and she's all smiles as she wraps her arms around my waist, looking up at me. I link my hands loosely around her back and know, without a doubt, this is good.

"Edward, that is easily the dumbest thing I have ever heard in my life. I cannot believe you let Emmett goad you into that, but I can't believe you thought I'd really care. I mean, you have to know by now, I kinda…"

Holy shit. Where the hell is she going with this?

"You kinda?"

"I kinda love you."

She said WHAT now? I'm feeling one of those Fred Flintstone moments where he's sure he's heard wrong and he shakes his head really, really quickly side to side to shake out whatever it is that must've been lodged between his ears, and there's this accompanying noise like, "Aye-ee-aye-ee-aye!"

Bella Swan kinda loves me?

"Um…"

Brilliant. Try again, asshole. "I mean… wow."

Oh hey. Much better, dude. I try again.

"Baby," I say, tightening my arms around her back, "I know it's totally uncool of me to say it right back and all, but I'm almost positive I kinda love you, too."

Her smile is just for me, "Yeah?"

I shrug my shoulders, "Kinda."

She pulls her hands out from around my waist and smacks my chest. "Ass," she mutters through her grin.

I don't let her go, though, and squeeze her again. "Seriously, Bella. I had every intention of telling you how I felt tonight. I just wanted to get all of my skeletons out of my closet before I did."

"Well, thank God that's behind us," she laughs again. "So now that we're kinda in love, can we please kinda get naked and kinda have sex?"

Oh, man. If I didn't already love this girl before, I definitely do now.

"You better kinda turn off that oven so we don't kinda burn the pumpkins, and then get your sexy ass up to my bed, pronto," I say, swatting at said ass.

Bella squeals and takes off up the stairs, leaving me to turn off the oven. I contemplate letting dinner burn, but remember it's possibly our last pumpkin meal for the season and quickly pull them out of the oven.

Just then I hear Bella yelling from upstairs.

"EDWARD. ANTHONY. CULLEN. Get that beautiful ass of yours up here right this minute!"

I'm no fool, so I race upstairs as fast as I can. I reach my room but find it empty. "Bella," I call out.

"In here," she calls from the en suite. "Get comfy on the bed… I'll be out in two minutes!"

I sit on the bed and chuck my shoes off, haphazardly tossing them toward my open closet door. I'm not a slob, but I'm still a guy. Figuring I may as well get a head start, I pull my shirt over my head and strip down to just my boxers and then sit back against the headboard.

Just as I'm getting comfortable, the bathroom door opens and Bella peaks her face out. She's wearing that mischievous smile I love so much.

"Soooo… I may have been banking on things going this way tonight, and I came prepared." She grins at me and steps out from behind the door.

The semi I was sporting on my way up the stairs immediately stiffens into a full-fledged raging hard-on. My girl is dressed in a fuck-hot, pumpkin orange corset. She's also wearing black spiked leather boots, zipped above her knees and carrying hand cuffs in one hand and a flogger in the other.

Bella grins cheekily at me before turning her back to me, rests her hands on her knees and sticks her ass out at me, shimmying to show me her sexy-as-fuck pumpkin panties. I get even harder watching her ass swish back and forth. I didn't even know that was possible!

My hand moves of its own accord to rub my erection as a growl erupts from my chest. "Bella, baby… please, for the love of all things pumpkin, put me out of my misery. I've wanted to feel your soft pussy around me for the past three weeks. I can't wait much longer to be in you."

Bella's eyes fill with lust and she sashays over to the bed, tossing the toys to the side. "How did I get to be so lucky?" she coos as she slides on top of me, threading her fingers through my hair and pressing her perfect body against mine.

"I think that's my line," I say, kissing her lips softly at first and then deeper as I grab her ass cheeks.

I run my hand down her smooth thigh until I reach the top of her boot. They are sexy as hell, but they have to go. I have every intention of loving my girl right tonight. I make quick work of her boots while she teases my neck and chest with her soft lips.

Bella starts to lick and nip her way down my chest, but I'm not having any of that yet. I wrap my legs around hers, locking her in place, and move my hands to the lace ties holding her orange corset on.

"I know how much you love sucking my cock, baby, but as sexy as this is… it's gotta go first."

Bella whimpers and lightly bites my chest. I know how much my words get her going, and I plan on making it my personal mission to make her come without even touching her one day.

But not tonight.

I slowly unwrap Bella, being careful not to ruin the corset—because she is so wearing that baby again—and run my fingertips up and down her back, taking a moment to enjoy the contact of her skin against mine.

My cock is desperate for attention, but for a moment I'm overwhelmed by the enormity of the situation. No one other woman has made my chest feel like exploding, made me want to take her hard and rough, but be gentle and loving at the same time like Bella does—and I haven't even gotten inside her yet. My cock twitches cuing Bella to move down my body again.

She's not been secretive about how much she enjoys sucking my cock. In fact, one day she made me pull off the road so she could give me head because she couldn't wait until we got back to my place. Fortunately, the cop that caught us was not the same one who arrested me in college and let us off with a warning. Bella pulls down the band of my boxers, teasing me and licking the pre-cum from my slit, before shimmying them the rest of the way down.

My cock pops up to greet her as she makes her way back up my body, and she wastes no more time engulfing it in her hot little mouth.

"Aaahhh…" I clench my eyes shut momentarily and enjoy the feeling of her lips wrapped around me while she sucks on me, hollowing her cheeks and swirling her tongue around. I gasp as she wraps her hand around the base of my cock and moves the other to lightly play with my balls. When she suddenly sucks me deep into her throat, I can't hold back any longer and sink my fingers into her hair, guiding her head exactly where I want it to go. "That's it, baby. Suck my cock deep. Fuck, that feels amazing. I'm not going to last much longer."

Bella speeds up her movements and slides a finger from my balls to press gently on my perineum, starting a chain reaction that lights my body on fire and tips me over the edge. Before I know it, I'm coming down Bella's throat. She laps it up and makes her way back up my body, kissing here and there along the way.

"Damn, baby. You're fucking amazing."

She giggles and I peek down at her. Her pride in knowing my body so well is obvious, and I pull her closer. "Thank you. Now I may have a chance of lasting more than two seconds." I sink my teeth into her neck and suck gently, just enough to leave a mark that will be gone by morning, and flip us over.

She laughs again and brushes a stray hair from my eyes as she looks up at me, "I have a feeling it'll be perfect no matter how long it lasts. I've never met anyone so determined not to fail in my life… I see a happy ending in my future."

"In more ways than one, I hope," I say, becoming all mushy again. What is this girl doing to me?

"Definitely," she breathes, "now kiss me."

I don't hesitate, leaning down and pressing my lips against hers, swirling my tongue with hers in an unhurried kiss. Her arms wrap around my back and I feel her squirming beneath me, silently asking for more. I have no intention of teasing her, but I don't want to rush either, so I massage her breast while kissing my way down her neck until I reach her nipple to suck it in my mouth.

Bella moans lightly and arches her back to get closer, offering more of herself to me. My other hand trails down to her pussy, where I find she's shed her pumpkin panties at some point post spectacular blow job. Her legs are spread open and she's so, so wet for me. My fingers work quickly on her clit, bringing her to the edge and then dipping inside. I gently rub her g-spot just long enough to get her worked up again before pulling my fingers out and spreading her juices around, working her clit again. Bella is a writhing mess of whimpers, squirms, and moans beneath me, and my cock is ready for action again.

When I bring her to the edge once again and dip my fingers back inside her, she grabs my face and mutters, "Stop teasing. I need you in me now."

Okay… so maybe I did want to tease her a bit, but my girl is desperate for my cock right now and this can only be good for both of us.

We've already had the protection conversation, deciding to get that out of the way a couple weeks ago so it wouldn't be awkward when we found ourselves in this situation. Thankfully, Bella is on the pill and I waste no time lining myself up with her and sinking inside her body.

I settle into her as deeply as I can, holding her body close to me and rotating my hips, giving her clit some friction. Damn, this is better than finally tasting a perfected pumpkin recipe.

"Fuck, Bella," I groan into her ear, "it's so much better than I imagined." I pull out slowly and sink back in, starting a slow rhythm and continue whispering in her ear. "I'm going to do everything I can to make you happy. You've no idea how much better my life is now that you're in it, and I'm going to try so hard to make you feel the same. I love you, Bella, so much. I'm so glad I get to call you mine."

When the urge to speed up is overwhelming, I pull back and pick up my pace, thrusting into her harder and deeper. Bella wraps her arms around my neck and leans up to brush kisses across my chest, down my arms, anywhere her lips can reach.

When she flops back on the bed and her eyes close, I can tell she's close again and I move my hand to rub circles around her clit. She immediately wrenches her head to the side and bites down on my wrist, holding back her orgasm.

"That's it, baby. Let go for me. You're so fucking beautiful when you come for me. I can't wait to feel you squeeze my cock and have your juices all over me. Fucking hell, Bella. You're so damn perfect," I pant as I continue to thrust in and out of her, feeling my own impending release.

Finally, she lets go, and man does she ever let go. My girl loves hearing me say foul things in bed but rarely says them herself. I know I've done well when she practically explodes.

"OH MY FUCKING HELL DAMNIT EDWARD RIGHT THERE! DON'T STOP. PLEASE! THAT FEELS FUCKING AMAZING!"

Her body is shaking all over, and her tiny hands are gripping my arms so tight I'm scared she'll draw blood. She's fucking gorgeous and I can't take it anymore. As Bella's death grip on me loosens, my pumping becomes erratic until I feel my body shudder and release into her. I collapse on top of her, breathing heavily.

I can tell when Bella finally recovers because she moans and covers her face with her hands. I raise my head and look at her, perplexed. I separate two of her fingers to peek at her eyes, "What in the world are you doing?"

"Oh my gosh. That was so embarrassing. I've never ever reacted like that! It was so intense—and oh my god—so freaking good," she moans out the last part.

I can't help but laugh at how cute she is.

"You really know how to pump up my ego, baby. Believe me, that was incredibly hot. Please do not ever try to stop yourself from letting that happening again."

She peeks through her fingers at me again, "Really?"

"Yes, really. I promise. Now get your ass up and finish making me dinner!" I joke, kissing her shoulder as I lay back down.

"Ha! If I actually thought you'd miss out on putting the finishing touches on our last official pumpkin meal I'd gladly do it, but we both know you're all about the pumpkin." She winks at me, the vixen.

"Mmmm…." I reply, kissing her one more time before starting to get up so we can actually eat dinner. "That I am. Now that I have my very own walking, talking pumpkin, I'm never letting her go."

{_} {_} {_}

Eighteen Months Later

BPOV

I'm practically bouncing in my seat as the boat finally pulls in to the dock. It wasn't until I refused to step foot on the boat, that Edward finally told me we were going to a resort called The Cliffs for a week of sun, fun, and relaxation. Not that I don't trust him, but when he asked me to get on a boat in the ocean after two long plane trips, I did start to worry he might be planning to throw me overboard!

But of course not.

Because he's Edward.

And he's perfect.

And he's mine.

We step off the boat and are greeted by a very handsome gentleman who looks to be about ten years older than I am, and he's wearing a Captain's hat. His arm is around a pretty brunette, and I can practically feel the love and happiness radiating off of them. I guess living on this beautiful island year-round has been good for them because he introduces himself to us as the owner, Edward and his lovely wife, Bella.

"When I saw your names listed as coming in today, we just had to come greet you personally," Edward explains. "We couldn't believe a couple was staying for the week that shared our names! I hope the island is as good to you this week as it has been to us for the past ten years."

He takes my hand and lightly kisses my knuckles, causing my Edward to stiffen slightly and me to swoon a little. This doesn't go unnoticed by anyone as the owner chuckles, and his wife rolls her eyes. "Such a flirt this one is," she says.

We make polite conversation as we walk toward the office to check in. They tell us about all of the activities they have specifically designed for couples. I can tell Edward is interested in the idea of a couple's massage, and I cross my fingers I'll be able to talk him into taking the couple's yoga class with me as well.

As luck would have it, we are here the week the staff is putting on a show for their 35th Anniversary Celebration. The owners tell us the sweetest story of how Edward proposed to Bella during their 25th celebration, and the talent show became an annual tradition after that.

I feel Edward squirm, and I squeeze his hand. "Don't worry, baby," I reassure him, "I'm not going to tell them you play guitar and would be perfect for this."

Edward rolls his eyes at me and the owners laugh as Bella pipes up, "Well, you know where to find us if you decide to join. I hope you guys have a great week here. It was fun meeting you. I'm sure we'll see you around."

It's absolutely gorgeous here, and I'm so incredibly in love and thankful to the man on my right for bringing us to this little paradise.

{_} {_} {_}

Three days later, I am completely and totally blissed out. Edward and I have just left our couple's massage, and I had the pleasure of receiving mine from none other than the owner himself. I've discovered the man is quite possibly more perfect than my own Edward. Not only did he just give me the best massage I've ever had, he was incredibly charming last night at dinner as he made his way around to greet the guests personally, and I also noticed he's leading our couple's yoga class tomorrow with a man named Riley. I've seen Riley. I've no doubt this will be a treat for my eyes.

Is there nothing this man can't do?

"Mmmm…" I moan as I stretch out in my chair on the beach, soaking up the sun's rays. "That was so incredibly perfect. We should move here. We can just live on the beach. I'm sure our friends and family will come visit us. I can get massages every day, and we can live off the land."

Edward laughs from his chair beside me. "I think someone just has a crush on the owner! You're like a little girl every time he turns his charm on you. If he weren't so much older, and obviously happily married, I might be jealous!"

"Hey now," I warn, "there's nothing wrong with an older man! Maybe that's how I like them! You better watch out. I'm just biding my time until I can get him alone." I peek out of the side of my eyes to make sure he knows I'm joking. The smile on his face is brilliant—as if anyone could ever compare to the man beside me—and he so knows it.

"Alright, kinky girl. I'll keep that in mind next time his wife is around. She's pretty hot, too, you know!"

"True… but does she love pumpkins as much as I do?" I question him. "Who else would dress up in a dominatrix pumpkin costume, handcuff you to the bed, and spank your sexy ass?"

"BWAAHAHAHAHA," Edward clutches his stomach as fits of laughter take over his body.

I smirk and lean back in my chair. "That's what I thought."

Edward finally collects himself and looks over at me, smiling. "God, Bella. Do you have any idea how much I love you? Truly? Do you?" He sits up, suddenly serious. "I was going to wait and do this so much better, but I just can't anymore. I was going to be smooth and tell you how beautiful and sweet and smart and so damn sexy you are and list all of the reasons why you should say yes. We were going to be surrounded by candles and flowers with music in the background, and it was going to be perfect. But there are no words that would capture how incredible you are, how much I love you, how happy you make me. They're all so inadequate compared to how I feel about you. Please Bella, marry me? Let me spend the rest of forever trying to make you the happiest woman in the world. Let me be your husband."

Tears well in my eyes as I look at my other half, kneeling next to my lounge chair, waiting nervously for me to answer, as if he hasn't just made me the happiest, luckiest woman on the planet. His words are so beautiful and I'm positive nothing I say will express how much I want this with him. All I can do is squeak out a tiny, "Of course."

Before I can even breathe, Edward has scooped me up in his arms and is kissing me furiously. Tears are flowing freely from my eyes, and in this moment I feel like no one has ever loved anyone as much as Edward and I love each other.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Edward mumbles between kisses. "I have a ring for you, I promise. It's in the bungalow. We can go get it right now."

"I don't care about the ring, Edward. Don't stop kissing me."

As always, Edward acquiesces and continues kissing me until we hear a throat clearing beside us. Rabid dogs couldn't pull me from Edward's embrace right now, but we do manage to tear our lips from each other long enough to see the owner and his wife watching us.

"Guys, this is a family establishment you know," the owner chuckles.

Edward laughs, too. Nothing is shaking his good mood right now.

"You'd be doing the same thing if she'd just agreed to be your wife, too, man!"

Bella squeals with delight and reaches in to hug me. It's a bit awkward because I still refuse to let go of Edward. "Congratulations! That's so exciting!" she exclaims.

"Congratulations, guys!" the owner repeats. "I had a feeling about you two as soon as you stepped off the boat. It was obvious to me right away that you two are meant for each other. When did you figure it out?"

Edward smiles down at me, "I'm pretty sure it was the very first moment I saw her dressed in a pumpkin costume at a Halloween party. I fell in love with her that night and haven't looked back."

Grinning from ear to ear, I look up at my fiancé. "Well then, am I ever glad I was bornonhalloween!"

THE END

A/N: Soooooooo…. There ya go. There's a possibility I pulled a few of the ideas from conversations between B and me and from her stories (aka blatantly plagiarized some of her lines.) My lips are sealed on what's fact and what's fiction though!

Lots of love and thanks to chaya and Intricacy for making my words better. It feels wrong to post something without born reading it first, but they did a great job. All errors are mine, though. I fiddled with it until the very last minute!

Big puffy hearts to kitkat for making one of her famous ghetto banners for me… it may have a few pumpkins in it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PUMPKIN!

XOXOXOXOXOXO