A/N: A little bit shorter one this time, but I had to cut it off where it felt right.
ANA
He'd sent the flowers. To her. Personally. Hell, forget the flowers! He'd asked her out on a date. And now… this.
She scooted closer in order to run her fingertips over the cover of the book which sat on the coffee table in front of her. She still couldn't believe it was really there, in her apartment, in her direct possession.
A first edition print of Tess of the d'Urbervilles. Slowly she lifted the cover, the fingers of her right hand delicately running the length of the first page, like it might disintegrate beneath her touch. Quickly she snapped the book shut and shoved it away from her.
For Anastasia
From Christian
That was all the little card had said, the print noticeably darker on her name, like he had traced over it more than once. It was a distinct message. These were for her from him. Just like the flowers.
Fuck.
What the hell was she supposed to do now? If Scott found out about this… God she didn't even want to think about it. She'd thought the orgasm denial coupled with the cum soaked panties on her first day at GEH had been punishment enough for being on the receiving end of Mr. Grey's affections via flowers, but she'd been wrong. That had just been an appetizer to the punishment she'd faced.
Her ass still felt raw and that was days ago. He'd tied her hand to her feet, caned her three times, then left her like that for an unknown amount of time. It had felt like hours, her legs were so tired when he'd finally returned. She'd hoped that was the end of the punishment, but instead he'd spanked her thirty-seven times over the cane marks, one for each flower she'd received. When had he even stopped to count them? And they were harsh spanks too. Worse than any she could remember in a while, maybe ever. Her legs felt like jelly and her ass like it was on fire by the time he was done. She was still sleeping on her stomach as a result, and work had been barely bearable to sit through.
She didn't even want to know what would happen if he knew about the date. Or these books. The date, that was intangible. There was no reason he would ever find out Christian had asked. But the books- he could see them. He could see them and he would know they were a gift. He knew Ana didn't own anything like this. They had to be expensive- priceless even! And there was an implication that came with them. The fact that Christian gave her such a personal gift left the impression that he knew her. Scott would want to know how he knew one her biggest loves was literature, and she doubted he would accept that it came up in just a few sentences of casual conversation, even it was the truth.
She was screwed.
With her head in her hands, she sighed.
Her dinging phone brought her attention away from her inner turmoil for a moment.
-Dinner tonight?
The number was unknown. But coming within ten minutes of the delivery of these books to her front door? She knew exactly who it was.
Was he trying to bribe her into a date? Bribe her with extravagant gifts?
God, he was making her life with Scott so much harder and she couldn't even tell him why. She couldn't tell him that he was getting her in trouble with Scott, because that would reflect badly on Scott. He couldn't know that she and Scott were involved in any way, and the only reason her receiving flowers from another man should upset her boss would be if there was some more intimate connection between them. And she couldn't come out and tell Scott that that Christian was pursuing her in hopes that he would put a stop to it. First and foremost, he would go ballistic. Secondly, it's not like he could really do anything about it anyway. One time, one of the other employees named Jacob Stevens had been hounding her for a date. Ana told Scott, who, as the boss, had called Jacob into his office and set him straight, telling him he had a policy against interoffice dating. But he couldn't do that here. Christian was his boss too. Hell, he was the boss. He couldn't instate a no-dating rule. Those were Christian's rules to make. Scott couldn't walk into the CEO's office and request he stop trying to date his assistant.
*ding* Her phone again.
-Say yes.
Phone in hand, she debated not responding, but decided she needed to put her big girl panties on and take care of this herself. It was better for all involved if she nipped this in the bud right now.
-As I said before, I can't. Thank you, but no thank you. There. Polite and professional, but crystal clear.
-Tomorrow night then? She groaned. Not so crystal clear. Unless he just didn't want to listen, which she suspected was the case.
-Not any night, Mr. Grey. Again, thank you, but no thank you.
-Did you not like your gift? She narrowed her eyes at the text. Was he toying with her? Purposely trying to get under her skin? It was aggravating. It was obvious she was trying to avoid talking to him, but he wasn't giving up. Flowers, the book, now text messages all sent to her without any reciprocation of interest on her part. And he obviously knew the book had been delivered already, even though it was just delivered. Come to think of it, that delivery man did not look like a delivery man. He was surely no worker from FedEx. Did the package even have postage? She reached for the wrapping. Nope. That meant this was hand delivered from someone he knew. How the hell did he know where she lived?
-How did you get my address? And my phone number, for that matter?
-You work for my company Ana. Believe it or not, your address and phone number are in your file. The audacity of this man to look into her personnel file to get this information!
-That seems like a gross misuse of employee information Mr. Grey.
- ;)
Wow. A winky face? He was just going to dismiss the fact that he'd basically invaded her personal boundaries by accessing and using information intended for work purposes with a winky face? Before she could even being to come up with a response to that, he texted again.
-Did you not like the gift, Ana? Unbelievable.
-The point is moot, as I cannot accept it, Mr. Grey. How would you like it returned? And here laid a big problem. She needed to get rid of it, but it wasn't exactly like she was able to walk into GEH and hand it back to him. Scott would surely notice, and then there would be hell to pay. But what else could she do? No return address on the label, obviously.
-Moot? She tried to pull back the smile that formed on her lips when she read his text.
-Yes, MOOT, Mr. Grey. Impossible man.
-I'm sorry to hear that Ana. Maybe we can arrange for you to give it back to me then. Say, tonight? I can pick you up at 7 and you can return it to me at Canlis? And damn it if she wasn't full-fledged smiling now. She hadn't seen that coming, and the idea was preposterous. For one, if he were to come to her place in order to pick her up as he suggested, she could just hand the book over at the door before shutting it in his face. They didn't need to go out to dinner for her to hand it to him over a table. But he knew that. Obviously. This wasn't about returning the book. This was about him trying to get her to agree to dinner using his stupid charm and wit, and damn it to hell if that charisma he wielded so well wasn't making her smile at this moment.
-I don't even know what to say to you, Mr. Grey. She typed with a shake of her head and a sigh. Damn him for being so… him. She could even picture the little smirk on his face while he typed that text, anticipating her reaction to it. It bothered her that she barely knew the man, yet she was imaging the mischievous look that would have been adorning his face during this interaction. She picked the same one from when he conspiratorially leaned forward to inform her that the flowers were for her personally.
She set her phone down when a knock sounded at her door. Who the hell could that be? No one ever came here except Scott, and she knew it wasn't him. He was in Portland for the evening attending a business meeting with the WSU farming division, something Mr. Grey had arranged for him.
Distracted by the fact that Mr. Grey had not texted her back yet, she wandered to her door, half listening for the ping of her phone. She twisted the bolt lock and pulled the door open, her eyes widening at the sight of Mr. Grey himself standing before her.
He stood in her doorway in dark blue jeans and a medium tone gray light sweater with the sleeves rolled halfway up his muscular forearms. His hip was cocked to the side, leaning his weight against her door frame, his arms crossed neatly over his chest. His cooper hair was tousled effortlessly, and he had that smirk, the same smirk she'd imaged just moments ago, plastered across his obscenely handsome face.
She stood, just staring at him. He was here. At her apartment. She wanted to be angry, offended that he would repeatedly keep invading her privacy like this. But with him standing across from her, looking like that? All she felt was her heart speed up.
Slowly he uncrossed his arms then stepped forward, forcing her on instinct to step back. He crossed the threshold into her apartment, speaking as he reached behind him blindly, yet still managed to catch the door with precision and close it without looking. "I know what you can say to me, Ana," he said, the tenor of his voice low and smooth. She raised her eyebrows in response, still unable to find her voice. He was in her apartment. In it.
"You could say, 'Thank you for the gift, Christian. I loved it and will happily accept it.'" he said taking another step forward. Again she stepped back, but this time she felt the edge of her end table graze the back of her legs. "Then you could say, 'Yes, Christian, I would love to go to dinner with you.'" A half step forward and he was now so close she could smell him- that super masculine scent of who-knows-what. Cologne, shampoo, body wash? She wasn't sure. But it was… consuming.
"Say it," he whispered.
"I can't," she managed to push out, but the words felt heavy in her throat and came out in a rush of air.
"Why?" he asked, a small smile on his face, but his eyes betrayed a different emotion. Hurt? No, there was no way this Greek god would be hurt by getting turned down by someone as meaningless as she. It was more likely just wounded pride that someone so meaningless was saying no. At this point, she was likely just a game to him. Once she agreed and he'd won, the appeal would no longer be there.
"I just can't, Mr. Grey. And the books, I appreciate the gesture. It's very thoughtful but—"
"I want you to have to books Ana. Please keep them, even if you won't have dinner for me. They were just sitting in my library, and I didn't even know it until I went looking after our conversation the other day. I had no idea I had the first editions. That's how little it meant to me. It would mean so much more to you. They should belong to someone who will truly cherish them. Please keep them."
She felt the confliction overtake her. She wanted them. Of course she wanted them. They were amazing. And he was correct when he said she would cherish them. Truly she would, but she couldn't very well—
"Please keep them, Ana. Please," he said softly.
Oh God, that look in his eyes. That pleading, honest look on his handsome face.
"Okay." Okay? Okay?! Had she just agreed to keep such an extravagant gift from another man? A gift that would get her ass so beat if Scott ever found out about it? Why the hell had she said okay? Oh—oh look at his face now. Oh my God, that grin. Damn it, why did he have to be so… Jesus. "Thank you, Mr. Grey." Breathy. Was that her voice? That voice was entirely too breathy to be her voice. Her eyes hit the floor. What the hell was happening?
"You're welcome, Ana," he said, his voice low, caressing her name in the way it did when they had first met. It was… sensual. Deep and husky. She looked up meeting his eyes. Her breath caught in her throat. Oh God, those eyes. Why was he looking at her like that? Suddenly her apartment felt claustrophobically small. His eyes were roaming her body, making her face flush. She pressed her thighs together in an attempt to control her body's natural reaction to what was happening between them. She pressed her body against the end table, trying to gain space to think, but he further leaned toward her, closing what the distance she'd made.
"Mr. Grey," she whimpered. Oh Jesus, she scolded herself, you're going to have to do better than a whimper Ana.
"Christian," he said, his voice thick. "You call me Christian when we're alone."
"Mr. Grey, sir," she said with a shake of her head, denying his desire to hear his name on her lips. "Please," it was a plea, a prayer. She couldn't be here, couldn't do this. What the hell was it about this guy? She'd never so much as looked at another man. She had everything she needed from Scott, so why did she always feel this pull to Christian Grey?
The ring of her phone was the God-send she was looking for. The sound pulled their attention for a split second that gave her the clarity she needed to set her mind straight. Christian- Mr. Grey- swayed back from her a little and Ana manage to extricate herself from around him. Grabbing her phone like it was a life raft and she was adrift in the ocean, she checked the caller.
Scott Kennedy calling…
She felt the panic rise in her. She couldn't answer, not with Mr. Grey in the room. Scott knew she was at home and he would likely say things to her that she couldn't respond to in front of Christian- Mr. Grey- without raising suspicions. And she could not risk Christian speaking and Scott overhearing a male voice in her apartment. She was pretty sure she would be punished for not answering, but she would have to lie and tell him she'd been in the shower and hope for the best. Because not answering, even if it garnered a punishment, was better than any of the things that could happen if she did answer and was caught by either of these men engaging in the real roles she shared with each of them behind closed doors.
She needed to get Mr. Grey out of her apartment and call Scott back as soon as possible. That was the best course of action for her right now. So she pulled every ounce of confidence from her core that Scott had worked so hard to instill, and she turned to the man standing before her.
"Mr. Grey, I need you to please leave," she said firmly.
"Ana—"
"Now, Mr. Grey. You've impeded on my personal space far too much as it is. I need you to leave," she said, walking toward the door and opening it forcefully, motioning him to walk through. And he did, almost staggeringly, like he could not believe he was being kicked out. But still, with heavy steps, he did as she asked and exited her apartment. He looked so confused, so lost. She felt a churning in the pit of her stomach. She felt bad- guilty. He seemed like a nice guy, but she just couldn't do this. He couldn't understand, and there was no way to explain it to him. There was no easy way to handle this. The best thing she could do for both of them was to cut the cord.
"Please don't show up at my apartment again," she said, closing the door in his dumbfounded face. She cringed as soon as the lock clicked into place. That was brutal. She didn't like being that person. She felt her throat swell with emotion as she closed her eyes and pictured the look on his face. She didn't want him to hate her, as she was sure he likely now did. But her life was just too complicated. She didn't want to drag him through the mud for nothing. She owed everything to Scott, and as much as she was intrigued by Christian Grey, there could never be anything between them.