fifty-shades-of-grey

Holy fuck, Kate. I widen my eyes at her. What is she doing? She widens her eyes backat me, and I realize she’s trying to make Christian jealous. How little she knows. I thoughtI’d got away with this.“He was fine,” I murmur.Christian leans over.“Palm-twitchingly mad,” he whispers. “Especially now.” His tone is quiet and deadly.Oh no. I squirm.Grace reappears carrying two plates, followed by a pretty young woman with blondepigtails, dressed smartly in pale blue, carrying a tray of plates. Her eyes immediately findChristian in the room. She blushes and gazes at him from under her long mascara’d lashes.What!Somewhere in the house the phone starts ringing.“Excuse me,” Mr. Grey rises again and exits.“Thank you, Gretchen,” Grace says gently, frowning as Mr. Grey exits. “Just leavethe tray on the console.” Gretchen nods, and with another furtive glance at Christian, sheleaves.So the Greys have staff, and the staff are eyeing up my would-be Dominant. Can thisevening get any worse? I scowl at my hands in my lap.Mr. Grey returns.“Call for you, darling. It’s the hospital,” he says to Grace.“Please start, everyone.” Grace smiles as she hands me a plate and leaves.It smells delicious – chorizo and scallops with roasted red peppers and shallots, sprinkledwith flat leafed parsley. And in spite of the fact that my stomach is churning fromChristian’s veiled threats, the surreptitious glances from pretty little Miss Pigtails, and thedebacle of my missing underwear, I am starving. I flush as I realize it’s the physical effortof this afternoon that’s given me such an appetite.Moments later Grace returns, her brow furrowed. Mr. Grey cocks his head to oneside… like Christian.“Everything okay?”“Another measles case,” Grace sighs.“Oh no.”“Yes, a child. The fourth case this month. If only people would get their kids vaccinated.”She shakes her head sadly, and then smiles. “I’m so glad our children never wentthrough that. They never caught anything worse than chicken pox, thank goodness. PoorElliot,” she says as she sits down, smiling indulgently at her son. Elliot frowns mid chewand squirms uncomfortably. “Christian and Mia were lucky. They got it so mildly, only aspot to share between them.”Mia giggles, and Christian rolls his eyes.“So, did you catch the Mariners game, Dad?” Elliot’s clearly keen to move the conversationon.The hors d’oeuvres are delicious, and I concentrate on eating while Elliot, Mr. Grey,and Christian talk baseball. Christian seems relaxed and calm talking to his family. Mymind is working furiously. Damn Kate, what game is she playing? Will he punish me? I