Seeing that his reaction was way more nonchalant than she would ever have guessed, she sighed in relief. "I was worried that you would be devastated if Jaime, who is an outsider, did anything to Samantha. Since you don't care, I will be on my way back."

"Stay." He turned to look at her. It was more of an order than a request, and she had no choice but to stop in her tracks.

"Okay… is there anything you need me to help you with?" She slowly made her way to him and sat down when he patted the space beside him.

Pulling her closer to him, he cupped her face as he gently caressed her cheek with his thumb.

"These past few weeks have been quite troublesome. So troublesome that if I tried to do everything on my own, I'm sure I would have messed everything up. Thank you for helping me through it." He gazed into her hazel eyes deeply.

His gaze made her disoriented, so she looked past him to the wall just to avoid his eyes. "It's nothing. A happy boss makes a happy employee, right?"

"True." He chuckled at her logic even though he knew that it was not the only reason why she had done her best to help him. It must also be because of the friendship blooming between them, as well as the feelings they had for each other. "Also, a happy boyfriend and a happy girlfriend." He added through a small laugh.

Her eyes went wide in shock from what he had just said. She looked up at him and from the look in his eyes, she had not heard wrong. He had said the very words she thought she had heard. She took a breath to calm her racing heart. "Wait, when did I become your girlfriend?"

Did she hit her head too hard and lose part of her memory? Or did Zeus hack into her brain and delete some information?

She was still wondering when it happened when she heard his crazy answer amid his silly laugh. "Right now."

"Wait, what?" Right now? Was this his way of asking her to be his girlfriend? Who the hell does that?

He took in her eyes that were full of confusion but still glared at him as though accusing him of being a jerk. He stopped joking around and took her hand, looking into her eyes seriously. "Zaria, we are already doing things that couples do."

"What do you mean?" She didn't understand what he was getting at.

"We have been watching movies together, spending time, going on dates and kissing—kissing a lot. Not to mention, making out and sleeping in the same bed once in a while. How can we deny that we are together?"

She couldn't come up with a single word to rebut him. What could she even say? The man had just trapped her into a relationship and there wasn't anything she could do about it.

"But Natalie…" She started. Wasn't she the reason why they couldn't be together no matter how obvious their feelings for each other were?

He pulled her head to his chest, grinning happily since he knew that he had managed to accomplish his goal. She couldn't turn back now. "The Bolar Awards are only a week away. Natalie and Devonte will announce their relationship soon after that. I don't think they can hide it for any longer either."

"I couldn't agree more." She chuckled. They were becoming more obvious by the day and if they were slightly more careless, the whole world would know about their relationship.

"What a bummer that I've already used up all my chances to vote." She sighed. Every new fan that registered to vote for the Bolar Awards was given two chances while VIP fans received five, and for every year a fan voted, they would be given an extra chance.

Not only was Zaria a VIP fan, but she had also voted consecutively ever since she knew about the Bolar Awards, so she had sixteen chances when the event began. Wanting her idol to have a head start, she had voted all sixteen times in a row. How she wished she had saved some of the chances for emergencies like these.

Her explanation sounded like gibberish when she told Desmond about it. He didn't comprehend a word, but he took out his phone anyway. "What should I do?"

"Log into The Bolar Awards' official website. Wait. Let me help you." She grabbed his phone before he could tap on a pirate site. Her fangirl mode was fully on, so she was done within a minute. "There you go. Vote for Jupiter—001 on the last day."

"Why not right away?" He asked, not comprehending why he had to wait.

"Of course, because some fans wait to vote on the last day. If all of Devonte's fans vote too early, what will happen if someone overtakes him on the last day?" She rolled her eyes at his slow brain.

He smiled as he watched her send the link to practically everyone on her contacts list with the same instructions she had given him.

Opening her Creszone app, she texted Zeus and sent him the link after thinking about it.

His reply came within seconds.

[I didn't know you were crazy about idols. If you want, I can make sure Jupiter doesn't leave the top position.]

[That's not necessary!] She quickly replied before he could use his keyboard talent to rig the vote counter. Although that was an option and she was certain that it was the easiest and most tempting, she didn't want Jupiter to hold a fake title and award.

Zeus sent over a laughing sticker.

[You don't want me to display my skills but whatever. I will vote. I will have my son vote too. Do you need me to drag my husband to vote along?]

Zaria chuckled and sent a voice message over. "Aren't you divorced?"

"As I said, I still love him. I can make it a way to bring us back together." He replied in a voice note, shocking the hell out of Desmond.

He was pleasantly surprised despite his shock. It seemed like Zeus was not after his Zaria? What a relief! It was even much better to learn that he was in love with a man, which nullified the possibility of him ever falling for Zaria in future.

But if he didn't like Zaria, why did he care so much about her? Maybe he only genuinely wanted to be her friend?

That better be the case. He thought and pulled the off-guard Zaria into his arms.

Pulling the phone out of her hand, he placed it on the coffee table and took her lips in his. Her lips were soft and tasted like candies, luring him to kiss her more passionately and pry her lips open.

She let him explore her tongue with passion, moaning slightly when she felt his fingers glide down her neck. He pressed his lips against her neck, before trailing down her body in soft kisses. She reached behind her back to find the zipper of her dress, and when she couldn't, he helped her with it in an instant and pulled her dress down her shoulders, kissing her soft skin. Her hands clung onto his back, rubbing and fumbling with his clothes as he cupped her boobs in his hands. She felt the heat from his palms though her see-through lacy bra, driving her on edge. She buried her head in the crook of his neck as she wished for him to take off her bra. She knew that the man knew what she wanted, but he was just fond of making her ask for it. Biting her lips in pleasure from his touch, she lifted the hem of his t-shirt at the sides, and he paused to take it off in a swift move.

He lowered his head to take her nipples in his mouth without taking the bra off, and the feeling of hot air on the aroused buds made her go crazy with the need to be touched. Satisfying her desire, he rubbed them in his hands before pulling down her bra to expose them. The right one was in his mouth before she could process it, and he flicked it with his tongue while soothing the other with his thumb and forefinger.

Her pants and soft moans were like alluring music in his ears, making him so aroused that his pants felt uncomfortable. He pulled them down while keeping his boxers on, then gently pushed her to recline on the couch.

"Zaria, can I?" He asked through his parched throat, while touching the sides of her dress.

"Mmh." She nodded, and he lifted her dress. In the next second, he parted her legs and buried his head between them, which shocked her even though she still had her knickers on.

"Wait, what are you doing?" She asked nervously, feeling a strange yet pleasant wave pooling into the pits of her stomach.