Walking into Aiden's home office this evening wasn't my plan, but after today's announcement from my professor that there will be an open book quiz tomorrow afternoon, I can't help but try to find something good to read.

Ash and Maya told me that the professor likes to throw questions we can hardly find the answers on our coursebook -- that's not fair. Maybe Aiden can lend me some good books on this topic, since he's a successful businessman himself.

I knock on the door, and Aiden's voice echoes, "Come in."

He's sitting behind his desk. He's still working but not in his office attire. Instead, he's wearing a simple black t-shirt.

He looks like he didn't expect to see me here.

"I'm sorry," I say rather reluctantly. "I don't want to disturb you. I'm just looking for a book."

Aiden gets up from his chair and approaches me. "What book are you looking for?"

"Business economics."

He walks toward one of the shelves, and I follow him.

"It's over here." He scans the titles of the books, shoving his hands into his pants pockets. "What do you want to study? Is it more about market demand? Cost analysis? Pricing strategy?"

I bite my lower lip, scanning the books too. "The last one." I find it hard to choose the options in front of me. "I need one that explains more about the case study."

Aiden nods and picks a book from the shelf without a second thought. "This one is pretty good. You can try this."

He hands me the book, and when I flip through the pages, my eyes widen in surprise. I can almost feel my jaw drop.

Holy shit. This one is complicated, much more than the examples I saw in my coursebook.

But then, my classmates said earlier that the professor loves to torture us with difficult case studies, so I can't say that I'm not interested to read this book.

Aiden seems to notice my lack of response. He glances at his wristwatch. "I'm still waiting for the overseas reports, so I have some time now if you want me to explain about the book."

I stare at him in disbelief. Would I skip the chance to get tutored by one of the most successful businessmen in the country? Hell no.

Now that I look into Aiden's eyes, I find myself hypnotized. Those amber eyes are so beautiful. The color is mesmerizing...

My inner voice quickly snaps me out of my thoughts. What the hell am I thinking about? I hate this kind of random thought in my mind.

Focus, Nevaeh. You have to focus.

"Well," I falter, grateful that he offers to teach me. "If you don't mind..."

We're here, sitting down in the living room with my laptop on the coffee table. The moment Aiden finishes summarizing the important points of the book in less than fifteen minutes, I only have one ultimate goal in my head.

Nail the quiz. I'll nail the quiz.

The excitement builds up inside me. It's wonderful to learn new things from Aiden. My family only focuses on the oil and gas industry, while Aiden has dived into other business segments. This is a new insight for me.

"How did you learn all of this?" I ask. Judging from his explanation, it's obvious that Aiden has mastered what he's talking about. "It must be from your own experience, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but my father taught me a lot," Aiden says while I listen intently. "He was there to experience the lowest point of the business. He always said that it gave him valuable lessons. In the end, he told me that he was lucky to experience it all."

There's no doubt that Aiden respects his dad so much. I can see it by the way he's talking about him. His dad is someone he looks up to.

"Have you always been passionate about it?" I ask, and that shifts Aiden's attention to me. "I mean, your family's business."

Aiden nods before jotting down another point on a piece of paper for me to memorize. "Yes, I have. I've always wanted to be a part of Klein Enterprise since I was young."

Another question pops up in my mind. "What about arts?"

This causes Aiden to freeze. He turns to look at me again.

"Everybody knows that you're a great artist."

I still remember hearing from the news that Aiden's paintings are worth a lot of money.

"Have you ever been torn between two different paths?" I ask. "Have you ever thought of pursuing an art career?"

Aiden's silence makes me think that I might have asked something too personal. I start to feel horrible, but then he just shrugs, returning his eyes to the book.

"Painting is too significant to me that I never want it to be a job or profession," he says.

I nod, understanding what he means. I'm relieved to hear that.

Even though Ashton's sad expression in Aiden's art room made me assume something else, it turns out that my assumption was wrong. Painting is still Aiden's comfort thing.

Aiden will never quit painting.

"What about you?" Aiden leans back against the sofa, watching me. "Have you decided about your future?"

I need a few seconds to answer his question.

"I don't know," I say truthfully, in a small voice. "I just knew that I wanted to take my major, and I want to get more experience here."

Aiden must have known how eager I am to continue my study here. I even have to lie to my parents about everything, about the incident. Guilt begins to sip through me again.

"You don't have to feel uncomfortable being in this house," Aiden says, as though he can sense my uneasiness. "As I said, what happened was my responsibility."

I shake my head. "It's just..." A sigh leaves my lips. "My parents. I feel that I've done something terrible. If only Dad weren't so overprotective, I wouldn't have to lie to them."

Sadness is evident in my voice. I love them so much, it hurts to lie to them.

"Can't blame him," Aiden says, and I look at him with a questioning look. A small smile forms on the corner of his lips. "My father and I would have done the same to Luna."

Right. Aiden has a younger sister that he loves so much. I've heard from Max that Aiden is quite protective of Luna. It has even given Max a hard time.

"Your father doesn't have to worry," Aiden says. "You're safe here, under my protection."

Somehow, Aiden's words indeed ease my worry. I appreciate his effort to assure me that everything will be alright.

"How protective is your father?" Curiosity is laced in his voice.

"Very." I huff. "Back there in Texas, he used to assign his driver to drop me off wherever I wanted to go so that he could track where I was and with whom I was hanging out. He got paranoid easily. I don't even know where he got all those creative imaginations." I chuckle lightly. "He doesn't even let me talk to boys."

"You can't talk to boys?" Aiden raises his eyebrows, sounding interested.

"Yeah. Like now, in college, he doesn't want me near any boys. That's like...impossible, right?" I shake my head in disbelief.

"Yeah," Aiden murmurs after a while. His voice is barely a whisper that I almost can't hear it. "Boys are going to try to talk to you, anyway."

I turn my head toward him, and that seems to snap him out of his daze. He returns his attention to the book, clearing his throat.

Aiden's words pique my curiosity. I usually talk about this with Sienna, but I want to hear another opinion.

"So, should I not think too much about that rule?" I ask. "I can talk to anyone, can't I? I think my Dad is just being paranoid."

"Of course, you can talk to boys," Aiden says without shifting his eyes from the book, flipping through the pages again. "Just bring them to me after that."

Silence falls.

Aiden's statement makes me stunned. Suddenly, there's something wrong with the air temperature, and my cheeks heat up.

Aiden finally looks up at me. "That's what I said to Luna."

My quickened pulse instantly slows down. Why the hell am I feeling tense?

Amusement crosses Aiden's face, and it's new for me to witness this expression on him. He chuckles lightly, just like he did when he found my reaction to his being shirtless in the morning.

"You see, Nevaeh," he pauses, and I'm afraid that he notices the blush on my face.

I'm starting to wonder if he's teasing me. And damn, it does affect me this much.

"I think I know why you have to stay away from boys."