Blair made a face as she looked at her watch again and tapped her fingers against the window of the car. She was late, and by late, it was by more than just a few minutes. Currently, she was forty-one minutes late. The last couple of days had been insanely chaotic, especially with Eleanor flying back into town just as unexpectedly as she had left. The worst part was her mother had been in crazy dictator mode, so other than a singular fifteen minute phone conversation and a handful of texts, she had had virtually no contact with Chuck for the past three days. She had texted him over an hour ago to let him know she was running behind schedule, but this was unacceptable. She should've just called him, but she already felt guilty that every text she had sent him started with the word 'sorry'. Why did her mother always have to ruin everything?

Finally her car pulled up in front of the Bass Industries building—7:53 pm.

"Wait exactly fifteen minutes, and if I haven't called for you or come back down, I will no longer need your services for the night," Blair said to the driver as she stepped out of the car.

She took a deep breath and made her way into the lobby.

"Miss Waldorf?" The security guard asked before she could open her mouth.

When she nodded, he stood up and escorted her to the elevator.

"Mr. Bass is expecting you," he said politely, before pressing the corresponding button to her destination.

The door slid shut and she waited patiently as the elevator climbed up the building until it reached the 35th floor. When the doors opened, there was a man waiting for her—he was blonde and slight, but had sharp blue eyes.

"Miss Waldorf?"

"Yes."

"If you'll come with me." His voice was gentle but firm. She took in the surroundings as she followed the man down the hall. The floor was silent—it seemed deserted. The man stopped suddenly in front of a set of double doors and knocked loudly.

"Come in," Chuck's muffled voice sounded.

The man opened the door and gestured for Blair to enter. As she stepped into the room, she saw Chuck getting out from behind his desk. The door was shut behind her.

"Hi," she said softly.

"You're late," Chuck said quietly as he stood in front of her, his face expressionless.

"I'm so sorry," Blair said apologetically. When his face remained impassive, she couldn't stop the words from tumbling out. "Ever since my mother got back into town, it's been non-stop meetings. She's completely switching her vision for next year's Fall line, on top of which she wants a million and one modifications done to the Spring line before Fashion Week next month. I was on the phone for three hours negotiating with the textile factory and then traffic was—."

He held up a finger to silence her. She watched as he leaned across his desk and pressed an intercom button, "James, I need you to call Gramercy Tavern and have them hold my table."

She shivered as his voice sliced coldly through the air. The tone of his voice dissolved any contrition she felt. This was ridiculous. So she was an hour late, she had apologized and the world wasn't going to end. Besides, who did he think he was? He wasn't her father.

Chuck turned back to face her and gestured for her to continue.

Blair narrowed her eyes as she said in a clipped voice, "Traffic was worse than expected."

"Are you done?"

She nodded in irritation.

"Good," he said.

He took a step towards her and she unconsciously stepped back, her heart started beating quickly. Before she could process what was happening, she had walked herself back into the wall, and suddenly he was everywhere. His body trapped hers while his hands cradled her face. His lips were soft but firm, and they were gently caressing hers. When his tongue slipped into her mouth, she clutched at his shoulders.

He pulled away slowly and she nearly whimpered in protest. He rested his forehead against hers and huskily said, "I've been waiting to do that all day. Correction, I've been waiting to do that since you kissed me Tuesday afternoon. I spent my entire work day trying not to think about you and that kiss. But the second it turned seven o'clock, my mind has been replaying that kiss over and over. And having tasted you again, it was even better than I remembered."

"Is that so?" She asked breathily. Secretly, she agreed. Their first kiss had been almost chaste and ended far too quickly. This last kiss had been heavenly, and she wanted to explore every last inch of his mouth.

"Come to think of it, I'm not sure," he murmured playfully, while he lightly nipped at her lips. "I think I need another taste."

"Taste away."

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.

An hour later, they were sitting in his limo en route to Gramercy Tavern. Blair wondered if she was still blushing from the events that had happened from the moment he kissed her in his office to the moment they stepped out of the elevator. After a twenty minute make out session in his office, which resulted in her sitting on his desk with her legs wrapped around his waist—he was searching for the zipper of her dress and she had just started unknotting his tie, when they both froze. They managed to tear themselves away from each other and straighten their clothes. A strangled, we should get going, from Chuck had gotten them out of his office. And she honestly didn't know what had come over her, but she had pushed the STOP button in the elevator and they had a second impromptu make out session with her pinned up against the wall. Had Chuck not accidentally pushed the button when adjusting his grip on her, and set the elevator back in motion, she knew without a doubt they would have had sex within the confines of the steel box.

Blair caught her reflection in the window and saw that her lipstick had been kissed away and her lips were entirely too swollen. On top of which, her hair was mussed and her dress more than slightly wrinkled.

"You should have told me that I looked like a mess," she groaned as she put her face in her hands. "They'll take one look me and assume we just had sex."

"And they would be so wrong," Chuck said mournfully.

She laughed softly and shook her head.

"You don't resemble anything close to a mess. If anything, you look even more enticing, with the deliciously rumpled look and all," he continued charmingly.

"Flatterer," Blair teased as she reached for her purse. Just as she flipped open her compact and was about to apply a fresh coat of lipstick she stopped and turned to look at him. "Wait, we're having dinner at Gramercy Tavern?"

"You're just realizing this now?" He asked in amusement.

"It's just—," she hesitated.

He raised his eyebrows at her to continue.

"Isn't having dinner on a Friday night at an exclusive restaurant, the opposite of keeping this," she motioned at the space between them, "A secret?"

"One would think that," he agreed amicably as a grin stretched across his face.

Her lips twitched at how adorable he looked, especially since his hair was in a state of disarray from her eager hands earlier that evening.

"We'll be dining in the private room. The car will drop you off at the front door. I, on the other hand, will be dropped off at Bocca, go through their kitchen and into the alley they share with Gramercy Tavern's kitchen and meet you inside the room," Chuck finished smugly.

"You thought of everything," she said in amazement.

"I thought it added an element of intrigue—not quite cloaks and daggers, but you get the drift. Besides, I do believe someone found our last meal rather lacking, so far be it for me to disappoint," he concluded.

Blair leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, Chuck."

"The pleasure is entirely mine."

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.

.

He watched as Blair stepped into the limo and slid in next to him. He honestly couldn't remember the last time he enjoyed a meal so much. Seeing bits and pieces of her personality was reeling him in even more—he hadn't expected her to be so damned witty, and he had even told her that. But now, as the evening was winding down, the last thing he wanted was for her to slip away.

She surprised him by sitting herself onto his lap as the limo pulled away from the curb. Her hands cupped his face as she leaned down to kiss him. There were hints of cappuccino and chocolate mousse, but it was the increasingly familiar flavor of her mouth that captivated him. He made a sound of satisfaction as she kissed him again and again, while one of his hands caressed her thigh and the other found its way up her back.

"Spend the night with me," he said bluntly when she pulled away from him a few minutes later.

"Excuse me?" She murmured as her eyes slowly blinked open.

"Spend the night with me," he repeated softly. "I'm not ready to let you go. I will adhere to our agreement that you set the pace for everything that happens. I just don't want to—."

"Ok." Blair interrupted him with a smile.

"Really?" Chuck asked in shock, surprised that she had given no resistance.

"I think you're becoming my rule breaker," she informed him.

"Rule breaker?"

"You know, the guy I may end up breaking every one of my rules for…such as no kissing on the first date."

"Ahhh…is that a good thing?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "But what I do know is that I'm having a wonderful time, and I'm not ready for the date to be over, which of course is your fault."

His heart skipped a beat at her admission. He hadn't expected her to be so direct and he tried to tamp down his excitement. It wasn't that he was so surprised, but all of this was still a new experience for him. He had never cared so much what someone else thought of him, or let his guard down as much as he had with her.

"And since you have already figured out that we won't be having sex tonight, I think it's only fair that I let you get to know me better," she finished.

"Having sex would be one way for me to get to know you better," he mock leered at her.

"You're heinous," she said as she rolled her eyes in amusement.

"But you like me anyway, right?" Chuck teased.

She made a cute little face but said nothing.

He reached out and brought her face down towards him. Softly he said, "I want to know everything about you."

Blair's face was glowing and he couldn't resist the urge to lean up to kiss her.

When they broke apart, she playfully said, "You mean you want to know everything about me that didn't make it into the file?"

"What file?" He played dumb.

She shot him a look of mild disdain before shaking her head. "Please, your Bart Bass's son, surely you must have a PI on retainer."

"Blair," he said hesitantly.

"I'm sure he's good, but don't think Dorota can't be just as good—if not better," she informed him snottily.

"What's a Dorota?" Chuck asked in confusion.

"My maid, of course. Did she not garner at least a page of information on the report you ordered on me? If not, your PI must be slipping—."

"I don't have a file on you," he cut her off.

"It's ok, I'm not going to be upset," she reassured him. "It's to be expected—."

"Blair," Chuck interrupted her again as he repeated himself. "I don't have a file on you."

"Really?" She asked in awe.

"I've had a PI on speed dial since I was fourteen. And I was going to…" His voice trailed off. Truthfully, Chuck was a bit embarrassed at his reasoning.

"But?" She prodded.

"It didn't feel right," he answered honestly. "I don't even know if I understand this connection I feel with you—but whatever it is, it made me question having Richard look into you. Everything you share with me, I want it to be because you want to tell me. And I know better than anyone, just how misleading the truth can seem sometimes."

Silence.

"I haven't checked up on you either," Blair confessed a moment later. "Normally I have Dorota do reconnaissance—I like to be prepared. But I felt it, too. That somehow, whatever this is—it would be tainted if I researched you."

"So then we're agreed? Whatever we need or want to know about each other, we go straight to source? Just ask each other directly to avoid any possible confusion?"

"Agreed."

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.

"What do you mean you didn't get into Princeton the old fashioned way?" Blair asked as she sat on the kitchen counter of Chuck's kitchen at the Empire. "Surely you had to fill out an application?"

"Nope."

"I don't believe you," she said as she crossed her arms.

"They let me audit a few classes so I could get a feel for the campus and report to my father before they broke ground on the Bart Bass Rotunda," he clarified.

"What?"

"It's a building—with a circular ground plan, usually covered by a dome," he said condescendingly, purposely misinterpreting her question.

"I know what a rotunda is," Blair snapped. "I graduated Magna Cum Laude from Yale."

"Well la di da."

"Are you always this much of a Basshole?"

He smirked at her pun. God, she was clever, and damned if that didn't make him all the more attracted to her. "I'm trying something new—it's called being myself. Is it too much for you, kitten? I could go for—what did Serena call it again? Ah, yes, my 'mysterious brooding' vibe, if you'd prefer."

"And what does that consist of?" She asked suspiciously.

"Well," Chuck paused. Narrowing his eyes, he gave her a predatory look as he stepped closer to her until he was standing in between her legs. He just managed to stop from smirking when he heard the hitch of her breath. Seductively he whispered in her ear, "Ask me something, anything."

"What's your favorite color?" She asked, her voice quivered slightly.

Instead of answering he began to lightly graze his teeth on her neck. Just as she let out a moan, he murmured, "Purple."

Her hands were roaming up and down his back and her knees applied pressure to his waist. He trailed kisses on her jaw line before he looked her in the eye and said, "Something like that. Which do you prefer—the Basshole or the brooder?"

Her eyes were clouded and her lips slightly parted. He took advantage and kissed her deeply. When she pulled away from him, she breathlessly said, "I'll let you know when I decide."

He pressed his forehead against hers. "See that you do."

"Ok, your turn."

Chuck hesitated for less than a second before taking the plunge. Mood killer or not, there was one question he was dying to ask.

"Why do they call you 'The Collector'?"

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tbc


A/N: I know, I know, I suck! A cliffhanger! But really, are any of you surprised I would end the chapter there?

Thank you so much for reading my story.