Chapter Two

"You're late."

Oh fuckidy, fuck, fuck, fuckington.

I stand in awe for a moment, embracing and savouring this feeling, a feeling I had never had with any other. Ever. Like strawberries and cream, the mix of fear, arousal and excitement work fantastically together as they pulse through my veins. The man stares down at me, his face perfectly outlined in the light.

Bloody hell, he is gorgeous.

For the first time ever, Kate was right. He was "pants-droppingly gorgeous". I admire the twinkle of his intimidating grey eyes, matched with the perfect curve of his jawline and the shape of his broad shoulders. He is all man, and nobody could ever argue with that.

Before I realised I am staring, rather oddly at his exquisite features, he pipes up again, repeating himself.

"I said you're late." His tone told me all I needed to know. This man wasn't all for messing around, he sweated business and wasn't up for any silly games this morning.

Did I for one moment stop and say to myself, Ana, apologise for being late, accept your punishment and move on, or perhaps even stay silent in embarrassment? Anything to keep me as far from trouble as I could be at this point would have been sufficient.

But no.

"Yes. I noticed. I do have a clock." I immediately see his eyebrow perk up in confusion, followed by a wave of irritation.

"Miss Steele, I do not accept that sort of tone, and I also do not accept tardiness. Unless you have a very suffice reason for your absence then I will get Andrea to take this out of your vacation days." Judging by the smirk he was trying to hide at his words, he thought he had won, got the better of me, but I wasn't even started.

"I over slept, got stuck in traffic, and then decided to have a conversation with Andrea before coming in here. So no. I have no reason. Please, dock one day anyway. I really doesn't bother me at all. Besides, the less vacation I have, the more time I get to stay here with you…" I look him up and down, and boldly brush past him to sit at my desk, "What a joy that will be." I made the sarcasm in my voice step out and bite him in the ass. Jack was right, he is an asshole.

"Anatasia—"

"Miss. Steele, if you don't mind."

"Miss. Steele." The agitation in his voice was incredibly clear as I opened up my laptop, and scrolled through the new emails, not giving him my all attention. "I would like to remind you, that I own this company and I will end you."

"But you won't. I am one of the best employees this company has had in a very long time. Everyone speaks highly of me, and quite simply, you would have an outrage on your hands if you fired me. Once again, I do invite you to try and 'end' me, as you so poetically put it, however I feel like you are full of empty threats, Mr. Grey. That is your name, isn't it?"

My comments were followed by a deathly silence. Tension throbbed through the air. It was only at this point that I regretted what I said. I'm pretty sure at this point a sudden wave of realisation flew across my face as I saw a smirk emerge on his.

"Oh crap. I am… I didn't… I just… I'm sorry for being late and all… But I feel you overreacted… Slightly… Please don't fire me." I had gone from sassy, confident editor, to nervous, grovelling intern. Well done, Ana, A+ on that!

"Miss. Steele, I want to reassure you, that you won't be fired. Not only is it true that you are one of the best employees in SIP's history, but you are far too beautiful for me to get rid of."

"I'm sorry?" I didn't even know that I had questioned him until after it slipped from me. To this day, I can't remember if I said it maliciously, or in a flirtatious way. I do know that it confused the hell out of me.

"You are one of the best employees we've had. You said it yourself, I even looked through the data—"

"No, after that."

"You're beautiful."

"Shut up." I shake my head, believing that he was clearly messing with me, and getting me back for sarcasm earlier on.

"I shall do no such thing. You should watch that mouth of yours, young lady. It will get you into trouble." He shook his head, disapprovingly and I stared up to him.

"So you mean it? You think I am beautiful. You?..."

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it, Miss. Steele." He flashes a smile and heads towards the door.

"I'm sure you have plenty of work to get on with. I shall send Andrea in with your belongings later. Please be prompt on returning my emails, and I will meet you at 12:30 for lunch." The way he told me what to do, where to be, what would happen, highly agitated me back then. I don't know whether it was because I didn't know him, or just the fact the loss of my independence scared me, but either way it encouraged me to pipe up once again.

"Questions. What is this about my belongings? All my belongings are either here or at home, for you to have anything of mine is clearly theft and funnily enough illegal. As you said, I have work to do, so why do you expect me to return your emails, that no doubt are full of more highly unacceptable comments about my appearance? Finally, why do you think I would want to go to lunch with you anyway? You can't just boss people around and expect to get what you want, Chris." From the look on his face, I knew I had stepped in it again, but not for the reason I thought.

"Did you just call me Chris?"

"That's what you're mad about?"

"We definitely need that lunch. You have a lot to learn."

So there is Chapter Two! I can reassure you that they will get longer as the story progresses and as I start to make an update schedule. I intend to update every Sunday and Wednesday, as often as I can, (give and take a few days). As you can tell, I have mixed up Ana's personality quite a bit, and only slightly with Christian, so I hope you like that. As always, feel free to follow, favourite, review. Any recognition is appreciated, and I do try to reply to all reviews. So thank you again!

Peaches x