AN: I do not own these characters. All rights go to E.L. James

"Members Only"

Chapter 21

Ana was sitting in her living room with her oldest friend, Kate, and her newest, Elena. The two women got along better than she'd hoped. Kate was more oriented toward mosh-pit violence than dancing, and Elena sounded as though she'd had enough dating advice to last her a lifetime, but the two found a common ground.

Namely, the fact that it was time for Ana to move on from her booty call with Christian.

"It's exciting, and all that, but now it's starting to look a little…well, pathetic," Kate said, with her usual no punches pulled grace.

Elena shrugged. "He was no dancer. You got him into that party because he wanted to get in," Elena said, sounding irritated, not at Ana, but at Christian. "He's got all the advantages, and you're the one who jumps when he whistles."

"Good grief." Ana rubbed her eyes. Flings were supposed to be fun, right? When did they institute a rule book? "We have sex. Great sex."

"You," Kate said, pointing a finger at her, "have cooked him dinner."

Elena gasped, shooting Ana a shocked, accusatory look.

Ana let out a huff of indignation. "I just cooked you dinner, you idiots."

Kate ignored that point. Elena grinned sheepishly, taking another bit from her brie-and-caramelized-onion on homemade sourdough bread. "You are a great cook," she said, smiling happily.

"If cook for a man, you might as well wear a T-shirt that says…'Hi, I'm interviewing for the position of wife.' Honestly," Kate scoffed, "I ought to write a book."

"You should," Ana said eagerly, hoping to change the subject.

"She's right, though, hon," Elena said, wiping her hands on her napkin. "Cooking for a man is a husband trapping exercise. We know it, and they know it. Granted, your cooking could probably land somebody, but it's probably going to just make him take advantage of you."
"Why marry the girl when you can get the grilled cheese for free?" Kate muttered darkly, before finishing her own sandwich.

"At least I haven't done his laundry," Ana piped up. "You guys act like I'm invertebrate, I swear to God. I'm not angling to be his wife."

"You want to be his girlfriend, though." Elena got up, clearing away the dishes. Kate nodded in agreement.

"Okay." She wasn't going to get that one past these two anyway. "Yeah, maybe. It would be nice. But I've just gotten out of a two year engagement, and I don't need to repeat that right away."

"I don't have any problem with that," Kate amended, her voice growing much gentler. "Just try to find the right guy, that's all. If he doesn't want to admit you're his girlfriend, then he's wasting your time."

"Unless I'm just trying to have some sex," Ana said, and then threw her hands in the air. "Why do I keep having this conversation? I love you, Kate, but you really need to save some of it for your advice columns, you know?"

She got up, disgusted with the whole topic, and headed for her kitchen. She'd splurged and made chocolate petit fours, glazed with ganache and filled with raspberry jam and fresh whipped cream. "Have some dessert."

Elena considered her waistline, but indulged in one anyway, making very pleased yummy noises. Kate considered her tiny, artistic cake carefully. Then she tilted her head. Ana braced herself for the assault.

"You miss the shop, don't you?"

Ana blinked. She hadn't thought about the shop in…well, a long time. "Sometimes."

"Not just the shop. Being around food. Being in business."

Ana shrugged. "Sometimes," She repeated. Now that it had been brought to her attention, she realized that what used to be stress had been replaced with a numb sort of ache. She wasn't sure if that was better.

Kate turned to Elena. "Maybe it's not the guy, after all," she mused, as if Ana weren't even there. "Maybe it's the job."

"Oh?" Elena said, pouring a cup of coffee for all of them.

"She's never not owned a business. She's always run the show," Kate said slowly, frowning with thought. "Now she's trying to get a handle on this Christian thing, but I think its more distraction."

"Feel free to open a forum on my life," Ana said caustically, unable to even enjoy her dessert. She grabbed a mug of coffee, its warm richness soothing. "You're the one that told me not to open a business, remember?"

"You are all or nothing. I should've seen it," Kate said ruefully. "You're not the type to get a hobby. I guess it was silly to even suggest it."

"All right, that's enough!" Ana barked, slamming her mug down. Elena stared at her, wide-eyed, and Kate finally gave Ana her full attention. "Maybe I'm getting too involved with Christian. But that's my problem, my business, and as much as I love you, I'm getting tired of being treated like your letter of the week at the advice column."

Kate looked genuinely wounded. "I was just…"

"Trying to help. I know." Ana forced her voice to lower. "I know I'm still not happy and that scares me. But trust me, I'm doing the best I can. Maybe I'll do something food related again, I don't know. I know I need to do something. Something besides having wild monkey sex with Christian," she said, causing Elena to grin. "But I don't know what. Until then…"

Elena stood next to her, nudging her with her hip. "Until then, monkey away, crazy girl. Sorry, I shouldn't have come on so strong. It's just, I've been where you are. Nobody wants to see a friend being used."

Used…was that what Christian was doing?

Or, really, was that what she was doing?

Kate nodded. "I'm glad you pushed back on me. I know I come on too hard. But you need to draw boundaries with him, too. Otherwise…well, I'll be here to pick up the pieces when he lets you down, but I swear I'm going to slash his tires and God help him if I run into him in a dark alley."

Ana smiled. "Point taken. If it comes to it, I imagine a very violent 'I told you so' in my future."

There was a knock on the door. "Speak of the devil," Kate muttered darkly.

"I need to get going, anyway," Elena said, giving her a warm hug. "Up for a little club work? Less rowdy this time, I promise. With the whole troupe."

"I'm there," Ana said, and then she gave a hug to Kate. "Thanks, guys."

She opened the door. Christian was there, looking harried and tired, and happy to see her. Then he saw her friends and backed up a step, his smile a little hesitant. Elena smiled back. Kate sent him a third degree glare and walked past him, saying goodbye to Ana. When they'd left, he walked in, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.

"So your friends hate me, huh?"

"At least you've seen my friends," Ana said, then bit her lip. "I'm sorry. That was completely uncalled for."

He blinked at her.

"They…My friends don't necessarily think our fling is the healthiest thing for me," she said, washing the dishes quickly.

He leaned against the counter, drying each dish and putting it away without error. He had been over for dinner a lot, she admitted. "What do you think? Is this…are we unhealthy?"

She gripped the edge of the counter by the sink for a minute, closing her eyes. She was tired. The malaise, her general boredom and unhappiness with her new life of leisure had been creeping up on her. She hadn't really brought it into focus until Kate had commented on it tonight. She didn't want to break up with Christian, although she might have to, sometime.

But please, not tonight.

"Maybe," she answered honestly. "But, hey, we've got great sex."

He wrapped his arms around her, kissing her neck. "That we do."

"Not much else."

He froze against her for a second, then continued kissing her shoulder. "I didn't know you wanted something else."

"I didn't say I did," she said, and recognized the petulant sound of her own voice. She sighed. "Do you?"

"I don't know," he said, and his honesty stung. "I do know that we like a lot of the same movies, the same books. We've got similar senses of humor." He turned her to face him. "That's more than sex."

She leaned her forehead against his chest as reality struck her.

Damn it that was why I wanted to be your girlfriend.

Because he'd be perfect for her. Her ex-fiancé had made sense to her on paper, but there had been no passion. Now, she had passion and insanity.

What she really needed was some kind of happy medium, not a fling with a daredevil who didn't want to commit, just to get into a club that she knew almost nothing about except rumors and what little she learned from Christian.

"Well, before we got all grim," Christian said, stroking her cheek, "I did have a question to ask you."

Not the question I want you to ask, she thought, depressingly. "Yes?"

He seemed nervous all of a sudden, and rubbed the back of his neck. She found herself unwillingly curious. "Well, I know I probably should have asked you earlier, but I was wondering…"

"Yes?" she repeated, without enthusiasm.

"Would you like to go to Spain with me?"

She blinked. "Spain?"

"You said you'd help me with my challenges," he quipped, and his broken smile melted her, like it always did. "I've got this bull run to tackle."

"I've always wanted to go to Europe," she murmured. "I'll admit, I hadn't planned on jogging with two-ton bovines to do it, though."

"A wild woman like you can handle it, no sweat," he said with no tone of sarcasm. He grinned at her. Then he kissed her again, deeper, harder. "Come with me," he whispered against her skin.

She thought about it. She had that little plane phobia thing. The thought of running with the bulls terrified her and she was falling in love with him…this was only going to be more torturous when he became a member, and all she had of him was casual sex and these senseless "adventures."

He nudged her chin until her eyes met his. "Please."

She swallowed. "Yeah. I'll go."