Disclaimer: I do not own the Fifty Shades Trilogy, I am just having a bit of fun with the characters, and making no profit.
AN: Here's the next chapter! I hope you all like it! xo
"So what are you in the mood for?" he asked innocently
You, naked on top of me, She thought to herself, as she gave him a doe-eyed look.
"Thai? Italian? Japanese?" he suggested, waiting for her to indicate her preference.
Italian was a definite no, she didn't want to have garlic breath if he decided to kiss her again. Feeling like she needed to make a decision quickly, she mentioned the first thing that popped into her head.
"I know a great little pub, actually."
"A pub?" he asked questioningly, as if he'd never heard of one before.
"Yes, Christian, a pub. You know, burgers, beer, fish and chips?" She laughed. As wealthy as Christian was, it was entirely possible he'd never stepped foot in a pub, when he had restaurants like Clos Maggiore at his back and call. Unfortunately for her, being broke in the UK meant eating at hole-in-the-wall pubs on the regular.
He tried to suppress his smirk, and nodded, "Taylor, We'll be going to Miss Steele's pub for lunch today."
Taylor met her eyes in the rear view mirror, "Miss Steele?"
"It's on Chancery Lane; Knights Templar." She told him before giving Christian a shy smile.
A short while later, they pulled up in front of the pub, and Christian opened the door for her as she stepped inside.
"It's…"
"I know it doesn't look like much, but the food here is actually pretty good." Ana quickly said, feeling a bit self-conscious.
"I was going to say it's refreshing. Do you have any idea how long it's been since I've been to a place like this?" he smiled as she led him over to a small round top table and took a seat.
It didn't take long for the bartender to come over to their table, "What'll ya have?" he asked, looking pointedly at Ana.
Christian spoke up immediately, "We'll have two hamburgers cooked medium with fries, and two Stella Artois."
The bartender nodded and was about to walk away when Ana got his attention, "Actually, I'd like cheese on mine, Cheddar please, cooked rare, with a side of Mayo."
Christian looked at her in surprise, "Ana, you know you could get food poisoning from under cooked meat…"
She arched her brow in challenge, "Yes, well, I think I know how I like my meat, Christian."
He bit back a smirk, "Do you now…"
She blushed and quickly changed the subject as thoughts of Christian's meat popped into her head.
"So are you going to tell me the real reason why Jack Hyde resigned?"
Christian sighed, "I didn't like the way he was looking at you."
Ana gaped at him, "Christian, you can't fire someone because you don't like the way they look at me."
Christian scoffed, "I didn't fire him, I merely suggested that he resign, unless he wanted to be caught up in a nasty sexual harassment lawsuit."
Ana opened her mouth to speak, but be held up his hand, "Did you know he had three assistants in the last 18 months, all of whom quit without notice? This goes far beyond just you, Ana." He said as he poured his beer into a glass.
"So you didn't have anything to do with me being made acting Senior Editor then?" she asked, a hint of skepticism still in her voice.
"No. That was all you." He answered giving her a genuine smile that made her breath catch in her throat.
When their food arrived, she was saved from having to talk as she picked up a French fry and dipped it into the mayo.
Christian wrinkled his nose as he watched her, "That's disgusting."
Ana smirked as she brought the fry to her lips and made a show of licking the mayo off of it, just to gross him out further.
It seemed to have the opposite effect though, as his eyes suddenly darkened, and his nostrils flared as he watched her.
"Unless you want me to fuck you in what is probably a dirty pub toilet, I suggest you stop doing that."
The thought of her legs wrapped around his waist as he fucked her up against the wooden stall door suddenly popped into her mind, and she pressed her thighs together under the table.
"You're not playing fair." She answered, knowing that he was able to see the change in her breathing.
"I never have." he smirked before taking a bite of his burger while keeping his eyes trained on her.
"But you're my boss…" she said biting her lip and gazing up at him from beneath her lashes.
"Technically, I'm your boss's, boss's, boss…" he answered, arching an eyebrow at her.
She let out a shaky breath and took a large gulp of her beer, hoping to wash away the image that was now playing on a loop in her brain.
"The other editors will talk. They'll think I slept my way into this position." She said, wanting to make her concerns known.
"Well, since I haven't fucked you yet, it seems you have nothing to worry about." He said chuckling and taking a sip of his beer
She didn't miss the fact that he'd said 'yet'.
"I'm not going to be your submissive, Christian." She said firmly, making sure she made that perfectly clear. As much as she wanted to be with him, she knew she could never compromise herself like that.
"Okay." He answered, a smirk still playing at the edge of his lips.
"Okay?" she asked, feeling like she somehow missed something rather important.
"We'll take things slow. No rules, no punishments. A vanilla relationship."
"But I thought you wanted all those things?" she asked, not daring to hope that he meant what it sounded like; the feeling of butterflies suddenly swooping around in her belly made her light-headed.
"I want you more."
His answer was so honest, it made her breath catch in her throat. She wanted nothing more than to climb into his lap and let him kiss her like he had in the elevator.
"What about work?" she asked, still trying to process everything he was telling her.
"Unless you plan to announce to everyone at a staff meeting that we're fucking, I don't see the problem." He chuckled.
She snorted and took a sip of her beer, "We're not fucking yet, Mister Grey."
His glass clinked lightly against hers in a mock toast, "Not yet…Miss Steele, not yet."
ooOo0oOoo
By the time they returned to Random House after lunch, she was positively beaming. Today had so far been the best day of her life; first, her sleaze ball of a boss, Mister McFeely, was uninvited to continue working at Random House. Then she got an unexpected promotion, albeit temporarily while she finished her internship, and then the sexiest man alive (yes, People magazine actually awarded him that title) told her in no uncertain terms that he would be the one to rid her of her virginity, after making her feel like the heroine in a smutty romance novel. It wasn't a Jane Austen sort of romance, but she'd settle for Johanna Lindsey in a pinch.
The rest of the day flew by quickly in a daze, and she was just getting ready to leave when someone from the IT department stopped by her office.
"I have a laptop here for Miss Steele?" He asked uncertainly, holding a silver, shiny Mac Book Pro.
"That's me" she said uncertainly, as she stepped aside so that he could set it on her desk and set it up.
After he left, she opened the email icon, and saw that there was a message waiting for her from Christian.
"Ana,
Congratulations again on your promotion. This is YOURS.
~Christian"
She tried not to read into it too much, as it was probably just a company computer, but the fact that he had clearly asked IT to get her set up with one so quickly was sweet. It would certainly help her to stay more organized as she waded through the many manuscripts that were being sent to her from the other editors to read.
By the time she reached her flat, her phone began to buzz.
"Are you still employed?" Kate asked on the other end of the line.
"Yes, but oh my god, you aren't going to believe what happened today…" she began
"Let me guess, the man-whore was there?" Kate answered chuckling on the other end of the line.
"Man-whore?" Ana asked questioningly as she thought about who Kate was referring to…Jack?
"Christian…you said he bought the company, didn't he?" Kate clarified.
Oh. She had led Kate to believe the night before that he had only been interested in sex.
"Yes, he was there, but that isn't what I was going to say." She said quickly, "Mister McFeely resigned, and I've been asked to stand in as acting Senior Editor!"
"Holy fuck! Did you report him for sexual Harassment or something?" Kate asked.
Ana bit her lip knowing how this was going to sound, "No, Christian actually suggested that he resign."
There was a beat of silence, "Wait…Christian fired him?"
"Not exactly, no…he suggested that he resign immediately unless he wanted to be caught up in a sexual harassment lawsuit. Apparently there had been 3 other assistants before me who Jack pulled this crap with."
Kate whistled, "I'm liking the man-whore a bit more already."
"Kate!" Ana said chuckling, "He's really not a man-whore. He took me out for lunch today actually, and well…he's still interested in me, even though I cut our date short the other night."
"Ana, sweetie, just because he didn't fuck you over the appetizer, doesn't mean he's not a man-whore. I can almost guarantee that man has had more pussy than a crazy cat lady."
Ana sighed. Kate was unfortunately, probably right. Where she'd never even seen a cock in person, she'd bet he was a vajay-jay connoisseur.
"Just be careful, okay? I know I said earlier that you should go for it, but I don't want you to end up just being his booty call. You deserve more than that." Kate told her honestly.
"I'll be fine, Kate, I'm made of Steele, remember?" Ana chuckled. That had been their joke through college; that Ana was indestructible with a last name like Steele.
"Don't I know it. Just…take it at your own pace, ok? Congrats on the promotion though, we're definitely going out for drinks to celebrate when you get your butt back home!"
"As long as you're buyin!" Ana laughed, "Night Kate, talk soon."
ooOo0oOoo
The next morning, she left her flat early to make her usual morning stop at Starbucks on her way to Random House. She ordered two coffees out of habit before she realized that she was no longer responsible for fetching Jack his morning coffee. Rather than cancelling the order, she nibbled her bottom lip and pulled out her phone
How do you take your coffee?
Her phone chimed a minute later and she blushed when she saw his message
Hot, and full of cream… ;)
She tapped a reply back into her phone, trying to bite back a smirk.
Is that code? Because I feel like that's code…
Rather than send an actual reply, Christian sent her a winking emoji.
Taking his message literally, she got the Barista's attention, "Hey Antonella? Would you mind making that second coffee a latte with extra whip?"
"Uh…sure" Antonella raised her eyebrows at the unusual coffee order, but made it as requested.
By the time Ana reached her office, she realized she had no idea where Christian's office was. Feeling like a complete moron, she dropped her coat and bag onto her chair, and headed down the hall with two coffees in hand looking for any sign of Christian.
She had just rounded the corner when he stepped out of one of the conference rooms right in front of her almost knocking her over.
"Shit!" she yelped without thinking nearly spilling the coffee everywhere. He caught her arms quickly to steady her, biting back a smirk at her reaction.
"Are you quite alright?" he asked taking the coffee from her outstretched hand as she blushed a deep shade of crimson.
"I'm fine, you just startled me. Sorry for the um…" she dropped her voice to a whisper and looked around quickly to make sure no one was nearby who might take offense, "…shit"
Christian chuckled in amusement as he took a sip of his coffee, and looked down in confusion as he noticed the copious amounts of whipped cream.
"Hot and full of cream, as requested." Ana smirked as she raised her own coffee to her lips
Christian choked and she bit her lip trying not to laugh as one of the other senior editors walked by and asked Christian if he was alright, even going so far as to pat him on the back a few times until Christian held up his hand to signal that he was indeed, fine.
As soon as he walked away, Christian quirked an eyebrow at her and said just low enough for her to hear, "You're going to pay for that, Miss Steele."
Something about the way he said it made her whole body flush with desire, and she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth as she glanced up at him from beneath her lashes in a way she knew would drive him crazy, and whispered, "I'm looking forward to it, Mister Grey."