AN: Thank you for all your reviews…Sorry about the delayed update…but here's a long chapter to make up for my absence.

Disclaimer: As always…I do not own these characters. All rights go to E.L. James

Back to our story… "Never Give Up on Love"...

"Good night," she said firmly, and then turned on her side away from him, but she was smiling as she fell asleep…

Chapter 6

Ana awoke to the sight of a gorgeous man wearing only a thick white towel about his waist, standing before the bathroom mirror shaving. In those few minutes before she awoke fully and remembered where she was, she had a vision of him coming toward her, kissing her, then tossing the towel aside and climbing into bed with her. For just those few seconds she could remember clearly how it felt to have a man in her arms, the size of him, the warmth of his skin, the weight of him, the…

"Want to share that thought?" he asked, not turning his head but looking at her in the mirror.

Turning away so he couldn't see her red face, she rolled out of bed, grabbed her robe, and moved toward the closet, out of his line of vision.

"What do you have planned for today?" he asked, coming out of the bathroom, still wearing only that tiny towel and wiping excess shaving cream from his face.

Ana flung open a closet door so she couldn't see him. Did he work out every day? He must to keep his body looking like that. Was that gorgeous tan his natural skin color? "Shopping," she mumbled.

"Shopping?" he asked, moving around the door to the other side of her. "As in Christmas shopping?"

Studiously looking at the clothes hanging inside, yet seeing nothing. "Yes, Christmas shopping and a wedding gift." She took a deep breath. She had to get hold of herself! Turning, she looked into his eyes…and…not one inch lower. "Tomorrow is Christmas and if I'm to spend it with these people, I can't very well turn up empty-handed. Do you know a good shopping mall around here?"

Tysons Corner," he said quickly. "One of the best in the country and I need to buy gifts, too, so I'll go with you."

"No!" Ana blurted, then tried to recover herself. "I mean, I concentrate better when I'm by myself." Even as she said it, she knew it was a lie. Christmas shopping alone became a chore.

"How will you know who to buy for? Even how many kids are here? I assume you want to buy for the kids."

"Write down all the names for me and I'll get everything." She did not want to spend the day with this man…and it was getting very difficult to keep her eyes off his wonderful body.

"No that won't work…that would make it too complicated" he said, smiling. "Everything is in my head."

Ana almost smiled back at him. "You can just tell me all the information. Besides, wouldn't you rather stay here and play football with the other guys?"

"I am an out-of-shape CEO who sits behind a desk…they'd cream me."

At that Ana did laugh, for there was no one who was less out of shape than he was.

Without waiting for her to say yes, he grabbed a terrycloth robe from the closet, put it on, then kissed her cheek. "Pick me out some clothes, would you? I have to make some calls. I'll be back for you in thirty minutes."

Before Ana could protest, he was out of the room, with the door closing behind him. Of course, she thought, feminists everywhere would shudder at the notion of her choosing the clothing of an arrogant, presumptuous man like Christian Grey. But by the time she'd completed this thought, she had draped a pair of dark jeans, an Italian shirt, and a heavenly English sweater across the bed. Shaking her head in disgust at herself, she went into the bathroom.

An hour later, after a quick breakfast, she and Christian were walking to their car, and on the lawn were the bridegroom and other men playing ball. Sean shouted to Christian, asking him to come play football with them.

"She's forcing me to go shopping with her," he yelled back.

"Yeah, right!" Ana called to them over the roof of the car. "Like I really need a man to go shopping with me. Truth is, he's afraid to stay here because you might hurt him."

Ignoring the laughter of the men, Christian shouted, "What do you want us to get you for a wedding gift?"

"From you, Christian…a Lamborghini," Sean called. "But from her, I'll take anything she offers."

"I'll second that," one of the other men called, then they all laughed in a very complimentary way.

Feeling quite flattered, Ana smiled brilliantly at all the young men playing touch football and she smiled even more brightly when she saw that Christian was frowning. "What a very nice group of people," she said as she got into the car.

Christian, his body twisted as he looked out the back window while he drove the car out in reverse, maneuvering it around the many other vehicles in the drive, didn't answer her.

Maybe it was because of the men's flirting with her and Christian's silence, but by the time they arrived at the beautiful Tysons Corner Mall, Ana was in very good spirits.

"Where do we begin?" she asked as soon as they'd entered the center of the mall. Looking up at him, she saw that male shrug that meant that she was in charge. "Elephant time," she muttered.

"I beg your pardon," he said stiffly.

"It's what I used to say when I was with Jose and we went shopping together. He'd refuse to participate in deciding what to buy anyone, but he'd carry anything I handed him. I called him my elephant."

For a moment Christian seemed to consider this, then he solemnly lifted his right arm, clenched his fist, and made his biceps bulge through his sweater. "I can carry anything you can pack onto me."

Ana laughed. "We shall see about that. By the way, if as you said, 'we' are giving gifts, who's paying for these things?"

"Me?" he said with a mock sigh, as though he'd always paid for everything she'd ever bought.

"Perfect," she said over her shoulder as she took a left and headed for Nordstrom's. "Your money, my taste."

"Just give me a peanut now and then and I'll be fine," he said from behind her.

Three hours later, Ana was exhausted but exhilarated. She'd completely forgotten what it was like to shop with a man. He never wanted to take the time to consider which of any two purchases' was better. "This one," he'd say, or "What does it matter?" and when it came to gift suggestions, he could rarely think past the Apple store. Twice she had him sit on benches, surrounded by shopping bags, while she went into stores and purchased sets of soaps and lotions, and some fruit and cheese baskets. She almost couldn't get him out of Smart Toys, where he purchased a huge 3-D puzzle of the Empire State Building. And they visited all seven toy stores and made purchases from each one, so many purchases in fact that Ana suspected that they'd bought more toys than there were children.

"Does lunch come with this trip?" he asked after they'd visited the very last toy store the mall had to offer.

"Are you sure you want to eat? I think there were still plenty of UCS and Midi Scale Legos left at the last store. Maybe you should go back and get them."

"Food, woman!" he growled, leading the way to Brio Tuscan Grille, where they got a table and where Christian could put all the bags, for he wouldn't allow Ana to carry anything.

"You're a good elephant," she said as soon as they were seated, smiling at him.

After they were situated, he looked at her. "What plans have you made for Clayton's Department Store?"

Ana was in too good a mood to lie. "You don't have to patronize me. You don't have to listen to my childish ideas. For all that this has been great fun today; you and I both know that as soon as we get back to Seattle, it will end. You're the boss and I'm just an administrative assistant."

"Just an assistant, are you?" he said, one eyebrow raised as he reached down the neck of his sweater to his shirt pocket and pulled out several folded fax sheets. "Jose Rodriquez and his cousin Ethan Kavanagh owned Kavanagh's Hardware Store for four years. You and your fiancé were everything to that store. Ethan Kavanagh was a slacker."

As Ana looked at him in astonishment, he continued.

"After you two were engaged, Jose and you worked part time jobs, while you both were still in college. You two saved every penny you had and bought half a share in Kavanagh's Hardware when Ethan was looking for more cash to put into the business. Jose and you turned the place around. Jose knew about retail sales and you knew everything else. You wrote ads that made people come to the store and you handled the money, telling Jose how much you could and could not afford. It was your idea to add the little garden center and bring in women customers, and that was the most profitable part of the store. After Jose died you found out that the only way Ethan had originally been willing to sell to him was on the condition that on Jose's death he could buy you out for fifty grand."

"It was fair at the time the deal was made," Ana said defensively, as though he were saying that Jose had made a bad contract deal.

"Yes, at the time of purchase, half a share was only worth thirty thousand, but by the time he'd died, you and Jose had built up the business so a half share was worth a great deal more than fifty grand."

"I could have stayed as a partner," Ana said softly.

"If you shared Ethan Kavanagh's bed."

"You do snoop, don't you?"

"Just curious," he said, eyes twinkling at her as their food was set before them. After the waitress left, he said, "You want to tell me about your ideas for this store for mothers?"

"I haven't really thought about it, just some ideas here and there," she said, playing with the straw in her glass of iced tea.

At that Christian gave a little snort of laughter and pushed a pen and a napkin toward her. "If you had unlimited money and owned Clayton's Department Store, what would you do with it?"

Ana hesitated but not for long. Truth was, she had thought about this for quite some time. "I'd put a children's play area in the center so mothers could watch their children at all times. If a mother is to be there a while, I'd put a tracker on the kids. You know, like clothing in department stores, so if the children wander outside the play area or someone tries to take them, bells go off as they exit the store."

Christian said nothing but his eyebrows were raised in question.

"They put tags on clothing so people can't steal them and children are a great deal more important than shirts, aren't they? How can a woman try on clothes in comfort with a four-year-old screaming at her?"

After taking a bite of her food, she continued. "Surrounding the play area I'd have different departments: Maternity wear, furniture, layettes, books on the various aspects of raising children, all the visual things. I'd also have clerks who were extremely experienced and your average size."

Christian smiled patronizingly at that.

"No, really. My best friend just had a baby, and she was constantly complaining about anorexic sales girls who looked at her with pity every time she asked if they had something in a larger size. I'd also have trained bra fitters and I'd have free brochures of local organizations the women could contact if they needed help or information, such as La Leche League. Of course we'd have contact with a local obstetrician in case of mishaps in the store. And…"

She broke off as she glanced at his face. He was laughing at her!

"Haven't thought about it much, have you?"

She smiled. "Well, maybe just a bit."

"Where are your financials? Don't you dare tell me you haven't worked out to the penny how much opening a store like this would cost."

Ana took a few bites. "I've done a bit of number crunching."

"When we get back to Seattle, you can put them on my desk and I'll…" He broke off because Ana had removed a flash drive from her handbag. Taking it, he looked down at it and frowned. "When were you going to present me with this?"

She knew what he meant. He thought this was the real reason she'd agreed to this weekend. She was just one of the hundreds of people who tried to see him about or mail him their schemes for getting rich. Ana snatched the flash drive out of his hands. "I was never planning to show it to you or anyone else," she said through her teeth. "Millions of people have dreams in their heads and that's just where they stay…in their heads."

Angrily, she grabbed her purse and coat from beside her. "Excuse me, but I think this has all been a mistake. I think I'd better leave now."

Christian caught her arm and pulled her back down to the table. "I'm sorry. I apologize. Really, I am."

"Would you please release me?"

"No, because you'll run."

"Then I'll scream."

"No you won't. You allowed Ethan Kavanagh to rob you blind and you didn't scream then because you didn't want to make a scene for his family. You, Ana, are not the screaming type."

She looked at his big, tanned hand clasping her wrist. He was right; she was not a screamer…or much of a fighter. Maybe she needed someone standing behind her telling her she could do anything before she believed in herself.

Christian's hand moved so his fingers were intertwined with hers, and Ana made no attempt to pull away as he held her hand in his.

"Look, Ana, I know what you think of me, but it's not true. Have you ever told anyone else about your ideas for the baby store?"

"No," she said softly.

"But you must have been working on this idea since before Jose died. Did you tell him?"

"No." She and Jose had as much as they could handle with the hardware store. She'd never wanted to give him the idea that she wanted something different or even something more.

"Then I am honored by your confiding in me," Christian said, and when Ana gave him a look of suspicion, he said, "Really, I am." Pausing a moment, he looked down at their two hands intertwined. "All those prenuptial agreements were only to see if she would sign."

Ana looked at him in disbelief.

"Honest. If any of those women had signed, I'd have torn it up immediately. But all I ever heard was, 'Daddy doesn't think I should sign,' or, 'my lawyer advises me not to sign.' All I wanted was to be sure that the woman wanted me and not my family's wealth."

"Rather a hateful little trick, wasn't it?"

"Not as hateful as marrying me and then a few years later going through a divorce. What if we had kids?"

In spite of herself, Ana felt herself curling her fingers around his. What about Leila?"

"Leila was different," he said softly, then pulled his hand from hers.

As Ana opened her mouth to ask another question, he said, "Ready?" and the way he said it was a command.

Minutes later they were again in the mainstream of the mall, Christian moving ahead, loaded down with shopping bags. Behind him, thoughtful, Ana followed until she was pulled up short at the sight of a shop full of the most beautiful clothes for children she had ever seen. In the window was hanging a christening gown of fine cotton, hand-tucked, dripping soft cotton lace.

"Want to go in?" Christian said softly from over her head.

"No, of course not," Ana said sharply, turning away.

But Christian, already large, was made even larger by all the bags he was holding and he blocked her exit as he moved forward.

"Really, I don't want…" she began, but she stopped speaking as soon as she was inside the store. Never had she allowed herself to look at baby clothes as something for a child she might have. For others yes, but never for herself.

As though in a trance, she went toward the pretty dresses hanging on racks at eye level.

Christian, who had been relieved of his bags by a kind saleswoman, came up behind her. "Not those. The first Grey baby is always a boy."

"Nothing is ever 'always,'" Ana told him, taking down a white cotton dress hand-embroidered with pale pink and blue flowers.

"Here, this is much better," he said as he held up a red and blue striped shirt. "Good for playing football."

"I am not going to allow my son to play football," she told him, replacing the dress and looking at some white suits made for what could only be a little prince. "Football is much too dangerous."

"He's my son too and I say…"

It suddenly occurred to Ana what they were talking about, that they might have a baby together, but it wouldn't be theirs. Not in a real sense. It wouldn't be…before she could put together another thought; she ran from the store and was staring in the window of H&M when Christian found her.

"You mind if we sit awhile?" he asked, and all Ana could do was nod her head. Her embarrassment over what had happened in the baby store was still too fresh to allow her to speak.

He piled shopping bags around her, then he went to get the two of them ice cream cones, and for a while they sat in silence with their ice cream.

"Did Jose and you ever discuss having children?" he asked softly.

"We were young and thought we had all the time in the world…" she answered simply.

For a moment Christian was silent. "You must have loved him very much?"

"Yes, very, very much."

"He was a very lucky man," Christian said and reached out to take her hand. "I envy him."

For a moment Ana looked into his eyes, and for the first time since Jose's death she saw another man. Not Jose superimposed over another man's features, but she saw Christian Grey for himself. I could love again, she thought, and in that moment it was as though all the ice she had protectively put around her heart melted.

"Ana, I…" Christian began as he moved toward her as though he meant to kiss her right there in the middle of Tysons Corner Mall.

"My goodness!" Ana said. "Just look at the time…I have a hair appointment at K&I Salon for the wedding tonight, and I'm barely going to make it. It's here in the mall but on the next level, so I'd better run."

"When did you make an appointment?" he asked, sounding for all the world like a husband who couldn't believe she'd done anything without his knowledge.

"In between toy stores." She stood. "I have to go," she said, then started walking. "I'll meet you back here in two hours," she called over her shoulder, and then disappeared around the corner before he could say another word.

The truth was, she had half an hour before her appointment, but she wanted to get a Christmas gift for Christian. She wanted to get away from him. She could not possibly fall in love with a man like Christian Grey. "He's out of your league, Ana," she told herself. A man like him needed a woman whose father was the ambassador to some glamorous country, a woman who could identify one caviar from another, who could…could…

"Idiot!" she told herself. You are as bad as all the others, thinking you're in love with him. Or worse! Thinking he is in love with you.

By the time she met him two hours later, she had managed to calm herself and regain her equilibrium. She saw him sitting on the bench, looking very pleased with himself. "What have you done?" she asked suspiciously.

"Merely had everything wrapped and labeled, and now they are all in the car."

"I am impressed," she said, wide-eyed.

"Stop laughing at me and let's go," he said, taking her arm. "What did they use in your hair? Or did they give you a wig made out of wood?"

"It's lacquer and I think it looks great."

"Hmmm," was all he'd say as they hurried to the car.

Back at the house, everything was chaos as people scurried to get ready for the wedding. It seemed that nearly everyone had lost a vital piece of clothing and now was frantically trying to find it. When Christian closed the door to "their" bedroom, it was like a haven of calm, and when Ana came out of the bathroom, the bed was covered with boxes and a couple of hanging bags full of clothes.

"It all came while you were in the bathroom," he said, and when Ana started to comment that she'd heard no one enter, Christian scurried into the bathroom.

One box contained silk underwear, all of it white – lacy bra, teddy, and white stockings that ended mid-thigh in lacy elastic. Never before had she heard of wedding providing underwear along with the dress.

"You don't have time to examine everything," Christian said as he entered the room.

"But…"

"Get dressed!"

As she picked up the underwear, then the dress that must have been made of three hundred yards of chiffon, she looked at the narrow space in the bathroom and back at the voluminous skirt.

"I won't attack you if I see you in your underwear…but only if you make the same promise to me," Christian said, deadpan.

Ana started to protest but then smiled devilishly. "All right, you're on," she said as she took the white silk underwear and went into the bathroom. Moments later she emerged wearing makeup and her underwear and nothing else…and she knew that she looked great. She wasn't very large above the waist, but, as many people had told her, she had a fantastic body and excellent legs.

"Do you know where…" Christian said as he turned toward her, then Ana had the great, oh, the enormous, satisfaction of seeing all the color drain from his face as he stared at her.

"Do I know where what is?" she asked innocently.

But Christian couldn't say a word as he stood there, his hands frozen, one held outstretched, the other trying to fasten the cuff link on his shirt.

"Could I help you with that?" she asked, striding toward him as he stared at her speechlessly. As sweetly as she could, she fastened first one then the other of his cuff links, and then smiled up at him. "Anything else you need?"

When he didn't answer, she smiled again and started to walk away from him, knowing that the back view of her was just as good as or even better than the front. Thank you yoga, she thought.

But she had no more time for thought because Christian grabbed her shoulder and pulled her into his arms, then brought his lips down on hers. How could she have forgotten? She wondered. She'd nearly forgotten the deliciousness of a kiss.

He kissed her long and thoroughly, and his big hands caressed her body, pulling her close to him.

Had it not been for the loud knock on the door and the call, "Ready to leave for the church?" Ana wasn't sure what would have happened. Even so, she had to push her way out of his arms, and it was with great reluctance that she did so. Her heart was pounding and her breath was fast.

"We must get dressed," she managed to say while he silently stared at her. With shaking hands, she picked up her dress and tried to get it on over her head without messing up her hair. She wasn't surprised when Christian helped her pull the dress down over her body, and then zipped it up the back. It seemed natural to help him into the coat of his tuxedo.

It wasn't until they started to leave the room that he spoke. "I almost forgot to give you your bridesmaid gift." Out of his pocket he pulled a two-strand pearl necklace and an earring with long drop pearl.

"They're beautiful," Ana said. "The pearls almost look real."

"They do, don't they?" he said as he fished out the second earring, then he fastened the necklace on while she put on the earrings.

"Do I look okay?" she asked in earnest.

"No one will look at the bride."

It was a cliché, but the way he said it made her feel beautiful.

The wedding was enchanting. For all the chaos beforehand, everything went smoothly, and the reception was filled with laughter and champagne. Christian disappeared with a group of men he hadn't seen in years, and for a few moments Ana was alone at the table.

"Do you know how to dance?"

Ana looked up at Christian. "Wasn't that in your report about me? Or did your spies forget such unimportant things as dancing?"

With a laugh, he pulled her out of her chair and led her onto the dance floor. To say they danced splendidly together was an understatement.

Sean sailed by, his lovely bride, Hannah, in his arms, and told Christian he should keep "this one."

Christian smiled. "You know that no woman wants me for long."

After Sean had laughed and moved away, Ana frowned up at Christian. "Why don't you tell them the truth? Everyone blames you for all the breakups."

Christian pulled her closer into his arms. "Be careful, Ms. Steele, it almost sounds as though you're beginning to like me."

"Ha! All I want from you is…"

"A child," he said softly, "You want to have my child."

"Only because you're…"

"What am I? Intelligent? A prince among men?"

"You're a reverse prince. When a woman kisses you, you turn into a frog."

"I didn't with the first kiss. Want to try again?"

For a minute he looked down at her and she thought he was going to kiss her again. But he didn't and she knew that her disappointment showed on her face.

Hours later she once again found herself alone in a room with Christian. When she returned from the bathroom wearing her chaste white nightgown, he was standing by the window, his back to her, looking out into the night.

"The bathroom is yours," she said.

"I'm going out," he said firmly.

To her horror, Ana said, "Why?" then put her hand to her mouth. What he did was none of her business. Stiffening her body, she forced a smile. "Of course." She gave a great yawn. "See you in the morning."

Christian grabbed her shoulders. "Ana, it's not what you think."

"I have no right to think anything at all. You're free to do what you like."

Quickly, he pulled her to him, and held her tightly. "If I stay in this room tonight, I'll make love to you. I know I will. I won't be able to stop myself." Without giving her a chance to reply, he left her alone in the room.

"Right," Ana said to the closed door. "Next week it would be business as usual, the little fling with your employee forgotten. Better not do anything that could get you sued."

She went to bed and only went to sleep after she had vented her frustration on the thick pillow separating the two halves of the bed.

Hours later she was sleeping so soundly she didn't hear him return, slip into bed beside her or feel him press a soft kiss on her forehead before he tried to sleep.