“What?” Rina peered her eyes at him, wondering what he was saying. “Are you trying to tell me you are not friends with Claire? That I’ve got everything wrong?”
Zayn shook his head. “No. But I didn’t tell Claire to offer you a job. I didn’t even know she was going to until she sent George the mail. You were the first person I heard it from before she reached out to me to inform me. Rina, I meant it when I told you that I would not do anything you do not want me to. Trust me.”
The anger in Rina faded into oblivion and she struggled with what next to say. “I thought…I didn’t know…”
“It’s fine, Rina. I understand you perfectly. If I were in your shoes, I probably would have responded the same way. You were with a man who didn’t regard you and used your accomplishments against you before leaving you for your best friend, and it is only normal for you to be wary of all the men who come into your life after that. But it is my job to constantly reassure you that I will never do that to you. Never. It doesn’t matter if this is purely contractual, or if anything else happens along the line. And I should have told you Claire and I were friends when I found out about the job. I’m sorry.”
Rina didn’t know what to do or say. Hell! Her mind was suddenly quiet, thrown into that state by Zayn’s admissions and apology. Susan had once mentioned that Zayn had never shown vulnerability to anyone, so why was he doing it with her?
“If anything happens along the line?” She found herself replaying the words in her head, circling back to that statement. Rina had missed it the first time with the emotions that were trapped between them, but now that they had gotten past that, the implication of those words suddenly hit.
“I don’t know why I said that,” Zayn murmured, getting off the sofa. He grabbed the half bottle of wine and returned it to the fridge to buy himself some time. But when he returned, Rina was still gazing up at him expectantly.
“Are we going to talk about it?”
“About what?”
“The kiss.”
“It depends,” Zayn sighed. “Do you want to? I meant everything I told you last night, and in as much as it would be easier for me to tell you to forget everything since I don’t know what to do about it either, it does us no good. But feelings complicate a lot of things.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that you admitted you wanted to kiss me last night.”
“And it doesn’t change the fact that I still want to do that right now. But I think that has stirred enough trouble, so I better keep my hands to myself.”
“Is that the only reason?”
Zayn shook his head. “There is also the overwhelming possibility that once I start, I will not be able to let go until the end. And I don’t want to do anything either of us might regret.”
“Right.”
“Right.”
“I better get going then.” She got on her feet and walked towards the door, her hands already on the handle before Zayn’s voice made her halt.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?”
“What? Oh! My bag.”
She strolled back into the living room, grabbed her tote from the sofa, and walked back to the door. Rina couldn’t tell why she was upset, only that she felt it in all of her being, Her scowl only grew deeper when he called her back again.
“What?”
“I’m proud of you.”
Rina looked back at him and her frown faltered. But it was gone the moment she turned around and walked out of the room without giving him a response. Fishing for her own keycard in her bag, she found it and looked around the hallway for anyone who might be taking pictures of her. Rina chuckled awkwardly when she realized how stupid that was. Whoever it was would be long gone by now. The chances of being discovered while hanging around were pretty high.
She pushed the door open and walked in, tossing her bag onto the carpet and jumping onto the long sofa, burying her head into its leather. She screamed into it and sat up a moment later, different thoughts fighting for dominance in her head.
“Rina,” she said out loud. “If you are asked the reason for your fury, what response would you have to give? Zayn has done nothing wrong. He was right to have decided to keep his hands to himself, because that is what we agreed on originally. We can’t have a physical relationship now that we’ve come too far. It would ruin everything.”
But even at that, Rina couldn’t get rid of the small voice in her head, telling her that the arrangement didn’t matter, that love could grow at any point. She stopped abruptly and shook her head. “I am not in love with Zayn Graham. It is highly impossible. He is rude, controlling, a total dominant, not to mention sexy, jaw-dropping sexy with abs like the Greek god I imagine in my head…Oh my God!”
Rina groaned into her palms, wondering why her mind wouldn’t cooperate with her. She needed it to, seeing as they still had a long way to go. Falling for him would make it hard to let go in five years, and Zayn would be utterly disappointed. Once again, she would be the one to end up with a broken heart. And everyone that knew Zayn knew that he didn’t believe in love. He thought it was an unnecessary feeling, that powerful unions should be made with a purpose in mind.
A message entered her phone and she grabbed it from her bag, hitting the message icon. Her lips twitched and raised into a smirk as her eyes took in the note.
“If you don’t want the whole world to find out you were actually kissing Zayn Graham at your door, let go of him and disappear. If not, you will not have a career to hold on to anywhere in the world.”