A/N: Hi everyone - I'm back! Thank you all for your kindness and patience, and I hope you enjoy this new story from yours truly.

Summary: When Christian meets a beautiful girl who's not in the BDSM lifestyle, he makes the decision to give it up to pursue a real relationship with her. But that sacrifice may come with a price… namely, his entire billion dollar fortune and his and Ana's own safety. The decision he makes will likely affect both their lives forever, but will he have the strength to do it?

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

The Price of Love

By Strawberry Pajamas

Chapter 1: First Dates

Canlis was bustling tonight.

The beautiful, dimly-lit restaurant rarely saw a slow night, but Christian thought that a Wednesday in the middle of a work week would have shown at least a small slump in the nightly crowd. However, the place was completely packed this evening - Christian could see a line of finely dressed people lining up outside the doors and a decent sized crowd hanging around the bar, chatting with one another as they waited to be seated. Christian couldn't help but feel grateful he was able to secure a table for himself and a fellow businessman who he was meant to have dinner with tonight. However, unless his companion ever felt like getting here, Christian was likely going to end up dining alone.

Christian sipped on his glass of whiskey and discreetly checked his watch. Marquez was over fifteen minutes late now, and Christian was not a man who tolerated lateness. This particular man he had spoken to a few times already - the two of them were going to be collaborating on a large donation to the natural science department at Seattle University, and this dinner was just going to be the two of them hashing out specifics. While Christian's company was perfectly capable of giving a sizable donation to the university by itself, collaborating donations was a common practice amongst larger companies like GEH to help with future business ventures. It was all very bureaucratic, but it was something Christian often had to put up with as the CEO of his company.

Christian's BlackBerry buzzed with an incoming text, and he immediately checked it, expecting it was Marquez letting him know he had arrived. It wasn't him, however - it was Elena, texting him for the umpteenth time this week that she had a few new submissives lined up for him to interview. Christian rolled his eyes to himself as he tucked his phone back in his suit pocket, ignoring Elena's message. It was inappropriate for him to answer a text like that during a business meeting anyway, but honestly he was just starting to feel annoyed by her persistence - he didn't have time at the moment for a new sub, but the less interested he was in getting one, the more Elena seemed to push. It was really starting to piss him off.

"'Good evening Grey."

Christian glanced up when he heard his name, and stood from his table to greet the gentleman now approaching him. Javier Marquez, an older Hispanic man with a receding hairline, was the CFO of Marquez Advisors, a wildlife conservation advisory corporation located right outside Seattle.

"Marquez," Christian smiled and shook the man's hand before they both took a seat down at opposite sides of the table. Marquez was, if possible, more aloof of a businessman than Christian, and Christian could tell this guy's lateness was a tactic he often employed with fellow businessmen to show his authority. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Sorry I'm late," Marquez said idly, straightening his suit jacket lapels before reaching over to pick up the wine list. "Did you order already?"

"Not yet. I just got a drink at the bar," Christian said, indicating the half-drunk glass of whiskey on the rocks beside his plate. "The waitress hasn't come over yet."

Considering how busy this place was tonight, Christian was surprised that anyone was able to get served this evening. However, when he saw a waitress leading a group of people to a nearby table, he caught her eye and lifted his hand, indicating he was ready to order. She nodded in acknowledgement of him before continuing to lead the group of people off to an empty table.

"They have Chateau Margeaux here - an excellent vintage," Marquez said approvingly as he looked over the wines, and Christian voiced his approval as well, privately wishing he could go back to Escala right now and get some work done.

"Has it been busy over at the office today?" Christian asked conversationally, bringing his glass of whiskey to his lips and taking a sip. "I heard the news about Chevron raising oil prices again, I figured it might have had some impact on your company."

"Ah yes it has," Marquez nodded sagely. "It's a bit of a mixed bag though - while I understand Chevron's purpose in doing this, they know the outcome isn't going to fare well with us wildlife conservation folks…"

For several minutes, the two of them continued to talk about the state of the economy, and as they did a few other groups of people walked by their table. Christian glanced up to see a family of four pass by with a waiter, but after the family walked a young woman who immediately caught Christian's eye:

She was walking alongside a young man with dark hair, and they were being led by a waitress to a small, two-person table right next to where Christian and Marquez sat. The two of them were obviously out on a date, but the moment Christian's eyes landed on the girl, he was immediately struck dumb by the angelic beauty before him.

She wore a knee-length teal dress that hung delicately around her luscious long legs, and her dark, chestnut brown hair fell in waves over her slim shoulders and down her back. Her beautiful skin was flawlessly pale and smooth, contrasted by the long dark lashes and cobalt blue eyes that adorned her pixie-like face. She was absolutely stunning, and if she wasn't currently on a date Christian definitely would have considered going over to introduce himself.

The young man spoke to the pretty girl as they took their seats: "I'm glad I managed to get us a reservation. I don't think we'd be able to get in otherwise."

"Yeah, it is pretty busy tonight," the girl agreed with a smile, glancing around the restaurant. She had a soft, sweet voice that made Christian's chest constrict with a feeling he was unfamiliar with, but he enjoyed immensely all the same.

Who is this girl?

She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear before her wandering eyes met Christian's gaze. Her ocean blue eyes seemed to pierce right into his heart, and Christian could do little more than stare back at her, his heart beating frenetically in his chest.

Jesus Christ, she's beautiful.

She blinked and looked away after a moment, and Christian turned back to his conversation with Marquez, trying to regulate his pounding heartbeat.

The waitress finally came over to their table, and Christian and Marquez ordered their food, Marquez also ordering a vintage bottle of wine for the both of them to share. Afterwards, he and Christian began to discuss the stock market, though Christian's focus kept drifting to the table beside them - he listened discreetly as the girl and guy ordered their food and began conversing with one another. From what Christian could tell, the two of them were co-workers who were going on a first date tonight - a noteworthy fact that made Christian oddly happy.

Eventually, Christian and Marquez got their food, and, as expected, their conversation turned to their collaborating donation to the university. Christian knew he needed to focus since it involved their company's money, but he still couldn't help but let his mind drift to the girl next to him every few minutes. While he knew it wasn't right to eavesdrop on their date, he couldn't help but notice (rather optimistically) that her date with the dark-haired guy didn't seem to be going very well. The guy kept stumbling over his words and talking about himself, not bothering to ask the girl any questions about herself. A rookie move, even Christian knew… once their food arrived, there was a rather painful few minutes where neither of them said anything to each other as they ate, and Christian couldn't help but feel a bit smug.

He didn't like the idea of this beautiful angel going out with somebody else - somebody who wasn't him.

God, what is wrong with me?

"…Oh, I'm sorry," Marquez suddenly apologized, pulling out his vibrating BlackBerry and checking the screen. "I have to take this - I'll just be a minute."

He didn't wait for Christian to respond as he got up from the table and brought the phone to his ear, but Christian didn't care. As soon as Marquez was gone, he casually leaned back in his seat, crossing his ankle over his knee as he checked his phone, surreptitiously listening to the conversation beside him once again.

"So how's the scampi?" The guy asked.

"Very good," she answered, her fork clinking against her plate as she picked at her food. "How's your steak?"

"Delicious."

Another short silence followed.

"…I hear it's supposed to rain later tonight," he said after a moment. "Think it's gonna thunderstorm out again?"

Christian inwardly cringed - even he knew asking about the weather on a first date was a bad move.

"I don't know," the girl answered politely, still picking at her food. "I guess we'll see."

At that moment Marquez returned to his and Christian's table, his phone call over.

"I'm sorry, that was my business partner," he said apologetically, sitting back down in his seat. "Something came up over at my company - can I take a rain check on this dinner?"

"Of course," Christian said courteously, and they both stood up again. "If you prefer, we could do it over teleconference later this week sometime?"

Marquez agreed that was a better idea, and after dropping a couple fifties on the table and shaking Christian's hand in a gesture of professionalism, he turned around and left. Christian watched him go, secretly relieved.

After sitting back down at the table, Christian flagged down a waitress and ordered one more whiskey on the rocks. Honestly, if he hadn't had his eyes set on the beautiful brunette girl sitting at the table beside him, he would have considered this whole evening a waste. He discreetly listened to the conversation at the table beside him, just as he had been doing all throughout dinner:

"Um… I need to go to the bathroom," the guy said after a minute or so of awkward silence, scooting his chair back and getting to his feet. "I'll, uh… be right back."

The girl didn't say anything as he walked away, but once he was out of sight Christian saw her set her fork down and lean back slightly in her seat, closing her eyes and letting out a sigh, her frustration with this dinner apparent. Despite her frustration, she still looked positively gorgeous, and Christian didn't want to pass up this opportunity to finally get a chance to talk to her.

He cast his mind around for something he could say to her, and when his eyes landed on the full bottle of wine on the table, an idea formed in his mind. He smiled.

"…Excuse me, Miss?" Christian asked her politely, and the girl blinked open her eyes before looking over at him.

"Yes?" she asked, looking at him with a slight furrow in her brow.

Christian smiled charmingly, gesturing toward the guy's empty seat. "I'm sorry for intruding, but I saw you were with a man earlier. Are you two on a date tonight?"

"Oh… yes, we are," she said, glancing toward her companion's empty seat. "He just ran to the bathroom for minute."

Christian nodded. "I see. Well, I don't know if you saw who I was with, but there was a man dining with me a moment ago. A colleague of mine… but unfortunately, he just got called away on a work emergency and he had to leave."

"Oh, I'm sorry," the girl said sympathetically, and Christian smiled at her again.

"It's quite alright. However, since he's gone, I'm left here with a full bottle of vintage wine I won't be able to drink," Christian reached over and picked up the bottle of Chateau Margeaux. "Would you and your date like to take it off my hands? I'm sure the two of you would enjoy it much more than I would by myself."

"Oh," the girl looked flattered by his offer. Another unreadable emotion flashed across her face before she blinked and quickly smiled at him. "Thank you. That's very kind of you, Mr…?"

"Grey - Christian Grey. And it's my pleasure, Miss…?"

"Steele," the girl said with a pleasant smile. "Anastasia Steele."

Beautiful. "Anastasia - that's a lovely name," Christian complimented her, and she blushed cutely.

"Thank you," she giggled. "I normally don't go by Anastasia, though - just Ana."

"It's still beautiful," Christian insisted, picking up the bottle and casually walking over to her table. "May I?" he asked, gesturing to her empty wine glass.

"Of course," Ana said as Christian opened the bottle and poured a small amount into her glass. She picked up the wine glass in her delicate hand and sifted it around a little before bringing it up to her beautiful, rose-colored lips, taking a sip. Christian watched her, completely entranced.

Holy Christ, how can one woman be this beautiful?

"This is delicious," Ana smiled, her beautiful blue eyes twinkling with sincerity. After a moment, however, her smile faded into an unreadable expression, and she glanced away from Christian.

Oh no, what's wrong?

"Is everything alright?" he asked gently, sitting down in the vacated seat, still gazing at her.

"It's very kind of you to offer us your bottle of wine, Christian," Ana said sincerely, looking back up at him. "But it's too much…"

"No, it's not," Christian insisted. "I want you to have it."

"No - I think you should give it to one of these other couples," Ana went on, gesturing rather glumly to the tables around them. "You don't want to waste this expensive bottle of wine on us."

The sad, self-deprecating tone to her voice made Christian's heart break slightly. Strange how this woman could make him feel almost human.

"Are you not enjoying yourself?" he asked sympathetically. Ana stared at him for a moment or two before blinking and looking down at the table, giving a humorless chuckle.

"I sound like a terrible person," she said softly, shaking her head. "Paul has been trying to go out a date with me for years - I work with him, and so I know him well enough to know he and I don't have any chemistry together. I only agreed to go out with him tonight because I just got a new job and I put in my two weeks notice, so I'll probably never have to see him again." Ana sighed sadly. "Tonight was a mistake, that's all."

After a moment she looked back up at Christian, who was gazing at her with a small furrow in his brow. "…Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked after a moment, frowning slightly.

Christian shook his head, still gazing at her with an unreadable expression. "I'm just curious as to why a woman as beautiful as yourself feels she has no choice but to settle for a date with some guy she works with?"

Ana blinked, clearly taken aback at his sweet words. She stared at him, her clear blue eyes baring into his soul, and he stared back at her, feeling a powerful, unreadable emotion filling his chest.

Before he could say anything else, however, Ana glanced at something over his shoulder. Her beautiful face morphed into an appalled expression.

"Oh my God."

Christian turned in his seat to see what Ana was looking at. Toward the back of the restaurant was a long, softly-lit bar area where many people were milling around, drinking expensive drinks and talking with one another. Christian's eyes immediately landed on one person in particular - Paul was standing off to the side of the bar, chatting with a pretty blonde girl in a low-cut dress, sipping on a glass of white wine. They were both smiling and laughing rather flirtatiously, and Christian had a hard time holding back his glee when he noticed them.

"Unbelievable," Ana grumbled, and Christian turned to see her getting to her feet and grabbing her purse with an angry glower on her pretty face. "I'm sorry, Christian, but I don't think we'll be able to take that bottle of wine off your hands after all."

And with that, she hitched her purse up over her shoulder and grabbed her coat, turning on her heel and stalking away toward the door without another word.

Christian was frozen to his seat, watching Ana walk away with his eyes wide. After a moment, however, he quickly got to his feet, resolved to what he wanted to do - he hurried back to his table, grabbing his wallet, keys and cell phone. After dropping a one hundred dollar bill on the table, he briefly glanced back at Paul, who was still occupied with the blonde, before turning and hurrying after Ana out the door.

He wasn't sure what it was about this girl, but he was determined to go after her and give her a first date she would never forget.

To Be Continued

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed this first chapter! If you did, please leave me a review :)

I made a new Pinterest board for this story - you can check it out here at www dot pinterest dot com/strawpaj/the-price-of-love/