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

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 11: A Chocolate Kiss

Goddammit, why did Ana have to be here today?

Christian could only be silent as he followed the others into the kitchen, his heart pounding a furious tattoo in his chest as he watched Ana walking ahead of him. He had fully expected this day to be yet another dull wedding planning day that would be completely run by his and Gia's parents, leaving him to stand there feeling bored and uncomfortable all morning. He had already been mentally planning on faking a work call from Taylor to get out of this, but had been completely blindsided the moment he saw Ana standing in his parent's house, looking beautiful in a black work dress that exuded elegance and professionalism.

Shit, this is a mess.

It felt almost surreal seeing Ana here at the Grey Estate, standing only feet away from where Gia and her mother were currently discussing seating arrangements at the wedding reception. Christian knew it shouldn't have mattered, but goddammit, he couldn't deny that having Ana here complicated things. No other woman had ever made him feel the things he felt for Ana, and now he had to be in the same room as her and his 'betrothed'.

Christian frowned to himself. Nobody could know about his feelings for Ana, least of all Gia and her family. It wasn't like he was having an affair or anything… but his rather unprofessional feelings for Ana were only compounded by his other secret that this engagement to Gia was all a sham.

All he could do was keep his mouth shut.

The next half hour or so were extremely uncomfortable for Christian as they all sat at his parents' kitchen table and pored over Claire's wedding cake sketches. They were all beautifully done, with most of them having similar six-tier designs with flowers and drapery designs along the sides. Lorraine had also insisted on a basic vanilla bean flavor frosting for the cake – Christian honestly would have preferred chocolate, and if this were his real wedding he would have pushed the issue, but since this was all a farce anyway, he said nothing. Gia hadn't said anything either, so he figured she was fine with her mother taking the lead.

Christian turned his eyes over to Ana, who was sitting opposite him at the table. She kept her eyes down on the notepad she was writing on, her long legs crossed underneath the table as her foot jiggled slightly. She would occasionally glance over at Claire or Lorraine, who were both engrossed in discussing the wedding cake designs in front of them. Christian might have been imagining it, but he felt that Ana was avoiding his gaze.

Just as he thought that, however, he caught Ana peeking up at him through her eyelashes. He met her gaze, and she blushed before looking resolutely back to her notepad.

Fighting a small grin, Christian turned back to the wedding cake discussion at hand.

~/~

Goddammit, why did I have to look at him?

Ana had been trying her hardest to avoid Christian's gaze as she took notes on Claire and Mrs. Matteo discussing the wedding cake design, but was distracted by the man himself sitting across from her. She could practically feel his eyes on her during the entire meeting, but had convinced herself that it was all in her head. She tried to prove her theory by covertly peeking up at him, only to see his gray eyes fixed directly on hers.

So I wasn't imagining it.

Ana immediately averted her eyes and kept them down on her notepad for the rest of the meeting, focusing as much as she could on the task at hand. She was angry at herself for her weakness, but tried her best to push past those feelings so she could take notes on the cake design.

Claire was running the meeting very well, and Ana opted to speak up only when Claire directed a question at her – even though Ana was technically Claire's boss at the bakery, the last thing she wanted to do was attempt to upstage her in front of the Greys or the Matteos. Ana knew these were important clients to Claire, so Ana made a deliberate point to take a step back.

"…Alright, I think we got it," Mrs. Matteo said brightly after about forty-five minutes of intense discussion about cake designs. "We agree we'll do the six-tier cake with the white and lavender calla lilies and draping. How does that sound, darling?"

Gia, who had hardly spoken throughout the meeting, smiled lightly. "Sounds good, mother."

Ana looked at Gia, who had been mostly silent throughout this meeting as well. Ana felt a bit surprised by Gia's silence, since she'd figured that the bride-to-be would be excited about planning her wedding cake, but the expression on her face told Ana that she would rather be anywhere but here.

"Oh, cheer up darling. This cake is going to look beautiful," Mrs. Matteo chided her daughter, also clearly picking up on Gia's mood. "Now that we've got this out of the way, we can focus on finding you a dress!"

Gia smiled again, and Ana saw an almost forced quality to her smile. "Great."

All of them got up from the table, and Ana continued to avoid Christian's eyes as she tucked her notebook away in her purse. Thankfully, Christian's mother came into the kitchen at that moment to pull him away, wanting to talk about his tux for the big day.

"Sorry Ana. I know we need to get back to the bakery, but I wanted to talk to some of the other vendors before we leave," Claire said to Ana in a quiet, apologetic voice. "Just to see what they're doing with the flowers and décor, y'know? It'll help me get a feel for the overall wedding vibe, and we'll have an easier time when we get around to making and decorating the cake."

"Yeah, of course," Ana said, though a part of her felt a bit disappointed they weren't going to leave this place just yet. "Take all the time you need."

"Thanks Ana. I'll try to make it quick," Claire said before turning and hurrying away.

Ana was now alone in the kitchen, apart from the caterers still standing at the kitchen island. With a small sigh, she took out her phone and opened the Uber app so she could order a ride back to the bakery. She figured Claire would be done with the other vendors by the time it arrived.

She had just finished ordering the Uber when someone entered the kitchen. "Ms. Steele?"

Ana looked up and froze when she saw Gia Matteo enter the kitchen, and she was looking at her with a smile. It looked more genuine than the forced smile she gave her mother earlier, but that didn't stop Ana's heart rate from speeding up rapidly upon seeing her.

"Ms. Matteo," Ana greeted her, putting her phone back in her purse. "Um, how can I help you?"

"Oh, no. I don't need anything," Gia waved off. She really was elegantly beautiful, Ana couldn't help but notice, and a small sliver of jealousy spiked through her body that she quickly tried to tamp down. "But I just realized I hadn't properly introduced myself to you yet and I didn't want to come off as rude."

"Oh," Ana said, momentarily surprised. "I-I didn't think you were being rude at all, Ms. Matteo."

Gia smiled at her. "Well, that's good to know. I'm just trying to make a point of introducing myself to all the vendors for the wedding so I know who I'm working with, you know? It can all get to be a bit confusing, working with people I've never met."

Ana gave a weak smile back, unsure of what to say to that. She was honestly a bit surprised that Gia was talking to her one-on-one like this.

"So… you're friends with Christian, then?" Gia asked casually after a moment, looking interested.

Ana's heartbeat skyrocketed to a frenetic pace as she stared at Gia with wide eyes. Oh God, was Gia about to confront her about Christian? Was she suspicious about them? She had no reason to be suspicious, though, since nothing had technically happened between them.

"Uh," Ana eeked out, feeling completely tongue-tied.

"Sorry," Gia quickly shook her head, correcting herself. "He said you're Mia's friend, and he met you through her. Is that right?"

Ana blinked, and after a moment felt her heart rate calm down. It didn't sound like Gia was jealous, and she was genuinely trying to make conversation. Ana took that as a good sign.

"Oh. Yeah, I know Mia," Ana admitted. "We met a few weeks ago when she wrote a really nice review of my bakery."

"Yeah, that sounds like Mia," Gia chuckled. "The girl loves her baked goods."

"You know Mia well, then?" Ana asked politely, but then silently berated herself. Gia was marrying into the Grey family, so of course she knew her own fiancé's sister!

Stupid

"Yeah, I do. We were actually friends for awhile," Gia admitted. "Or rather, we were in the same friend group. Same circles and all that," she said, waving a hand as if Ana was supposed to understand how rich people socialized. "I knew our friend Sienna from when I went to college."

"Oh. Cool," Ana said, not quite sure what to say to that.

"It's been awhile since I've seen Sienna," Gia went on, looking down at her hands and picking at something on her fingernail. She quickly shook her head and looked up, as if coming back to herself. "Or anyone in our group, really. Wedding planning has kind of been taking up all my time lately."

Ana looked at her, feeling a bit confused. If she missed her friend, why couldn't she make her a bridesmaid or something? Before Ana could ask, Mrs. Matteo called Gia from the other room:

"Gia, darling, could you come in here to pick out the petals for the flower girl?" she asked. "We have a few options I want you to look at."

Gia let out an exhale before smiling politely up at Ana. "Looks like I'm needed," she said apologetically. "I won't keep you. It was nice meeting you Ana."

"You too," Ana said as Gia walked away. Ana simply watched her, feeling a bit confused by that interaction but deciding to just push it out of her mind. At least she didn't seem upset about Ana's relationship with Christian.

And speaking of Christian…

He had emerged from the other room, where he had been talking to his mother about a tux fitting, and their eyes met. There were about half a dozen vendors standing around in the dining room between them, but Ana could only seem to focus on him.

She instinctively blushed and glanced away, having a sudden urge to escape his gaze.

There was a small side hallway leading out of the back of the kitchen, which Ana turned and walked into. The hallway was thankfully empty, and looked to just lead to a few out-of-the-way rooms, including a bathroom and den area. She also noticed the walls were lined with old Grey family pictures.

Ana slowed to a stop halfway down the hallway to examine some of the pictures: a majority of them were pictures of Christian, Elliot, and Mia as little kids, opening gifts at Christmas, having a fun day at the beach, or posing in front of the Magic Kingdom at Disney World. There were also several of them all when they were older, Elliot posing in his cap and gown at his college graduation, Christian standing with what looked like his rowing team at Harvard, and Mia smiling with a group of girlfriends in a sorority house.

Ana was so distracted by these family pictures that she almost didn't notice someone else step into the hallway and approach her.

Ana nearly jumped in surprise when she saw Christian stopping mere feet away from her, not saying anything as he also looked at the pictures she was staring at.

"Sorry. I was just going to the bathroom," Ana lied, her face red as she turned back to the wall. "I didn't mean to pry."

"It's okay," Christian said lightly. "My mother would be delighted to see you've discovered the family picture wall."

"They're good pictures," Ana admitted, smiling at an old photo of a young Christian cuddling a baby that was clearly Mia. "Your parents must really cherish these memories."

"My mom especially, yes," Christian chuckled. There was a short silence between them as they continued to look at the pictures.

"I hope Gia wasn't bothering you back there," Christian said after a moment, and he brought a hand up to run through his hair. "I'm not quite sure why she approached you, but I'm sorry if she made you uncomfortable at all."

Ana looked over at Christian, taking in the expression on his face. He looked nervous as he met her gaze, and once again Ana couldn't bring herself to look away.

"...Can I ask you a question?" she asked before she could stop herself.

Christian looked surprised. "Of course," he said, almost on instinct.

Ana hesitated, suddenly wishing she had just stayed silent. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out right away. "You and Gia…?" she began after a moment, but clammed up, unsure of what she wanted to ask. Unsure of how she could ask.

Christian took a step toward her. "Yes?" he prompted, now standing very close to her. Ana had to look up in order to meet his gaze. Still, she remained silent as she stared into his eyes.

Christian reached a hand up slightly and brushed his fingers against her hip, causing goosebumps to flare up where he touched and Ana's pounding heartbeat to skyrocket.

Why does he have to affect me so much?

"It's nothing," Ana whispered. She could feel the weight of what she really wanted to ask, and somehow Christian seemed to know.

"You don't need to ask," he said quietly. "You know the truth, don't you?"

Ana swallowed the lump that had grown in her throat, and something heavy seemed to settle in her chest. She nodded, and Christian let out a low breath. Was it relief?

"Do your families know?" Ana asked quietly, still gazing up at him. "That it's not real?"

"No," Christian said, and left it at that.

They continued to stare at each other, and something electric seemed to crackle between them. On instinct, it seemed, Christian leaned closer to her, and Ana leaned up toward him, feeling the irresistible pull…

"Ana," Christian whispered, his nose brushing up against hers. Ana let out a breath, her eyes fluttering closed.

BZZZ BZZZ

Ana's phone buzzed loudly in her pocket with an incoming text, and she blinked open her eyes. She didn't know if it was the Uber announcing its arrival or Claire telling her she was finished, but either way, it killed the moment.

We can't do this here.

"I need to go," Ana whispered, and she took a step back, and his hand dropped to his side. Christian still gazed at her, a pained look on his handsome face.

"Ana," he whispered again, but Ana didn't respond as she hurried away from him and into the kitchen.

A/N: Oh my goodness... What will Christian and Ana do now?

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