His Hired Girlfriend (18 page)

Jay saw Alex hiding a grin.
When she saw him watching her, she winked at him. Jay nearly died
of a heart attack then – not that his heart was weak since he was
very fit. Oh God! How she affected him. He really wanted to leap
over the table and kiss her silly. Only he couldn’t because a) he
was supposed to be gay, b) his family was present, and c) he had
promised himself not to touch her.

Shit! Shit!
Shit!
And more Shit!

He really needed to get away
from her otherwise he wouldn’t be able to control himself.

He thrust the chair back with a
loud screech and stalked out of the room. “I’ll get the car ready,”
he announced as he left.

Alex slumped, wondering what
had gotten into him all of a sudden as she stirred her lumpy
porridge.

A moment later, Kelly appeared.
“Oh gosh,” she said. “We are late. Come along, Alex, you’re coming
too.”

Alex widened her eyes in shock.
“Me?” She pointed a finger at herself, her brows rose.

“Yeah. We can’t just leave you
here. Besides, Vera Wang is in Madison Avenue where all the
fashionable boutiques are. We can go shopping for your dress when
we are done,” Kelly said, her hands clasped together in
anticipation.

“Yeah,” Alex said somewhat
reluctantly.

Gracie grinned and said, “Come
on. We are late.”

Alex nodded and then she was
led by Kelly and Gracie on either side of her to the car.

***

Leaning his shoulder against
the black limo, Jayden watched as his family and his hired
girlfriend finally made an appearance.

“Oh, we are late, we are late,”
muttered Beth. “We do not want to be late to lunch with Britney,
too.”

Jayden saw Kelly smirked and
then whispered something into Alexandra’s ear. Then they both
giggle like school girls. Jay frowned, wondering what they were
gossiping about. Him perhaps? Because they were now eyeing him with
some sort of secret interest.

He opened the door for his
grandmother who muttered something about the weather being too hot
for her frail body to handle. Then Gracie slid in, which followed
by Alex who smiled at him and thanked him most politely. He simply
nodded at her with a masked face – and that was the most he was
going to interact with her from now on, he vowed to himself.

Kelly said, “You look like you
want to murder someone, Jay.” Then she chuckled. “Don’t worry, we
won’t take long. I know how much you hate shopping.”

“Just get in the damn car,” he
snapped and gave her a nudge.

Kelly chuckled again and slid
in.

Jay shook his
head and hopped in as well. He found himself sitting beside his
grandmother who was busy on the phone talking to Britney. In front
of him were Kelly, Alex, and Gracie. He thought that perhaps it was
better for him to sit in the front with John, their chauffeur,
because where he was now Alex was too close for comfort.
Crap!
He didn’t need
this. She was within reach, and he could simply just put his hand
out and pull her into his arms if he wanted to. Oh yeah – he
definitely wanted to do that, especially when she grinned at him in
that very alluring way, her eyes all lit up, her cheeks blushing to
the colour of a pink rose and her damn full lips she kept biting
like she was excited about something.

“Is Madison Avenue big?” Alex
asked Kelly. “Is it near Central Park? Is Central Park very
big?”

Gracie laughed. “We’ll have to
take you on a tour, Alex.”

“Yes please,” Alex replied, at
which point she turned her eyes meaningfully to Jay.

Jayden suddenly got the hint.
Now he knew why she was all so excited and kept grinning at him. He
had promised to take her on a tour today. Damn! He had forgotten
about that.

“We are on our way to Vera
Wang, Britney dear. I assure we won’t be late for lunch,” Beth said
into her BlackBerry.

“Aw, Beth, do you have to tell
her we’re going to Vera Wang?” Kelly muttered.

Beth gave Kelly a hard glare.
“I’m on the phone, dear,” she said.

Jay turned over to the
chauffeur behind him and said, “Vera Wang, John.”

John nodded and started the
car.

As they drove out of the Upper
East Side of New York City, Alex widened her eyes with wonder,
staring at the tall buildings. And Jay in turn found himself enjoy
watching her expressive face.

Not long
afterwards they were along the 77
^th
Street of Madison
Avenue. The limo came to a sudden halt in front of Vera Wang.
Before Alex could enjoy the sight of one of the most fashionable
street in the world, she was bustled away into the elegant
store.

And what a store it was – with
beautiful, expensive wedding gowns on display, chandeliers with
bright crystals hung above them, tall vases of flowers arrangements
giving off vibrant colours and scents, and sofas and chairs
arranged near the dressing room and in the centre of the store for
comfort.

“You’re here!” a voice sang out
loudly.

Alex saw a pretty red-head
rushing towards them. Kelly and the woman hugged and did some
girlish giggle type of excitement. “Oh, I can’t wait to see you in
it.”

“I know. I know,” Kelly
chuckled. “Oh, this is Alexandra Stewart, Jay’s new
girlfriend.”

Alex’s ear
bricked up.
New?
What did Kelly meant by that? But before she could ponder on
the subject any further, Kelly pulled her aside and introduced her
to Stephanie Wilson, the maid of honour.

“So, Alex, how do you meet
Jayden?” Stephanie asked, a note of curiosity in her voice.

“Back in New Zealand,” Alex
said, eyeing Jay who was now sitting on one of the antique sofa and
making himself comfortable. He already looked as though he was
bored to tear. She wondered if he really hated shopping that
much.

“Well come along now. We
haven’t got all day,” Stephanie said, pulling Kelly’s hand away
towards the dressing room. “Nice to meet you, Alex,” she said over
her shoulder.

Alex said, “Same here,” with a
bright smile. She then wondered what she should do to pass the
time. She thought about joining Gracie and Beth who were now
comfortably seated on the sofa chatting and sipping their tea that
a shop assistant had placed before them. She, however, decided
against it and so busied herself exploring and touching the lovely,
soft fabrics of the wedding and evening gowns designed by Vera
Wang. They were all so beautiful, the type that she could never
afford or ever dream of wearing.

She had just finished her
browsing when she eyed a stash of evening gowns near the back of
the shop. Clearly they weren’t very popular, to be left there out
of costumer’s eye.

Her curiosity gotten the better
of her, and Alex started browsing. They were all very elegant,
pastel colours with some mixtures of gold and silver laces. Then
she found one that really caught her eye. She picked it up and
inspected the tag. There was no price mark. Further more she
realised that it did not have a Vera Wang label on it. Instead it
said Chandra.

“Have you found one you
like?”

Alex jumped. She twisted
around, her heart hammering in her chest. “Jay!” she whispered.

“What?” he asked, his brows
rose. “That one looks good,” he commented, touching the lilac pink,
silk material in her hand. “Why don’t you try it on?”

Alex widened her eyes. “What?
Don’t be silly. I can’t afford it.”

Jay chuckled. “Just try it
on.”

“No,” she said sharply, stacked
the gown back on its place and turned to go. What the heck was
wrong with him? Why was he so adamant that she should try on the
dress?

Jay caught her arm and pulled
her back so that she bumped into him. He was so close that she
could feel his breath on her forehead.

“Come on,” he said, his hand on
her wrist as he led her toward the dressing room.

“Jay,” she whispered sharply.
She felt her panic rising as she realised that he was serious and
that the dress – the one she really liked – was in his hand.
“Jayden,” she snapped as she drew herself back. But it was
impossible as he was stronger and his hand was firm on her
wrist.

Reluctantly
she followed him and then something flashed in her mind. It was
like a déjà vu. She glanced up at Jay and then she realised.
Oh My God!
It had been
Jayden who had helped her that Saturday night in the bar when that
drunken man had tried to take advantage of her. And thus far he had
never mentioned it to her. Her heart missed a beat.

He nudged her into a neat
changing room. He hung the gown up for her before he left. “Don’t
take too long now,” he said as he shut the door.

“What a demanding man,” she
muttered, grinning.

Alone, she fingered the soft,
silk fabric, a smile on her lips. No she shouldn’t. She was
tempted, but it was not in her place to dream and expect and get
attached to things that didn’t belong to her. The gown was too
expensive and elegant for plain Alex.

She leaned back against the
wall, her eyes gazing at the dress and a dream like smile on her
lips as she imagined herself in it, dancing in Jayden’s arms.

‘
Snap out of it, you silly
girl.’

“Knock! Knock!” Jay’s voice
came from the other side.

Alex wanted to laugh. Instead
of knocking the door he said the words. He was being silly of
course, but she thought that he was very cute doing it.

She moved forward and opened
the door. He immediately poked his head in, his eyes wide with
expectation. “That was fast,” he said. Then when he saw that she
was still in her own clothing, his face became serious. “You
haven’t got it on.”

Alex shook her head. “It’s not
for me.”

“Don’t be silly,” he muttered
and came into the changing room. “Come on, let’s get this on
you.”

“Let’s take it back, why don’t
we?” she said with a smile, folding her arms across her chest.

“No. You have to try it on. You
need help?”

Alex shook her head. She wanted
to leave as the room suddenly seemed very small and tight what with
Jay now in there with her. She found him too close for comfort. And
the fact that he was standing right in front of the door – the exit
– didn’t help either. It was as though he was blocking her in –
refusing to let her out. She started to get this odd fluttering
excitement at the pit of her stomach.

“Do you need help?” he asked
again. “Come on then. I’ll help you change.” That said, he put his
hand to the hem of sweater and started to pull it up.

“Jayden!” she exclaimed. “What
are you doing?” She was really breathless what with his arms around
her now.

He laughed. “I’m helping you
change.” Then he started pulling her shirt again.

“Don’t be silly!” she snapped.
“I can change myself.”

He relaxed. “So you’ll try it
on?”

Alex was about to say no when
she saw the glint in his eyes. She knew then that he’d make her try
the dress on no matter what. She sighed. “Yes, I’ll try the damn
dress on,” she muttered and put her hands on his chest and shoved
him back.

Jay let her go, a smirk on his
lips. Alex poked her tongue at him in annoyance. He laughed. He
said as he left, “Don’t forget to come out and let me have a look,
my sweet. You know the shop owner do have keys.”

In response to his request, she
shoved him out and slammed the door on his smirking face.

Alone, she silently seethed and
undressed. About ten minutes later, she unlocked the door and poked
her head out. She saw him leaning against the wall, waiting too
patiently for her liking.

“So you wanna see or not?” she
asked in aspiration.

He straightened up as he said,
“Of course,” with much too much enthusiasm.

Alex readied herself for his
criticism as he approached. She waited as he inspected her, her
heart thundering loudly in her chest.

“Well?” she asked finally after
a long silent.

Jay smiled at her. “You look
good,” he said.

“Yeah right,” she responded. “I
think it shows too much skin.”

Jay moved closer to her, his
nose just above her head. He could smell that lovely floral scent
of hers again, which was pulling him in. “That’s not such a bad
thing, is it?” As he said that, his mind was else where. He was
gazing at her smooth skin. His finger automatically came up and
started stroking her arm.

Alex felt that wonderful
soothing sensation within her. She tilted her head back and gazed
up at him. Jay moved his head towards her. Alex could feel her
senses swirling around her, sucking her in like a whirlpool. She
wanted to feel his lips on hers. She could feel his warm breath
against her face.

Jayden moved his head slowly
towards to hers, his lips now inches from touching hers.

“Jay? Alex?”

Alex blinked.
She suddenly realised that this was wrong. She had almost kissed
Jay. What had she been thinking? What was she doing? Jayden
was
gay
for God’s
sake!

She took a step back – her
knees weak and her breath shaky.

The door opened. “Oh there you
two are,” Stephanie said with a bright smile. “You should come and
see Kelly. Aw, she is so beautiful.”

Alex pulled
away uncomfortably as Stephanie was eyeing them too keenly. Jayden,
however, didn’t seem to mind nor did he sympathise with her that
she was embarrassed. He was actually pulling her closer, his hands
about her waist and his nose and lips now touching her bare
shoulder. She could feel the heat from him on her. It was like he
was kissing her shoulder.
Holy
snap!