Anastasia

Well, it's Monday. I am pleasantly surprised with the fact that Jack has been acting normal and hasn't brought up the awkward encounter from Friday. He has been giving Sawyer strange looks when he does his rounds, but mostly he stays in the security office where the cameras are. It's been making me feel really self-conscious all day, wondering if he's staring at me through the cameras down the hall.

This week is my second week of 'training', but I think I've pretty much gotten everything figured out. Starting next week, I'll be on my 25 hours a week schedule and I get to choose when I want to come in. I haven't decided if I want to come in a few hours a day or if I want to split it up an come in three days a week. HR said it was up to me and taking Fridays and Mondays off sounds like a dream, but I really need to look for a second job, so I suppose that will be the deciding factor.

While I am at the copier making copies of a manuscript for Jack, I hear Jerry's boisterous laugh down the hall. It instantly makes me smile. He's a lovely man in his early sixties and his laugh is contagious. Even though he's the owner of the company, he's never made me feel awkward around him. So many people have an air of superiority about themselves, but he doesn't give that off. He acts like he's just another one of us and he treats everyone with respect. I love that. I hope that if I climb the ranks in the publishing world that I can be as personable as he is.

"Ah, Ana! There you are!" I turn with a smile when I hear his voice.

"Good morning, Jerry! Is there something- Oh." My smile gets bigger. "Christian. I didn't know you were coming. Good morning to you, too." My handsome man is dressed in a navy pinstriped three piece suit today with matching tie and light gray shirt. I short circuit. I can feel my chin hanging open and I clamp my mouth closed with a click of my teeth. I wince at how loud it is.

Christian gives me an amused grin. "Just wanted to chat with Jerry for a few and figured I'd come find my girl for lunch." He steps toward me and wraps an arm around me. My legs feel shaky with him so close and I'm annoyed with myself that I'm still so affected by CEO Christian in all his businessy goodness.

Realizing I'm at work and the owner is standing here, my eyes shoot over to Jerry, worried this is too unprofessional. He just gives me a wave and a smile, though. "You two kids have fun."

"I love this outfit." Christian's opposite hand slides down my light pink pencil skirt that I paired with a white button down and nude heels. "You look so sexy in workwear."

My eyes find his again and I grin. "I feel the same way." I slide my hand over his tie. "You have me all weak-kneed and drooly over it."

He gives me a sexy, dimpled smile. "I'd rather you drool on something else."

Gasping, I smack his chest playfully. "This is my workplace!" I admonish him in a whisper.

His smile doesn't waiver. "Well, then, let me take you to lunch so it won't turn into an HR problem."

I giggle and step away from him, glad that he releases me without a fight. "I have to finish this last copy and then I'll let Jack know I'm heading to lunch."

"Fucker." It's a soft growl low in his throat and I decide to ignore it while I wait for the copier to finish.

"Why don't I meet you out front? I'll drop these off at his desk and meet you."

He cocks an eyebrow. "You don't want me meeting him, do you?"

I wet my lips. "Can it wait until after lunch?" I don't want my appetite to be ruined with a pissing contest.

His gray eyes search my blue ones for a beat. "Fine. Hurry."

I give him a soft peck on his stubbled chin. "I will."

I knock on Jack's doorframe and he waves me in while he's scribbling something down on his calendar. "Here are the copies you requested. Do you mind if I step out for lunch now?"

He raises his head to look at me. "Eating out today?"

I nod. "With a friend."

"I see. Alright. Enjoy." He picks up one of the copies and offers it to me. "This copy is for you. You can start on it after lunch if you'd like."

My heart hammers in my chest with excitement and nervousness and I give him a bright smile as I take the manuscript from him. "Thank you! I'm so excited about this!"

He gives me a grin and a wink. "Have fun at lunch."

"I will." I turn on my heel and drop the manuscript on my desk before heading toward the front to find Christian.

"You look happy."

I bite my lip and squeeze his arm. "I am. Jack is going to let me edit a manuscript this week. I'm excited to see how well he thinks I do."

His jaw ticks and my smile drops. I can see he's unhappy that I am so excited over something Jack is doing, but this is a great opportunity for me. If he thinks I'm doing well, he can put in a good word for me when the opportunity arises!

My fingers slide down his suit jacket and I take his hand. "Come on. I'm excited about our lunch date."

Sawyer seems to appear out of nowhere and he escorts us across the street to Laurie's for lunch. Christian finds us a small table in the corner and I find myself holding his hand in both of mine so I can be close.

"Kiss me."

I lean forward with his command and he gives me a long, deep kiss. When we pull apart, I'm actually blushing at the thought of other people watching our PDA and I look down at our hands, trying to hide my grin.

"I love you, baby." He tucks a tendril of hair behind my ear.

"I love you, too." I reach up and wipe my lip gloss off his lips.

"It was hard to sleep without you last night." His other hand comes up to cover mine. His eyebrows are knit together with his admission and the conviction in his eyes makes me breathless. It's hard to wrap my head around the fact that he has such deep feelings for me.

I nod. "My bed felt really cold without you."

He frowns. "I don't like that. I want you to be warm and happy."

We get interrupted by the waitress and I realize I haven't even looked at the menu, but Christian seems to know exactly what he wants and tells her. Following his lead, I order the same with a Diet Pepsi instead of lemonade.

Giving me a soft smirk, he shakes his head. "Taking the easy way out."

I laugh. "I trust your judgment."

His eyebrow cocks. "Noted."

"What did you talk to Jerry about?" I watch his thumb run over the back of my hand.

"You know the answer to that."

I chew the corner of my lip. "What's going to happen?"

He sighs, sounding a little dejected. "It just gets written in his file and he'll be watched. He didn't do anything worthy of a write up or dismissal unfortunately. Fucking HR legal bullshit." I can't help my grin at his growliness with the last sentence. It's no wonder people think he's such a grumpy brooding asshole... I, however, think it's adorable. Of course, I don't really have to be on the receiving end of it either. Besides the Uber debacle.

"How has work been this morning?"

I give him a smile. "Great, really. Friday seems to be forgotten. I get my forty hours this week and then I start my part time next week. They said I can pick the days and times I work as long as it's twenty-five hours, so that'll make it easy to find a second job."

"What?" Okay... now the growly grumpy thing might be directed at me this time.

"I need a little more income to get out of my father's house. I can't afford anything on twenty-five hours a week."

He clenches his jaw. "That's bullshit. Just move in with me. I'm not willing to give up anymore of our time together."

I sigh. "It's too soon, handsome. I'll do everything I can to find something that won't dip into evenings or weekends." It might be hard, but I'll do it. "I can do food delivery or something on my days off. I'll get tips that way."

He cocks an eyebrow. "I'm not going to have Sawyer drive you around so you can give food to people you don't know."

I actually laugh. "Christian! I can drive myself, silly!"

"No."

I sigh again and lean back in my seat. I try to pull my hands out of his, but he holds strong. "Maybe the library will have a part time position or something."

"If you're so determined on getting a second job, then come work for me."

Hell no. "I already work for you technically. I don't think that would be a good idea."

"Then work for Elliot. Or ask your father to hire you a couple days a week."

"That's a hell no. I can get a regular job. I'm not going to let the men in my life supplement my income just because you're uncomfortable with me having two jobs."

His jaw ticks and he tightens his grip on my hands. He closes his eyes and I can literally see him counting to ten by the silent movement of his mouth. It's obvious he's used to getting his way and he's struggling with my refusal.

His eyes open and he takes a deep, cleansing breath when the waitress comes with our food and drink. He finally releases my hands to give her room to put our food down, but his angry eyes stay on me even when she asks if we need anything else. After we tell her we're good, he places his hand, palm up on the table and I can't deny him. I place my hand in his.

"I really need you to communicate with me during your job search. I don't like it. I don't like the lack of control I have in it, but I understand your side of things. Please be patient with me and I will do my best to keep my anger in check. Feeling out of control is hard."

I frown. I hate that he is struggling, but I love him for trying to push past it to keep us okay. "Thank you, Christian. That means a lot to me. I promise to keep you updated... and, as long as you're being level-headed about it, I'll ask your opinion about the prospects."

His shoulders relax. "Thank you, Sugar."

I squeeze his hand and give him a smile before releasing it so we can eat.

XxXxXx

We walk hand-in-hand back to work and I start to get nervous when we step inside. I'm hoping that Jack won't even be here when we get back to my desk, but his door is open and I can see him sitting on the phone at his desk.

"So, this is my desk area. I even have a window." I wave my hand like Vana White around the large window that sits behind my desk.

"Kind of bare, isn't it?"

I giggle. "I just started, Christian! What do you want it to look like?"

Smiling, he reaches inside his suit jacket and produces a small frame from it and places it on my desk. "That's better."

I pick it up and see that it's a picture of us at the Art Museum. "Aw, I love this... but I can't just have one of us."

He rolls his eyes and sighs dramatically. "Fine." Reaching back in, he pulls out a second identical frame and hands it to me. "Better?"

It's a picture of Elliot and me leaning against his motorcycle during our first date. We had the waitress from the eatery take it before we left. "This is perfect. Did Elliot send you this?"

He nods and wraps his arms around me. "We share a lot of pictures of you back and forth. I hope you don't mind."

I smile and shake my head. "I don't mind. That's actually really sweet." I tilt my chin up and he ducks down to kiss me before letting me go so I can place my pictures on my desk. "These look great. Thank you so much."

He rubs my back while I'm bent over a little to get a good look at them on my desk. "You're very welcome. We each have our photos with you on our desks, so we figured you needed them too."

I turn toward him and smirk. "Don't have one with Elliot and me?"

He scoffs. "Like I want to look at his ugly mug every time I sit at my desk."

I giggle. "I think you damn well know there isn't an ugly part on either one of you." I lean against him and poke his chest, letting him hold me against him.

"Ana, have you started on the manuscript, yet?"

I startle at Jack's voice and push away from Christian. "No, sorry. I was just showing him my desk. Jack, this is my boyfriend Christian. Christian, this is my boss Jack."

Jack gives Christian a smile and offers him his hand. Christian stares at it for a second and I'm about ready to stomp on his foot, but he takes it and shakes his hand.

"Nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

They both stand with their hands clasped and when I realize they're both squeezing, I roll my eyes.

"Well, I need to get back to work, so I guess I should say goodbye to Christian."

They finally release their grip.

"Yes, I am really interested in seeing your work with that manuscript. Your other boyfriends aren't going to be coming to interrupt, will they?" I can't help but think that Jack is trying to feel Christian out to see if he's aware that I have more than one boyfriend, but Christian just forces a smirk.

"Not today, he'll be by to get Anastasia for lunch tomorrow." He turns and kisses me goodbye and I'm surprised to hear about this, but I shouldn't be considering they think my boss is a snake.

"Any other boyfriends I should know about besides one and two then?" Now I'm getting pissed.

"I don't think that is any of your business Mr. Hyde. Let's keep our curiosity to ourselves and we won't find ourselves in HR, understood?" Christian is all out scowling at him now.

Jack clears his throat and puts his hands up. "Understood."

Christian turns on his heel to give me one last kiss. "See you tonight?"

I shake my head. "I promised my father I'd spend it with him."

The pout he gets when he hears something he doesn't like appears and it takes everything I have not to lean up and kiss it away. "Text me."

I nod. "Of course."

I have a seat at my desk when he starts to walk away, but startle when his head pops out from behind the wall again.

"Love you."

I grin. "Love you, too. Now go away."

He disappears and Jack retreats into his office, shutting the door behind him.

XxXxXx

I have my nose in the manuscript when a tattoo'd hand covers up the page as it lays on my desk. I immediately smile. It must be lunchtime. I look up to find my beautiful tattoo'd man standing in front of my desk.

"Hey! I've missed you." I stand and he bends over my desk to kiss me.

"Me, too, Sugar. Are you ready for lunch?"

I nod. "I think so. I just have to tell Jack."

His lips curl in disgust at my remark. "What does he drive?"

"No."

His shoulders drop dramatically. "Fine."

I knock on Jack's door. He's had it shut all day, which is unlike him. I hope he isn't still angry about yesterday. It could really make my work life hell.

"Enter."

I push the door open and stick my head in. "Mind if I take lunch now?"

He looks at his watch. "Fine. An hour, Ana. No more than that."

I nod. "I understand. I'm sorry I took longer yesterday. You can take it out of my paycheck."

Sighing, he rubs his palms on his thighs. "No, no need. Just watch your time."

After shutting his door, I find my sexy construction man with his workbooks and ripped jeans propped up on my desk.

"Excuse me!"

He gives me a Cheshire grin and puts his feet back on the floor. "Just getting comfortable, darlin. I like your photos."

I smile. "Christian brought them yesterday."

"Both of them?" Elliot's surprised.

I laugh. "Yes, both of them! Why are you surprised?"

"I just figured he'd want you thinking of him and only him when you sat here." He stands and hugs me to him.

"You make him sound horrible."

"Sibling rivalry." He shrugs. "It's something I would do." I know he's teasing, but I still give him a tut.

"No rivalry with me please. I love you both. There's no need."

"Alright, alright. I'll be good." He runs his hands up and down my back. "I've missed you against me, Sugar."

"Me too, baby. I've promised Christian a one-on-one tonight, but I'm hoping you'll have time tomorrow?"

"Shit. No. Of fucking course I have to check a site a few hours south that day. Thursday?"

"Only if I can stay the night."

"That's a fuck yes."

I giggle. "We better hurry with lunch. I can't be late today. There's a sub shop a few doors down. Is that okay?"

"Sounds great." We head out with our arm around each other, but Jack's door opens, making Elliot stop.

Shit.

"I thought you'd be gone by now." Jack doesn't look happy to have caught us. He looks Elliot up and down. "Boyfriend number two?"

"I'd like to think of myself as number one. Elliot Grey. You must be Jack Hyde."

"I am."

"What kind of car do you drive?"

My eyeballs practically pop out and roll around the room. "Don't make me roll up a newspaper and smack you in the nose with it."

Elliot laughs. "Relax, Sugar. Just wondering what kind of car man he is."

"Ah, is that what you do, Elliot? Fix cars? That explains the outfit." He tries to degrade Elliot, but it's a weak attempt considering mechanic work is a lucrative, solid career.

"Maybe." Elliot doesn't take the bait.

"Shouldn't Sugar and you get going now?"

Elliot actually growls and my heart stops. He's going to kill my boss right in front of me. "Her name is Anastasia. You have no authority to call her anything but that."

"Relax, man. No reason to get your panties in a twist. It won't happen again."

Elliot's right. It's a Christian and Elliot only type thing. I'm glad he's standing up for me but damn. Jack is going to find a reason to fire me or find a way to ban them from SIP.

"Anastasia, I don't want anymore men coming in here getting aggressive with the staff. Don't bring him back after lunch."

"Aggressive? I'll show you aggressive!"

I grab Elliot's hand and have to use all my body weight to get him moving the opposite direction. I am now in trouble with my boss and I might have to look for another job. I can't even be angry with Elliot and Christian. Jack had a part in the whole thing. It definitely wasn't one-sided and I would never emasculate either one of my men by asking them to swallow their words and keep quiet around Jack. Besides... he seems like the type of person that would enjoy that. I don't want him to hate me, but I also don't want him stepping all over any of us either.

XxXxXx

I spend the rest of the lunch hour trying to soothe my irritated man and after a lot of lip locking, I think I manage to stow his anger enough for him to go back to work. I'm back to my desk on time, but Jack calls me into his office, which I figured would happen.

"I need to know if there is going to be anyone else coming to size me up."

"Size you up?" The ego is real with this one.

"Because of you, two men have aggressively come at me this week. Do you know how unprofessional that is? You're still in your first ninety days, Ms. Steele. I don't need another reason to let you go."

My chest aches at the thought of losing this job. "I apologize Jack. I assure you there is no one else. It won't happen again."

"How can I be sure of that?" He leans back in his chair and looks me over.

"I can't guarantee that Christian won't be back considering his status, but if Elliot wants to come get me for lunch, I'll make sure he stays outside. Please don't fire me. I love this job."

He sighs. "I like having you here, Ana. This shit show has got to stop, though. If it happens again, I'll have to let you go."

"I understand."

His frown slowly turns into a smile. "Good. Now get back to that manuscript of yours."