Aaron knew he'd messed up when Keeley slapped him and stormed off. She looked angry, but more than that, she looked scared, and it devastated him. Why? Why had things gone so wrong this time? He thought she was already in love with him! He hadn't intended to scare her.

Even though she wasn't wearing the presents he'd bought her, she still looked like an angel in her cheap pink dress and loose curls. No sane man could resist kissing the woman he loved in that situation.

Lately, he wondered if he was sane, or if he was losing his mind over her. Keeley's resistance was maddening. She was supposed to come to him; she always had before.

He remembered how he'd first noticed her. He'd been at a basketball game because the son of one of his father's business contacts was the captain, and his father wanted them to maintain a good relationship. Aaron didn't care about basketball, but orders were orders. Defying his father wasn't in his best interest.

He went to get concessions during halftime and briefly made eye contact with her. She blushed and looked away—a common female reaction—then hurried into the crowd. He wouldn't have thought anything of it if they hadn't been seated next to each other in literature class a few weeks later.

"Your last name is Hale?" she asked, smiling broadly. "Mine is Hall; we're only one letter off. What a small world."

A small world indeed. His world felt painfully small. Everyone he knew wanted something from him, or vice versa. It was oddly refreshing that she didn't know who he was.

Keeley treated him like a normal classmate, not someone to be feared. Every day she greeted him with a warm smile, and when he ran out of lead for his mechanical pencil during a quiz, she gave him some of hers before he even had a chance to look for more. He wouldn't have finished the quiz on time without her. How had she known he needed it so quickly?

[The sentence about the website is inappropriate and has been removed.]

After that, he paid more attention to the girl sitting next to him. She had an expressive face and sparkling eyes that often lingered on him when she thought he wasn't looking. Other people fawned over him, but Keeley offered him gum, mints, or half her candy bar out of genuine kindness. He could see it in her smile. She didn't have much, but she wanted to share with someone she liked.

"Hey Aaron, want to try this new hot dog stand with me?"

"Aaron, let's go see the new superhero movie!"

"I made cookies last night, do you want some?"

"Let's study together for the test!"

"Have you finished your paper yet? I'm only halfway through because I'm having a hard time finding enough character evidence…"

"Aaron! Let's sit next to each other on the field trip bus."

Keeley always approached him with such enthusiasm. It wasn't fake. She wanted to be around him, not the heir to Hale Investments.

He secretly observed her interactions with others. She treated him the same way she treated her friends, which was pleasing. Once his suspicions about her motives were allayed, he stopped brushing her off so often.

She never asked him to buy her things, unlike other girls he knew who expected it because of his family's wealth. When they went out, she insisted on paying her own way. She never complained about his schedule, expected anything from him, or pressured him. Keeley was just happy to be with him.

He wished he hadn't taken that for granted. Back then, it seemed so natural that she followed him around.

Her friends, like most people, were afraid of him, so Aaron preferred that they spend time with his group once they became close. This was the biggest mistake of his life, because it's how Keeley ended up on Lacy Knighton's radar.

Even though she didn't belong in his world, she tried to create a space for herself there because she wanted to be with him. In doing so, she endured torment from snobbish socialites who thought she wasn't good enough.

Aaron didn't want her to suffer, so he tried to teach Keeley everything she needed to know about high society.

Dancing with her that night triggered a flood of memories. He remembered how hard she'd practiced for a charity gala where he had to appear as the new Vice President of Hale Investments. She danced beautifully, but he couldn't compliment her because his father was watching. In his father's opinion, Keeley's efforts were barely adequate and not worth praising.

They'd already gone against his approval by getting married. That's when everything went downhill.

So how could he not kiss her when she danced with him this time?

He angrily loosened his burgundy tie. Keeley had been avoiding him. He wasn't stupid; nobody changes their habits without a reason, and it started right after he joined her friends for lunch and took her "home."

Clever girl, trying to throw him off. Too bad he already knew where she lived from when they were dating.

"Aaron, what's wrong with you? Why did you kiss that cheap girl?" Lacy demanded angrily, storming up to him.

Her angry expression didn't suit her. Otherwise, she would have been quite beautiful, with her raven hair and sea-green eyes. But Aaron Hale had never been an average man. He'd been surrounded by beauty since childhood, to the point where it barely affected him.

Only Keeley could elicit a reaction from him. Her beauty was innate. She would always outshine the Lacy Knightons of the world in his eyes.

"Watch your mouth, she isn't cheap," Aaron said sharply, his voice chilling.

"That's the girl you had lunch with, isn't it?" Lacy pouted, clinging to his arm.

"What's so special about her anyway? She's poor! Don't you know her school is paid for by a family trust, but she's actually penniless? She's no better than a scholarship student! She lives in a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and her father works in construction!"

He shrugged her off. "So?"

Lacy stared at him, speechless. She had no retort to such a simple argument. Aaron did what he wanted, and she knew it. Nothing she or anyone else could do would change his mind once it was made up.

"It's none of your business what I do," he said coldly. "You should remember that."

It was times like these he craved a drink, but he wasn't twenty-one yet. How annoying.