Heartthrob ✓

seven

S E V E N

I WAS LET OFF SURPRISINGLY EASY.

Of course, I had never been framed before, so anything was a surprise to me in this case. Yes, because that's exactly what happened, I was framed. By none other than Meredith Marks, who I was specifically warned about by Elijah. The shock of the moment had passed and now, the only thing I could really feel was idiotic for not trusting the only friend I made here. Now that this was in effect, if the word came out and it became a scandal, I'd find it a lot more hard to make any new ones.

Thankfully, Ashton wasn't as mad as he could've been because I was right back at my desk and doing my job ― whatever that was. All I was really doing was twiddling my thumbs anxiously as I thought back to my conversation. He looked rather hot when he was truly upset, it was one of my least favorable thoughts, but I couldn't help but fixate on the fact. If I wasn't the one who angered him, I would've definitely wanted to see his face like that. It was just little things about him, like the way his jaw would clench up, his arms would cross over each other so I could see the muscles underneath his - snap out of it!

Ashton Baldwin was as dangerous of a person to develop a crush on if any. He was certainly handsome and quite the heartthrob if you asked me (and just about anyone else around here) but he was my boss as well. Not to mention how he seemed to be a player who seemed to have no regard for the aftershocks of certain things, especially if he could break up Emilie Standifer's marriage for the sake of the gala he was trying to plan. Then again, I was partly to blame for that whole fiasco and now according to the newspapers, there was a two million dollar divorce going on all because of my misunderstanding and Ashton's willingness to follow through in order to save his company.

Or maybe - and just maybe - he was doing it to save me from owning up to my mistake. Sometimes, I would think about it like that and it seemed right. He was a decent guy despite all of his pitfalls, especially when he was so intent on saving my job after I was set up by Meredith. It didn't change the facts of the matter, but it definitely made it a lot easier and guilt-free to think of him in ways that weren't exactly safe for work.

"White!" I heard as a palm slammed down on my desk, causing me to jerk up from my stupor and meet Nolan in the eyes - those dreamy, chocolate-brown eyes. It was a shame I knew what I knew about him, because he seemed like he could be someone less scandalous to think of than Ashton since he wasn't my direct supervisor. But I couldn't handle children, not for the life of me, no matter how old they were.

"Yes, Mr. Abernathy," I said, straightening out the papers on my desk and trying to play it cool. "Is there anything I can do for you, sir?"

"I heard about the spa thing," he said sheepishly, almost as if he thought I would hit him or something for bringing it up. "Are you sure you don't want to go to human resources or something about it? They'll be able to figure out who had framed you."

I shook my head. Because that was the thing, I didn't tell anyone that Meredith was involved in it at all. Call me stupid, but if I was being let off the hook, I wanted to swim as far away as possible before I got caught in it again. Meredith was trouble and I honestly just wanted to go back to the way things were when she had no clue who I was and did not see me as a threat.

"Better to forgive and forget, am I right?" I said. Wrong. I wished desperately for revenge, but I also needed to keep this job because I felt horrible for begging Bretton to give me money and Ashton paid me with enough money to be somewhat self-sufficient.

Nolan grinned and nodded before taking a step back, "that's the spirit."

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