A/N; I'm sorry it took me so long to get this second chapter up. I don't really have any good excuses other than the fact that I've been really distracted by writing other things. I've been more motivated to write one-shots as of late. It won't be as long until the next chapter, though.
I promise.
I think this story will be between 8-10 chapters long and the next one is already halfway done and should therefore be up remember that this one is a bit slower.
This is rated M for a reason, but it does have more of a story to it, because this version of Ally is not just going to fuck Austin on a whim in a laundry room, or in a bar, or on an airplane, or in a bathroom, or on a train, or...I think you get the point.
Sorry if it's too slow...it will pick up.
Eventually.
She was awake. She didn't want to be, but she was.
The bed was comfortable underneath her. Very comfortable. As a matter of fact, it was probably the most comfortable bed that she had ever slept in. Her whole body was instantly regretting her mind's decision of waking up; but she had this odd feeling, not so much a physical but rather a mental uncomfortableness, an unfamiliar yet creepy inkling that she was somehow being observed.
Her head was spinning like the large fan in the high-rise ceiling, as it took her a few seconds to recall where she was as at, the previous day (and night) quickly replaying in her jumbled mind.
She soon realized that two sets of eyes, almost identical, small, blue and piercing, were looking at her from each side of the very large bed, and she almost fell out of it.
So she was being observed.
"We're hungry." Tilly's voice almost echoed throughout the large suite.
Right.
The twins.
She was the nanny.
What time was it? The room was still dark, but as the thick curtains were closed shut, it was hard to tell what was going on in the outside world.
She got out of bed and moved the curtains, and the bright morning sunlight filled the room.
It apparently wasn't as early as she had thought.
She entered the bathroom and brushed her teeth, quickly, internally cursing at herself for unintentionally sleeping in, and making a mental note to set the alarm from now on.
It would be nice to be able to get dressed in the morning without spectators.
One half of the short twosome was quietly observing her, the other half observing her but not quietly. Tilly's shyness from the previous day had clearly disintegrated over night.
The little blonde was apparently a bit of a blabber mouth.
But she was cute.
She decided to wait to get dressed, soon entering the huge kitchen still in her pajamas, with the children trailing closely behind her.
She was surprised to see that Cassidy was in there, especially so as she had clearly informed her that she preferred to sleep in. She was in the process of inhaling some type of green-looking smoothie, and it looked like she was on the run, but she still somehow managed to have the same flawless appearance as she had had the previous night.
It was almost as if she had been sleeping upright, perhaps in one of those toy-doll display boxes, only changing her outfit but keeping her impeccable make-up and hairstyle the same.
The blonde finished her drink, setting down the now empty plastic container on the counter with a small noise before speaking.
"Good morning. Would you like anything to eat?" Polite. So polite. Too polite.
She shook her head. She wasn't really a breakfast person. "Just some coffee, please."
Cassidy gestured towards an advanced looking machine, located on top of the massive countertop while nodding in approval, as if not eating was a good thing, or something.
"Serve yourself. Our house is your house now."
Her statement was followed by a smile that was probably meant to be sweet.
"Thank you."
"I have to go, I have an...appointment. We have a chef that cooks lunch and dinner for us, but I will expect you to get breakfast together."
She nodded.
She could handle breakfast.
Hopefully.
The blonde reached into her purse and quickly threw her two sets of keys.
"It's to one of the cars and the golf cart. Just in case you want to take the kids somewhere."
She nodded again.
Cassidy was halfway through the kitchen when she turned around, obviously remembering something important.
"Oh, and stay away from the upstairs. I'll...I'll show you around when we find the time."
She nodded in agreement yet again, as she didn't know what else to do. She was already way passed the point of questioning the decisions made by the rich and (as it seemed) powerful.
And with that her boss was gone, leaving a trail of too expensive perfume behind her, without as much as a glance towards the still tired-looking kids at the other side of the room.
She scanned the kitchen. It looked like something out of a god damn TV show. What would you possibly need all those little trinkets for? She could only recognize half of them, and she only knew the actual function of a handful of them.
The morning sunlight was flowing in through the tall window, the kitchen air notably dust-free and she could swear that she felt like the air was cleaner than what she was used to, almost so clean that it hurt her lungs.
Weird.
Breakfast.
Right.
What did wealthy children eat?
She rummaged through the large refrigerator for a minute, the way too many options making her indecisive, and she therefore turned towards the light-haired duo that was still observing her, this time around from their seats by the large kitchen table.
Maybe she should just ask them.
"What do you guys want to eat?"
They both looked at her with big, blank eyes, as if that wasn't a question that they were asked very often, almost as if they rarely got to make decisions by themselves.
Tilly answered first.
Surprise.
"We want cereal."
The two clearly had that twin telepathy thing that she had heard of going on, as Tilly seemed to be speaking for both of them, using plural forms more often than not.
They both looked hopeful but a bit cautious, as if she was going to decline their joint wish, and suddenly, there was nothing she could think of that she wanted to do more than feed those kids some darn cereal.
She opened a nearby cabinet, trying to locate the cereal box that must be there somewhere.
Even rich people ate cereal, right? Perhaps they were dipped in gold or something.
After three cabinets, she was ready to give up when she finally spotted a very average looking box of cereal, squeezed into the corner of the oversized storage space.
Yes.
Something normal, something regular, in a house that otherwise was anything but.
It was not a cheap, generic brand, definitely name-brand, but regular cereal nonetheless.
For some reason, that made her disproportionally happy.
She filled up two small bowls, Tilly making sure that they were equally full before she poured in some milk. She couldn't find any kids' spoons, so they ended up eating their breakfast with some fancy silver ones, but perhaps it fit, as they were clearly born with them in their mouths.
She returned the jug of milk to the refrigerator, closing the door with a small bang, and then she screamed out loud as she realized that there was now something located behind it.
Something that she didn't quite recognize yet clearly recognized, something that was tall and blond, something that currently looked amused, almost as if scaring her half to death was entertaining, and she realized that the thing had dimples.
Nice ones.
"So, you must be the new nanny?" He had a nice voice, too.
"So you must be the step-son." She sounded defensive but only because she was.
He chuckled. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
She had only just met him, but she was pretty sure that he had the same annoying ability as Cassidy to say one thing but mean another.
Because he clearly had meant to scare her.
She gave him a quick glance-over where he's stood, leaned up against the kitchen counter, that she was hoping he that didn't notice.
So this was him.
The notorious playboy.
The Moon family's apparent black sheep.
The one that she needed to stay away from in order to keep her much needed job.
Not that she wasn't planning on staying away from him, anyways.
She had to admit that he was as good-looking as she had somehow expected.
She wasn't surprised.
After all, the assholes usually were.
"So, you're the one to take care of me..." There was no doubt that his voice was suggestive, and his eyes wouldn't leave hers.
She suddenly felt as if he had some type of x-Ray vision, as if he could see through not just her clothing but also her with those big, brown, smoldering, almost hypnotizing eyes.
She finally looked away after what felt like minutes but probably were mere seconds.
What was it with this family that made her feel so damn uncomfortable and unsure of herself?
Unsure and naked.
It was almost as if her long-sleeve pajama set was a skimpy piece of see-through lingerie, and he was still looking at her as if he was more than willing to demonstrate how to take it off.
"I'm not sure that 20 year old, spoiled brats are my specialty."
She hadn't meant to sound so acid, but her first actual impression of him was turning out to be very similar to the less than fortunate reputation he seemingly deservedly had.
"Close to 21, actually. And then, what is your specialty?" He seemed completely unfazed by her insult, as if it was a truth that he had been told too many times or a reoccurring lie that he no longer bothered correcting.
She just shook her head, not sure of what to answer.
His small laughter was filling the room as he was now walking towards his younger siblings, greeting each of them with a big hug.
"I don't think I have ever seen you guys eat cereal before." He looked amused.
"Ally gave it to us." Tilly's voice was mischievous.
"She did, huh." He smiled at her now, a more genuine smile, a smile that made him look even more attractive. As if that was necessary.
"Nice to meet you, Ally." Her name rolled off of his tongue, as if she was some type of god damn fine wine, and he was trying her out to see if he liked the taste.
She had to give it to him. He was good at what he did. Whatever that was.
"I'm sorry about last night. I didn't know they had found a new nanny already. Sometimes, I crash in the guest room after a long night of partying."
She nodded, for some reason surprised that he had manners enough to apologize.
"That is, when I don't bring company home." Suggestive eyebrow wiggling followed.
Right. That was more along the lines of what she had expected.
"Well, I guess you're hunt yesterday was unsuccessful, then."
He laughed. "Not necessarily. After all, I did get to spend some time on top of a beautiful girl, even though it only lasted a few seconds. I guarantee you, next time it will last longer."
Sexual.
So damn sexual.
It made her uncomfortable as she wasn't entirely sure of how to respond.
And it made her uncomfortable for other reasons, too, that she absolutely refused to think about.
She was thankful, though, that her tendency to blush had diminished in strength over the past few years.
Did lines like that usually work for him?
He was way too cliche for her liking.
"Seems to me that your mom's warnings about you were well-founded."
The smirk on his face instantly froze.
"She's not my mother." His voice had none of the playfulness that it, up until that point, had been generously colored with.
Shit.
So that was obviously a touchy subject.
Too touchy.
She had clearly hit a nerve that wasn't just sensitive but close to infected.
"Right. I'm...I'm sorry."
She was.
She knew first hand that the subject of mothers could be an emotional one.
He was smiling at her against almost instantly, and then he started to move towards the doorway, apparently ready to leave.
"No worries. I'll see you around, Ally."
And he was off, with an almost cheerful bounce in his step.
She turned to the twins who had now finished the bowls.
"So, what do you want to do today?"
Nelson didn't answer. Shocker.
Tilly immediately started off with some long tirade about Barbie and a dog and although she tried to follow, really, all she could make out if it was "Beach."
Crap. She hated the beach. She sighed as she realized that she might as well get used to it, though. They did live in a beach mansion, after all.
...
An hour later, and she had finally managed to get all the things needed for a beach day packed into the golf cart.
The twins were strapped in in the backseat, the seat next to her packed with sunblock and toys and lunch and towels and only god knew what else.
It seemed like a day at the beach required more luggage than her entire months-long west coast stay.
Nelson still hadn't said a word to her. She started to wonder if he ever spoke.
She started the cart, but was soon filled with frustration, as she couldn't get it to move. Not an inch. Not a millimeter.
She turned towards the backseat.
"How do you drive this thing?"
Nelson just looked at her in puzzled non-understanding. Tilly was talking away, about something completely of topic, her childish voice bouncing off the walls in the large garage, and for the first time she wished that the girl had a mute-button.
A few minutes later, and she almost cursed in exasperation as it for some reason had proved to be more difficult to drive a god damn golf cart than her actual car.
The golf cart was probably also more expensive than her regular car, and she was suddenly a nervous mess, various scenarios of crashing the small vehicle into all sorts of things vividly crossing her mind.
He appeared out of nowhere, almost identical to his arrival in the kitchen earlier in the morning, and she screamed again. She really hadn't meant to, but he startled her.
How did he manage to do that? He was tall, unquestionably over six feet, and yet he was able to sneak up on her, like a freaking ninja, her heart yet again beating fast from the surprise.
Weird, it seemed to do that around him a lot.
"There's a break, you know." He was smiling now, but almost looking as if he was trying not to laugh out loud.
"What?" She hadn't really processed what he was saying as she was still in semi-shock.
He reached in over her, his arm rubbing up against hers as he leaned over the drivers seat and unhooked a hand break that she hadn't seen.
Skin to skin.
He probably did that on purpose.
Creep.
It felt kind of good in a non-good way.
Crap.
"There you go. Let me know of you need help with anything else."
How was it possible that every single time she heard his voice, she automatically thought of how it would sound in the bedroom?
She had heard of bedroom eyes, but he had a bedroom voice.
Well, he had bedroom eyes too.
He was a bedroom being.
He reached into the back, ruffling his little brother's hair and she could have sworn that Nelson smiled for the first time since she had arrived there.
"Come with us to the beach, Austin." His sister sounded hopeful.
"Maybe next time, Tilly."
The little girl was pouting as he turned back towards her.
"Thank you". She sounded exactly as half-embarrassed and half grateful as she was.
"No problem."
She half-expected some sort of badly concealed, sexual innuendo that didn't come.
He started to walk away.
"Oh, and Ally?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't scratch it. There is a very strong possibility that Cassidy loves her toys more than her kids." He was nodding towards the golf cart and he was still smiling, but the look on his face made her understand that perhaps he wasn't completely joking.
She nodded, then giving him a semi-awkward wave that he returned as she was nervously pulling out of the garage.
...
She made it to the beach.
She freaking made it.
Without any scratches on neither of the children nor the cart.
Granted, it was a 5 minute ride. If even that.
But still.
She was proud.
Probably too proud.
It was an absolutely beautiful day outside.
The sun was beaming, the sky blue, not a cloud to be seen as far as her eyes could see, and she suddenly felt oddly high on life as she scanned the long, sandy beach.
It was warm, but not the same scorching heat that she was used to, instead a pleasant one, the temperature just perfect, the small cooling breeze embracing her skin in a nice contrast to the hot rays.
Maybe the beach wasn't so bad, after all.
The area was by no means cluttered, but there were some people there, some younger children playing in the small ocean waves and some older kids making various structures in the sand.
Tilly was immediately enthused. "I want to build a sandcastle!"
She couldn't help but to laugh at the toothless girl's excitement.
"Of course we can. Nelson, do you want to help us?"
The boy just shook his head, not nearly as excited as his twin.
"I know! Let's build our house." Tilly was already making plans.
She laughed again.
Calling that mansion a 'house' was a stretch, and said project was a bit ambitious.
Just a bit.
They spent the next 20 minutes constructing what became, by no means, an exact replica of the house-mansion, but a pretty damn good sandcastle nonetheless.
She high-fived Tilly, who hadn't stopped talking even for a full 10 seconds, before she looked around.
Something was missing.
Or rather, someone.
Where the hell was Nelson?
Panic ran through her as she continued to scan the small area, still unsuccessful at locating him.
Great. Fucking great.
She had been a nanny for what, 12 hours, and she had already managed to lose one of the kids.
Awesome.
A sigh of relief escaped her as she finally spotted him, a few hundred yards away, out in the shallow water, jumping over the small waves while holding someone's hand, a hand belonging to someone tall, someone blond, someone who had clearly changed his decision about not joining them at the beach.
She waved and yelled until he saw her, soon gesturing to her that he was going to bring Nelson over.
As he lifted the small boy up on his shoulders, the unfamiliar sound of Nelson's laugh traveled to her ears like sweet music.
Two girls approached her as she was standing by the shore, waiting, Tilly playing in the sand by her feet.
She had noticed that they had curiously eyed her for a few minutes, and it kind of made her uncomfortable.
It seemed like the whole damn community, or at least a vast percentage of its population, made her uncomfortable.
They were both pretty, both tanned, both slender and tallish, one blonde and one brunette.
"So you're the new Moon nanny." She noticed that the blonde's statement wasn't a question, and for a second she wondered how she had known, until she realized that she probably recognized the twins.
She nodded. "Yes. Nice to meet you. I'm Ally." She extended her hand.
The girls introduced themselves. The blonde was apparently named Piper and the seemingly less talkative brunette was Brooke.
Austin was getting closer now, still carrying Nelson on his broad shoulders, and she found that it was getting more difficult not to pay attention to his low-slung board shorts.
Crap.
His blond hair was sprinkled with salty sea-drops, his tanned body on full display and she noticed how two-out-of-three of the gathered female population was almost physically drooling at the...scenery.
"You're so lucky." She got the feeling that Piper wasn't referring to her job as much as her house company.
That was one way of looking at it, she guessed.
One person's curse could be perceived as another person's blessing.
"Ladies." He was greeting them but looking right at her.
Who spoke like that?
Brooke didn't say anything, and she wasn't entirely sure that the girl was even breathing.
"Austin." Piper was clearly still both speaking and breathing. That, and batting her eyes at him.
She didn't have that seduction gene, but Piper seemed to have more flirtyness in her small pinky toe than she did in her whole entire being.
He reached to put a still laughing Nelson down on the sand. "Here you go."
"That was very sweet. I don't think I have heard him laugh before."
He shrugged. "I happen to be an excellent big brother." She knew he wasn't bragging, but simply being completely earnest, and it was probably the most real she had seen him all day.
"Well, thank you for your help. I got a bit a carried away with the sandcastle construction."
"I'm sure you can find some way to pay me back."
He somehow managed to make her feel as naked as he had in the kitchen earlier in the morning, only difference was that now she was practically naked, as her all but skimpy bikini suddenly felt a few sizes too small.
This time around, she couldn't really be upset about it, though, as she found herself ogling him as well. It wasn't very difficult to mentally undress him. Actually, it was probably more difficult not to. He was only wearing one piece of clothing, after all.
So yeah, he was in good shape.
She guessed that it was fairly easy to find the time to stay in shape, though, when you didn't have a day-job. Or any job, for that matter.
His gaze wouldn't leave her, unashamedly running all over her body, and she knew that he lingered a little too long in certain places, but by the look on his face it seemed like he could care less if she noticed.
She kind of hated the fact that she didn't hate having his eyes on her.
Because she knew that she should.
He was a predatory cat.
And duh, she was the mouse-prey that he wanted to chase.
It would be better, smarter, to hide, she knew that, because said chase would undoubtedly end in her untimely death.
Yet, she was oddly curious as to what the thrill of it would feel like.
He was still smirking as he turned to walk away.
"Bye, ladies." He was still only looking at her.
Piper waved at him and Brooke looked like she was about to faint.
Piper turned to her.
"Good luck. You're clearly going to need it. See you around Ally."
And then the two of them walked away as well.
...
They returned to the mansion, hours later, after spending almost the whole day at the beach, all three of them seemingly exhausted.
She sighed as she lugged the too many things back into the house-mansion.
But it had been a good day.
Being a nanny was kind of fun.
...
They had a quick dinner that the chef had prepared.
Cassidy was a no-show and she realized that she still hadn't met Mr. Moon.
She put the twins to sleep, both of them passing out quickly, then going back to her room, ready for an early night as she hadn't completely adjusted to the time difference.
It had been a long first day.
She moved to close the thick curtains, when, almost as if on cue, the small light in the opposing pool house window flickered to life, catching her attention and holding it, almost as if it was a guiding light in the otherwise darkening evening that she was starting to feel a bit lost in.
It looked cozy, probably more of a home than the mansion she was currently situated inside of.
Why was he living in there?
Was it by choice, or was that the spot he was confined to, like a disobedient dog to a dog house?
She was getting lost in thoughts until the light turned off.
He was gone, probably out for another night on the prowl.
Not that she cared.
...
She woke up in the middle of the night, her throat dry and her whole body aching for something liquid.
She got up, headed for the kitchen, fumbling in the dark hallway but as she didn't want to wake anybody up, she decided against turning on the light.
She had just made it into the kitchen when then she literally ran into something. Something tall.
She let out a sound, possibly reminiscent of someone getting punched in the stomach (she really didn't know, she had never been in a fight, at least not a physical one.)
It was him. Of course.
He was close, too close, she could smell his cologne along with his alcohol-spiked breath, and she noticed that he was swirling a little. So he was drunk, or at least fairly intoxicated. That made two nights in a row. Not that it was any of her business, but anyways.
"What are you doing in here?" She sounded upset, before she realized that he had as much of, or perhaps more, of a right to be there as she did.
"Thinking."
Oh. For some reason she hadn't expected that.
"You scared me."
"There's no reason to be scared of me. I'm likely only half as bad as Cassidy has told you. Probably twice as bad as the lame-ass guys that you're used to, though."
She didn't know what to answer, mostly because she suspected that that was the truth.
He was still standing too close to her, the air between them almost vibrating, and she knew that there was some type of physical attraction there, even though she didn't want to fully admit it.
"Well, thanks for not throwing yourself on top of me tonight."
He laughed, but it wasn't as carefree as the ones she had heard during the day.
"The next time that I'm in bed with you, it will be because you invited me."
Suddenly, he leaned in towards her, and her heart was beating fast, so so fast.
She had absolutely no idea of whether it was because she was nervous or because she was excited or because she wanted him to kiss her or because she did not want him to.
"Do yourself a favor and stay away from me." His voice was a loud whisper.
And with that, he turned around and exited.
She returned to her room, water glass in hand, her legs a bit shaky and her head once again spinning, almost as if she was the one who had been drinking a bit too much.
It took her a while to go back to sleep. Again.
She was bothered.
Bothered by the effect he had on her.
Bothered that she found him attractive.
Bothered that he intrigued her although she didn't like him.
But what really bothered her was the uncertainty of what she would have done if he had actually tried to kiss her. She wasn't completely sure of whether she would have kissed him back, or if she would have slapped him hard across the face.
She was hoping for the latter but leaning towards the former.
Yep.
She was bothered.
...
The alarm ripped her from her all but sweet dreams.
She looked around. She was alone in the room for once.
She got up and moved the heavy curtains out of the way, wanting to allow the morning light of what was sure to become yet another beautiful day into the too dark room.
The outside view was beautiful, and she once again lingered for a few minutes.
She he was about to turn around, ready to get dressed and start her day, when she saw something move in the corner of her eye.
Something that made her heart beat faster than anything else during her trip so far.
At first, she thought that her eyes were deceiving her, but she just so happened to know that she had perfect vision. Trish had made her take an eye exam a couple of months prior, during the time that her best friend had had a short-lived job at an optometrist office.
And that's how she knew that what she saw was not an hallucination but reality.
The reality of Cassidy sneaking out of the pool house in the very early morning hour, quickly making her way towards the main house.
And suddenly, she almost forgot how to breath.