I flipped the pancakes over, admiring their perfect golden color. My mouth watered just looking at them.

It was 4:30 AM, and the house was completely quiet. I like to wake up early and cook, something Ella never let me do, and would probably be even more strict about now that the big scary boss was back.

I was a pretty good cook, if I did say so myself. It wasn't something I particularly enjoyed, but being told not to do it made it seem much more attractive. It made me feel so rebellious.

I heard a door creak, and I felt my heart speed up suddenly. Who would be awake at this hour? The housekeepers and the maids only came at 6. What if it was a robber?

I grabbed the plastic knife I was using to spread the nutella and held it in front of me. Like hell was I letting some robber kill me.

The kitchen door started to open, and I decided to charge them, but in my haste I slipped on some spilled pancake batter, landing flat on my ass, the knife sliding to the feet of the perpetrator.

I followed the bare feet up until my eyes landed on a pair of dark brown ones.

I felt my face flame up in embarrassment at how I must look, covered in pancake batter and on the floor.

I bet I was making some great first impressions.

Tobias looked around the kitchen for a moment, then his eyes landed on me. I held his eye contact, but before I could say anything to explain myself, he turned around and left, closing the door behind him.

He really must think I was mentally handicapped. Not that I cared what he thought of me.

I got up painfully, anticipating a bruise on my butt by tonight. Oh well. It's not like anyone would see it.

I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, waiting for my heartbeat to slow down before I started cleaning up the mess I made.

A second later, the fire alarm went off, the overhead showers shooting out a cold spray that soaked me instantly.

I jumped up, looking for the cause, and mentally smacking myself when I realized that I had left the pancakes and the eggs on the stove with the fire on. How did I not smell that?

"What the hell is going on?" a deep, masculine voice yelled. "Turn that off before the firemen come."

That's what I'm trying to do, I thought with chagrin.

I realized the only way to turn off the alarm was to actually switch it off from the moniter on the ceiling.

After some climbing, I managed to turn off the console with no help from Mr. Six-Foot-Something, who just stood there watching me.

"Thanks for all the help," I muttered quietly, wanting him to both not hear me and hear me at the same time.

"It wasn't my problem to fix."

"Wow, he speaks," my voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Do you want something from me?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but he interrupted me before I could say anything.

"I don't have time for this. I'm busy, ok?"

I hated the way he spoke to me like I was mentally incompetent, so I did what he'd been doing to me since he got back. I ignored him.

I thought that it would frustrate him as much as it frustrated me, but I was proven wrong when he walked away contently.

Asshole.

I cleaned up the kitchen as best as I could, mopping up the now wet floor and washing all the dishes I'd dirtied.

I was done around an hour later, and by then I was exhausted, so I decided to go back to sleep.

On my way up to my bedroom, I caught a glimpse of the exercise room, where Tobias was currently shirtless on the treadmill.

He had his earphones in and his eyebrows were furrowed, his face in his everlasting serious look.

Even though he was a jerk, I had to admit that he was pretty attractive.

Well, that was putting it mildly. He was male-model level attractive. The type of guy who would grace the cover of GQ and not look out of place.

His washboard abs were perfectly defined, and he was a lot more buff than I initially thought. His long, lean build was graceful in the manliest way.

I walked away quickly before he could notice that I was staring at him.

Back in my room, I took a quick shower to get all the batter out of my hair and jumped into bed.

I had a hard time falling asleep. The annoyance I felt at my first real interaction with Tobias was consuming me, and all the good comebacks that I could've said were just coming to me now.

Just as I was about to fall asleep, there was a knock on the door, which I decided to ignore.

They knocked again.

If they open that door I swear–

The door swung open.

A young, very pretty woman walked in. I had never seen her before and had no idea who she even was.

"Can I help you?" I stifled my groan.

"Toby wanted me to tell you that you're having lunch with his parents today and to be ready by 12:00."

Toby?

"Um... who are you?"

She laughed melodically and stepped into my room, closing the door behind her.

"My name is Penelope Jones. I'm Toby's personal assistant."

"Oh, I see. Well could you tell Toby that I'm actually busy today and that next time he should tell me in advance so I can clear up my schedule."

She laughed at me. "Just be ready by 12. No need to pretend to be assertive."

What the hell did that mean?

She left the room before I could say anything back.

"No need to pretend to be assertive," I mimicked in a high, barbie doll voice.

I glanced at the clock, my heart dropping when I saw that I only had 15 minutes to get ready. I threw on a strappy sundress and heels but skipped on the makeup, leaving my long dark hair down, the ends tickling my bare back.

I grabbed my phone and purse and was downstairs to find Tobias walking out of the kitchen in his sweatpants and a t-shirt, not even dressed.

Was he kidding me?