T W E L V E

"CHRIST," BRETTON EXCLAIMED OVER THE PHONE. "I DIDN'T THINK YOU'D WIND UP BECOMING THE MAN'S BABYSITTER!"

He was definitely making it sound a lot worse than it actually was, but I didn't feel like overly explaining the whole thing to him. Right now, I just needed someone to vent to over the phone and since this call was originally going to be a rant about how he had dislocated me for some girl and if they weren't together, then I would've had to punch him in the stomach. But then he mentioned his rock-hard abs which got me thinking about Ashton's rock hard abs. Brett told me that I should do a google search for his 'Speech on the Beach' for some huge charity event last year, and there enough, Ashton was, in low-resolution-but-still-shirtless glory.

Which was how we got ourselves on the topic of his unorthodox methods of treatment towards his employees, especially personal assistants. I was the personal assistant in hot water, so it was bad enough for me, but he told me that Ashton had asked Kelsey to come in on Halloween to the closed building and hand out candy to anyone who happened to pass by the door (which was near the heart of downtown). She even got put on a sex offender registry for offering someone's daughter free candy. It was all cleared up, thanks to her high profile and very threatening boyfriend, but the incident had just put another straw on top of the pile and it took only a few more months for her back to break.

"I mean, it's not that bad," I said in defense of Ashton's honor. "I admit, it's not very cool, but it's what I deserve. Besides, she's only seventeen. I originally thought I would be babysitting a thirty year old woman."

When Ashton and I got there and they finally let her out, I was surprised to see that she was the girl from the party. The snooty-looking one who beckoned me over to the table where I saw Ashton for the first time. Her name was Vivian Baldwin and they both had a startling resemblance with her glossy black hair and bright eyes. She was stunning and it was impossible to believe that she wasn't in her twenties or even eighteen yet.

"Fiona," he sighed. "Sweet, innocent, naive Fiona. Did you ever stop and think about what exactly would land a seventeen year old in jail? This girl could be easily some kind of criminal. And by keeping her at his house under your watch, you could become an accessory to harboring a criminal."

"He paid her bail and everything," I said with a groan, "she's one hundred percent free to go. I know what I'm doing, Brett." As much as I didn't want to admit it, he had a point with all of this. How exactly was I supposed to tame his delinquent sister, especially when I had already created a slew of messes for him to deal with, ones that could potentially be his downfall? I guess the best part in all of this was that I wasn't supposed to tame his sister, just keep her under check, but even that seemed like a Herculean task. I was just afraid that I would let him down again.

"Do you want me to stop by and help you out," he offered, but I turned him down.

"I'll call you if I need to, but just keep worrying about your practice."

He sighed on the other line. "Alright, Fiona. But I'm asking Kelsey about this Vivian Baldwin so I can see if there's anything you need to know about her."

I nodded, entirely grateful that I had someone like Bretton who I could always rely on.

-

I EXPECTED ASHTON TO PICK ME UP, BUT HE DIDN'T.

Instead, I had to ride in silence with the same driver from yesterday, Wallace. He barely even glanced in my direction, so I could only guess that he was given special instructions from Ashton to give me the cold shoulder and it was definitely working. Each second alone in the car with him was uncomfortable, so when he pulled up in front of Ashton's apartment, I nearly jumped for joy.

"Thank you so much for the ride, Wallace," I said quickly before hopping out of the car. When I made it to the door, I remembered what he told me. I had to take the elevator up to the thirty-fifth floor where his penthouse was located.

Finally, when I got up to his floor, I knocked on the door to his place and it was answered by none other than Vivian Baldwin herself.

"Why are you here?" was the first thing she asked me, her voice just as bratty as I remembered it to be from the other day. "You better not be here to screw my brother, because I'll throw you out."

"Who knows," I said just to tease her, "I just might be. But do you really think you can toss me out, sweetheart. I'm a grown woman, and I -"

"Security," she interrupted and before I knew it, there was a tall man standing behind me and grasping me by the arm.

"Ma'am, I'm going to have to escort you away from the door, so please cooperate." Turning around, I saw a tall man standing behind me. He had blonde hair with blue eyes and big muscles that gave off a very all-American vibe to me. He was cute, definitely, and in any other situation, I would've been down for some conversation, but he had his hand wrapped around my arm and was trying to usher me out of the door.

"Hi," I said, "I'd love to talk, but she's being irrational right now and I really need to get inside of here right now." When the man still didn't let go, I added, "It's part of my job to -"

"Ma'am, it's part of - actually my whole job - to keep you off of the premises," he said politely while yanking me backwards a little less so. He turned to Vivian. "Do you know this woman? Did she flirt with your boyfriend or something and you're trying to punish her or something because you could've gotten me in trouble that one time I had to call the cops on Liza Perkins."

"Okay," I frowned, "I'm not some seventeen year old girl. I'm a grown woman. Also, no, I don't know Vivian that well but I work for Ashton and he asked me to come here today. You can ask him yourself."

The security guard looked like he was about to ask me something when Ashton stepped into the main foyer wearing only a navy blue bathrobe with a confused look on his face. His hair not slicked back like I was used to seeing it, but it was wet and tendrils of it hung over his forehead. In fact, Ashton at home was vey different from how he was at work, which I expected but never imagined it could look the way it did: totally attractive. "What the hell is happening in here? I'd really appreciate it if I were able to shower in peace without hearing all of your voices."

I stared at him in a mix of shock and amazement, mainly because he just seemed to look so good in his natural environment and I couldn't just help but stare. He had gotten out of the shower so he could yell at us, meaning that he was just in there without any - keep it together, Fiona.

It wasn't until he cleared his throat that I realized he had caught me staring. I blushed, averting my gaze so as not to embarrass myself any further.

"Why is this lady here," Vivian asked with a snarl for emphasis on the word 'lady' as if I were old or something. "Is she like one of your friends or something?"

Ashton rolled his eyes at the mention of us being friends - which was appropriate considering he was my boss and I was his employee, but at the same time, it still hurt me to hear him admit to it so firmly. "No, Vivian, this is your babysitter. She will be staying here for the week in order to make sure you stay on your best behavior because while I hate to damper on your fun, I can not risk having you get arrested again when I have such an important press event coming up. I've been planning this for the longest time, and I just need this week to run smoothly and then you're free."

She raised a curious eyebrow. "Ashton, I'm not a baby. I can handle myself without big bird over here watching my every move."

"She means you," the security guard whispered to me, "I mean, I'm assuming that it's you and not me because I don't exactly look like a big bird."

"Neither do I," I whispered back angrily, but he seemed too invested in the brother versus sister showdown going on before us to even care that much.

Ashton's toes curled into the carpet and his brow furrowed and I could tell he was angry with his bratty little sister at this point. "Look, I have a company to run, so I don't really have time to sit here and bicker with you. So, I'm going to go and get dressed, and when I get back, I'll explain everything."

And with that, he stormed off, causing Vivian to do the same and leaving me alone with just the security guard.

"That was uncomfortable," he said, offering me a weak smile. "But I've been here for a year now, you'll get used to it."

"I don't really think I want to," I said. "Also, is it true that we have to live here?"

The man only grinned at me and held out his hand for me to shake. "Hello, new roomie. I'm Luke. Luke Johnson."

I sighed and took his hand in mine. His skin was rough and calloused and part of me didn't want to let go. "I'm Fiona White, nice to meet you."

-

CRAZY WAS AN UNDERSTATEMENT.

This idea actually bordered on ridiculous. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time - while doing my job at the same time like I was supposed to - and now I was being held basically against my will just for him to make sure that I didn't tell anyone about his sister's little stint in prison.

Sure there was a cute guy involved, not to mention that this would help me regain some desperately needed favor with Ashton, but this was completely beyond my call of duty. Thankfully, there was a raise thrown in there with all of the grunt work I would be doing.

Ashton had finally gotten dressed in a suit like he usually wore to work, so we were all sitting in his kitchen as he explained how me living in his spare bedroom would mean major changes in the rules for young Vivian Baldwin. He surely wasn't playing around either, because Luke was writing down everything he said on a notepad, which he told me I could copy later after the meeting was over.

After what felt like forever, Ashton finally got up and left us to go to work.

"I'm going to my room," Vivian said with a huff of finality before storming off and not even allowing us to say anything to her. I was completely fine with that because she was a bit of a brat, and Luke seemed to be as well if the subtle shrug of his shoulders were any indication.

"So," I started, now that the two of us were finally alone. "Just in case I want to throw a world-class tantrum too, can you show me where my room is at?"

He laughed before leaning back in his chair and pointing at the hallway Vivian just went down. "Take that hall and make a left, and you'll be able to tell which one it is by the Robin egg color of the door. It used to be Vivian's nursery, but now it's been converted into a spare bedroom for guests."

Nursery? She was seventeen and he was in his late twenties, so I wondered how long Ashton's family had this condo. It was large, but at the same time, a lot smaller than I expected someone like him to have.

"Are we going to do anything today," I asked. "I mean, sure the girl's on lockdown, but that doesn't mean we have to keep her cooped up inside the house all day. Even for just a week, that can be pretty unhealthy for her."

He shook his head. "There's a nice balcony that she sometimes goes out to sit on when she visits, but other than that, I think the outdoors are off limits for her. He never officially said anything about keeping her inside, though."

"That's good," I said with a smile.

"Why," he asked as he sat up in his seat and his eyes widened slightly. "What do you have in mind?"