Forever (Time for Love Book 1) (20 page)

A frustrated groan came out of Zach as he abruptly left the bed to head for the bathroom. When he came out, he was fumbling with the condom packet.

"Let me put it on you, honey," she said, sitting up on the bed.

"No mouth," Zach warned. "I'm too close. I need to be inside you."

With a sensuous smile, she took the condom from him and unrolled it along his impressive hard-on. "Mmm, promise I can kiss it later?"

"I'll be begging for your mouth later, baby," he said as he flopped on the bed. "Right now I'm begging for your pussy. Please."

How could she say no? She straddled him and guided his cock onto her waiting entrance. They both moaned loudly as she sheathed his hardness. Pleasure began to build within her again as she rocked on top of him. Before long, she was moving faster, her movements as uncontrollable as Zach's bucking hips.

"Oh, Bec... so fucking good, baby..." Zach gasped, his face contorting as his climax loomed.

Rebecca reached for her swollen nub, wanting to reach the crest with Zach.

Zach's breathing became harsher, his hips flexing faster as he watched her busy finger and the joining of their bodies. Then, with an animalistic groan, he exploded inside her and she too toppled over the edge, her body following in response as she came hard all over him.

*

"Y
ou're amazing. I love you," Zach whispered in her ear as they caught their breath.

Rebecca smiled, making herself more comfortable sprawled on top of him. She was thrilled to bits that Zach wasn't holding back on saying those words anymore. "I love you, too, honey. Now we can talk."

"Okay," Zach said, kissing her hair.

Zach spoke softly, explaining his side of the story starting from the time when they first broke up seven months ago.

She couldn't help the tear that escaped when Zach told her about Phillip's bungled "investigation", and how his heart had broken at the thought that she'd lied to him about her feelings.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Zach said, wiping the wetness from her face. "With all the ridiculous press coverage that had gone on after the accident, you wouldn't believe how many women turned up at our doorstep with the intention of seducing us—mostly for money." He tilted her head with a finger under her chin. "I've never thought that you were like them—until Phillip's story. I think it was easier for me handle that you were a gold-digger rather than face the fact you'd replaced me with another guy."

"Both of which weren't true," she said to him gently.

He nodded with a regretful smile. "I wish I'd taken your calls. But I had Jeff and Greg who'd practically forced me to move on. I just can't believe all three of us believed Phillip. I'm now convinced that the only thing that idiot is good at is acting and making up tall tales."

"Phillip told me the other day you guys were having me investigated again."

"No. I did ask Jeff to check out the man who gave you the apartment, after we had sex on this ship for the first time. But even before I got an answer, I'd already decided to steal you away from that guy. Imagine my relief and horror when I found out he was your brother. I asked Jeff to stop then."

"You know what hurt the most?" she asked him softly. "That you thought I'd lied about how I felt about you—that you thought I was after your money."

"I have no excuse, Bec," Zach said, tightening his arms around her. "Could you ever forgive me for that? I promise I'll make it up to you."

She burrowed her face deeper in his neck. "I guess I can understand why you would think that, given your experiences in the last couple of years. Besides, I haven't really told you much about Trey. I just didn't want to talk too much about my family because I didn't want to talk a lot about my mum—or my father."

"Would you tell me more about your parents when you're ready?" Zach asked.

She looked up at him and smiled. "There's not much to tell. My father disappeared when I was two. I don't really know if he left us or if my mum left him, and I don't remember him at all. My mum was beautiful when she was young—she still is even up to now—and she never lacked admirers. She loved to travel and would go away with a new boyfriend for months on end, leaving me and Trey in the care of our grandparents. When we were young, there were boyfriends of hers whom Trey and I had gotten close to, only for them to be replaced by another boyfriend after a few months. My mum's excuse was always that the new one was richer, and that she was only doing this for our sake. But she was hardly ever around, and I remember my grandparents having to work hard to raise me and Trey."

"Wow, I'm surprised you still have her in your life after all that."

"Before my grandfather passed away, he made Trey and me promise to never close our doors on Mum. We loved our grandfather and we owe him a lot, so we're still respecting his wishes. I think in my grandparents' eyes, Mum's behaviour is an affliction. Giving it that label made everything easier for them, I guess. As for me, there's a certain level of acceptance of my mother. I don't hate her, and when she's around it doesn't bother me much anymore. What bothers me is when I'm thought of as a gold-digger.

"During my fourteenth birthday party, an ex-boyfriend of my Mum came to our house—our grandparents' place—looking for Mum. He demanded that my mother return the jewellery he gave her. I happened to be wearing a necklace that Mum loaned to me to wear during the party. Turned out that was one of the pieces he'd given her.

"I can still remember the sneering, hateful look he gave me. He said he could see that I was going to be a slutty gold-digger like my mother. All the friends I'd invited to my party were around when he said that. I felt so ashamed. From then on, I made a promise to myself that no one would ever have a reason to call me a gold-digger."

"I'm so sorry, baby," Zach murmured, hugging her so tightly that it made it difficult to breathe.

"Well, it wasn't all bad," she said with a lighter tone, kissing him. "Trey and I were very happy living with our grandparents."

Zach smiled. "We should introduce our grandmothers to each other."

She beamed at him. "Yes. I think they'll hit it off."

Zach pressed a kiss on her forehead, running his hand up and down her arms and back. "So am I forgiven for everything?"

"Do you really love me?" she whispered.

Zach rolled, taking her with him so she was on her back, pinned by his body to the bed. "I love you more than I can say," he said in a serious tone, looking deep into her eyes.

"Then there's nothing to forgive," she murmured, pulling his head down to hers and wrapping her arms and legs around him.

A
purposeful knocking interrupted Zach's meeting with his PA.

"Confirm my attendance for the charity dinner next month," he said to his assistant as he walked to the door. "I'll be bringing Rebecca with me. And you can take the rest of the afternoon off, Anita."

"Thanks, Zach," his PA said, preparing to leave the room.

Zach opened the door and he frowned in surprise. "Vicky."

"Can we talk, Zach? It's important."

He paused for a second, then nodded. "I'll meet you at the main bar in ten minutes."

"Are you finished with your meeting?" Vicky asked, noticing Zach's PA leave the room. "We can talk here."

Zach hid his smirk. No way he was going to be alone in his room with Vicky. After her recent behaviour, he couldn't trust her anymore. "No. I'll meet you at the bar," he said authoritatively.

Vicky's face fell with disappointment. "That's a very public place, Zach. What I have to tell you is not something we'd want people to overhear."

He lifted an eyebrow. "It would have been good if you remembered to maintain privacy when you had that outburst against Rebecca the other day, wouldn't it?"

Vicky reddened. "I already said I was sorry I lost my temper. But do you want me to say what I have to say in public again?"

"I'll meet you at the bar, then we'll find a quiet place to talk."

"Okay," Vicky said with a huff and turned on her heels.

*

"T
his might not be something you want to hear, Zach," Vicky said as they stood by the railing on the upper deck, using her hand to hold her hair in a ponytail and stop it from being blown in a mess by the strong breeze.

Zach stayed quiet, waiting for Vicky to continue.

"Phillip said something to me. He asked me not to say anything to you because you might get angry at him and not consider him for a position in your company. But I thought about it, and I think you should know."

"What did he say?" Zach asked, anger already rising before even hearing Vicky's news.

Vicky heaved a huge sigh. "He said Rebecca's still two-timing you. With that guy Alix."

"What?" Zach asked with a laugh. It was preposterous.

"He said that he saw them have lunch together, and that they were cavorting in one of the pools just yesterday. That's very concerning, Zach."

Zach's expression turned serious. "Yes, that's very concerning."

Vicky tried to suppress a smile—in vain. "I'm glad I told you. I couldn't believe at first that Rebecca would even try to cheat on you here, where it's so easy to get caught. But I guess Phillip's right. Rebecca's just a slut."

Zach took a deep breath to keep himself from lashing out at Vicky. "What I'm very concerned about is that Phillip is so intent on painting my girlfriend in a bad light," he said with barely controlled anger. "And he's still telling people lies about Bec?"

Vicky's mouth opened in surprise. "But—"

"Rebecca's not cheating on me, Vicky. And she most definitely is not a slut, so don't you call her that ever again," he said in a low growl.

"But Phillip said—"

"I know about Bec having lunch with Alix. I was supposed to join them, but I had an emergency phone call so I wasn't able to. And I know about Alix bumping into her and Sarah in the pool yesterday. Bec told me about that. Alix didn't want to end this trip with bad feelings with anyone, and wanted to assure me and Bec that we can count on him welcoming us in Greece if we decided to visit."

"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't realise..." Vicky said with a horrified expression.

"Vicky, I know you're still hoping for something to happen between us again. I'm sorry, but there's no chance of that. I'm in love with Rebecca. But for our grandmothers' sake, I hope we can try to remain friendly with each other."

Vicky looked down, then nodded. "Okay, Zach. It's a shame because you're a great guy. But I guess I'll have to set my sights somewhere else."

Zach gave her a smile.

"I suppose I should tell Phillip how wrong he is," Vicky said with a sigh.

"I'll talk to him," Zach said, his anger returning. Hadn't he already made it clear to Phillip how totally wrong his assumptions had been regarding Rebecca? What the hell was wrong with that man?

*****

Z
ach watched his grandmother with concern as she sat down on the sofa. He wished he didn't have to involve her with this decision, but he had to. Magda treated Phillip like a nephew, and Zach felt guilty that he might be forcing her to agree with him to ask Phillip to leave the ship when they docked in Bangkok in a couple of days.

"If you think it's for the best, then do what you have to, dear," Magda said softly after a period of silence.

"If he hadn't threatened to make life hell for me, I wouldn't be suggesting this. It's better that he's not around to ruin the rest of this trip for us."

"I wonder why he's acting this way?" Magda mused.

Zach smirked. "He hates my guts for refusing to give him a job. And I think sheer jealousy is eating him. He's jobless and financially desperate while the Carmichael brothers are lucky, in his eyes."

"He was such a sweet boy when he was young," Magda said, shaking her head. "Let me be the one to tell him why we want him off the ship. I want him to know that my doors will remain open for him as long as he doesn't mess with my family."

"Okay, but I want to be with you when you tell him. I just don't trust him anymore, Gran."

"Fine. Let's do it over lunch. And I want to pay for his airfare and whatever else he needs to get back to Sydney."

"I don't have a problem with that," Zach said, getting to his feet.

"Zach."

"Yes, Gran."

"I just want you to know I'm very glad you've sorted things out with Rebecca."

He smiled at his grandmother fondly. "Me too, Gran."

"She's not a temporary girlfriend is she, Zach?"

"No. I love her."

Magda's smile was radiant as she went to him and pinched his cheek. "My grandson's in love. How wonderful to see. Now we just have to work on your brothers."

He grinned. "And how do you propose to do that?"

"Well, I did get you and Rebecca on a ship where you couldn't escape each other, didn't I?" Magda said with a twinkle in her eye.

Zach's jaw dropped as he stared at Magda. "You planned this?"

"Only getting the two of you on this trip. The rest you did yourself. Anyway, I knew that if it was true love, the two of you would find your way. And you did."

"So you knew about me and Bec months ago?"

"I suspected it. Anyone who bothered watching how the two of you looked at each other would know something was going on. I was very disappointed when it seemed to have ended abruptly. And I got very worried about you, because you threw yourself into work and lost your spark. I had to do something."

Zach hugged Magda as tightly as he dared, chuckling. "Thank you, Gran. You're the best. I love you."

"And I love you, Zachary. Now, shouldn't you go order an engagement ring?"

Zach laughed out loud. "Patience, Gran. Patience."

Yes, that would be his first task when they got back home. Equally important would be convincing his Bec to move in with him straight away so she wouldn't have to live in the same building as Phillip.

*****

Z
ach pulled Rebecca onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her.

"Zach," she whispered anxiously. "We're in a public place."