Michael sighed. In his head, the pictures of their time when they were in the Uni appeared, as same as in Jacqueline's mind.

The university time had been an important part of their lives. Michael Mackenzie was a very popular star of the university with his handsome elegant appearance and social status. Everything that made up this man was so perfect that it was unbelievable.

The man had never walked alone without a beautiful female by his side. Jacqueline at that time always wondered how he managed his schedule with all the women tried to catch his attention.

His handsome, charismatic sex appeal made Michael Mackenzie never free from having "dating".

Their families had known each other from business and later, they had become close friends. Giving Jacqueline the opportunity to meet Michael at various parties since she was thirteen. The young Michael was into parties and campus activities, but lazy at studying. The young Jacqueline was a bookworm so they ended up studying in the same class at the university.

His mother then asked Jacqueline to help to tutor Michael sometimes. At first, she did not want to do it because she was secretly feeling uncomfortable when being close to him. But Jacqueline had to do it in the end because his mother was so nice to her.

That made him and her being friends ever since. So Jacqueline was Michael's close friend and private tutor, making many girls jealous of her at that time. Because she was the only woman who was seeing him most often, almost every day included weekends when he had to pick her up to his house for studying or he came to her house to do it when he felt want to change the atmosphere.

He dated a lot of women, but the only woman who had never come across his mind as a woman for dating was Jacqueline. She believed he put her in a different corner of his mind as his close friend, only.

"Do you remember Hunt?"

He asked her, pulling Jacqueline's mind back to the present time.

"Yes. I do. He was one of your friends. Why?"

She remembered the man with glasses who was very friendly to her. He was in Michael's gang. But one day she had heard Michael stopped being friends with him. That was when they were in the senior year.

"He liked you. He asked me if he could date you or not. So I said no."

Michael remembered that day. He had an argument with Hunt. The man was stubborn and kept telling him how much he liked Jacqueline. She was close to him and was his tutor. So, Hunt was thinking that Michael could be his golden bridge to the pretty blonde hair woman who nobody could date.

It was Michael who stopped every man to date her. He was overprotective when it came to Jacqueline. His mother had ordered him to do so. She was fond of Jacqueline and asked him to look after the young pretty lady which Michael did not mind to follow his mother's request. She was his close friend so he was willing to take care of her for sure to show his gratitude for her kindness about teaching him Maths.

Jacqueline raised her eyebrow up in a surprise gesture. She had no idea if a man had to ask Michael if he wanted to date her.

"Really? Why was that? I didn't have a clue he liked me."

Jacqueline mumbled. Michael turned to look at her face. Their bodies are warm and he was touching her hand softy. She was still slim after all these years. It could be because of her outdoor activities did her good, or it could be her genes.

"That time I didn't know the real reason why I had to protect you from every man. I was thinking you were so young and innocent. I didn't want you to get into trouble with men. I felt as if it was my responsibility to take care of you. And that was the reason I told myself. Another reason I used for supporting my behavior was that I had to follow my mother's request."

He told her. She looked at him and blinked. To Michael, he always felt like she was the same girl when she was eighteen.

Jacqueline did not know what to say. At the university. She hardly had male friends. But she did have one friend who was not in Michael's gang. His name was Ken.

"So, first time, when Hunt told me he wanted to ask you out. I said...No, I didn't allow him. He wasn't happy about it but I did not care as I was so arrogant as you know me. The second time, he went to you, did he?"

He turned to asked and Michael could not help himself to sniff on her soft hair. She smelled so good, the way he always remembered. Jacqueline blushed for what he just did, but she lay still and tried to ignore it.

The man seemed to forget about his chest pain already. She hoped he was going to be alright. The light from the lamp on the side-table was dim, but they still could see clearly. Now he raised her hand to put on his chest. She could feel his heartbeats. At least it was still working.

"Yes, I guess. I don't remember much about him. But I heard that you hit him or something."

"Yes, I did. I thought he was not good enough for you. And we argued. He started the fight first. So I jumped in and he was out of my group. That time I did not know that my behavior was called jealousy. "

Jacqueline listened to him intently. She was surprised to know about this. It was the story from his side. And the man had never realized it himself. Her heart was pounding to know he had feelings for her since then.

Michael lifted her hand to kiss gently. She did not protest. He was delighted that she was here lying down next to him, very closely and he could kiss her hair and her hand now. He intended to kiss her more places but everything had to go slow. He wanted to give her time to get prepared while she was listening to him confessing his feelings to her. He kissed her palm and her fingers, one by one.

Jacqueline felt her goosebumps all over her body as his soft lips touching her skin.

"Um, how are you feeling now? I mean your heart."

She asked. She was still worried about his illness.

"It seems a little better right now. But still not one hundred percent. Let me tell you more. In case I die any minute tonight"

he said and used his trick to scare her just like before. She hurried to put her other hand on his mouth to stop him.

"Don't say that word again. I don't want to hear it."

Jacqueline told him and now he gathered both her hands his big hands. She had to lie on her side and face him. So he also turned. Now they were facing each other.

"I am glad to know that you care about me a little. I love you so much, Queen. I am a stupid arrogant man who was very slow at realizing my true feelings and my own heart. And I have to lose you to realize it. It's the worst punishment I have received for it."

He said and bent down to kiss her forehead.

"Let me tell you more about it. As you know I was a bad wayward man and you were a very opposite to me. I was really bad that I dated a lot of women but I kept my eyes on you all the time without you knew. It was only Ken, who I could not stop him to be close to you. Then the way you treated him, making me very unhappy at that time. Because I thought I was the number one man in your life. And when we graduated. You told me that you were going to date him. I was shocked and I did know what to do. "

He said. Jacqueline remembered that time. The way she had fallen in love with Michael secretly and he had never turned to look at her as a woman. He only saw her as his friend and sister. So when they all had graduated, Ken asked to be her boyfriend. She liked him as a friend. He was a very good man and a good friend all those years.