Chapter 1

"Oh my god! My feet hurt. Why didn't you tell me you live so far from civilization, Derek?" I whined. "Are we there yet?" I didn't want to sound like a complaining four year old, but all this walking had me acting like a ditz.

If he wasn't that good looking, I would have bashed his head in for not giving me a heads up. There was no need for me to complain. The guy just offered me a roof over my head and the least I could do was to be grateful, but being the idiot I was, in turn acted like an ungracious misfit. Yeah, very cool Reagan. But I couldn't help it.

For some reason, he failed to mention that his house was a long way from the bus stop. Why did he opted not tell me? That, I had no idea. Half of the time we were walking, I was waiting for the moment that he would pounce at me or worst, kill me in cold blood. Neither of it happened. Maybe it was just my imagination running wild, or it was just human instinct taking over for meeting a stranger. A hot stranger I might add.

I glanced at him. He didn't look tired nor breathing hard from all that walkathon. It was as though walking half a mile on foot was easy just like brushing your teeth or combing your hair.

All of sudden, he stopped walking and stood in front of a massive iron gate with a DJK initials in the middle. "We're here." He said and turned to look at me.

Oh my lord. The gate was so huge. "Um Dee, the gate looks humongous." I gulped as I roved my eyes at the massive iron structure in front me.

He smiled, quite amused with the new nickname I gave him. "Dee?"

"Uh... haha... s-short for Derek." I stammered. Oh geez.

He seemed to sense my uneasiness, so he took a few steps towards me and smiled as he put a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, it's alright. I like the sound of Dee," he said. "It's quite refreshing than saying my full name."

I released a gust of air that I didn't noticed holding in. Good that he didn't find it freaky. "Cool then."

He laughed and dropped his hand to the sides then turned around. He walked to the iron gates and pushed it to open. He nudged his head. "Go on in."

I did as I was told and got in. He followed suit and we both fell into step as we walked along the long driveway.

There were trees lining up on the sides with its leaves and branches arching to meet the other. Every two feet was a lamp post, lighting the path for visibility. I had a feeling that this Derek dude was rich. Filthy rich. The driveway alone was a dead giveaway.

As we reached the end of the path, my jaw literally dropped to the ground. No freaking way!

The house was huge. It was made of red bricks and there were four pillars by the front door, inspired by the classicist. The windows were indeed large, and there were lights on each window, which cast an enthralling feel to the house. At the beginning of the courtyard were two brick columns on each end, marking as an entrance to the house. In front of the column were some beautifully manicured hedges. One word could only describe the mansion: lavish.

"You live here?" I asked in awe.

He chuckled. "As a matter of fact, I do. Let's go inside. I'll give you a grand tour."

I could only nod.

Damn.

This was going to be one heck of a tour.

********************************

I was shocked to say that the mansion had 15 bedrooms, a kick ass living room, fully equipped with the latest game consoles and technology that any teenage brat could think of, a swimming pool, a gym, a pool room, a garage filled with top of the line sport cars, the list goes on. It was like a freaking hotel complete with its amenities! Let's not forget about the kitchen. It looked like the ones you see on a restaurant.

Not only that.

He owned a whisk.

Who in a right mind would own that kind of cooking utensil in a guy's mansion anyway? A chef perhaps, but Derek? So out of character - or maybe I was just stereotyping.

"Here we are." He said, breaking me out of my internal rambling.

I blinked, looking sheepish as I turned to look at him. "Um, sorry." I apologized. "Your mansion is beautiful, Derek. I don't want to be rude, but what do you do for a living, anyway? Since you could afford this massive house?" I asked.

He stiffened. Uh, did I struck a nerve?

His strong jaw clenched as his eyes became guarded, his dark blue orbs turned darker. I guess I prodded to much. Maybe he didn't want me to know he was involved in some shady business. Or maybe, this was the moment where he would say, 'I could tell you but then I would have to kill you'.

I held up my hand, palm facing forward. "I'm sorry! It's none of business anyway, so you don't need to answer it." I said hastily. God, he might think I'm some snoopy teenager.

He shook his head. He seemed to relax a bit as he spoke. "No, its alright. I have businesses in several countries." He said and shrugged. Way to be vague, dude.

I nodded hesitantly. "Okay..."

"This will be your room." He said.

I looked at the closed door he was indicating and nodded. He opened the door and once again, my jaw dropped.

I know. My jaw seemed to be dropping every time I saw something awe inducing and incredible.

The room was a mixture of black and pink. Not the Pepto Bismol pink, but the soft tone pink that wasn't painful to the eye. The walls were a pale pink. The furniture was black and the chairs had a zebra print cushion. There was a black desk near the window with two lampshades on both ends. A flat screen TV was mounted on the wall adjacent to the huge pink sofa bed filled with pillows which looked so soft to hug and touch.

I could live with this.

I stepped inside to get the feel of the room. I walked to the bed and trailed my hand on the duvet and it was not rough. It was smooth and feathery.

"I don't know if you like this room, but there are others---" I stopped him mid way.

"No, no! This is a cool room. It's no problem." I said. He was already generous in giving me a room that every girl could ever dream of.

He looked at me skeptically, "Are you sure?"

I nodded. "I'm sure."

"Um, I guess I let you be to get settled. If you need anything, my bedroom is three doors down to the right. We will talk in the morning." He said as he started backing away towards the door.

"Yeah sure. See you in the morning."

He nodded. He opened the door but before he left the room, I called for him.

"Derek?"

He turned around and smiled. "Yes, Reagan?" His smile was definitely making me melt on the spot.

"Thank you."

"No problem. Sweet dreams." And with that he left the room.

Oh, yeah. I would be getting sweet dreams, alright.

And I was pretty sure Derek would be in it.

I groaned and jumped in the bed, blushing a beet root.

Great.

********************************

A month later

It has been a month and let me tell you, I could never get used to living like this.

The luxury Derek provided was mind blowing and I had to pinch myself to check if I was dreaming. But I wasn't. This was real.

Derek made sure that my education was never left out of the equation. He asked me if I wanted to go back to school but I didn't had the heart, nor the face to go back. The pain was still there and it would take more than a band-aid to fix me up.

But band-aids were not meant to mend a broken heart, so screw that thought.

The day I met Derek, he decided that I should be home schooled for awhile, so he hired the best tutors across the state. When he said the best, he really hired the best. Derek was really generous. Way generous for a guy who helped someone he barely knew, and I asked why. As an answer, he just shrugged and gave me a toothy smile. How weird was that?

Sometimes, if he wasn't busy, he would sit down and taught me things that no teacher had ever passed on in the four corners of the academy. I thought, for a 21 year old, he sure was smart and knew what he was talking about.

"Reagan, what is the Spanish term for death?" he asked. He was eyeing me like a drill sergeant.

It was Saturday. I didn't know why he opted for us to have language studies where we should be lounging by the pool or something. But instead, we were congregating at the library. Having a class.

I groaned. What was that again? Muerta? Muerde? Moody?

I groaned again. Moody wasn't even a Spanish word.

"Reagan?" He asked again, quirking his eyebrows. "It has been a month. You should know this."

I shot him an annoyed look. "So? It's not like I would get everything. Sorry for having a brain the size of a peanut." I huffed and looked away.

He sighed. "Come on. Think hard."

I racked my brain for answers. What was that freaking word? I started though I was sure it was wrong. At least I tried. "Muertow?"

He frowned. "Reagan, it's muerte."

I brandished my hands up in the air frustrated. "Why am I studying this anyway? Does studying different languages get me through life?"

He sighed, shaking his head. Here we go. "Extra knowledge doesn't hurt Reagan. It will get you through with life and it's a plus point to your credentials."

I scoffed. "Yeah right. Credentials my ass."

He glared. "Language, young lady."

Oops.

I sighed and leaned my head on the desk. "Ugh. Can we just do something else? All this studying is making my head spin." It was the truth. My head was literally spinning, spiraling out of control from all this intense knowledge jammed into my brain. I felt already sorry for my Medulla Oblangata.

"Fine." He grunted and I looked up, grinning like a fool. "But," he added.

"Aww Derek. No buts, please." I whined.

He chuckled. "You need a lot of catching up to do with your Spanish, but I will give a day of free reign in doing whatever you want. As long as you study after that. Deal?"

I grinned. Finally! I could use some downtime right about now. I nodded. "Deal."

"Now go. Do whatever you like to do or something." He said.

I stood up and ran to the door. "Thank you!" I yelled over my shoulder.

He chuckled. "You're welcome, little one. Have fun!"

And with that, I went straight to my room to put on a bikini and headed for the swimming pool.

I wonder how long would I last with being home schooled.

One things for sure, I wasn't ready yet to go back.