Chapter 10

"Percy! Alex! Are you home?" Tophyr called as she walked into the penthouse, shrugging her jacket off as she went. Derek grabbed it before it left her shoulders.

"We're in here, Toph!" Alex called.

Derek laughed as he watched her skip through the house to the dining room where the voice had come from. Her curls bounced happy as she turned the corner to dining room. Before them the two blond headed brothers were working diligently on their own school work. Alex's longer hair fell in his face as he poured over something, wrote something down only to scribble it out. Percy was wearing thick black glasses that Derek had no clue he owned as he read what looked like a history book.

He stumbled as Tophyr grabbed his wrist and jerked him beside her. For being so tiny she was strong. He guessed that was what happened when a girl grew up with her older brothers. He stood beside her as she looked at her brothers with her hands on her hips. She was a feisty thing.

"Boys, I need to talk to you," she said.

They both looked up at the same time and then their faces fell. It was at that moment he could see the family resemblance. High cheek bones and bright blue eyes were the first thing he noticed as they sat staring at him. The blond hair was slightly darker on one than on the other but the facial features were completely the same.

"What's he doing here?" Alex asked as Percy leaned back in chair. He was the spitting image of his father except with blond curls.

"He's here to help," Tophyr said.

"Help with what?" Percy asked. Tophyr smiled dangerously. "Last time I saw that smile you were getting back at Macy Collier for calling you a freak. What do you have planned?"

Tophyr's eyes glittered with mischief as she leaned against the table. "Caroline Rochester is getting married in two weeks."

Alex sat up straighter at the name. "Who's the poor fool she's marrying?"

Derek held up his hand. "My older brother Dayton is the poor fool."

The oldest Hurst in the room looked compassionate then. "I'm sorry for you."

"I told him about what happened to you, Alex. He didn't believe me at first until I told him about the money issues," Tophyr said.

Alex turned his gaze to Derek. "Has she been asking for obscene amounts of money recently?"

He nodded. "Day just thinks it's because she's buying stuff for the wedding but her dad has enough money to pay for that."

"Allan Rochester was excommunicated from his family twenty years ago for attempting to embezzle money from his father," Percy explained. "He has no money except the trust fund that couldn't be taken away from him. It was a considerable amount but he had three kids so he had to cut back on his spending. He'll be broke in a few years."

Derek looked at Tophyr. She nodded mutely, her eyes showing all the emotion he needed to know. He sighed. "What do we need to do?"

"We need to show Dayton that she is a gold digger and just wants him for his money," Alex said.

"How?"

"Tophyr?" Percy questioned.

She smiled. "I know just the thing."

~~~~~~~~~

Caroline Rochester and Dayton Stark looked so happy as they stood together for photos with their entire family. Tophyr stood in the back and waited for her cue.

After discussing what would be the best plan of attack, Tophyr decided she'd pose as Derek's girlfriend for the next two weeks. Even though she completely disliked the guy and his family, she would put that aside and help Derek as much as she could.

Derek looked happy as he stood with his family. Actually that was a lie. He looked like he hated being there. She didn't blame him. She had to do the same thing when her oldest brother and older sisters got married and she'll have to do it again when Alex and Kat got married. At the moment she was in between weddings and enjoying it.

When all the gentlemen began shaking hands, she started to the front. The ladies were talking in the middle of the circle the men had formed. She had the pleasure of walking in the middle of them as she made her way to Derek. She could see his eyes twinkling with pleasure at their little game.

"Hey, Derek," she said as she walked up.

He opened his arms to her and engulfed her as she walked into them. She shifted her head from his shoulder to look up at him just as he lowered his face to hers. The kiss was quick but it was nice. They looked at each other for a few moments afterwards. She turned and nestled into his arms.

"Derek, who is this?" his mother asked.

Derek looked up. Everyone was looking at them with a mixture of surprise and excitement. "Oh! This is my girlfriend. This is Tophyr."

The realization that hit everyone when they heard him name was so funny. There was only one girl on the Upper East Side named Tophyr and she was a Hurst. So coming face to face with her was a surprise.

"How's your mother?" Mrs. Stark asked.

"She's doing well. She's getting ready for her new book club to begin while she plans Alex's birthday bash. I told Alex he should run," she said and that remark had the entire group laughing. She turned. "Hello, Caroline."

Caroline swallowed her pride. "Hello, Tophyr."

"How have you been?"

"I've been well. I'm getting married in two weeks."

"That's what Derek told me. Congratulations. You know Alex is getting married next year as well. That leaves me and Percy as the only two in my family not married."

"Well, if you and Derek stay together, maybe we'll have another wedding this time next year," Mrs. Stark beamed. Derek and Tophyr looked at each other. "So come, come. We'll sit down to dinner and talk more."

~~~~~~~

Derek and Tophyr laughed as they headed back to Tophyr's penthouse. They were a little tipsy because of all the wine they had no choice but to consume. Tophyr didn't normally drink but she had to do so to fit in.

"I can't believe they bought our story," Derek said.

"We did play it up," Tophyr replied.

And they had. Every chance they got they snuck little glances at each other, touched each others' hands and whispered every now and then. It had to be played up perfectly so no one would suspect a thing.

Tophyr glanced over at Derek. His face was red and chapped from the nippy New York wind. He would sniffle every now and then and rub his nose. He was handsome enough, but it wouldn't be wise to fall for him. He was completely different from her.

Derek noticed she was looking at him but didn't let on that he knew. She wasn't going to say anything to him. He had a feeling it was because he was a Stark and he

used his money for power. The Hursts were the only family on the Upper East Side that didn't. Those values had been passed on to Tophyr and she used them. It would be hard to convince her that he didn't use money for personal gain.

He caught her as she stumbled and nearly fell. He looked down at her as she gazed up at him. They stayed that way for a few moments before Derek pulled her to her feet and against him. It was getting harder to say no to his inner turmoil. Finally he just lowered his mouth to hers.

The kiss was slow at first, nothing more than a press against her mouth. But when she didn't he pressed on, clasping her to him and pressing his lips against hers harder. He didn't care that they were in the middle of public where people could see them or the paparazzi take a picture of them. He didn't care that it was cold outside. He really didn't care that she didn't like him. She was in his arms and the only way she was leaving was if she shoved him away.

Tophyr was caught up in the entire thing she wasn't thinking clearly. This was her first actual kiss and it was on the sidewalk a few blocks from her home. Not somewhere romantic like she imagined it and definitely not in a car like Britani's had been. This was completely different. She was second guessing herself the entire time.

Then realization hit.

She was kissing Derek Stark in public!

After that sobering moment, she started to pull away. His arms were like vice grips around her. Using instincts, she stepped on his toe and dug her heel in. when he let go and stepped back, she took two steps backward as she looked at him.

Derek had no way to stop her as she turned and fled into the night.