Ivy and Daniel had been moving around each other since the day they had gone for dinner. It had been perfect, totally relaxed in each others company, no expectations or presumptions, just a casual- albeit romantic- evening.

They had kissed briefly to say goodnight but nothing further. Daniel had frankly fallen head over heels before that night, but the dinner and the kiss had only cemented his feelings for the stunning dark haired genius.

Christian came back from his trip a few days later, grateful that Daniel had finished his work and that Ivy had worked through a months worth of work in two weeks. From what Ros told him she hadn't even found it particularly difficult, essentially breezing through work that most people wouldn't even know where to start.

Ana was meeting Ivy for lunch in the City, both of them were on top of their work and had been getting on really well recently as well. Ana had decided on the French restaurant not far from either of their offices.

Ana was already there when Ivy turned up a few minutes late, Ana waving to show where she was. As Ivy made her way over, Ana couldn't help but think of how much Christian's little sister had grown up recently. She had trimmed her hair so it was at about breast length, still with a blunt fringe and her hair naturally jet black. She was wearing a light, airy black wrap dress that showed off how slim she was, no longer showing ribs and collarbones, though she was definitely still a little too thin. She had her pale legs out and was wearing a pair of red high heels. As she moved through the crowd Ana couldn't help but think of how much she had grown up in the last few months.

'Sorry I'm late, Barney called me in for a meeting that I couldn't get out of' Ana smiled 'it's fine, I've only been here ten minutes, I ordered you a sparkling water- is that okay?'. It wasn't really a question, Ivy very rarely drunk alcohol and if she did it wasn't until later in the day, other than that she only really had water.

'Yeah, thanks. So how're you doing? I feel like I haven't seen you in days' Ivy actually hadn't, she'd been at work or out with Daniel, so she had been getting back to Escala late, and normally Ana was on her way to bed or already there. 'Not bad thanks, how've you been? Have you got anyone in your life at the moment then? I've barely seen you recently'

Ivy snorted with laughter and diverted the conversation 'I've actually been trying to organise a surprise for you'. Ana looked confused 'A surprise? For me? What is it?' Ivy smirked 'Lets just say I organised for something to arrive a little early for you'.

Ana looked vacant, making Ivy laugh 'Look behind you'. Ana turned and saw immediately what the surprise was. Christian- who wasn't due to return for three more days- was making his way over to their table, dressed in a grey suit with a crisp white shirt.

Ana stood up swiftly and her beaming face said it all before she impulsively wrapped her arms around Christian's neck and kissed him. 'Well Miss Steele, looks like you appreciate my sisters little surprise?' she nodded, not letting go of him 'indeed Mr Grey, very much so'. Ivy rolled her eyes a little and they sat down, Christian with a little smirk on his face and Ana with a full on beaming mega-watt smile.

He glanced quickly over his sister, noting how much she had grown up even in the last few months. She looked like a proper businesswoman, and he was also very much aware of the amount of men looking at her in the restaurant; the large grey eyes, long eyelashes, full red lips, High cheekbones, flawless skin, perfect hair and long legs- whilst Christian couldn't really blame them, it was still his little sister they were staring at.

The three of them ordered their food quickly and started talking, Christian filling Ivy in on Taiwan 'they signed the lease, I'm still waiting for their finance department to call and confirm the numbers you gave me, they should be calling tonight. Are you around?'. Ivy shook her head, tucking into her pasta 'no, Daniel's having people over for drinks at his, we're watching the game'. Christian nodded 'okay, if they call tonight I'll talk to you tomorrow'.

Ivy's phone buzzed and she glanced down at it, quickly putting on her glasses to read it.
From: Daniel Sullivan
To: Ivy Van Rensberg
Subject: Tonight
Everyone's coming over at about 7.30, can you come earlier? I promised people food and I can't cook.

She smirked and Christian raised an eyebrow 'everything okay?' she was typing a response as she spoke 'yeah, Daniel's asked me to come early tonight, cooking lessons I think'. Christian and Ana didn't question any further, unaware of the actual situation between Ivy and Daniel.

At 6 Ivy knocked on Daniel's apartment door, which was quickly opened. He was wearing dark jeans and a Harvard hoody, his hair messy and he looked stressed, though a smile spread over his face when he saw Ivy 'bloody hell, you look beautiful'. Ivy blinked in surprise, glancing down at herself; she was wearing a black vest top with a red maxi skirt, her hair in a long side plait. Daniel coughed awkwardly, moving aside to let her in 'uh...thanks for agreeing to help me' 'any time, now, let's get cooking shall we?'.

Ivy had been instructing Daniel on what to do for about an hour and a half, though he hadn't really done that much, assigned to chopping vegetables. They'd been getting on really well, moving past each other seamlessly, Ivy accidentally brushing past Daniel several times.

It was the fifth time that she brushed past that Daniel dropped the vegetables, tuned sharply and pulled her into a deep, passionate kiss. As he pulled away there was a knock on the door that they both ignored, staring into each other's eyes, breathing heavily. Daniel was still holding her face lightly 'I'm gonna marry you one day Ivy. One day'

Ivy was left standing there as Daniel opened the front door to a large group of people. Barney glanced over at Ivy as he came in, seeing how she was slightly flustered and confused 'Alright Ivy?' she nodded awkwardly.

The game was pretty intense and up until the last minute everyone had been shouting loudly at the huge tv screen, none more so than Ros and Barney. Ivy was distracted though the whole thing though, Daniel had sat next to her and calmly placed an arm over the back of the sofa, gently running his fingers over her shoulder lightly.

Everyone was fairly drunk by the time they left at about midnight, Daniel calling everyone taxis. Ivy hadn't been drinking as she was driving Ros home, her boss singing loudly as she sat in the passenger seat, slurring her words 'this carrr...this carrr is SO nice Ivy' she snorted with laughter as she pulled up outside the apartment building, where Gwen was waiting for her. 'Thanks for bringing her back, hope she wasn't too much of a nuisance'. Ivy giggled, handing the drunken redhead over to her blonde girlfriend 'Ivy, Daniel just rang me, he said your phone was under the couch at his, he just found it'.

Ros and Gwen's apartment was nearly directly opposite Escala but she needed her phone right now. She was waiting for a response from Mexico and the email was urgent, and her laptop was at the office.

Daniel was watching the post game review when there was a knock at his door. Lazily he opened the door and saw Ivy, blinking in surprise 'oh...hey, you came back for your phone?' she nodded, coming into the large open plan apartment. There was debris everywhere and Daniel had made little to no attempt to clear up any of it 'wow, well you tidied up well' he shrugged, waving a hand vaguely 'I'll do it eventually'.

Ivy smiled and moved towards the tv, watching it as she idly undid the bow in her hair, letting her wavy hair free. She was completely unaware of Daniel watching her as she moved slowly around the living room area, picking up abandoned cups and plates. As she placed them on the kitchen counter she was finally aware of the eyes on her 'Is there a reason you're staring at me?'

Daniel ran a hand through his hair, looking at her warily 'I'm trying to work out where I stand with you'. Ivy looked confused 'what do you mean?' 'well, I follow you around like a fucking dog for months and months, I fall head over heels for you and tell you I'm going to marry you- and you give me no indication where we stand. Ivy if you don't want anything to do with me then just-fucking-tell-me'.

His voice got louder towards the end and he was staring into her eyes, seeing the annoyance in Ivy 'what the fuck is wrong with you Daniel? People like you don't want someone like me'.

She turned and started to walk away, stopped by Daniel's hand on her arm, pulling her back round. Without a seconds beat to think, Daniel's lips were on hers, kissing her as if the world depended on it. After a few seconds Daniel pulled back, breathing heavily 'Don't talk down about yourself, you have no idea how incredible you are- and yes, I really do want you, your past doesn't matter to me at all'.

Christian was half asleep when he heard his Blackberry buzzed, groaning and turning over and seeing the text message:
From: Ivy V.R
I've gone out for more drinks- just so you don't panic in the morning when I'm not back. X

Christian turned his phone off and turned back over to cuddle Ana who was sleeping gently. He was glad that Ivy was doing something that wasn't work for once.

Of course Christian was totally unaware that his little sister and a man he trusted implicitly were lying tangled in the sheets at his apartment, breathing heavily and not knowing what to say to each other after the passionate last hour.


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