A/N: Here's a longer version of the summary: Percy Jackson's father owns the sea. Annabeth Chase is a highly successful architect. Percy's been named the Sexiest Man Alive, and Annabeth is an Elite New Yorker. But when Annabeth is asked to design the new HQ for Poseidon Enterprises, they're lives clash and two people who only ever mingled on the same page of the gossip columns are suddenly sharing dinner…with candles… But is this the picture perfect romance that they think it is? Romance, AU, please review!

I don't normally like the idea of AU fics unless they're well written, and so I hope I don't become a hypocrite when this is done XD

Please R&R.

Percy sipped at his beer casually as he watched the beautiful blonde across the club raise her martini glass to her lips while she chatted with a dark-haired man. She had arrived with him—Percy had noticed—but they weren't holding hands, kissing… Was he gay or blind? This girl was absolutely gorgeous and the man had to be out of his mind to not have his hands all over her.

He didn't normally just jump right up and say hello to women. He might ask one to dance, buy them a drink and ask for an occasional number, but walking straight up and introducing himself…well, that normally ended badly.

He shrugged to himself as he continued to watch the blonde. She emptied her glass and walked back to the bar with the man. They spoke casually with Tyler, the bartender, and a few minutes later, they had fresh drinks. Percy beckoned the bartender over.

"What's up, Perce?"

"Who's she?"

Tyler arched an eyebrow. "Annabeth Chase, the architect? Jeez, what rock have you been living under? She's the youngest, most successful building designer in the state."

"And the dude?"

Tyler shrugged at this. "Friend, I assume. She bought the drinks, said they were celebrating. Maybe he's her secretary."

Percy nodded. "Thanks."

"Um, Percy, I'm just warning you, she's been in here a few times before, and she doesn't take so kindly to getting hit on."

As he finished the last sip of his beer, Percy stood and took out the cash to pay Tyler. "That's why I'm not gonna hit on her." He slid an extra twenty into Tyler's hand. "Her next two drinks are on me. If she asks, give her this." He handed him his business card—or his father's actually—and winked.

Tyler laughed. "Smooth. Playing the 'I'm rich, let me take you home,' card."

"Not tonight. I'll be back on Friday." And with that, he was gone.

Percy Jackson made it four steps out the door before his picture was taken. He nodded at the cameraman who seemed disappointed that he was leaving alone. Percy smirked and kept walking, more cameras going off behind him. It was a pretty elite club and some of New York's finest partied there. He was included in the group.

His father was one of the wealthiest investors in nautical engineering. He owned so many ships and submarines that Percy hadn't bothered to keep counting after they got into triple digits. He would send birthday and Christmas cards and they shared a bank account so Percy would never run out of money, and they even saw each other once in a while, but he only had a small Manhattan office with no real Headquarters. There were rumors that he lived under the sea. His nickname, Poseidon, thanks to the company name,

A billionaire at 24, Percy didn't work and spent most of his nights out with his friends or watching movies in his loft. That's not to say he spent all of his time alone or with friends. He'd had his fair share of girlfriends, but just last week, his most recent one was caught getting down and dirty with another guy. The press had had a field day and he had left her. His heart was damaged, sure, but that's why he had decided to go out tonight—to see who was out there. And there she was.

Annabeth Chase.

When he got back to his loft, he sat down with his laptop and pulled up a search engine. Sample headlines read, "Chase Rebuilds Mason's Mansion," "New Architect on the Rise," and "Chase's Boyfriend Wants a Piece of Her Success." The last one sounded the most interesting and so he clicked. The link led him to a page with the blaring title, "New York: The Elite."

The article was about how Annabeth had had a boyfriend named Luke who had cheated her out of nearly a quarter million dollars. They were split and he went to jail for a number of months. Percy noted that the article was from a year ago and if he did the math correctly—because how hard was it to add a year?—they were the same age.

He closed the window and stripped for bed, subconsciously wondering what exactly it was about this woman that intrigued him so. He supposed that if she were to show next Friday, he might get a chance to find out.

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Tyler handed her the fresh martini as soon as she had downed her last. "Compliments of the man at the bar in the blue shirt."

Annabeth looked and saw the man leaving without a second glance back to see if she thanked him for the drink. Which she probably would have. He had dark hair and was very tall. He was gracefully, but as he pulled on his jacket halfway out the door, she could tell he had muscles. He was dressed nicely. Armani. But he was gone a second later.

"Thanks, Tyler. Who is he?"

Tyler grinned. "He told me to give you this." He offered her the blue business card and saw her eyes widen as she read it.

"That's not…" She hesitated and turned to her companion. "Nico…" She showed him the business card and he gave a low whistle. "What does Perseus Jackson want with me?"

"Probably a shag," Nico said, smiling into his drink.

"When did you become British?"

He shrugged. "Trying it out. Sounds a bit classier than 'screw,' in my opinion."

"Thanks again, Tyler."

"Sure thing. By the way, he said he'll be back on Friday." And with that, Tyler was off to the other end of the bar.

Annabeth stared at the business card and the bright blue letters, "Poseidon Enterprises: We Rule the Sea." She tucked it into her purse and sipped her martini, wondering if Percy Jackson was actually as cute in person as he was on the cover of "People."

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Sure enough, he was there that Friday night. She noticed him the second he walked in. With a hand reaching up to make sure her hair was in place, she strode towards him and reached him just as he reached the bar. He looked up at her.

"Something I can help you with, beautiful?"

She stuck out her hand. "Annabeth Chase."

"Percy Jackson."

They shook.

"I know," she said. "I saw you on 'People' last week."

He grinned. "I am the Sexiest Man Alive."

Annabeth admired his charm and smiled as they pulled their hands back. "I wanted to thank you for the drink last week. It was sweet."

"Darn, and I was going for something more along the lines of…amazing." He gestured to the stool next to him. "Sit."

"It's okay, I won't be staying. I just wanted to introduce myself."

"Miss Chase, I insist. Let me buy you a drink. I won't take no for an answer."

His steamy stare made her think that he wasn't used to 'no's. She sat, crossing her legs—an action which was always a fail-safe flirtation device when she was wearing high heels and a skirt/dress—but he didn't once glance at them and always kept his eyes on hers for the duration of their conversation.

"I'm afraid I'm not too familiar with your work."

Annabeth smiled. "I suppose I'll forgive you for that if you buy me another drink."

They drank and chatted. Percy asked about the man he had seen her with last week and she had explained that her best friend and assistant, Nico di Angelo, and herself had closed a multi-million dollar deal and were out celebrating a job well done.

So, not her boyfriend, Percy mused silently. Good.

Sometime later, when most conversation had found its way out the window, Percy took her hand and leaned in, whispering, "Would you like to dance?"

She nodded and they moved onto the dance floor silently. He held her close as the music swept through both of them and Annabeth linked her wrists behind his neck, tingles shooting through her when his hands settled innocently on her hips. A few songs later, they found their way back to the bar and Percy smiled.

"I suppose I'll see you again?" she muttered when he whispered a goodbye.

He winked. "If you look hard enough."

A/N: The story actually starts in the next chapter but I'd really some feedback. I'm not feeling too confident with this story and so if you're still interested in reading it—it's a total hardcore romance novel, just with Percy and Annabeth—please let me know. I hope the summary gave you a clue to what's it's all gonna be about, so let me know!

Love,

E. M. Zeray