Regan stared at the crowd disdainfully. "Why does it seem like the same people are here every time we show up?" She spoke loudly so her companion could hear her.

"Because they are Regan!" Cara giggled.

Regan sighed. She didn't even know why she'd come out tonight. Really, all she'd wanted to do was curl up in her plush bed with a good book. Instead she'd let Cara, her cousin, talk her into coming to the club because 'simply everyone would be there'. Well, she'd been right. The club was large but it was packed. Harry's, the club they were currently taking up space in, was quite the popular night spot.

The two girls made their way to the chrome and glass bar, and ordered two cosmopolitans from Devon, the bartender. The two girls had already drunk a bottle of champagne on the ride over, but Regan savored the taste of the cosmo as it touched her tongue. Looking around she decided that the group was indeed the same people she saw on almost a nightly basis. When was the last time she'd had fun coming out for a night on the town. She almost laughed because she honestly couldn't remember. Oh, she definitely remembered when she was out every night, but lately she'd dropped down to only going out two or three times a week. Her friends were complaining, her cousin was complaining, and until the last few days her boyfriend Zack had been complaining. That thought made her frown. He'd been acting strange lately.

They'd been dating for the past four months, quite the lengthy relationship compared to previous boyfriends. Hell, even the tabloids were speculating on the couple being together for this long. Zack was the son of Nick Kind, only one of the richest and most famous rock stars of the seventies. Regan didn't think you could listen to a classic rock station or current rock station for that matter without hearing something from or about Nick Kind.

Zack was a good looking guy, but only a faded image of his father. His wavy blonde hair was not as vibrant, nor his blue eyes as icy. Still, he was attractive, and for the first few months they'd been almost inseparable. Regan had been quite amused to see the article in The Speculator about a secret engagement. As if. No, she had no intention of marrying Zack. To be perfectly honest she didn't even think they'd be dating much longer. He'd been fun, but he was more interested in partying and playing than in what she was doing.

"Hey, isn't Zack supposed to be here tonight?" Cara yelled over the throbbing music.

Regan shrugged. "I think so." She hoped not. "I'm going to the ladies room." Cara nodded and followed behind her. The sounds of music were muted as the two girls made their way into the spacious room and the door swung closed behind them. Another noise was highly noticeable however. The grunting and groaning was obvious. Regan threw a grin over her shoulder at Cara and moved into the bathroom. It wasn't uncommon for people to come into the bathrooms to make out or have sex. It certainly wasn't going to stop her from using the restroom.

The end stall was obviously in use by the amorous couple, and they saw the two pairs of shoes under the stall; pants down around masculine ankles. Something caught Regan's attention and her eyes narrowed. Cara's eyes widened. Regan walked quickly to the stall in time to hear a man's voice, "OH god you're fucking awesome!" This stall's door swung outward, so she gave it a little pull and it opened. She wasn't surprised to find the sight inside didn't upset her as much as it probably should.

"Well, hello Zack, and Keisha, how nice to see you two." she said in a smooth, polite voice. The girl in question shrieked as the man dropped her. The girl's legs had been wrapped around his waist as his naked buttocks pumped back and forth. Zack fumbled with his pants and cursed under his breath. "Oh, please, don't stop on my account. I just came in to powder my nose." She turned away from the two and headed for the mirrors. Regan was checking her flawless make-up as Zack stumbled out of the stall.

"Regan…sweetie….I can explain this." he started. brbr"Oh, don't bother Zack, it's all good. All of your friends have been there, so of course you had to go there too." she said sweetly.

"You bitch!" the platinum blonde screeched.

"Oh honey, no name calling. We all know it's true now, don't we?"

"I made a mistake Regan. Please don't hold that against me." he tried. She quirked an auburn eyebrow at him. "I'm a man honey…"

"The term man is a bit generous, don't you think?"

"Maybe if you weren't a frigid bitch he wouldn't have looked for me." Keisha snapped.

Regan turned to look at the two. Cara still stood in shock at the scene in front of her. "Keisha, just because I don't fuck everything that could possibly be considered male, doesn't mean I'm frigid. It means I'm selective sweetie, just selective. As for looking for you, honestly, do you think that he wouldn't have accepted any offer he received?" Regan snapped her small silver compact shut, and rewarded them with a sweet smile. "This actually works out perfectly all around. I hope you both have a pleasant evening." With that said she turned and headed out the door calmly. Cara trotted after her. Without speaking they headed directly to the door and out into the night.

Two weeks later…

Regan stared at the man sitting across from her. He was attractive. Well, attractive in that 'aristocratic-I-know-I'm-better-than-you' kind of way. Which in the end made him unattractive. He was also extremely tan, and it seemed he must spend hours in the sun, or tanning booth...maybe both.

It had been two weeks since she'd caught Zack and Keisha in the restroom, and now she was wondering how she'd let herself be talked into this. She glanced discreetly at her watch…again, and noticed she'd been on this blind date for thirty-six minutes. Every second that went by added to what she was slowly realizing was torture. For the past ten minutes of the impossibly long half hour, Richard Canton, the snob, had been expounding on the disadvantages of vacationing in Aspen to vacationing in the Mediterranean.

"Do you have somewhere else you need to be?" he inquired politely. Regan heard the edge in his voice, and supposed she hadn't been as discreet with her clock watching as she'd thought.

She gave him a half smile, hoping to ease the tension, and made up a plausible excuse. "Terribly sorry. I think my watch needs a new battery. I was just trying to determine if it's working properly." This seemed to appease him, and obviously seemed perfectly legitimate because he smiled and leaned back.

He seemed pleased with what he saw. Her wild, auburn hair was smoothed back into a chignon at the base of her neck, and she wore an elegant navy blue dress, the navy color matching her eyes almost exactly, which normally hugged her body. Tonight it was looser than normal, as she'd been losing weight for the past few weeks. The tabloids were having a field day with it. So far, according to them, she was anorexic, bulimic, terminally ill, or suffering heartbreak from her breakup with Zack. Never mind the fact that she'd been losing weight before the breakup. She almost sighed; at least she knew it wasn't any of those things. Regan was just tired. Extremely, and excruciatingly tired. What she needed was a break, not a blind date, the thought struck as Canton went back to the previous topic. She almost jerked upright in her seat. A break was exactly what she needed. Get away, out of the public eye, just be a normal person whatever that meant.

"Richard, I do hope you'll forgive any rudeness on my part, but I have to go now." She said abruptly, and stood.

This startled the man, and his mouth gaped open. "Now?"

"Yes, precisely." She nodded, and began to walk away.

"Shall we reschedule?" he called after her.

She turned and looked at him quickly, "I really don't see any point. The only thing we possibly have in common are some of the people we know, and we both have money." Regan just smiled ruefully. "We're completely boring."

It didn't take long to put her plans into action. Her parents weren't thrilled with her decision, but she was an adult and her own person, so she knew they wouldn't hold her back, and she was right. Her brother laughed at her, and Cara was flabbergasted.

"What do you mean you're going away?" the girl asked. Regan was currently packing, and Cara was lounging on the bed that dominated Regan's bedroom. "Where are you going? St Barts? Milan? Paris?"

Regan smiled at her cousin, and almost snorted. "I'm just getting away for a while Car. No big deal. I'm not going on vacation. If I was, then you could come, you know that. I just need some time away from all the media, and constantly flashing cameras."

Regan looked at the little house, boxed in and surrounded by other equally little houses, and grinned. This was perfect. It was exactly what she'd been looking for. Who'd have thought she'd find it in Los Angeles. Who'd have thought she, Regan Annika Wells, could disappear in Los-frigging-Angeles. Ah, but she had. She'd cut her famous mane of light auburn locks into a short, tousled mess. She'd traded in the designer clothing for department store specials, and she was loving every minute of it.

Traveling across the country had been a huge adventure, and now she'd settled into this small neighborhood after renting the small home. Regan was almost giddy with excitement. Here, in this place, she'd get to be a normal human being. Just another person going to and fro every day.

She didn't waste time heading for the back of the house and to the overgrown flowerbeds. Her first real day of home renting normalcy. Turning the radio on she knelt and began to weed in earnest.

"Hi."

Regan's head whipped up and towards the voice. In the small yard next door her eyes met a pair of dark eyes peering at her from a small girl child's face. The toddler was smiling impishly and waving to Regan. "Well, hello there."

"Hi." the girl chuckled again. The childish rumble brought a smile to Regan's face immediately. She toddled over and crouched down on her chubby legs to look at Regan more closely. "Hi."

Regan sat up and studied the girl. She was beautiful; chocolate brown curls, chocolate brown eyes, and quite the mischievous smile. "Do your mommy and daddy know where you are?"

The little girl's nose wrinkled, "Da?"

Suddenly a man's frantic yell pierced the air, "Lily?" It would have been impossible not to hear the panic.

"Back here." Regan yelled.

Upon hearing the man's voice the little girl squealed in delight and bounced up and down.

That was when the biggest man Regan had ever seen came tearing around the side of the house. Her mouth went dry almost immediately. He was tall, well built and muscular. He had a dark olive complexion, and shaved his head. Currently he was clothed in a white wife beater, some low riding cargo pants, and brown climbing boots. When her gaze flew to his face she realized faintly that this was where the girl got her dark eyes. The man scooped the little girl up in his very large hands and breathed a sigh of relief. "Da." the little girl murmured happily.

"Lily, baby, you can't wander off like that. Scared Daddy." he murmured and rubbed his face against the little girl's cheek.

Regan stood up awkwardly and shifted from foot to foot. Her nervousness brought his attention to her. "Um, hi, I'm your new neighbor, Anne. Annie." She almost stumbled on the name and hoped he didn't notice.

"Dominic Toretto." he told her in his growling voice. Distrust was obvious in his eyes.

"I was weeding." she said lamely. Regan shook her head slightly. She sounded like a moron. He was just a man after all. "I was weeding and she said Hi."

"Yeah, she's curious. Mrs. Carruthers, the old lady who used to live here used to sit out in the back and Lily liked to play with her." Dom said a little grudgingly. "Sorry if she was bothering you."

"Oh, no, she didn't bother me." Regan just nodded again. "Well, I, um, was just getting a start on the whole mess. She's beautiful. Lily, I mean, I should go, I didn't realize how hot it's getting outside." And she was feeling extremely hot. The temperature had increased ever since Dominic Toretto had moved into her line of sight. He was bad news with a capital B. Regan was taking time off from any complications, and this man oozed complication.

"Hi!" Lily reached out and touched Regan's short curls. "Pitty."

Regan smiled a bit softly. "No." she reached out and fingered one of the baby's locks. "You're pretty. Well, it was nice meeting you Mr. Toretto. Have a good day." Regan hurried back into her house as if the hounds of hell were at her feet.

Dom watched theredhead leave and felt odd. He almost felt like he'd been hit in the solar plexus. It was hard to catch his breath almost. He attributed this to realizing Lily had toddled off again. His beautiful girl was too curious for her own good. It wasn't as scary when the old woman had lived next door. He'd known Marta Carruthers for almost all of his life. Now though, he didn't know this Annie; didn't know if she was trustworthy. He certainly didn't know if he could trust her around his treasured daughter; the only thing he had left of his beloved Valeria. It just meant he'd have to keep an eye on the woman. Perhaps she was harmless…then again, maybe she wasn't.