A/N: Thank you all for your continued love and support! I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 15: Working From Home

Ana slowly woke up the next morning, feeling only some of the effects of the wine she had drunk the night before. Her hangover wasn't as bad as it could've been, thankfully, considering the measures she had taken to sober up before going to bed last night. She had made sure to drink a lot of water, and she also ate the chicken salad sandwich Christian had brought over for her.

Christian…

Everything that happened with Christian last night suddenly flooded Ana's memory. Him standing in her doorway, confessing that he wasn't able to stop thinking about her, and holding her in his arms while kissing her as if his life depended on it…

Ana now blinked open her eyes, squinting in the morning light. The sun was filtering through her bedroom windows, and she glanced at the clock, noticing it was a little before seven. On a typical work day, she would have had to wake up at around six, but since she was working from home today, she was free to have a bit of a lie-in. She stretched her arms up above her head, yawning as she roused herself for the day.

She slipped out of bed and padded over to her en suite to take a shower, her mind still on the events of last night – particularly, with Christian. Ana couldn't help but blush, mostly with embarrassment: while she may not have been extremely drunk, her inhibitions had definitely been lowered last night when Christian was here. This morning, in the sober light of day, she felt grateful for the fact he didn't stick around for the night. It wouldn't have been very responsible for her to hook up with a guy while she was in that state.

After a quick shower, Ana got dressed in her favorite pair of skinny jeans and purple scoop neck t-shirt. She also pulled her hair back into a ponytail, not feeling the need to brush it out and curl it like she would on a typical work day. She also dabbed on a little makeup, keeping it minimal on the off-chance she had to jump on a Zoom meeting with a client today.

Ana walked into the living room, noticing the empty takeout bag on her counter and the half-empty wine glass on her coffee table. Grimacing to herself, she picked up the wine glass and walked over to the sink, dumping the remains down the drain. She silently promised herself not to get wine drunk again for a very, very long time.

Bzzzzzz!

Ana startled slightly when she heard her intercom buzz. That was odd – why would she have a visitor this early in the morning? It couldn't have been Christian again, could it? She suddenly remembered his odd parting words to her last night before he left, and realized he may have been planning on stopping by her place again today.

Could it really be him?

Feeling nervous – and perhaps a little excited – Ana walked over to her intercom box and pressed the button to speak into it. "Who is it?"

"It's Christian," Christian's tinny voice sounded through the speaker. "Can I come up? I brought breakfast."

Ana's heart pounded a little faster at his words, and she couldn't resist a smile. "You're bringing me food again? Are you just being nice, or working for DoorDash?"

"City life is expensive, what can I say?" Christian responded jokingly, and Ana giggled. "Can you let me up?"

"I'm surprised you bothered to buzz me and not Joanie this time around," Ana remarked amusedly, leaning against the wall next to the intercom. She was enjoying their banter too much to let him up just yet.

"Last night I was worried you wouldn't let me in, so I had to improvise," Christian said defensively. "But hey – if you prefer, I can buzz Joanie's apartment and she can have this delicious bacon and egg breakfast sandwich and fresh squeezed orange juice instead of you."

Ana's smile widened. She felt strangely happy they could still have these conversations even after what happened between them last night. "You drive a hard bargain, sir," she said with mock seriousness, and then finally hit the button to let him inside the building.

As she waited for Christian to arrive at her door, Ana quickly hurried around and tidied up her apartment. She also checked out her reflection in a nearby mirror, making sure she didn't have too many flyaways. She didn't know why she was feeling so flustered, considering the fact Christian had seen her barely twelve hours ago, but she couldn't help it.

About a minute later, Ana heard him knocking on her door. After taking a deep breath to slow her pounding heartbeat, Ana walked over and opened it.

Christian stood on her threshold, much like he had done last night, though today he wore a leather jacket over a light brown long-sleeve tee in addition to his dark wash jeans and trainers. He was carrying a paper takeout bag and a coffee tray with two orange juices in it, and he also had a leather work bag slung over his shoulder.

"Hey," Ana smiled, and she stepped aside to let him in. "Come in. How are you?"

"I'm great, thank you," Christian smiled, stepping into her apartment and moving over to the kitchen island to set the food down. "And thanks for finally letting me up. I was afraid I was going to have to stand out there all morning waiting for you."

"I was tempted," Ana teased, closing the door and walking over to him. "But I would hate for all that food to go to waste. Thanks for bringing breakfast, by the way – you didn't have to do that."

"I was happy to," Christian insisted, taking the sandwiches out of the bag and setting them on the counter. "I picked these up at Tom's Restaurant on my way here – y'know, that diner from Seinfeld? I've wanted to go there since I moved to New York, but I haven't had the chance until today. Hopefully it's good."

"Oh, I've been to Tom's before," Ana said brightly, walking up to the counter. "They've got great breakfast food. You picked well."

"Awesome. Glad you approve," Christian grinned, and Ana couldn't help but giggle.

The two of them sat at her kitchen island for the next half-hour or so and ate their breakfast sandwiches, which were as delicious as expected. They made small talk about the nice weather today, about Ana's neighborhood here in Midtown, about how Christian liked living in the West Village, and about work. Ana realized that this was probably the most friendly conversation she and Christian had ever had – if someone had told her a week ago that the two of them could sit in her kitchen and have a friendly breakfast chat like this without it devolving into snarky, passive-aggressive insults, she would have thought they were crazy.

I also never imagined making out with him on two separate occasions, but I suppose this week has been full of surprises, Ana couldn't help but think sardonically to herself.

"So are you taking PTO today?" Ana now asked, glancing at the time on her stove clock. "The work day's starting soon, and you've got a bit of a drive back to your place."

"I actually brought my laptop with me," Christian said, nodding toward the bag that he'd set on the counter nearby. "I was hoping I could work from here today, as long as you're okay with it."

Ana raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Really? That was sort of presumptuous of you, wasn't it? How'd you know I'd be okay with you invading my space?"

Christian blinked, his face suddenly falling when he realized he'd overstepped. "Oh. I'm sorry, Ana, I… I thought it would be okay if I did my work from here today. But if you're not comfortable with me being here, I can just go to that cafe next door. I really don't mind…" His voice faded into nothing when he saw Ana grin. "You're messing with me, aren't you?"

"Obviously," Ana giggled. "It's just too easy! Of course I'm fine with you doing your work from here, Christian – you were nice enough to come all the way out here to bring me breakfast. And I can't get any work done without my office mate sitting next to me, now can I?"

Christian smirked, and in a moment he got to his feet and moved in front of Ana so she was pinned between him and the kitchen island. She was still in her seat, so she had to look up to meet his gaze: she saw the stormy expression in his gray eyes, piercing through her soul and turning her insides to mush.

Kiss me again, Ana silently begged him.

He didn't kiss her, even though it looked like he wanted to. He leaned down so his nose brushed against hers. "You and your smart mouth, Ms. Steele," he murmured, and Ana felt his warm breath against her lips, causing her heart to thrum loudly in her chest. "Maybe me working here isn't a great idea… being next to you all day is going to be far too distracting."

Ana let out a shaky breath, trying but failing to hide how much his proximity was affecting her. "Will it be more or less distracting than on a normal work day?" she asked quietly, blinking up at him.

A corner of Christian's mouth turned up in an amused smirk as he looked into her eyes. "About the same," he whispered. "Except now, I know exactly what your lips taste like… and I haven't been able to think about anything else since."

Ana's breath hitched as she absorbed his words. All these new revelations about Christian these past few days were making her dizzy, and all she could seem to do was stare back at him, trying to find the answers in his eyes.

Christian continued to look at her, and, slowly, he began to lean closer. Ana's eyes fluttered closed.

A cell phone suddenly rang, causing both of them to freeze, ruining the moment. Christian sighed, bowing his head in obvious frustration before moving away from Ana and reaching for his phone, which was on the counter.

"…Hello?" Christian answered. "Hey Max, what's up?"

Christian glanced over at Ana before smiling slightly. "Yeah, I'm just getting set up. What do you need?"

He moved over to his briefcase to grab his laptop, and Ana grimaced, figuring she needed to get ready for the day too. She got up from her chair and made her way to her bedroom where her laptop was, feeling a little resentful toward Max for not waiting a few extra seconds before calling Christian.

~/~

The morning passed by relatively normally, though Ana couldn't help but find this situation with Christian a little odd. However, Christian seemed completely at ease sitting across from her at her kitchen counter as he typed away at his computer while talking on the phone. Ana had a few phone calls she had to take with clients this morning as well, and by the time noon rolled around, she felt that she had gotten a decent amount of work done.

Ana's phone buzzed with an incoming email from her personal account. She read it over on her phone screen before grimacing. "Dammit," she muttered to herself, feeling a bit annoyed.

"What's going on?" Christian asked, glancing up from whatever he was typing on his laptop.

"I ordered a bookcase from IKEA like a month ago," Ana explained. "It was on back-order, but once they had it back in stock, I asked for them to ship it straight to my apartment. Now it's in stock, but I just got an email saying they sent it directly to the store, where I now have to go pick it up." She shook her head in annoyance. "I swear, I'm never ordering IKEA furniture online again. I'm going to have to email the store now and ask them to ship it here…"

"No need. If it's there already, you and I can go pick it up together right now," Christian suggested without hesitation. Ana looked at him in surprise.

"You want to go to IKEA with me?" she asked, amused and bewildered. "You do know where the IKEA store in New York is located, right?"

"No, I don't. I'm guessing not nearby?" Christian asked, smirking at her.

Ana giggled. "It's in Brooklyn. The fastest route there is by ferry going around Governors Island, and that route alone will probably take close to an hour. Still wanna go?"

Christian, however, looked excited at the prospect of going to Brooklyn. "Are you kidding? That makes me want to go even more!" he said, grinning eagerly as he got to his feet. "C'mon, let's go right now. I'll drive us to the docks."

Ana laughed, feeling oddly pleased at Christian's excitement, and she got to her feet as well. "Sounds like a plan."

~/~

Once Christian and Ana arrived at the ferry docks, they were able to get their tickets pretty much right away. The ferry that would take them to IKEA came by once every hour, and luckily they only had to wait about ten minutes before the next one came. Ana and Christian stepped onto the ferry along with everyone else heading to Brooklyn, and soon they were off.

It was a beautiful, sunny day out today, and Ana couldn't help but smile as the cool ocean breeze whipped pieces of her hair against her face; she gazed at the New York City skyline behind them as they sailed toward Brooklyn.

She suddenly felt Christian move up beside her, gently sliding his hand into hers, and she looked over at him. "C'mon," he smiled at her, tugging her toward the front of the ferry. Grinning, Ana allowed him to lead her where he wanted to go.

He brought her to the front of the boat and they stepped up onto the bow, near where a few of the other passengers were milling around. Christian moved Ana in front of him so she was standing up against the railing with her back to his front.

"Gonna throw me overboard, Grey?" Ana asked amusedly, glancing at him over her shoulder. "Might be hard to explain my absence to Max at work tomorrow."

"You're funny," Christian smirked, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her tight. "Do you trust me?"

Ana was a bit distracted by his arms around her, and it took a moment for her to realize he was referencing a line from the movie Titanic. Her heart suddenly felt like it was going to burst with affection for this man.

She smiled again, and she held her arms out to the side as if she were flying. "I trust you, Jack."

Christian chuckled, happy that she was playing along. His arms seemed to tighten around her, as if he never wanted to let her go.

And a part of Ana wished they could stay here forever.

~/~

Soon, the ferry docked in Brooklyn, and Ana and Christian made their way off the boat and into the IKEA, which was right on the water. It was almost three o'clock at this point, and both of them were pretty hungry since they'd skipped lunch, so they decided to grab some Swedish meatballs in the cafe before they went to pick up Ana's bookshelf. Christian had insisted he pay for both their lunches, despite Ana arguing she could pay for herself, but she eventually conceded since he was so hard-headed about it.

After lunch, the two of them went over to the collect desk to pick up Ana's order. Once they had it, Christian went ahead and carried the heavy box out of the store for her, and Ana let him, considering she couldn't carry the bulky box by herself anyway.

However, this whole excursion was causing her to wonder...

Is Christian trying to be my boyfriend?

Perhaps that was what this whole day had been about – him coming to her door this morning with breakfast, spending today with her despite it being a work-from-home day, and even him coming with her to IKEA to pick up her bookshelf. This was all the kind of stuff a loving boyfriend would do for his girlfriend.

Do I want Christian to be my boyfriend?

Ana's evolving feelings for Christian had definitely taken her by surprise over the past few days. She supposed there had always been some sort of attraction between them, but she had always done her best to ignore or dismiss it. Now, however, Christian seemed to be going out of his way to make an effort for her, and she'd be lying if she said it wasn't working.

Once back on the ferry, Christian carried the box toward the center of the boat before finally setting it down. Ana watched him with a small smile on her face.

"Thank you," she said to him, and he looked up at her. "For carrying the box for me. I doubt I'd be able to carry it myself."

"My pleasure," Christian grinned at her before looking back down at the box. "It was my idea for us to come here in the first place, so I guess I have to be the one to pull the weight here."

"Fair's fair," Ana giggled, walking over to stand beside him. "If you insist on carrying it, I won't stop you."

"I figured as much," Christian smirked down at her. Ana looked back up at him, and the two of them stared at each other for a moment, a familiar zinging passing between them and causing Ana's heart to race.

Is this going to be my reaction to him all the time now?

The ferry whistle suddenly sounded, and a voice spoke over the loudspeaker while the boat began to slowly move out into the water with all the passengers in tow. Christian gazed at Ana for another moment or so before he turned to look out toward Manhattan, and Ana followed his line of sight.

She couldn't wait to get home.

~/~

"Here we go."

It was almost evening by the time Christian and Ana got back to her place. Their excursion out to Brooklyn made them miss the last few hours of the work day, but luckily neither of them had anything pressing they had to do. Anything their clients needed could wait until tomorrow.

Christian deposited the bookshelf in the middle of her living room floor, and Ana smiled. "Thank you, Christian," she said sincerely. "I appreciate you helping me out with this… even though I could've just gotten IKEA to ship it directly to my door."

Christian chuckled. "You're very welcome. Now you won't have to get extorted by ridiculous shipping costs."

Ana giggled, and a short silence fell between them. The sun was setting outside, and orange-yellow shafts of light had begun to fill her apartment. Christian looked down as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I s'pose now that the day's technically over, I should be heading back home," he eventually said, looking back up at her. "Unless you needed help assembling the bookcase?"

"I think that can wait till tomorrow. I'm a little sick of dealing with furniture today," Ana said amusedly, and she took a step closer to him. "But you don't have to leave just yet."

Christian looked at her, his gray eyes appearing more stormy than usual. "More boxes you want me to carry?" he asked with humor, though the huskiness in his voice was undeniable.

Ana stopped in front of him so she was gazing into his eyes. "Can I ask you something?" she asked quietly. She didn't wait for his response as she went on: "Everything you've done for me today… bringing me breakfast, staying here with me all day, carrying my bookcase… are you trying to woo me?"

Christian raised his eyebrows at her before smiling. "Am I not being clear enough? Of course I'm trying to woo you."

Ana didn't respond as her heart began to pound against her ribcage, realizing what he was saying. Christian seemed to read her shock, and he moved forward so he could place his hands on her waist.

"Ana, I'm perfectly aware of what you think of me. I've been nothing but a huge jerk to you ever since we first met, but I'm trying to show you I'm not as bad as you think I am." He gazed earnestly down at her, and Ana could only stare back up at him. "I know I like to mess with you and have those snarky back-and-forths with you at work, but I only do that because I love seeing your reactions to what I say. Interacting with you like that is always the highlight of my day, and I can never seem to get enough."

Ana felt her heart pounding in her throat, and she swallowed. "I think… I've always kind of liked it too," she said quietly. "Our back-and-forths. I never wanted to admit it to myself, though. I thought maybe I was going a little crazy."

"If you're crazy, then I definitely am," Christian murmured, pulling her even closer, and Ana willingly went into his embrace. "Every single day I spend with you, I feel like I'm being pulled deeper and deeper into your spell. Everything I think, no matter what it may be, is always about you. I can't seem to get you out of my head."

Ana felt her breathing stutter a bit as he confessed that, and a wave of desire flooded her body as she leaned toward him. "Good," she whispered.

With a growl, Christian suddenly crashed his lips into hers, as if desperate to alleviate the arousal building between them. With one smooth motion, he lifted her up into his arms, and Ana automatically wrapped her legs around his waist, neither of them breaking the kiss.

He turned around and carried her toward the bedroom, both of them eager for what was about to happen.

A/N: Sorry to leave you with such a tease lol, but next chapter will be the lemon you all have been waiting for ;)

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