Center Stage Ch. 07

“Penny for your thoughts.” I said quietly.

Zack’s head snapped in my direction. His eyes bugled a bit with shock.

“Cam…” His voice was low and unsteady. “I wasn’t sure if you would come.”

“You’ve got a sneaky new PA.” I replied with a small smile. “Otherwise I probably wouldn’t be here.”

“You wouldn’t have come looking for me?” Zack asked.

“Zack,” I said with a sigh. “I’m the one that left. If anything you should be the one to come looking for me.”

“I wasn’t sure if you wanted to be found” Zack said in a near whisper.

“I wasn’t sure of that myself to be honest.” I replied. “But I’m here. So obviously I want to at least talk things out.”

“Are you just going to hear what I have to say and then leave?” Zack turned his head to gaze out the window again as he spoke.

I guess he was afraid of my answer. This was probably totally selfish on my part, but I was glad to see that he was hurting. The way he’s been for the past weeks made me feel like he forgot what feelings were.

“My leaving depends on what you have to say, Zack.” I said as I walked across the office.

I sat down on one of the chairs in front of his desk. We were both silent for a few moments. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence though. I expected Zack to either sit behind his desk or take the chair next to me. I should have known by this point to expect the unexpected from him. He walked over and crouched down right in front of me. Zack reached to take my hands, but stopped himself.

“You really gave me a lot to think about last night.” Zack began. “To be honest, it feels like it’s been a lot longer than just last night. I was up almost the whole night thinking about what happened, and how I let things get so fucked up. I’ve never really been close with people before. Let me rephrase that. Actually, I’ve never been close with the people that I’ve been involved with, but you already know that. The fact that you were the first person I ever cuddled with proves that.”

We both smiled at the shared memory of that night. No matter what happens now between us, I know that Zack and I will always cherish that memory.

“I was starting to freak out about how close we were getting even before the entire incident with the psycho.” Zack never did make reference to her name ever since I was hurt. “I knew I had to talk to you, but then all that craziness started. You were already upset and freaking out, and I didn’t want to add to that. That night I found you unconscious on your living room still haunts me. I thought I had lost you.”

Zack’s voice choked up for a second. He paused and cleared his throat. When his voice cracked I could feel my chest tighten. Zack was always very reserved with his emotions. Don’t get me wrong; he is a very loving person. He just normally doesn’t allow people to see him get upset. I wanted to stop him and ease his pain, but I knew he had to continue on.

“When I had you cradled to my chest I wanted to die with you right there. It was in that moment that I realized that I couldn’t live without you. You have no idea how much that scared me. I’ve never had to depend on anyone, and to suddenly find myself needing someone threw me for a major loop. Once you got out of the hospital the reality of the situation finally had sunk in. I finally knew what it was to love someone. That’s when things turned a bit selfish on my part.”

Zack’s gaze locked onto my own. I had the feeling I didn’t want to hear what he was about to say. Zack’s eyes clearly told me that he wasn’t comfortable with saying it either. I gave him a small smile and nodded to encourage him to continue.

“I pulled away from you because I didn’t want to need someone that much. I didn’t want to have to depend on someone like that. Like I said before, losing you almost killed me, and selfishly I didn’t want to have to go through that again. I didn’t want to ever feel a sense of loss like that ever again in my life. Then when you left last night I realized how selfish I was being. That in all of this I never even bothered to think about you or what you were feeling. I was being a prick and I don’t know if I can even ask you to forgive me.”

I couldn’t take it anymore. This man was breaking my heart. I reached out and cupped the side of his face. Zack’s eyes closed and he pushed his face against my hand. I felt him tremble and saw a few tears slide out from under his closed lids. My thumb reached out and gently wiped them away. I leaned forward and gently pressed my lips against his.

“I love you.” I whispered to him.

I heard a soft cry erupt from his mouth and then suddenly his arms were around me. I was pulled off the chair onto my knees with him. He buried his face in my neck. I felt his body shake from his sobs. I ran my hand through his arm and murmured against his ear.

“This is my fault too, baby.” I said quietly “I shouldn’t have stayed quiet for so long. I should have said something to you sooner and maybe we would have never gotten to this point. It looks like we both made some mistakes.”

Zack’s head pulled away from my neck. Our eyes locked again.

“I love you so much, Cameron.”

His leaned in and captured my lips with his. I felt his arms tighten around my body. I involuntarily groaned. As my mouth opened his tongue darted in and claimed possession of me. It wasn’t just my mouth that Zack had reclaimed. He reclaimed my heart again.

“Zack…” I said quietly. “Why don’t I have a job here anymore?”

Zack’s eyes searched mine and he smiled.

“You do have a job here. I should have explained that better as well.” He said with a teary eyed grin. “I don’t want you as my PA. I want you as my partner. I want you by my side in running the company, not running around like my slave.”

His words warmed my heart. I couldn’t believe it though. CSP was his baby, and to let me be such a huge part of that blew me away. I ran my hands down his back and cupped his ass. My fingers massaged the firm, hard muscles there.

“What if I like being your slave?” I growled at him.

“You sexy beast!” Zack said as laughter bubbled from his throat. “Is it me or does this office make us horny?”

I grinned at him and started to unbutton his shirt.

“I locked the door when I came in. So why don’t we find out.”