Chapter 1

  Her name was Isabelle dela Vega and she was  nineteen years old. She was raised by her grandmother  when her mother passed away. She was four that time.  She didn’t have any idea how her  father looked like since he left her mother  when he discovered that she was pregnant with her. According to her grandmother, he was from Switzerland and  since he didn’t marry her mother, she was using her mother’s maiden name. Her father’s name was Mark Dury.  She was born and raised in a small town called Sta. Teresita. It wass in the northern side of the country. They had a   a simple life. Her grandma was a seamstress and they get their money for food and other expenses except her tuition fee from the money  her her grandma made from sewing. She had  been taught how to sew so she could help during her free time. Luckily, she was granted a scholarship and she was taking up a course in tourism. She wanted to be a flight attendant. It was her last year in college. She had been told that she was beautiful though she  never  used any cosmetics. A lot of men admired her but she didn’t want to have a boyfriend. She wanted to finish college. She had promised herself that she would give her grandmother a much better life once she graduated.

It was a Sunday and her friend Joyce invited her to a resort  nearby because according to her, she had been studying so hard and had been  helping her grandmother sew during her free time  that she had forgotten how to have fun and just chill. Now Joyce was eyeing because s she looked  uncomfortable  in a  swimsuit which she had given her.  Her friend insisted she wore  the swimwear instead of the  pair  of shorts and a sleeveless shirt  she usually  had on when swimming.  Though she didn't want to, she finally put the red swimsuit since she knew Joyce would never stop blabbering about it. She was old-fashioned unlike her friend who was liberated. She didn’t like the idea of men looking at her body. She and Joyce were polar opposites but they had been friends since high school. She was surprised that Joyce befriended her. She wasn’t rich like her and  their personalities were  really different. Joyce was bubbly and sociable while she was timid and a homebody. Her family liked her and was nice to  her too especially Joyce’s older brother Brett  who was her suitor. He was four years older than her. She told him she wasn’t ready to be in a relationship yet but he said that he was willing to wait. Brett was good-looking aside from the fact that he  came from a well-off family. He had his own business too which was buy and sell so she felt he was out of her league. Even if she became a flight attendant, she would never be a good match for him.  She was woken up from her deep thoughts when Joyce hit her  lightly on the shoulder.

 "Oh my! This is so unreal!" Her best friend exclaimed.

She just threw her a glance before getting her eyes back to the magazine in her hand which she was supposed to be reading.

"He is here! I thought he was still in the States but he is really here! "  Joyce added giddily.

She blew some air from her mouth to show her annoyance. Her friend was always like this when she  saw good-looking men but  not her. She didn't even bother to look who Joyce was talking about.  Joyce was always excited to talk about guys she liked but she wasn’t. Besides she wasn’t interested in men. She had to focus on her studies because that was her goal.      “This is a great surprise! I hadn’t  imagine seeing him here! I know that his family owns hotels and resorts in and outside of the country so I guess the rumors are true after all!  He is contemplating on   buying this resort." 

"Who are you talking about?" she asked after a sigh.

She was sure that she won’t stop  so she might as well pretend to be curious. She put down the magazine again and looked at where her friend’s eyes were.

"It's the elusive, immensely hot and extremely rich playboy, Luke Contrero!  The  man  one wearing a pair of blue board shorts and  has a mouth-watering six-pack!”  Joyce replied  as she stared at the subject of her interest.

 The man  was  probably twenty  yards from them. He was sitting on one of  the beach chairs. Beside him was another male  who was also  bare-chested and in a board shorts as well. Even this  far, obviously the man Joyce was talking about was way hotter because he was a lot hunkier.  She couldn't see his face because he was looking at the sea.

***

"We'll leave tonight. I’ve seen enough. I don't want to buy this place. We'll check the other resort tomorrow."  Luke  told his cousin Reed who was also his assistant.

"What's wrong with it?  This seems okay. There are a of guests and I’m sure there will be more once you developed it.  Sta.Teresita is  a good place to invest in."

Luke  took a sip of his sparkling water. He didn’t like alcohol. He only had it if he was with clients.  He was a health buff.  Some men have alcohol to release  stress but he'd rather have sex with beautiful women than slowly destroy his body with  booze when he had to blow off steam. He shrugged his shoulders.

"I made up my mind!  I don't like it! It doesn't have anything that catches my interest. It's   such a  dull place. I feel that  buying any property in this area is not worth my money and time."   He told Reed.

His bodyguard Luis was standing a few meters from them. He didn’t need one  because he could  defend himself but his mother insisted.   He agreed because he didn’t want to upset her since he knew that she only wanted him to be safe all the time. Good thing was, once  he went back to the US, he didn’t have to bring Luis. He frowned when he felt something. He couldn’t explain it but a certain kind of energy  wanted him to turn to his left.

Isabelle gasped when she saw the man’s face. Joyce was right. The man was super hot! Luke’s eyes narrowed when he realized what  made him look the other way. It was a woman but not just an ordinary female. She was breathtakingly beautiful.   She was a bit far from him but he felt a certain electricity between them. His board shorts  seemed to have become tighter at the front. His body was strongly reacting to the female. This was foreign to him and he didn’t know  if he  liked this urge or not.   He had to  be sure that she was not only beautiful this far. And he wanted  to know if the force which was drawing him  to her would  be even  greater once he saw her up close. 

"Where are you going?" asked Reed.

"I'll check if buying this resort is really worth it." he said while he walked  towards the woman who seemed to have bewitched him.

"Oh wow!! He's heading towards us!" exclaimed Joyce.

Isabelle didn't know whether to stay where she was or to run from the place. The  way the man  was looking  at her  was scary but at the same time gave  her a feeling  of excitement. Her heart was thumping as he came close to them. She almost caught her breath when he was  just a few  feet away from them. His body was really magnificent. He was totally hot and he looked...hungry? Hungry  for something else not for food.

              "Oh my! He  is eating you  with his eyes Issa..." Joyce said mesmerized as she saw  how Luke Contrero had his beautiful dark  eyes on her friend.