Author's note: Thank you to NotMarge, StarlitStar, NicoleR85, and partygirl98 for the reviews! If some one had said that my story would get over 100 reviews when I started it, I would've called them crazy. Thank you so much for the support. Today something happens that I think we've all been waiting for... at least I have! Hopefully all of you enjoy it.
Can I?
"How'd the board meeting go on Friday, Zoey?" Billy asked as we all dug into our food.
The soup was very salty and the potatoes were crunchy, but of course I kept my mouth shut. I could swear that Billy gave me a wink as I made a rather painful swallow of food. So I wasn't the only one, then.
Zoey, cooking is not one of your talents.
"We're up. I offered to buy out Frank Burton's shares, but he refused. It still irritates him that the company hasn't completely fallen apart with me at the wheel," Zoey muttered, picking at her food.
"Plenty of people who want to see you fail," Billy said, frowning.
"Just ignore them, Zoey. Show them all what you're made of," Marceline told her.
I remembered what Zoey wrote in her letter, in regards to being afraid of what her next step in life would be. So many people wanted her to fail miserably, and she was terrified of disappointing the few who wanted her to succeed.
Wordlessly, I reached out and touched her shoulder in an attempt to be reassuring.
"Has Zoey told you about the family business, Hank?" Bill asked.
I shook my head.
"Why not?" Marceline scolded, looking at Zoey reprovingly.
"He never asked, and I took it to be a good sign that Hank wasn't after me for my money like all of those jerks Nick set me up with," she retorted, looking both defensive and embarrassed.
The married couple exchanged glances.
"That makes some kind of sense, I suppose," Billy said finally. "But Hank isn't any of those boys. Have you mentioned them?"
Zoey shook her head, eyes downcast.
"I don't need to hear about any of this," I cut in, suddenly full of foreboding. I didn't want to delve into topics that would upset her.
"But you probably should. Just in case Grey tries that nonsense again."
So they told me the whole terrible business.
Nicholas Grey was not well-liked by Billy or Mr. Dubois when he started to hang around Chloe. He was a twenty-seven year old man, flirting with a sixteen year old girl. He'd grown up in the area, and knew of the Dubois family. Though Edward Dubois made his distaste for the man quite clear, the younger man kept trying to poke his nose into the family business- the Dubois had been making vulcanized rubber since the nineteenth century. Edward warned his daughter to be wary of the man, but of course that made their relationship all the more enticing. She became pregnant soon after, securing Grey's place in the family forever. There was a shotgun wedding.
That in itself didn't jade the family's view of Grey, considering the manner of Edward and Brigette's own wedding. What worried everyone was Nicholas' determination to worm his way into a position of power in the Dubois company- and his habit of demeaning women. It became apparent that he had no respect for his new wife, and used her frailties as a yardstick to judge all females by. Zoey, with her strong business sense and genius-level IQ, completely baffled him. And he was the sort to treat what he did not understand with contempt.
Grey seemed to believe that by virtue of his marriage to Edward's oldest child he was guaranteed a slice of the Dubois family fortune. He demanded a chance to prove himself as a good businessman, and it was granted. Zoey described to me the circumstances of his factory in a detached voice. Objectively speaking, there was no way the man should've failed.
But he did, by stacking his management with his friends, who were useless, and wasting his start-up money. His venture folded within nine months. Edward Dubois encouraged his daughter to divorce her husband, but Chloe was in the man's clutches too strongly. She refused, even under threat of disinheritance. So Dubois cut her out of his will, infuriating Grey. He inexplicably blamed his wife for his own failings.
He had hopes of rising to power in the company by taking Zoey's place, if she wasn't eighteen by the time Edward Dubois died. And for awhile it looked like it was a possibility, as cancer wasted the older man away. But he held on until a week after Zoey's eighteenth birthday.
Zoey wasn't one to hold grudges. Though wary, she wanted to keep peace in the family for her beloved niece's sake. Therefore she allowed Grey to offer his advice as she stepped into her new role as CEO of the company. She also moved into an apartment of her own, allowing her sister's family to live in the family home, rent-free, out of the goodness of her heart. But unfortunately Nicholas' suggestions were bad. Zoey had no choice but to ignore them, for the good of the company. Of course this angered Grey.
Nicholas, failing in his attempt to manage the company through Zoey, decided to start setting her up on blind dates with his friends. Again, trying to keep the family harmonious, she agreed. Five men later, she finally told her brother-in-law to stop. Zoey was much too clever for the transparent plan (Grey intended for one of his friends to marry the young heiress, and then share the spoils between them), though she did give the men a chance.
Since then, when Grey's last hope disappeared, things had barely been civil between them. He saw Zoey's success as a personal affront, like it was at his own expense. He had a job and lived in a beautiful house for free, but he did not spend wisely. He hated Zoey for "stealing" from him.
I had a gut feeling that Nicholas Grey would bring us nothing but trouble.
I gave Zoey a ride home after dinner was over.
We were silent until we were almost to her apartment. I didn't think it was awkward, considering it was only a two minute drive.
"Do you think I'm some kind of gullible, naive little girl now?" Zoey asked, rather suddenly.
Maybe a little naive. But I admire that you tried so hard to keep peace within your family.
"Not really," I replied honestly. "It sounded like you were just trying to do right by your family, no matter how hard your brother-in-law makes it for you."
Knowing what I did now about her dating history, I could understand why she was so willing to give her secret admirer a chance.
Zoey Dubois was a CEO, a doctoral candidate and a certified genius. But she was also an eighteen year old girl yearning for someone to love her for who she was, rather than her inheritance.
Someone bringing her flowers and such things appealed to her romantic nature, encouraged from an early age by her own parents' love story. So she decided to give me a chance, rather than running for the hills, away from the stalker who liked to watch her drink mochas like she admittedly probably should have.
At that moment we arrived at her apartment, and I parked easily. I turned off the car and helped her out.
My thoughts were rather dark at the moment. I couldn't help thinking what a wonderful person Zoey was, and how I could never deserve her in a million years. She had so much compassion, such a pure heart. She had no business being involved with someone like me.
I took Zoey's hand and assisted her out of the car. Then she was standing in front of me, an angel in the flesh.
"Can I kiss you?" she whispered hesitantly. I could see the blush staining her cheeks in the dark.
It felt like I missed a step going downstairs. Here I was, thinking of all the reasons Zoey shouldn't be with me, and she wanted to kiss me.
Thoughts of my many faults fled as I stared into those brilliant green eyes of hers. Never mind what I feared could happen if I gave in and kissed her like I so desperately wanted- she believed in me, and because of that I could almost believe in myself.
To hell with it.
I leaned in wordlessly, cupping her cheek with one hand, and pressed my lips to hers.
All of those cliches about a perfect first kiss making the world stop moving, suspending a moment in time are completely true. Or at least they were for me.
My mind captured random details even as I lost myself in how it felt to kiss Zoey. Her lips were soft and warm as they moved against mine, and everything from her lovely scent filling my nose to the sweet taste of her mouth burned itself into my psyche forever. I'd never experienced something so wonderful, so vibrant and passionate in my entire life.
We pulled away from each other slowly, reluctantly. I let my hand drop away from her face as I tried to catch my breath. Zoey's eyes were glittering, like jewels, and I felt like her soul was shining through those emerald depths and into mine, making me feel a little lost. In that moment I knew she had my heart completely.
I'd done it. I'd kissed her and not lost it.
And now I wanted to do it again.
When my hands slipped to her waist and back Zoey grinned at me in such a way that my stomach did a somersault. Utterly seductive, even if she didn't yet realize what kind of effect that look had on me.
I kissed her again, like there was nothing else in the world but her. Because for me, there wasn't. I pulled her closer, loving the way her body fit against mine. Zoey's fingers reached up to bury her fingers in my hair, and she pressed herself against me. Her enthusiastic response encouraged me on. I poured all of the emotion I'd felt for her since the day I first saw her into that kiss.
Then suddenly there was heat, shimmering like a mirage behind my eyelids.
I was kissing her with such fervor that at first I ignored the incandescent feeling spooling through my veins, traveling outward from the pit of my stomach. In the back of my head I knew what it meant, but I didn't want to stop. I'd been wanting to kiss Zoey for months, and now I was. Wasn't this amazing?
But the fire within me was quickly reaching a crescendo.
Oh no. Too much- too much!