Done Being Friends (3 page)

That was a sure way to lose her.
 

At least by being her friend, he could be sure that he would be there for her forever. Just like how she had been there for him.

She deserved someone who would love her with all his heart. He knew he would give up everything to be there for her, but with his family history, he wouldn’t risk it. All the men in his family had cheated on their wives. With such genes, he would never risk hurting Faith that way.
 

With a soft sigh, he strode back into his office. Faith’s perfume still lingered on his shirt, and her scent would have been more pronounced if Nicole hadn’t been clinging onto him before.
 

This was the second time he had seen Nicole. Her father, Jordon Smith, was a door manufacturer working with Zac on his latest apartment project, and Nicole had joined in on one of the dinners he had with her father.

After dinner, Nicole had called him several times, but he wasn’t interested, and didn’t bother to call her back. To him, Nicole was just a business associate’s daughter. He had no interest in having anything more.

Then, she turned up at his office lobby uninvited, and not wanting to create a scene, he had let her into his office. He wanted to let her know that he had no intention of seeing her, but she refused to listened and had thrown herself onto him.

Zac shook his head, not understanding what was going on in that woman’s mind. Unwilling to waste another second dwelling on her, he pushed her out of his mind and returned his focus to Faith.

Gosh, how he had missed her.
 

“Zac!”

Zac cringed at that voice, apparently he wasn’t clear enough to Nicole. “Nicole, you’re still here.”

“I was waiting for you, I knew you wouldn’t spend long with that one.” She gestured to the door with her chin.

His jaws tightened. “That one?” he asked, and even with just two words, the fury contained within was clear. “Do
not
speak that way about her! Nicole, I told you, I’m not interested in whatever you’re proposing. Please leave.”

“Zac, come on,” she coaxed with her deliberately sweetened voice. “There’s no need to get so angry. Daddy wouldn’t like it for us to quarrel.”

She hooked her manicured fingers around Zac’s hand, but he instantly pulled his hand away.

“Enough, Nicole.” Zac stared her right in the eyes. “If you think that I will entertain you just to keep your father happy, you cannot be more wrong. I do not need your father, and if he is not interested in doing business with me, there are others who are willing. So, you don’t need to bring your
daddy
up, because it makes no difference to me whose daughter you are.”
 

Looking around, Zac knew they were beginning to attract attention. “I’m not interested, Nicole. And I suggest that you don’t make a scene. Since my reputation is already in tatters, I don’t really care. But I’m sure you don’t want to make yourself look like a fool.” Then he turned and left her to simmer in her own frustration.

All eyes were on Nicole when she walked out of the office. She pouted her lips and kept her head high, refusing to be judged by the low lives around her. They were nobody, and it didn’t matter how they looked at her now. One day, she would be the one controlling their destinies.

Zac headed back to his office, grabbed the Keris dagger, and placed it into his bag with a wide grin.
 

No matter where the missions took Faith, she never failed to buy something unique and bring it back for him. Whenever she could, she would call or e-mail him, updating him on how things were going on.
 

At times, when a day stretched into two, three and then four without news, Zac would end up checking his phone every other minute, making sure that he didn’t miss her calls.
 

When he could no longer just stare at his cellphone, he would start venting his anger on Mindy, asking her every other hour to check if Faith had called and constantly warning her to immediately put Faith through to him when she did call.

He knew she was probably safe with the church, but having her so far away from his protection, and not hearing any word from her just unsettled him.

Tomorrow.

Leaning back against his chair, Zac smiled at the prospect of seeing Faith the next day. Maybe even earlier.

He could always drop by her house for dinner; he was sure she wouldn’t mind.

Mindy had gotten back from her lunch to hear all of the gossip already flying around the office about a blond hooking up with Mr. Hayden. She rolled her eyes at most of it, knowing that he had never brought women to the office.

On top of that, Mindy knew that Miss Preston’s trip was delayed and she wouldn’t be back as scheduled. That in itself would have been more than enough to put him in the foulest mood.
 

As she opened the door to his office, she saw him twirling that curvy knife and smiling to himself.

No one else in the world had the power to do that to him except Faith Preston. That meant that the rumors were nonsense. If Miss Preston were here, no one else stood a chance. “Let me guess, Miss Preston was here.” Mindy kept the door slightly opened and poked her head in. She knew from experience that Zac was always in a great mood whenever Faith came back from her mission trips.

“Yes, in fact, you just missed her.” Zac sat up straight in his chair, but the smile was still plastered to his face.

“Ah...So...the rumors about a blond are false?” Mindy raised one of her eyebrows, waiting for his answer.

Zac shook his head. “Gossip spreads like wildfire around here.”

“It’s all gossip then?”

“Sort of.” The smile disappeared from his face, and he looked right at Mindy without revealing any emotions.

“I told you, you should never let them up. This is an office, Mr. Hayden.”

Zac raised his hand, gesturing for her to stop. “I can assure you that she wasn’t invited,” he answered.

She narrowed her eyes. “Do I need to inform the security about her?”

“No, I’m sure I have put it plainly enough for her.”
 

Mindy shrugged her shoulders. “Do tell Miss Preston that personally, I’m extremely delighted she got back before a certain boss morphed into a complete monster.”

“You do know you’re speaking to the one signing your paychecks.”

“And you know you need me.” Mindy turned to leave, allowing the door to swing close.

As the door slammed closed, Zac leaned back, wondering why he was stuck with an assistant who was so capable that he couldn’t fire her. To make matters worse, she knew how indispensable she was to him.

Chapter Two

The moment Zac stepped into the ballroom; he attracted several different stares from women in the room. He kept his eyes straight and headed straight to his table. He only had one thought on his mind. Seeing Faith.
 

He only paused once when he saw Faith’s mother. She was in the midst of conversation; with several other women dressed elegantly for the event. After giving her a warm smile and nod, he continued toward his table.

The ballroom was impeccably decorated; a beautiful center piece graced every table, and table cloths in two shades of shimmering dark purple overlaid the tables.

Zac shook his head and smiled. Thinking about how he had once personally dodged Faith’s mother’s relentless persuasion of letting her redecorate his house. Faith had managed to tactfully rescue him by throwing another project in her mother’s way. Another thing that he owed Faith for.

Faith’s grandmother had arranged for Zac to be seated at the same table as Faith, but her seat, which was right next to his, remained empty. Her mother and grandmother had organized this event, and since they were already here, she should be too. However, she was nowhere in sight. He scanned the room, looking for Faith, getting slightly concerned that she was nowhere to be seen.
 

Zac got out of the chair and strode around the room while his eyes continued to sweep it, looking for Faith. He nodded politely when he spotted a group of women eyeing him, and was about to move right on when he caught sight of a familiar silhouette behind them.
 

The group of women flashed their ecstatic smile as Zac neared, but their smiles quickly dissipated when it was obvious that his eyes were looking at someone behind them rather than at them.

“Are you hiding from someone?”

Faith jumped at his voice and turned around. “Zac! Gosh, you really shouldn’t come up from behind me. I was just texting you.” Faith waved the phone in her hand before putting it into her black clutch bag.

“What were you texting me for? We are sitting at the same table. You could have just gone over to talk to me.”

Faith didn’t seem to be listening to a word he was saying. She tiptoed, placing her hands on his shoulders for support, and peered behind him before looking back at him. “My mum. I knew something was wrong when they got a hairstylist to my house to do my hair. I knew they were up to something.”

The words flowed out of her mouth so quickly that Zac had to really pay attention to catch all her words. Yes, her hair looked different. Her sleek and straight chestnut hair was curled and pinned up with a few loose tendrils framing her face.

As her feet planted firmly back onto ground, Zac playfully pulled on a tendril before letting it go.

“They even got me a new dress!” Faith sounded exasperated as she opened up her arms before her, to showcase her navy blue silk dress, oblivious to what Zac had just done. “Look at the back!” She turned around for Zac to show him what she was talking about.

The silky material flowed over her curves, and it was beautiful against her fair skin. The dress was cut low, all the way down her back. Zac’s eyes moved down along the cutting before swallowing a gulp and looking back up at Faith again to meet her eyes.
 

“I know, I look like a slut.” Faith sighed and bit her lower lips. “They got me a date, Tim Jefferson. Ugh, I hate having to sit through these dinners. And now, I have to entertain another rich, spoilt brat. Why can’t my mother and grandmother just stay out of my love life?” As though the rant had drained all the energy out of her, she leaned onto Zac’s chest. “I just wanted to escape for awhile, and I thought you could entertain me while I hid in a corner.”

Faith looked up and flashed her sweetest smile, hoping to convince Zac, but he needed none. He would have done anything for Faith, and spending time alone with her was something he more than liked.

Zac laughed. Putting his finger under her chin, he lifted her face so that he could look right into her eyes. “You do not look like a slut. You look incredibly sexy and absolutely gorgeous.”

Faith’s heart picked up speed and fluttered wildly as she heard the compliment from Zac. He had always managed to cause such reactions in her, but instead of saying any of that, she rolled her eyes. “I need an excuse to leave early. Would you help me come up with one?”

“Why didn’t you just say no to your mum? I thought they had agreed to stay out of your love-life for awhile?” Zac said it with more annoyance than he had intended. He had always been immensely
 
pleased that Faith never had serious boyfriends, in fact, she barely dated.
 

It wasn’t because she couldn’t get any. She always attracted stares wherever she went. Men would turn their heads and many came up to get her number, but she rarely entertained them.
 

She felt that many of those men never saw beyond her looks of a pampered girl, and coupled with the fact that she didn’t like explaining herself, she never bothered to change their opinions. She simply ignored them or played along with the role.

Faith shook her head and sighed again. Her sigh broke his thoughts and Zac turned his attention back to her. “Apparently, only my grandmother agreed, not my mum. Also, they know I would have said no, or even pretended to be sick to get out of it. I only found out a few minutes ago when they introduced him. I had to use all of my self-control to stop myself from reaching my hands over to strangle her.”

Faith’s mouth formed a small pout. “I hate having to entertain people I barely know,” she continued complaining, completely unaware that Zac was lost in his own thoughts and was looking at her in a daze.

Zac looked at her glossy lips and thoughts of kissing her consumed him. The desire to pull her into his arms, to cup his hands behind her head and bring her mouth to his raged within him. “You look so beautiful.”

Faith stopped speaking. “What?”

Did I say that out loud?
Zac managed a smile. “Nothing. I don’t mind staying here with you till you want to go back. But I hope you know that we can’t just stand here the whole night.”

“My dear! What are you doing here? Tim is looking all over the place for you!”
 

“Crap,” Faith whined softly and leaned into Zac’s chest, hiding from her mother’s view. It was a pointless effort. Even though Zac would have liked for her to stay where she was, they had been seen and there was no use hiding.

Zac put his hand over her shoulder and turned around, bringing Faith to his side. “Hi Aunt Michelle.”

“Hi Zac, you look dashingly handsome. Please take Faith back to the table.” Mrs. Preston had said it politely enough, but both of them knew it was a command that demanded immediate heeding. Then turning to look at Faith, she continued, “You can’t hide for the whole night. He’s a nice guy, give him a chance.”

Mrs. Preston didn’t wait for a reply. She turned around, and sashayed away like a pageant queen before either one could make a reply. Zac took Faith’s hand, placed it on the crook of his elbow and strolled along behind Mrs. Preston.

Hearing a sigh, Zac looked over to Faith. Her eyes were looking straight, and her face was blank. He looked at her for a few seconds, thinking of something that would put a smile on her face. “We match.”
 

“What?” Faith looked up at him with furrowed brows.