Done Being Friends (18 page)

“Miller is right. The only reason I haven’t turned this place upside down is thanks to you.”

“Faith,” the exasperation was clear in his voice. “Please do not tell me you believe the rubbish that Miller said. Yes, I did help. But for the past few days, you have been the one running the show.”

Faith sighed. Zac was right. He had stopped giving her advice and was really pushing her to make her own decisions.
 

It was difficult and frightening for Faith to be in charge of the whole company. She knew there were many people who were counting on her decisions. The company had thousands of staffs, and if she were to mess things up, she wouldn’t only have to answer to her father, but also to those whose paychecks she was signing.
 

Her father was getting better, but was still in no shape to go back to work. Her mother and grandmother had shifted her father back home with a private nurse to watch over him. Both of them had insisted that there was no other place more comfortable than at one’s own home.

He had also given Faith the full reign in all office matters, although Faith would be more than happy to be a puppet and leave the decisions to her father. However, there was no easy way out. It was her decision. She was the boss now.

“Don’t doubt yourself Faith. I never did.”

“I
am
inexperienced. Sooner or later, I will make the wrong mistakes, and I will disappoint everyone.”

Zac shook his head, and placing his finger under her chin, he lifted her face. “Nothing you do can ever disappoint me.”

A tap on the door snapped both their gazes toward the source of the interruption. “Seems like I got in the middle of something but since you have an entire floor dedicated to being your office, I suggest the two of you use that space if you want to whisper sweet-nothings to each other. That way, singles like me won’t become green-eyed monsters.” As Jessica rattled on, she pushed in between them and plodded toward the espresso machine.
 

Zac stepped back but ignored the lecture. “I hope it’s not a habit of yours to be so rude to your boss.” He gave Faith a mischievous grin to let her know he was joking.
 

“I’m not sure about that, but you sure make it a habit to be rude to Faith’s friends.”

Zac and Jessica turned to Faith, waiting for her to choose a side. “No way. I’m going back to my office.”

Zac trailed behind Faith, but just before he stepped out of the pantry, he stopped and turned to Jessica. “She will always choose me...even if she does not say so verbally.”

Faith turned and grabbed Zac’s arm. As she dragged him out, she said, “Ignore him.”

“Easily done!” Jessica hollered after them.

When inside the lift, Zac had to ask, “Was I wrong?”

“About?”

“You choosing me.”

Faith shrugged. “Hmmm...I don’t know. You can be pretty unreasonable at times.”

Zac knew Faith was joking, but he spoke in all seriousness. “I will. I will always choose you. Even if you were the one being unreasonable.”

I know. So will I.
The words never left her mouth. She knew that Zac was looking at her, but she didn’t return his gaze. She was afraid that the moment she admitted those words out loud; she wouldn’t be able to stop the overflow of feelings she had for Zac.
 

Zac sighed softly, but didn’t push Faith for an answer. Insecurities raked over him. He knew Faith was extremely skilled at dodging Dylan’s attempts in bringing their friendship to another level and he was afraid that she was doing the same thing to him.

Both of them were relatively quiet throughout the ride home. They ate in silence and went to their separate rooms to continue their work.
 

Faith took a deep breath and brought her mind back to the black file before her desk. She had brought home the file from work; there were still some issues with one of the resort that had to be sorted out.

Looking at all the information before her, a small triumphant smile appeared on her face as she thought about how she had gone from being clueless to understanding everything on that report in less than a week. She would never have been able to do that without Zac.

The few days that Zac had led her through the work had been better than any academic program an Ivy League school could offer. Though he had forced Faith to take the reins, Faith knew that he would be right there when she truly needed him. All the advice that Zac had given was invaluable and had helped Faith in making every decision at work.
 

A small knock on the door jerked her from her thoughts. “Come in.”
 

Thinking that it was Zac, Faith smoothed out her hair before turning toward the door.

“Miss Preston, your coffee.” George stepped in with a tray and a cup of steaming coffee. She had completely forgotten that she had told George to make some coffee.

As George set down the coffee, she noticed another cup on the tray. “Is that for Zac?”

George nodded. “Yes.”

“Leave his coffee too. I will get it to him. I need to ask him something anyway.” Faith knew it was just an excuse; she just wanted some reason to knock on his door.
 

George did as he was told and stepped out of the room. Faith stood up, holding the coffee in one hand and the black file in another, she got out of her room, and strode down the hall.

Zac was just down the room from her. He knew she had some work to complete, so after dinner, he had walked her to her room and left her to work.
 

Taking that few steps to his room, she came up with a silly question about some figures in the report. Then standing right outside his door, she clipped the file under her arm and knocked on the door.
 

The door flew open and Zac stood there, half naked and hair dripping wet. Both of them were stunned for a moment. Zac had thought it was George with the coffee. When he saw it was Faith, he beamed at her.

Faith stood dazedly while her eyes glued to his muscles.

“I think this is the first time you’re ogling at me openly.”

Faith blinked and cleared her throat before speaking, “I’m not ogling...and what do you mean openly? I never did that secretly either!”

Zac laughed heartily. “I love teasing you.”
 

Before Faith could respond, Zac wrapped his arm around Faith’s shoulder and ushered her in. Then, he turned and trotted into the bathroom to hang up his towel.

“I thought you would be working in your room all night,” Zac’s voice boomed from the bathroom. He had been thinking of excuses to pop by Faith’s room but chided himself for being childish and decided that she needed time to do her work alone.
 

“George brought mine over and I thought I would just bring yours over since I have something to ask you anyway,” she said as she set down the coffee and file on the desk, which was already piled with files, before settling down on the chair.

George had informed Faith that Mindy came by earlier and dropped a whole stack of files off for Zac. A tinge of guilt gnawed at Faith, knowing that Zac had tons of work to do, but he was still here, just taking care of her instead of hurrying back to his work. She would have asked, but she knew he would brush it off.

When Zac walked out, he was wearing a casual T-shirt that fit him snugly, showing off his muscular chest and arms. He strode over to the desk and took a sip of coffee. Then, he leaned by the table and opened up the file.

“Seems like everything is great. What’s the problem?” Zac spoke without looking up, still flipping through the file.

Faith loved watching Zac work. There was something about the seriousness and determination he put in his work that made him look hot and so very kissable. Faith admired that drive he had and the effort he put in his work.

“Are you ogling at me again?”

Faith glowered but said nothing. Realizing that the question she had prepared was silly, Faith struggled with coming up with an excuse in her mind. “Just wanted to let you look through it, that’s all.”
 

That was the best that Faith could do.

Closing the file, Zac put it aside and took another sip of coffee. He walked right in front of the chair, met her gaze and held her hands.

“My angel, you are doing a great job. Don’t question yourself. You don’t need me to approve your things; you are doing great.”
 

His sincerity bore into Faith, and for a moment, Faith forgot to breathe. Taking a deep breath, she broke away from his gaze and smiled. “Thanks Zac, I couldn’t have done anything without you.”

Then in an effort to stop losing herself in his eyes, she looked around and saw a duffle bag by the wardrobe.
 

“Zac, do you have enough clothes to wear? Did George do your laundry?” Faith had been so contented to be around Zac that she had forgotten about his comforts. After all, he might not be that comfortable staying over at another person’s house for so long.

“You have been staying here for nearly a week, is that all right? Do you need to go home? And work, is everything at work all right?” Faith turned to Zac and continued her series of questions. “Are you comfortable here? You don’t have to keep staying with me.”

Zac narrowed his eyes and cocked his head to the side. “Faith Preston, are you chasing me from your house?”

Zac watched Faith’s eyes flew open and he chuckled. He knew Faith wasn’t chasing him out; he just couldn’t resist teasing her.
 

“It’s all right Faith, I’m fine. I sleep better knowing that you are just a room away from me and that if you need anything, I will be right here.”

“You sure?” Faith seemed genuinely uncertain.

“Yes. Absolutely.” Zac wiped off his smile and kept his face serious. He wanted her to know that there was nowhere else he would rather be than being there with her.
 

Then, he stood up and pulled Faith up from the chair. With her hand still in his, he slid the full length window aside and strolled out to the balcony.

A gentle breeze blew by, caressing their face and hair. Faith closed her eyes and leaned her head back, letting her dark brown hair flow with the gentle breeze. As Faith leaned on the balcony, she opened her eyes to look up at the tiny glow of dazzling stars in the sky.

Zac stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her. He took in a breath of her lavender scented hair and looked up with her, admiring the stars above. “It’s a beautiful night, and you love the stars.”

Faith simply nodded.
 

Despite the beauty of the stars, it was Faith who had Zac’s attention. The scent of lavender and roses from her was intoxicating. As his arms wrapped around her soft skin, he could feel her lean on him. All he wanted to do was to bend down and kiss her.
 

As though she was answering his silent thoughts, Faith tilted her head back to look at him. Without thinking, he turned her around and bent his lips toward hers. His lips touched hers and he lingered, indulging in the moment. Slowly, he lifted his face in front of hers and looked at Faith.
 

Instead of disgust or shock, her eyes remained closed, and she drew in a deep breath. Zac leaned in again, planting another quick peck on her lips. Then, encasing his arms around her, he pulled her body to his and drew her into a real kiss.
 

Instantly, all hesitation dissipated. Faith draped a hand over his neck while the other grabbed the shirt on his chest. Their tongues tasted, and each wanted more. A soft moan escaped from Faith’s lip and it ignited the primitive need within him. Running his hand through her hair, Zac pulled her closer, leaving no space between them.
 

He couldn’t get enough of Faith. Never had he once experienced a kiss like this. A need to make Faith his, a need to make her understand how much he loved her and a need to know that she loved him too.

Taking his lips off hers, he laid a trail of soft kisses down her neck.
 

“Zac,” she whispered as she struggled to concentrate on what she wanted to say.

“Yes?” Zac said in between kisses.

The desire for Zac to continue consumed every part of her mind. With each kiss, her resolve to speak her mind dropped drastically. “Stop, please.” It took everything in her to speak those words.

Zac froze. He thought that Faith felt the same fire that was searing through him but apparently he was wrong.
 

Taking another step back, Faith kept her eyes on the floor. “I’m sorry Zac, I…I can’t. I’m not like those women you sleep around with.”

Without giving Zac a chance to reply, she fled to her room.
 

What?
Zac stood stunned on the balcony. He ran through his thoughts in his mind, trying to think of what he had done wrong.
 

He had been waiting for the right moment to kiss Faith all week, to find the right moment to let her know he was done being friends with her and that he wanted more. Yet, she couldn’t wait to run out of his room.
 

Not like those girls you sleep around with.
Finally, his befuddled brain realized what was going on.
 

No. She got it wrong.
He had let those comments about the other women slip, and he wouldn’t have cared less if this were some other girl, but she wasn’t.
 

He got out of the room and got to hers in seconds. “Faith, please let me explain. Open the door.”

There wasn’t a single sound behind the door.

“Faith,” Zac sighed. “Faith, angel, please don’t do this.”

Something about the vulnerability in Zac’s voice broke Faith’s heart. She didn’t want to be the one hurting Zac, the last person she ever wanted to hurt was Zac.

When Faith opened the door, she stood there with her eyes on the floor, nervously biting her lips. Zac had told himself that he just needed to talk to her and not push her into anything. But seeing her standing in the shroud of uncertainty, he couldn’t help it. He pulled her into his arms and wrapped his arms around hers.