Done Being Friends (32 page)

Zac saw her uneasiness in her glance, so he gave her hand a gentle squeeze and smiled at her. It was a small gesture, but the slight squeeze seemed to have infused her with comfort and she smiled back, leaning closer to him.

Throughout the interview, Faith smiled politely, letting Zac answer most of the questions. She mostly replied to Zac’s teasing, and they bantered lovingly like they always had since they were young.
 

Zac didn’t know when he had put his arm around Faith, and pulled her so close that her shoulder was overlapping his. His hand slide down to her waist so that she could lean on him comfortably. He couldn’t seem to get close enough to Faith, each time she was nearby, he would pull her in unknowingly.
 

While Faith was answering a question, Zac leaned down and planted a kiss on her hair. In response, Faith looked up and smiled at him. Zac leaned down slightly, wanting to kiss her, and then he heard a ‘
click’
.

Immediately, he straightened up. He had almost forgotten there were other people in the room with him. Thankfully, Adeline was much more professional than he was. She continued as though the moment didn’t happen, asking another string of questions.

Then after some soft laughter, Faith caught the slight hesitation in Adeline before she voiced her next question. Faith knew what the question would be before Adeline voiced it.

“I know this may be a little awkward, but I have to ask...not too long ago, there was a photograph with Mr. Hayden and a Miss Smith...”

“That was a case of a woman not knowing how to accept rejection. I had nothing to do with her. In fact, I was on my way to meet Faith when she pounced on me.”

Zac looked at Faith and smiled at her. Faith noticed that Adeline was looking at her too, expecting a reply from her regarding the statement that Zac had made.
 

“Yes, nothing happened. He met me right after that, and he was with me the rest of the night.”
 

“Oh...” Adeline smiled coyly and dropped that topic.

Faith blushed as she saw her response, knowing what was going through Adeline’s mind when she had said Zac was with her the rest of the night. It would just be odd to correct her. Faith glanced toward Zac, looking for some cues to react, but Zac only winked at her, making her blush a deeper crimson.

The interview then went on to the recent problems that the Hayden empire faced. Zac answered tactfully, laughing it off and refusing to answer those questions that would require him to reveal how he got the information about Leonard and Hurst.

After the interview, Margaret walked Adeline and Josh out. Faith slid her arms around Zac’s waist and leaned on his chest.
 

“Tired?” Zac asked. His hand released her waist and wrapped itself around her shoulders, pulling her closer.
 

“Nope, just feeling lazy,” Faith chirped.

Zac chuckled and brushed her hair with his free hand. “Then let’s just stay here the rest of the day. We can watch a movie.”

Faith nodded against his chest.

Zac went to set up the home theater room while Faith chose a movie from the huge collection that he had. She tilted her head as fingers brushed across the shelves of DVDs. Her fingers stopped on
Phantom of the Opera
. The last time she had watched it was with Zac, more than a couple of years ago. She pulled it out and strolled into the home theater room.
 

It was set up to be like a movie theater. The floor of the room was covered with a dark carpet. The room had two rows of cushioned chairs covered with soft red velvet, and a huge projector screen hung right in front. The lighting and sound system could be adjusted with switches on the various remote controls, which Faith could never figure out.

She had been in this room a couple of times, it was an indulgence to watch movies on a big screen at home. She narrowed her eyes as she searched her memories for a time when there were more than three people using the home theater room. Zac rarely had parties at his house. The business parties he had didn’t require the use of this room either.
 

She settled down on a seat, and Zac joined her shortly after. Pulling up the armrest that was in between them, Zac pulled her in to lean on his chest as the movie began.
 

“You want some snacks?”

“Nope, I’m fine,” Faith muttered, as she laid lazily against him.

As the movie played, Zac would occasionally kiss her hair and let his fingers run through them.
 

“Are you bored? We can watch something else.” Faith looked up and smiled at Zac.

Zac didn’t answer, his index finger tilted her head further up as he leaned in to kiss her. His mouth touched hers slightly, planting sweet and gentle kisses on her. His hand dropped from her hair and onto her waist, pulling her closer to him.
 

His lips parted, and his tongue gently teased hers. Faith sat up and leaned back, draping her hands over his neck. Zac’s kiss got deeper and fiercer as he pushed Faith further back, leaning on the armrest of her seat. His body was on top of hers as his hand ran through her hair, down the side of her face and cupping it behind her neck.
 

Faith’s heart sped in her chest as Zac leaned down on her. She could feel his hard-muscled chest over hers and the crazy thumping of his heart that seemed to match hers. Her hands grazed across his shoulders and down his chest.
 

As Zac’s lips left her mouth, he kissed down her jaws and then her neck. Faith let out a soft moan as Zac nibbled her neck. “I love you,” Zac whispered into her ears and nibbled at her lobes.
 

She tilted her head slightly away, giving him more room. Her hands fisted, grabbing his shirt and pulling him toward her even when there was no more space to close in between them. His hands moved down her waist and hips.

Faith gulped. It was difficult to have rational thoughts when he was kissing her that way. While his kisses continued down her neck, he told her how beautiful she was, and how he had wanted to kiss her like that for the whole day.
 

She bit her lips as Zac continued kissing down her neck.

“Zac,” her voice came out husky.
 

Immediately, Zac froze. Faith heard him sigh softly as he stilled for another few seconds before sitting up. He ran his hand through his dark hair, and let out a slow long breath.
 

Faith sat up, looking straight at the screen.

“Sorry, got a little carried away.”

Faith smiled and turned slowly to Zac. “I’m sorry. I...”

Zac narrowed his eyes and pulled her into his chest again. “Faith, I want you. I want you real bad. But...I promised to wait. You have nothing to be sorry about. I am the one who got carried away. I should be the one apologizing. I am sorry.”

His arms tightened around her as he said the last three words slowly and deliberately. Faith smiled and snuggled closer. “I love you,” she said softly.

“I love you too.”

Chapter Twenty

The next few weeks were routine for Faith and Zac. He continued to drive her to work every morning without fail, and spent as much of his free time with her. Faith had learnt the inside outs of the company, and was proving to be a worthy heiress and businesswoman.
 

Faith stood in her room, watching herself in the mirror as the noise from the crowd below buzzed. Everyone else was busy downstairs, entertaining the guests who had already arrived. She smoothed down her ivory silk dress, the one that Zac had gotten for her at the resort.

Her grandmother tried persuading Faith to get another dress, but she had already made up her mind. No matter what her grandmother say, Faith refused to yield from her decision. In the end, her grandmother had no choice but to let it go.

With the help of Faith’s mother and grandmother, Faith barely had to lift a finger for her engagement party. She did insist that it be kept small, and the guest list had to be approved by her personally.
 

Between her insistence of personally approving the guest list and her refusal to budge on the dress, her family had come to the conclusion that working in the company had made her bossy. Faith smiled as she gazed into the mirror. Yes, working in the corporate world was toughing her up in certain aspects.

“What are you thinking of?” A familiar voice came from behind her, and her smile broadened as she saw Zac in the reflection.

Zac beamed a brilliant smile in response to hers. He loved seeing her smiles, especially when it was directed toward him. Walking over, he wrapped his hands around her from behind and whispered into her ears, “You look beautiful.”

“Thanks to you.” Faith smiled, turning her head slightly to look at Zac.
 

Keeping one hand wrapped around her waist, he ran his other hand down her arm while he showered kisses down her neck and shoulders. “I can’t wait to announce to the world that you’re mine.
 

Faith chuckled softly. She turned around to face Zac and draped her hands over his neck to pull him down for a kiss. Zac broke into a smile as he tightened his grip around her waist.

The sudden clearing of throat jolted both of them. Faith took a step away, but Zac held her in place before turning around himself.

“Hi Aunt Michelle.” “Hi mum.” They both spoke in perfect unison.

“Both of you do realize that all the people downstairs are here for the two of you, right?” Faith’s mother spoke with consternation.

Zac laughed. “Yes, we get it. We will be down in five minutes.”

Faith’s mother narrowed her eyes and stared at Zac for a moment before breaking into a smile. She shook her head and sighed softly. “Fine, but only five minutes.” Then she turned and left the room.

Immediately, Zac pulled Faith in for a kiss. His hands held her tight around her waist, pulling her so close that their body lined each other’s. Faith’s hands resumed their position around his neck, kissing him back, meeting his passion with hers.

When Zac pulled away for a breath, Faith smiled and took a step back. Zac allowed her to put a small distance between them, but his arms formed a cage, keeping her close.
 

Zac looked at Faith, the ivory dress and her cream skin seemed to make her glow. Releasing one of his arms around her waist, he brushed a loose tendril behind her ears before gently tracing his finger down the side of her jaw.
 

It seemed surreal to have Faith in his arms, smiling as though he was the only person who mattered in the world. He leaned in a gave her a soft peck on her lips, then lifting her face with his index finger, he looked deep into her eyes.

“I love you, Faith Preston. I love you with all my heart; I love you more than my own life.”

The words came out in such gentle whispers that it felt like a caress. Faith tiptoed and lightly grazed her lips against his, whispering, “As I love you, with all my heart and soul.”

Zac wanted to stand right where he was and simply hold her in his arms for the rest of his life. He didn’t care about anything else in the world but the beautiful angel before him. With a sigh, he took a step back.

“We should go, before I decide to just kidnap you and keep you all to myself. And…Your mother will not be that kind if she has to fetch us again.”
 

Faith laughed softly, “Yes, it is not a wise idea to suffer her wrath.”

Zac took her hands and led her down the stairs. There were less than fifty guests invited for the engagement party, and the only people from the media were Adeline and Josh. Zac knew Faith would be more comfortable with people whom she already knew, and because of that, Adeline and Josh had exclusive coverage.
 

Faith would have preferred not to have any reporters around, but everyone else thought that it was a good idea to let the whole world know that Zac is taken. Her family was behaving that way due to the Nicole Smith photograph incident, but Zac had agreed with them; so Faith gave in.

Zac and Faith dutifully went around the floor, greeting their friends and close business partners. Zac maneuvered Faith around with his hand on her back. Knowing that Faith didn’t like such parties, Zac had kept her close. That was until Jessica came and tried pulling her away.

He had grabbed onto her hand, refusing to let her be towed off by Jessica.

“Oh come on, you can spare her for a few minutes.”

“No, actually I can’t.”
 

“Faith, tell your possessive boyfriend to let go. I’m not interested in playing tug-of-war with him.”

“Fiancé,” Zac corrected.

Faith chuckled softly. “It’s all right, Zac.” Faith patted his hand gently. “I’ll be fine with Jessica. She just wants to gossip.”

Zac broke into a smile while Jessica scowled.
 

“Fine.” Then turning to Jessica, Zac spoke in all politeness. “When you are done with your gossips, please send her back to me, personally.”

Jessica rolled her eyes as they turned and walked off. “All right, I’m officially jealous. I want someone who would look at me like that, who would want me beside him every waking minute,” Jessica grumbled as she walked away with Faith.

“You are a great person. I know you will find someone.”
 

Before they could escape the crowd, someone cut into their path and stood right in front of them. The two ladies jerked to a stop and their heads snapped up to see who the rude person was.
 

All expression was drained out of Jessica’s face before her business-look of all seriousness replaced it. Faith gasped and frowned with her mouth agape.
 

“How did you get in?” Jessica snapped at Wilson Miller.
 

Faith blinked as she recovered from her shock. She couldn’t care less about Wilson’s answer, she turned her head, looking for Zac amidst the sea of faces. But before her eyes could register anyone, she felt a hard grip on her shoulder, sending her head back to face Wilson.