A/N: Ana owns a small bakery where she earns a modest living, but one day news of her little Seattle-based shop explodes all over the internet, thanks to famous food blogger, Mia Grey. With her world now flipped upside-down, Ana has to work with the Greys to help get her life and bakery back in order. And perhaps get more than she bargained for. AU CG/Ana

The Royal Treatment
By StrawberryPajamas

Chapter 1: Let Them Eat Cake

Dark chocolate ganache truffles

Raspberry lemon tarts

Red velvet cake with vanilla bean frosting

It had taken many days of planning and hours upon hours of baking late into the night, but Ana had settled on these three baked goods she felt properly represented her bakery – and happened to be some of her best-selling treats since her shop opened last year. This tactic was actually working well.

Though perhaps a bit too well.

Ana currently had a small booth set up at the Seattle Small Business Expo, which was taking place at a large trade show floor in the downtown community center. The whole building was absolutely packed today, with hundreds of local businesses having set up booths here in the hopes of expanding their clientele and perhaps finding some investors.

That was precisely why Ana was here today too: her bakery in Pike Place Market was still rather new, and she was hoping to grow her customer base by networking a bit here. This was the first time she had ever done something like this, and so her booth was rather small and innocuous. However, she had decided to splurge on a professionally-printed sign posted to the skirt of her table: "The Royal Treatment" written in pretty gold cursive along with her company logo, a cupcake with a tiara placed upon the frosting. On her table was the beautiful assortment of baked goods she had chosen as well as a three-tier platter of cupcakes under a glass cloche as a display.

A stack of her business cards were on the table as well, and even though Ana tried to engage visitors by handing them out, a majority of the people stopping by her booth weren't interested in those. They only had eyes for the treats.

"…Ooh, those look amazing!" a stout middle-aged woman passing by her booth said, smiling as she eyed the tarts. "May I?"

"Of course," Ana said brightly, and the woman picked one up. "And if you enjoy that, my bakery also does catering events..."

"Thank you, dear," the woman smiled at Ana before turning and walking away, her treat in hand. Ana's shoulders slumped slightly, feeling disappointed. This sort of thing had been happening for the past couple hours now, with Ana constantly having to replenish her baked goods on the booth table and nobody really wanting to learn more about her business.

She let out a small sigh and glanced down at her outfit: she wore a cute yet professional pink a-line dress with a white apron tied around her waist, her logo printed on the pocket. She liked this dress a lot, as she had worn it when she secured the small business loan she needed to open The Royal Treatment, but also just because she enjoyed dressing up. The rest of her wardrobe consisted almost entirely of frosting-stained leggings and flour-smudged tees she wore in the kitchen.

Ana now pulled out her phone to see if Kate, her second-in-command and the only other employee at The Royal Treatment, left any messages about the bakery. There were a few Snapchats from her, including a picture of some frosted sugar cookies she had baked as well as a few selfies of her making silly faces behind the counter, wishing her good luck at the expo.

Ana smiled when she saw them, though a part of her felt a little disheartened: Kate goofing off on her phone like this meant no customers were coming in. Their profit margins were already razor-thin, and if this kept up, there likely wouldn't even be a bakery in the next couple years.

Don't think like that, Steele.

"Oh my gosh – is that red velvet?"

Ana immediately looked up from her phone to see a pretty red-haired woman in a gray business suit approach her booth, gazing eagerly down at the treats sitting on their sample plate. Ana put on a professional smile, slipping her phone back into her apron pocket.

"Yes, it is. Would you like a sample?" she asked politely, gesturing to the table.

"Oh, I really shouldn't…" the woman said, though she immediately reached for a nearby plate. "Thank you so much. This looks delicious."

Before Ana could say anything, a male voice spoke up from nearby:

"Stopping again, Ros? I swear, a golden retriever has a better attention span than you."

Ana looked over to see a tall, extremely handsome man in a charcoal gray suit step out of the crowd and move toward her booth, a small amused smile on his face as he gazed at the other woman. He had reddish-brown hair swept messily across his forehead, and a very handsome chiseled jaw accentuated by a slight five o'clock shadow. Ana had seen attractive men before, but something about this guy's presence made her freeze and blush; several other women in the vicinity seemed to have a similar reaction as they would stare openly at him in undisguised admiration.

"What? We've just had three hours of networking meetings – I'm starving," the woman named Ros said defensively, apparently immune to this guy's absurdly handsome face. "And look: it matches my hair."

She held the half-eaten sample of red velvet cake up to the side of her head as if she was posing for a model shoot, and Ana giggled. The guy finally seemed to register Ana there, and he fixed her with an intense gaze that made Ana blush once again.

"Hello," he greeted her, walking forward and glancing over the booth. "'The Royal Treatment'," he read her sign before looking back up at her. "Is this your business?"

"Oh – yes," Ana said, feeling a bit flustered as she glanced back at her booth as well. "It's my bakery. We're a new small business located down in Pike Place Market."

"Hey, that's near us," Ros said brightly, grinning at the other man before turning back to Ana. "We're the executive team for Grey Enterprise Holdings. I'm the CFO Ros Bailey, and this here is the big boss, Christian Grey."

"My title is actually 'CEO'," Christian Grey said to Ros, his voice half-exasperated, half-amused. "But 'big boss' has a nice ring to it, I suppose."

He moved forward to shake Ana's hand, and Ana automatically reached forward to take it, feeling even more flustered knowing who she was speaking to. She may have only been a small-time baker, but even she knew GEH was one of the largest mergers & acquisitions companies in the country as well as the tallest skyscraper in the city.

Pull yourself together, Steele, Ana told herself sternly. This could be the business opportunity of a lifetime.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both," Ana smiled professionally at them. "And if your company is ever holding an event that's in need of some delicious baked goods, just know we also do special orders and catering events. I'd be happy to give you my business card."

"If all your treats taste as good as this red velvet cake, we might take you up on that," Ros said with a grin, popping the rest of her cake in her mouth. "This is seriously delicious."

"May I?" Mr. Grey asked Ana, pointing to the chocolate ganache truffles.

"Oh! Of course," Ana said eagerly, picking up a sample plate and handing it to him. He accepted it, thanking her, before picking up the truffle and taking a bite. Ana tried not to stare at him, but it was difficult considering how ridiculously handsome he looked while eating a simple baked good. Also, it didn't help that her life and business could change forever if he liked it.

Mr. Grey chewed for a moment or two before raising his eyebrows, looking down at the half-eaten truffle. "Wow," he said, sounding surprised. "Ros is right. This is seriously delicious."

"I told you," Ros said confidently, and Ana felt herself glow with happiness and pride. "Think we could consider her for a catering event or two?"

Ana's excitement spiked, and she had to fight not to let out a joyful squeal while jumping up and down.

"Maybe. Mia's always been adamant about vetting all of our food vendors," Mr. Grey stated, popping the rest of the truffle into his mouth and chewing. "I think she'd be pretty upset if I went behind her back and brought on a new bakery she'd never heard of before."

And just like that, Ana felt her happiness deflate like air being let out of a balloon. Her hopes and dreams of being a successful baker were dashed in an instant. She should have known catering for a company like GEH was too good to be true…

"But I do think Mia would love this place if she tried it," Mr. Grey went on, glancing over Ana's booth one more time. "I'll definitely tell her about it. Can I give you her card, Miss…?"

"What?" Ana blinked. "Oh! Steele. Ana Steele," she said quickly, realizing that not all hope was lost. "And yes, of course you can give me her card. I can give you my card as well if you would like to pass it along to her?"

"I'd be happy to, Miss Steele," Mr. Grey smiled, and Ana beamed back. This may not have been a solid job offer yet, but this type of networking was definitely a start. Ana plucked up one of her business cards, and she handed it to Mr. Grey just as he handed her one.

"Thanks," Ana said, glancing down at the surprisingly girly-looking card that had a pretty rose gold trim along the edges and the name 'Mia Grey' in swirly script. "Her last name's Grey?" she couldn't help but ask.

"She's my little sister," Mr. Grey explained, and Ana looked up at him. "And don't worry – she's the nice Grey sibling."

He gave her a rather charming smile and a wink, and Ana couldn't help but giggle, blushing once again. "I'll, um… I'll keep that in mind."

"C'mon Christian – we're running late. Marcus is waiting for us," Ros said, glancing at the watch on her wrist. "It was lovely meeting you, Ana. Your red velvet cake was delicious."

"Thank you very much," Ana smiled. Ros turned to walk away, and Christian shot Ana a smile before following her.

Ana stared at them until they disappeared into the crowd, and then she looked down at the card in her hand. Another smile broke out across her face as she once again fought the urge to jump up and squeal.

A/N: Happy (almost) new year everyone!

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my new story :) I likely won't be able to update for a couple weeks, but I thought I'd start with the first chapter as a little New Year's Eve treat for all of you. Let me know your thoughts!

If you aren't already, be sure to follow me! I'm currently on Facebook and Amazon as Rae Trescott Author.