A/N: S. Meyer owns everything Twilight.

Summary: Bella gets a job as a housekeeper, and at first her biggest worry is that she won't be able to find her way through the huge mansion. She should, however, have been worrying about the fact that her employer, Edward Cullen, is everything she had ever wanted in a man. Except for the fact that he is married to Tanya Cullen, of course. Can Edward and Bella resist the powerful attraction between them? And if they can't, will the wife find out?

High Maintenance

Prologue.

"I can't do this…" he breathed, but his actions betrayed his words as he held me closer, running his lips against my jaw.

My heart was pounding erratically in my chest and my breathing grew heavier by the second. I slipped my fingers into his hair, locking him to me. If he let go now, I would break down. After all this time, we had finally gotten here, and I knew that I couldn't back away now. I just hoped that he wouldn't…

"Yes, you can." I didn't even contemplate the fact that I was trying to seduce a married man, I didn't think of the consequences my actions would have. I just knew that my need for him was too strong to resist anymore.

"This is wrong, we shouldn't be doing this." I could barely hear him, his lips were at my neck now, and the feeling that coursed through me made my head spin. I wanted him, I needed him, right now.

"Don't think…" I whispered, and his lips found mine as his arms held me almost painfully close. I knew that his need was as strong as mine in that moment, and my heart sang as we both gave in to the desire we had been suppressing for too long.

Chapter one.

"It'll be fine, Bella, you'll do great, I'm sure of it." Alice said as I stepped out of the car. "Just remember that Mrs. Cullen is a bitch, so don't let her get to you when you meet her."

I sighed. "Remind me again why I'm doing this, Alice?"

"Because you need the money, there aren't any other jobs out there and I was really lucky to get you this one."

"I nodded, I knew she was right. I had been looking for a job forever but there just weren't any jobs to be found right now. When Alice had told me that she'd managed to talk her boss, Tanya Cullen, into letting me replace their housekeeper, Mrs. Cope, who was retiring, I'd panicked.

I was a newly graduated student, and I doubted that my degree in English literature would come in hand when I tried to figure out whether to machine wash or hand wash Mrs. Cullen's fancy cocktail dresses.

But I had no choice. It was June, school had ended and I needed a way to pay the rent during the summer before Alice and I moved and I started my internship at a publishing firm in New York. The money I had inherited when my parents past away had been used to pay my college tuition, and since the local sporting goods store where I had worked previous years had been forced to close, I had no other way to get the money I needed.

So here I was, about to start my summer job in the ridiculously huge mansion belonging to Mr. and Mrs. Cullen. Tanya Cullen owned a successful clothing store in town, and Alice had worked for her for about a month. She was a beautiful, terrifying woman in her mid thirties, and I had heard enough horror stories from Alice to know that Tanya was not a woman you ever wanted to cross. She would shred you to pieces with her impeccably manicured fingers without thinking twice about it. But as long as you showed her respect and did as you were told, you'd be safe, Alice had reassured me.

Mr. Cullen was apparently a very influential man, he worked as a lawyer and from what I had heard, he was the best there was.

To say that I was intimidated by this power couple would be an understatement. I was surprised that Mrs. Cullen would allow someone with absolutely no experience to come and work for her, but apparently Alice had made such a great impression on her during the short amount of time she'd worked there, and she had convinced Mrs. Cullen that she would not be disappointed if she gave me a chance. It was just for the summer, and then they would hire someone new as I started my internship.

I was grateful for the job, but sick to my stomach with nerves.

"Go on now, Bella. Just be you and everything will be alright." Alice smiled.

"Thanks, Alice, I'll see you at home tonight." I closed the car door and watched as my best friend drove off.

Alice had told me that Tanya wouldn't be home all day. They had a staff meeting later on, so I would be shown around by Mrs. Cope, who was working her last day.

I walked up the path leading to the white mansion, admiring the beautiful garden. If the house was big, it was nothing compared to the garden. Huge, perfectly mown lawns stretched on and on, on both sides of the house and I guessed that the backside was even bigger.

They must have at least 4 gardeners to look after this place. I thought as my eyes swept over the place, noticing how all the trees and bushes looked like they had been trimmed with a ruler. It was insane how straight all the edges were.

I reached the porch, which I guessed ran around the entire house. There were a comfortable looking sofa and matching chairs to my right. I imagined that Mr. and Mrs. Cullen would spend their afternoons on this porch, enjoying the evening sun.

Taking a steadying breath, I rang the doorbell and waited.

A few seconds later, the door opened and I was greeted by an old, friendly looking woman. I realized that it must be Mrs. Cope.

"Miss Swan, I presume?" she smiled, and held the door opened for me to enter.

"Yes" I answered, stepping inside and holding out a hand to her. She took it and I could feel the rough skin of her fingers, no doubt from years and years working as a housekeeper. "And you must be Mrs. Cope?" I returned her warm smile.

"Yes, but please call me Evelyn, dear." she released my hand and closed the door behind us. The cool air inside the house was a welcome change from the blazing June sun outside.

I was dressed in a dark blue skirt that I hoped was long enough to be appropriate, and a pale pink top. Alice had told me that I would be provided with clothes on arrival, and I saw that Mrs. Cope was wearing a white short sleeved blouse and a black skirt. I guessed I would get the same uniform.

"It's a beautiful house" I said, looking around. Someone with excellent taste had obviously decorated the extravagant home. From where I stood by the door, I could see a living room with swirling staircase in the other end of the hallway.

"Oh yes" Mrs. Cope began, starting down the hall, we walked past to closed doors on either side and then turned left into a luxurious dining room as she spoke, "Mr. Cullen's mother works as an interior designer, she and Mrs. Cullen spend several months turning this place into what it is today. There are two floors, on the second one there are two guest bedrooms, a library, the master bedroom and Mr. Cullen's office."

"Does he work from home?" I asked, suddenly nervous again. Mrs. Copes' friendly manner had calmed my nerves some, but now I was anxious again. I didn't really feel comfortable doing a job I had no idea how to do while someone was watching my every step. What if I messed up?

"He's here most days, but he hardly ever leaves his office during the day. You'll probably not even see him except at lunchtime." she said as we walked through the dining room and into another corridor. It kind of felt like a maze, I desperately hoped that I wouldn't get lost…

"That reminds me," she continued, "Mr. Cullen has his lunch at 12:00 sharp, if he is working at home."

Oh shit, I thought. Cooking? Alice hadn't said anything about that! I could cook, of course, but I wasn't sure if it would be good enough for someone like Mr. Cullen.

Mrs. Cope saw my panicked expression, she smiled reassuringly at me. "He's not picky when it comes to food, just make sure it's ready when he asks for it."

I would have thought that someone who had their trees trimmed with a ruler would be fussy about what he ate, but I guess that wasn't the case with Mr. Cullen.

Mrs. Cope led me down the corridor and showed me the room where I would store my things and change into my work clothes. There was also a small kitchen area and a sofa with a flat screen TV and adjoining bathroom.

Wow, I thought, this room was almost bigger than Alice's and my apartment. That's… strange.

We continued our tour through the house, and Mrs. Cope talked me through everything I would need to know. I tried to remember everything she said, while wondering how I would ever be able to find my way out of here without a map and a compass.

We reached the second floor after climbing the beautiful staircase in the grand living room, and Mrs. Cope pointed out the rooms as we went. Mr. Cullen's office was at the end of the hall, the door closed.

"Is Mr. Cullen at home?" I asked, and Mrs. Cope nodded.

"He is, and it is very important that you do not, under any circumstances, disturb him if his door is closed, it means that you should consider him to not be there at all." she had a very serious expression as she explained, "Mr. Cullen is a very busy and very private man, he doesn't want anyone in his room unless he says so. You will only be cleaning in there when he asks you to."

If I had been intimidated before, it was nothing compared to now. I didn't know much about Mr. Cullen, Alice had said that she believed that he was in his early forties, but she had never seen him.

Apparently, he never visited his wife at work.

"What's this room?" I asked, wanting to distract myself. It was a bit scary, working for two people like Mr. and Mrs. Cullen, especially when one of them would be home almost all the time.

"Ah." Mrs. Cope said when she saw the closed door I was referring to. She had already shown me the guestrooms, master bedroom, the office and the hallway leading to the library, so I didn't know what this last door went to.

Mrs. Cope signaled for me to follow her back to the stairs, away from Mr. Cullen's office. She turned to face me when we were out of hearing distance from the door.

"That was supposed to be the nursery" she explained, her voice low. "Mr. and Mrs. Cullen were trying to get pregnant for a year when they first moved here, but eventually they found out that Mrs. Cullen can't have children." she shook her head in a sad manner, "It was a hard blow for the both of them, and I don't think Mrs. Cullen ever really got over it. They haven't been the same since, and I advice you to not mention anything that could upset her, that's why I'm telling you this. Mrs. Cullen can be difficult if you don't know how to handle her."

I swallowed hard, once again doubting if I should really do this.

Mrs. Cope noticed my hesitation. "Don't worry, Miss Swan, as long as you treat her with respect, she'll do the same to you." she said, repeating what Alice had told me before.

An hour later, I said goodbye to Mrs. Cope at the door. She would be back the next day since Mr. and Mrs. Cullen wanted to do something special for her after all the years she had worked for them.

I felt fairly confident now, Mrs. Cope had been very patient with me and shown me exactly what needed to be done.

It was now 12:10, so I figured that I should start with the food. Mrs. Cope had suggested chicken for today, and she'd already put some out to defrost. I got to work on that, deciding to cook my signature dish of chicken curry and pasta.

I wanted to be sure that lunch was finished at exactly 13:00 as Mrs. Cope had ordered, so I worked quickly, meanwhile wondering what it would be like meeting Mr. Cullen. I hoped that he would be less intimidating than what Alice had told me about Tanya, but what Mrs. Cope had said hadn't really put my worries at ease.

I turned on the radio, wanting some music while I cooked. I always worked better with music around me, and I was pleased when I heard the familiar tune of Kings of Leon's 'Sex on Fire' playing.

Apparently I was a bit quicker that necessary, it was still 20 minutes until I had to finished, so while the pasta was boiling I took the opportunity to dance around a bit, at the same time opening drawers and cupboards to familiarize myself with the kitchen.

I was so absorbed in my dancing and the music that I didn't notice the man standing behind me until I slammed right in to him.

Large hands grasped my shoulders before I could fall down, and I let out a surprised shriek as I tried to regain my balance.

Then I looked up, still breathless, into a pair of piercing green eyes, set in the most beautiful face I had ever seen in my entire life.

Strong, squared jaw, sculptured cheekbones, straight nose and a glorious mess of bronze hair filled my vision. The man looked like a Greek god, or like every fantasy I had ever had personified.

Gorgeous…

His lips were turned up in an amused, crooked smile as he stared down on me.

"Hello there" the man said in a wonderful, velvet voice, "and who might you be?"

First of all, to all of you who are waiting for the epilogue to Binary Star: It's coming! I promise, I have just suffered from a bad case of writersblock (which disappeared as soon as I thought of this story)

It'll be a short story, but intense! I spent the entire day lying by the pool writing this, and got quite a tan, haha.

Reviews are like Robert Pattinson with a stubble.. Aaahh... (girls, you know what I mean..)