Chapter 1 – I'm never having children!

KPOV

"This cannot be happening to me!"

I knew the moment Cameron showed me the little red bumps on his belly that I was done for. I had never had chicken pox or measles for that matter – damn Ethan and Cheryl for needing "quality" time.

Ana was with her parents in San Francisco this past weekend and it wouldn't have mattered anyway because she's already had the damn chicken pox. I have worked so hard for this pitch meeting and to have this happen is nothing short of tragic. Ana is astute in the mechanics of business and extremely organized, she has an eye for talent but she's nowhere near the shark needed to land a big fish like Christian Grey, this could put us on the map—but I can't exactly go bopping into GEH looking like this – and who knows how this shit is even passed along, I think it's airborne – he might sue me if he got sick as a result of our meeting. Shit!

What an asshole anyway, it took me months of groveling and finally pulling out the big guns … i.e. the daddy card to get the lousy fucking twenty minute sit down – Early on he threw me a bone and agreed to use one temp on a trial basis, but I want an exclusive contract with GEH and all the perks that come with being associated with a heavy hitter like Grey. I'm working on my masters in human resourcing and I plan to get a doctorate, I know what I'm doing – Christian Grey is our ticket to Fortune 500 status, we could be the premiere company for staffing and create a brand model for staffing solutions. I see us on the lecture circuit – well that was Ana's idea – but we're destined to be innovators, we could rule the world, but we need to land a huge company like GEH to do it – I hate to say it, but we need the bastard, and the thought of meek and mild Ana in a room with a shark like Grey does not inspire confidence.

"Christian Grey is an enigma Ana, he's very guarded about his private life, no one knows what makes this guy tick. He is seldom seen outside of work and usually when he is he's with his family; he's never been so much as photographed on a date, yet he's one of the country's most eligible bachelors. We don't know if he's straight or gay – I would guess gay because no one has ever seen him with a woman; a fact that makes this exponentially more difficult for us; and it would explain why the Kavanaugh charm didn't work. Prick."

"Kate I can do this. I mean how bad could he be?"

"Ana you're so incredibly sweet – he's a shark – you have to land him. You've got twenty minutes to sell him, just twenty minutes." Sometimes this chick has her head in the clouds like – it's like I'm besties with The Little Mermaid. At this point – there's nothing to be done, I wish her luck and there she goes with our future resting on her on the pitching mound. God help us.

CPOV

I cannot believe I have to waste valuable time like this – I have toyed with the interest of acquiring a subsidiary of Kavanaugh Media, and this could go a long way to opening up negotiations between Ethan Kavanaugh and I. She tried everything imaginable to get this meeting including forwarding her dossier which included a picture which accented her ample, shall we say assets. Just another in a long line of annoying vapid debutantes who thinks they can bat their eyes and move mountains, even if did conduct business in that way as a blonde she wouldn't even be my type. I have worked very hard for the success of GEH, that was always part of my plan, I abhor blind entitlement without hard work and I won't allow anyone to trade on my hard work and name.

I also ran a check on her partner – she is the daughter of Raymond Steele a reputable businessman from northern California. She graduated from Stanford and had a 4.0 GPA, there is nothing on her personal life, which I find a bit odd, but perhaps Ms. Steele is a private person like myself – after all discretion is still a virtue though infrequent.

The company has a good reputation, I used them once when my PA Andrea was on maternity leave. He actually worked out well and became Ros's PA when her PA got married and moved away, he has been an asset to GEH and Ros has raved about his work. Elite Staffing provides accounting services as well but we haven't needed them in that capacity, besides I have internal HR that is highly competent.

"Andrea, please make sure that this meeting does not exceed the twenty minutes I have allotted them. This woman Kavanaugh is insufferable, and I don't want to spend another moment in her presence beyond that. Tell me, you've done the research, what do you think of their company."

"Well sir primarily they provide temp to perm administrative services, but they offer placements for accounting and executive staff as well but the bulk of their revenue is in the administrative realm – they are also an up and coming in the head hunting area, having landed Bates fabricators. Ms. Kavanaugh is hard nosed and her partner seems to have a good eye for matching personnel and executives with the right fit."

"I will get this over as soon as I can, what does the rest of my morning look like."

"As you requested sir, you only have your 9:40 with Ms. Kavanaugh and you're free until the 11:00 staff meeting – have you decided on whether we should order lunch?"

"I don't know just yet, if staff runs more than thirty minutes, we should have something brought in."

APOV

Sure enough I'm nervous as hell, my background is more talent acquisition, but I need to be well rounded in order to succeed in business, I'm a little annoyed by Kate's lack of confidence in my abilities – which makes me want this more. Kate is more aggressive, this is a fact, but aggression without finesse isn't exactly a model for success, she and I have different styles; the difference being I am not of the mindset that my way is the only way.

I have a knack for matching the right people with the right companies in fact I'm 100% in talent retention and I never miss. I really hope I can sell Elite Staffing to Mr. Grey, he didn't get to where he is by being closed minded. My guess is that Kate's aggressive pursuit may have been a detriment though I would never say that to her. I must admit he's impressive, I've done my research on GEH, what he has accomplished is quite impressive for someone so young, I have an enormous amount of respect for someone so young and formidable. There is very little about him personally on the net available not even a photo, I asked Kate and she seemed annoyed and mumbled something about him being a jerk, but doesn't provide many details. I can do this because I believe in Elite Staffing.

I'm feeling extremely corporate today so I'm wearing my Donna Karan black and copper asymmetric skirt, a matching silk copper blouse, with a wide belt, black suede Louboutins and matching black suede Burberry tassel bag.

CPOV

"Mr. Grey, there's an Anastasia Steele here to see you."

Who the fuck is Anastasia…oh right the partner, well that certainly eliminates some of my irritation…some.

"Send her in."

I stand in my window with my back to the door, peering out at the Seattle skyline and wait for little Miss Steele to pitch me – I wait until I hear the door open and the click of heels on my imported marble flooring before I turn to greet her. I've read everything in her bio but I will pretend to know nothing of her – Stanford grad, blah blah blah daddy Ray made a shit load in the dot com boom of the mid to late 90s and transitioned into standards for cellular components. Her mother is a registered nurse who went to UCLA, but there is little on her in the background check she seems to have a solid career and reputation thus far.

I turn to greet and walk towards her, - Holy fucking shit – who is THIS?! I lose my footing and crash spectacularly to the floor, landing right at her feet. Shit that hurt!

"Oh my god, are you okay?" This vision kneeling to help me up says.

"I'm fine, just fine." I say trying to recover a shred of my dignity, good lord she's stunning.

"You hit your knee pretty hard, are you sure?" the look of concern on her face is urgent and sincere. "Let me help you up Mr. Grey." She says, having carelessly discarded her expensive looking purse and briefcase.

She's right in front of me and though my knee hurts like a son of a bitch I can't take my eyes off of her—she's the most naturally beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life. She has beautiful long thick dark hair that I want so badly to touch and piercing blue eyes that I'm sure can see through to the depths of my soul. She's wearing a bit of a coppery lip gloss, that I imagine tastes like cinnamon and sugar with maybe some mascara on her full long lashes, but other than that, not a stitch of makeup at all. It's all I can do not to run my finger along her delicate cheek. Stunning.

"Let's get you up so I can take a look at that knee, okay?"

"Yes, sure."

With Ms. Steele's help I limp over and sit on the sofa, she then does something entirely unexpected and proceeds to roll up my pant leg to examine my knee, I watch her in awe as she kneels in front of me. Please little Grey don't betray me right now – Elliot in a tutu, Elliot in a tutu – my parents having sex, yep that's the ticket.

"Oh, you banged it pretty good, I'll see if your assistant can get us an ice pack-I'm sure there's a first-aid kit somewhere, I'll be right back, okay." She says touching my shoulder in reassurance, I nod and watch her hurry off to Andrea's desk. I notice once she's gone that her purse and briefcase are still on the floor, yet she seems to have forgotten about them.

I'm still too stunned to speak—I haven't said one word and this gorgeous woman is taking care of me. She was actually kneeling in front of me. Oh I could conjure up so much shit out of thin air right now. I hear fussing about outside my office door and before I know it she's back with Andrea.

"Mr. Grey are you okay?"

"I'm fine Andrea." I dismiss but not too strongly.

"Ms. Steele there should be an ice-pack in the first aid kit in Mr. Grey's restroom – I'll check for you."

While Andrea is doing this Ms. Steele grabs her purse, the bottle of vitamin water on my desk, busies herself in her purse and fishes out a bottle of Tylenol.

"Here, that's going to hurt like h-e double toothpicks in about an hour." She's so cute…she hands me my bottle of water and two Tylenol which I take with a swig, still not taking my eyes off of this beautiful creature in front of me.

Andrea returns and hands the ice-pack and ace bandage to Ms. Steele who pops it to release the chemicals and wraps the pack on my knee securing it with the ace bandage, careful to layer it in between the bandage.

"Do you need anything else sir?"

"Andrea, that will be all—but please cancel my 10:00."

"Yes sir." Andrea says with a knowing nod and smile.

After a few moments, Ms. Steele composes herself, retrieves her briefcase from the floor and settles on the sofa next to me. "I'll take that ice-pack off in about fifteen minutes okay?"

I nod again. What the fuck Grey? Cat got your Harvard educated tongue? Say something you idiot!

"Mr. Grey. I'm Anastasia Steele with Elite Staffing, I'm very pleased to meet you. My partner Kate Kavanaugh is ill, if you aren't feeling up to it and want to reschedule I would completely understand. Perhaps by then Ms. Kavanaugh would be available."

Ms. Kavanaugh would likely kill her and bury the body if I wiggled out of the meeting, and she no doubt knows just how long it took to get the meeting but she's more concerned with whether or not I'm ready. That's amazing to me, of course there's no fucking way I'm letting her out of this office until she agrees to marry me and have my beautiful little copper/brown haired blue and gray eyed children, I think six is a good round number. I smirk to myself at the thought.

"I'm very pleased to meet you Ms. Steele and if you can get past my clumsy introduction I would like to continue the meeting. Thank you so much for being so attentive and considerate." I say taking her hand in both of my hands and squeezing. Shit! What was that – did she feel it too?

"At…At Elite Staffing…" She starts, swallowing hard, yep she felt it "we're also trained in emergency triage, okay well I am, my mother is an RN." She says with a cute little giggle – she has not pulled her hand away, enchanting.

"Tell me about Elite Staffing."

For the next fifteen minutes she shares with me the origin, mission and success record of Elite Staffing, she's confident, professional, focused, optimistic and fucking adorable. She presents me with impressive literature on Elite Staffing and even pulls up testimonials from other clients on her tablet along with giving me a short demo of the client and partner portals which she herself designed. Her pitch is effortless because she believes wholeheartedly in herself, Ms. Kavanaugh and their company. She speaks about the numbers last having justified the expense repeatedly in her presentation, brilliant. She presents me with a detailed prospectus and information on their projected earnings for the next quarter as well as Elite Staffing's "partners" which is what they call their employees, along with their proposal for an exclusive contract, in addition to the bios of the company's principles.

"Please tell me more about yourself Ms. Steele, how did you get into this line of work?"

She tells me her life story – meeting Kavanaugh at Stanford, majoring in business, explains that she is currently enrolled in the online MBA program at UW. I learned more about her parents, she teaches Thai Chi on the weekends at a studio in downtown Seattle or in a nearby park when the weather permits. She had a cocker spaniel named Atticus when she was a little girl, Atticus was a girl! Kavanaugh is her roommate, much to my dismay and they live downtown in a townhome. Before I know it she and I have been talking for almost an hour. Andrea buzzes in to tell me my 11:00 will begin in fifteen minutes. I tell her to push it to the afternoon with my apologies. It can fucking wait.

"Mr. Grey, I don't want to keep you, I know you're a very busy man" –

Ooooh hell no baby, you are not getting away that easily, I cut her off. "Please call me Christian."

"Only if you agree to call me Ana."

"Ana, do you have plans for lunch?"

"Uh, no – I don't have lunch plans."

"Would you please join me for lunch today?" Jesus Grey, beg much?

"Certainly, I just need to call my office manager and let him know I won't be back for a while."

Him? Hmmm I wonder if she's got a boyfriend, I don't even know how to find out a thing like that. I've never really dated or asked anyone out before.

Until last year I was only interested in a certain type of arrangement. When I realized how controlling my friend had become – setting up my arrangements - the situation became untenable for me and I decided to end that relationship altogether.

I had been an out of control teenager, I did a lot of fighting in school – I was extremely angry as a result of early childhood trauma I had suffered at the hands of my teen mother's boyfriend. He beat me a lot, he used to come around and get money at the first of every month and they would go out and get drunk – he would always come back and hit me. I wound up in the hospital when I was four years old malnourished and traumatized after a concerned neighbor noticed me wandering in the hallway of the apartment building where we lived, with my mother nowhere in sight. I was a child and have no real recollection, but apparently my mother had been gone for days after leaving me with barely any food and water – I was taken to the hospital where I was treated for insect bites, malnourishment and old fractures were discovered. It turned out my mother had been killed by her boyfriend after they had been out all night partying – leaving me alone in the apartment. Child Protective Services could find no relatives and Grace & Carrick Grey moved heaven and earth to adopt me.

I remember being scared, thinking they would hit me too, but they never did – even when I hit Elliot who was bigger than me, I suffered no punishment. He finally got tired of me when we were about six and nine and kicked my ass – I guess two years of random abuse for no real reason was his limit, I didn't hit him after that and I never told on him – we became closer after that, he let me know he could kick my ass if I hit him again, but he also let me know that he didn't want to hurt me because I was his little brother and it was his job to take care of me. I always loved and protected my sister Mia and for a long time she was the only person I allowed to touch me other than Elliot, I was crazy about the little baby came to live with us when I was about seven and I would do anything to protect her, she owned me right from the start.

I was forced to work for my mother's friend Elena Lincoln one summer – cleaning out her attic. I was fourteen and though I knew what sex was I wasn't at all prepared for what happened to me; all I knew was that I was being treated like an adult and the things we did together felt good. She would let me have beer and wine sometimes and I didn't have to worry about her touching me because she knew I didn't want that. She performed oral sex on me the first day I worked in the attic and by the end of the summer she had indoctrinated me into the BDSM lifestyle. I accepted her hitting me because she told me that I needed discipline when I acted out – I still had such low self-worth that this actually made sense to me at the time, her greatest weapon though was the sex and not the belt, I was enamored with this woman who was attracted to me and told me I was handsome. When I went to college she attempted to maintain control but I was too far removed by then and with the distance came the strength to back away. I found the BDSM community near Cambridge and continued to practice in the various clubs – I had countless, faceless and nameless encounters, but I was never into the hardcore stuff. I was focused and driven and completed school in three years – I was able to pretty much remain anonymous I was an unknown then, Elena actually showed up at my apartment in Cambridge once and attempted to seduce me. I no longer needed her brand of intimacy so I told her to get out of my place and never return, for my protection I recorded the encounter, I told her that if she ever tried it again I would out her – after that she left me alone – I regret not outing her then, she should have been made to pay for crimes.

After college I briefly used Elena to arrange subs, she had a good reputation in the community and I appreciated her argument against the clubs that existed at that time because of where I wanted to be in the business world – I needed discretion. Ultimately I abandoned the arrangement after a year or so and three subs because I didn't like Elena's controlling nature. I didn't always like the women she chose, I felt she had too much power, but the final straw was when she attempted to come between Elliot and I saying things like Elliot was jealous of me and didn't want to see me succeed – this was her fatal mistake. I could see that she was always insinuating herself into our family gatherings uninvited even after I cut off contact. It all came to a head one day when she cornered me in my parent's powder room and offered me head. I was so disgusted I could have thrown up. That night I gathered my family and told them the entire sordid tale. Of course the statute of limitations had passed and nothing could be done, but weeks later Elena suffered a nasty fall was hospitalized.

I wound up with an exclusive membership in a club in Seattle until about nine months ago, when after extensive therapy I decided I wanted to find fulfillment in the more traditional sense. To my family's credit they never judged my choices and in spite of what must have been difficult for them to understand they exercised patience tempered with love as I worked through my issues in therapy. I don't knock those who are part of the lifestyle, because between consenting adults I find no problems whatsoever, my indoctrination however was illegal, so therefore it carries a negative connotation for me.

After I finished college in two and a half years – I literally never came home during the almost three years I was at Harvard – I attended full summer semesters while others were interning – I never did this because it was never my intention to work for anyone other than myself - and because of my GPA I was allowed to take a greater than full time course load, I was on a mission. When I explained my vision for GEH and presented my father with a business plan he loaned me the two hundred thousand dollars to start my business. Within a year I had paid him back with interest, and was worth about five million dollars.

While Ana is on the phone I buzz Andrea and have her call the club and arrange lunch for Ana and I, I don't want to share her with looky loos, I want Anastasia Steele all to myself.

APOV

Wow what a gorgeous view! Standing in front of the floor to ceiling windows in this palatial office is Christian Grey and although he has his back to me and is wearing a suit, likely custom, Brioni or Tom Ford, his chiseled physique is on display. He turns to face me, and tilts his head in a bit of surprise, maybe, he starts to walk towards me and trips landing hard on his left knee…really hard.

Oh shit! Before I know what I'm doing I've dropped my briefcase and purse to the floor – Chanel and Burberry by the way – and kneel down to help him. He seems stunned and maybe slightly embarrassed, but he hasn't taken his eyes off of mine. This man is FINE! Hooooly SHIT! Okay Ana calm down.

I help him to the couch, roll up his pant leg - oh Jesus keep me near the cross - and take a look at his knee – girl…why are you touching this man? Calm down Ana – look away from the muscular calf I want to lick it – that bump is gonna make a nasty bruise, the blood is already starting to pool beneath his skin, it's taking everything in me not to kiss his boo boo. I want to make him all better, and I think he'd let me. I'm afraid to look up because I know he's watching me intently. Get it together Ana!

I run to get his assistant so that we can get an ice pack on that and give him a couple of Tylenol from my purse – I grab a bottle of vitamin water from his desk and hand him two Tylenol, which he takes. Why is he looking at me like that – I could sop him up with a biscuit. He drips a little water on his bottom lip and licks it off, I'd sell my car to be that drop of vitamin water. I have never reacted to a man like this before, he has eyes like none I've ever seen before they are like warm ice, I can't stop looking at him.

I manage to pull it together long enough to pitch Elite Staffing to him – he actually seems interested in what I'm saying and I don't think it's an act. I don't know if it's this thing whatever it is between us, but I'm grateful for his attentiveness and his time. I've been talking for a while when his assistant interrupts to tell him he's fifteen minutes from his 11:00 meeting. That means, we've been talking for almost an hour! He's asked me about myself and my family including Atticus. I find him very engaging, I have no idea why Kate thought he would be a jerk, perhaps that's what she brings out in him – but this man is incredible and incredibly sexy.

After he blows off his 11:00 meeting he asks me to go to lunch, which I happily accepted, I placed a call to Jose while he made a call to his assistant I'm assuming arranging for our lunch…er date?

"Jose, would you please call Kate and let her know I will be back in the office at around 2:30."

"Okay, Ana will do, how did it go with Mr. Ducketts?"

"Thank you Jose…I will see you soon."

I disconnect the call. Jose is our office manager and resident busy body, he is a trusted friend and employee and pretty talented recruiter as well – he graduated from UW, he and his boyfriend who is a photographer live in a swanky downtown loft he spoils Jose rotten and I our get togethers are always so much fun.

"Ana would you like something to drink, coffee or tea?"

"Sure a bottle of water would be great."

While he calls his assistant on the phone I walk toward the floor to ceiling windows and take in the cityscape. "This view is breathtaking."

"It certainly is." The suggestiveness of his tone is not lost on me—I know he's talking about me, but I don't turn around just yet. He's really flirting with me, but why—this man is a gorgeous billionaire he could have anyone he wants, surly he's not interested in me.

"How does your knee feel?" I say turning around.

"It feels fine, I had a great triage nurse." He says with a sly smirk – it's official he's the most beautiful man I've ever seen in real life, he looks like a freakin movie star – I know if I look into his eyes too long I'm going to give him my ATM card pin code or some other ill advised destructive thing – .

"Well you were a very good patient, in spite of the pain you were in." I say with a sly wink. Ana what are you doing? Hell he started it!

CPOV

She likes me! I can tell – she's actually blushing. I cannot believe how this day is turning out, I started out not wanting to get out of bed to deal with that insufferable shrew Kavanaugh and I wind up meeting with an angel. It was the best meeting everrrr.

Now she's standing here in my office and we're about to go to lunch. I won't let her leave lunch without promising to have dinner with me either tonight or tomorrow. It's almost noon, I heard her say she would return to the office at 2:30 so we better get going, I don't want to waste a minute that can be spent with her.

"It's almost noon Ana, shall we?"

"That would be great."

Seriously. What?! Andrea and Olivia are staring at me like I have three heads. Okay sure, they've never seen me do this – no one in my staff has ever seen me with a woman before but is it really that unusual?– I mean come on.

We arrive at my club and are led to a private dining area – where a waitress I've never seen before – red headed bimbo with her tits on display and too much makeup - greets me being much too familiar, ignores Ana and asks for our drink order, I defer to Ana who orders a lemonade and I choose raspberry iced tea, without taking my eyes off of Ana.

We look over our menus in relative silence – I steal occasional glances at her – damn.

"What do you recommend Christian? – everything looks so amazing."

The bimbo takes this moment to return with our drink orders and again ignores Ana addressing me – I may be losing my mind but I actually think she rolls her eyes at Ana. When she walks away I excuse myself, and follow the waitress out of the private area. She turns around when she realizes I'm behind her and breaks into a shit eating grin –

"Hi there, is there something you need – I can help with anything you want." She purrs.

"Where's Marshall?" I respond not bothering to hide my irritation.

"He's in the office."

"Would you get him for me please?"

"Mr. Grey, how are you this afternoon, how may I be of service?" Bimbo is hovering nearby so I wave her over. Marshall has always been an excellent day manager, I find it hard to believe this was his hire.

"Marshall, Ms? – "

"Collins" she purrs.

"Ms. Collins has worked her last day here, please pay her for the rest of the day and see to it she never steps foot in this establishment again." With that I turn on my heels to return to my…date.

Having dispensed with the she-devil I sit down again across from Ana.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, I needed to take care of some business. Have you decided what you'd like to eat?"

"I am going to go with the seafood Cobb salad, what about you?"

"I'm going to go with the lamb chops."

"Oh good we can sample." She says with delight accompanied by an infectious bright smile that I cannot help but return. I Christian Grey do not smile in public – .Fuck?

"What does that mean? Sample?"

"Well when my friends and I go out to eat we all order different things so that everyone gets to taste a bit of everything on the menu." Fuck she's cute. I'd love to feed her some of my lamb. Christian what is your problem dude?

"Do you sample when you and your boyfriend have dinner together?" We both laugh and my lame ass transparency.

"Smooth Christian…that was cute." She says after giggling and batting her lashes at me. "I don't have a boyfriend Christian." The heavens have smiled upon me—was that a humming bird? There's that blush again. "I'm glad to hear that." Her breath hitches.

"Why is that?" She seems to wonder out loud almost.

"Because I've never been so drawn to someone in my life Anastasia, you literally knocked me off my feet - you are incredibly beautiful." She turns a lovely shade of pink, and bites down onto her luscious bottom lip. I feel my dick twitch – I would give anything to suck on that lip of hers; I would love to watch that lip tremble while I look up at her from between her thighs. Am I sweating?

"Thank you." she says saving me from my imagination, painful wood and blue balls.

Just then, our more demure waitress arrives to take our orders and pays equal attention to my date. That's more like it. I know Ana noticed the staffing change but she doesn't mention it.

"I would like to take you out to dinner Ana – would you like that?"

"Yes…yes I would." She wants to see me again, yes!

We exchange numbers, I explain to her that other than my family and key staff she is the only person who has my private phone number.

"When can I see you again Ana?" Please say tonight. Please say tonight.

"Well Christian you likely have a much more taxing schedule than I do why don't you –."

"Tonight, I'll pick you up at seven?" I say, over the moon happy she left it up to me.

"Tonight it is." She smiles at me. I'm cool and collected on the outside – I think, but inside I just did a triple backflip worthy of a gold medal – I have a dinner date with Ana. I wish I could nap until then, god only knows I won't be able to think about anything else until then.

APOV

I know he owns this place because Kate has gone on and on about it and it's exclusivity since she became obsessed with getting this meeting six months ago. I can honestly say that her description of what she was told and the pictures from the internet don't do it justice. Everything about it says elegance.

On the way over our conversation continues to flow easily, though I've noticed this man hasn't taken his eyes off of me. He makes me feel like the shy college freshman I worked hard to leave behind, but with him - I don't mind because I know somehow that she's safe with him, he seems boyish and nervous – he would have talked to freshman Ana and he would have been as nervous as he is right now, it's almost as if this is new to him, I like that he's not afraid to show me that he likes me, he makes me feel…pretty.

The waitress that greets us however, not an Anastasia fan. She not only completely ignores me, she's shameless in her flirting with my date. She's not getting the signals correct – and to his credit he is attentive to me and appears slightly annoyed with her – she does not seem to get it though. Christian's manners are impeccable.

"Excuse me for just a moment Ana." He says after my buxom buddy returns with our drinks and ignores me yet again while leering at my date. Again he ignores her, but maybe I got it wrong because he follows her right out.

He returns soon and apologizes. I don't know how to handle his staring, I feel self-conscious and at the same time attractive in a way I haven't before, is that the Grey effect they spoke about in the feature Entrepreneur did on him last year?

A new waitress takes our orders and she's attentive to us both – He definitely was not interested. I like your style Christian, he was sensitive to how she was treating me and did not stand for it. Before lunch has ended Christian has asked me out for dinner and I happily accept.

A/N: The idea for this story came to me while stuck in the car driving to Ohio to see my niece and in her hospital and now rehab rooms - let me know your thoughts - should I keep going? I have the makings of a chapter two and some ideas on where the story should go. Thanks in advance - I hope you liked this.