His Hired Girlfriend (25 page)

“Jayden, are you okay?” she
asked, concern showing in her soft voice.

Where the heck had she gotten
the idea that he was not okay from? More importantly how the heck
did she know he wasn’t okay?

Alex came to stand right in
front of him. She stroked her fingers through his blonde hair and
said, “Are you worried about your sister’s wedding?”

He looked up
at her.
‘No, sweet heart’
– he thought
–‘I’m
worried what’s gonna happen to me when you’re gone.’

“It’s okay,” she said sweetly,
sitting down beside him. “Everything is going to be all right.”

Jayden nodded. Gosh, he really
hoped so. He didn’t know what came over him. It just felt kind of
right that he pulled her onto his lap.

She obediently obliged and
wrapped her arms around his muscular neck. Then Jayden snuggled his
face against the crook of her neck and slowly started kissing
her.

Alex sucked in her breath from
the excitement erupting within her. She tightened her arms around
his neck and groaned. His lips against her skin were so hot and
sweet. She didn’t want it to end, but she knew it must. She only
wanted him to really want her and break down and confess to her
that he was not gay and that he might be in love with her. It
didn’t seem to be going that way, however, and she herself didn’t
want to get hurt in the process.

She pulled back. “I’m hungry,”
she said. “Can we go down and have our breakfast now?”

Jayden blinked. He was still
lost in his own emotions and his want for her that it took him a
few seconds to register what she was saying.

“Of course,” he said, trying to
regain his composure. “You go down first. I need a shower.”

“Ok,” she said, getting off his
lap.

He didn’t feel like letting her
go. He felt as though she was leaving his life forever. His gut
wrenched with dread.

He watched her giving him a
lovely smile before she shut the door.

“Oh, Jayden, what have you
gotten yourself into?” he muttered as he got up from the bed and
headed to the bathroom. After showering and dressing himself in a
pair of Calvin Klein jeans and a tee shirt, he headed down the
stairs. He heard loud voices as he opened the dining room door.
There he saw his father earnestly talking to Sam, his future
brother-in-law, who couldn’t seem to keep his hands away from
Kelly. Alex was sitting beside Gracie on the far side of the dining
table, having breakfast. They were chatting away like old friends.
How odd, he thought, he felt good that they got along so well.

“Jay,” Sam greeted loudly. “How
are you? Long time no see, man.”

“Hey, Sam,” Jayden greeted,
smiling as he strolled into the room. He glanced at Alex who was
watching him with her brows raised.

“Good to see you,” Sam
said.

“How was business in Hawaii?”
Jayden asked.

“All sorted. Now it’s holiday
time,” Sam chuckled. Then he looked at Kelly and winked at her, a
promise in his eyes.

“Good,” Jayden said. “Hey, have
you met my girlfriend Alex?”

Alexandra felt her heart missed
a beat. Oh God! Jayden just told Sam that she was his girlfriend –
in a very sincere, warm tone.

“Yeah, Kelly introduced her to
me,” Sam said. “Good choice, man.” Then he winked knowingly.

Jayden laughed. “So what’s the
plan for the day?”

“Just me and my lovely bride
today,” Sam said. “What about you?”

“Nothing planned,” Jayden said
sheepishly.

Alex picked up her cup of tea
and sipped, disappointment building up in her stomach. So there’d
be no chance of her ever seeing New York while she was here after
all. She might as well go back to bed, she thought in
irritation.

They chatted for a while longer
and then Sam ushered Jay to one side once he had the chance.

“Hey, mind if you do me a
favour?” he asked, glancing behind him to make sure that Kelly
wouldn’t over hear them. He saw that she was too busy chatting on
her cell to notice anything.

“Yeah,” Jayden replied.

“I’ve promised to spend time
with Kelly today. I mean I really missed her, bro. So if you don’t
mind, would you go to Tiffany’s to get our wedding rings for
me?”

“Yeah, sure. Today?”

“Yeah. The payment is all taken
care off. Just need to fetch them. Mind you. It’s a surprise for
Kelly. She hasn’t seen it.”

“Yeah,” Jayden said,
smiling.

“Thanks, man,” Sam said,
patting Jayden’s back.

With the deal done, Sam whisked
Kelly away and Jayden went about having his breakfast.

*****

CHAPTER 18

ALEXANDRA
SLID INTO the bedroom, leaned against the closed door and sighed as
she shut her eyes. When she opened them again, she saw the
BlackBerry Jayden had given to her on the bedside table. She
grabbed it and started dialling her home numbers. After a few rings
it was picked up by her mom.
“Hello? Maly
speaking.”

“Hey, mom.” Alex tightened the
phone in her hand near her ear. The sound of her mother’s voice
caused a knot in the pit of her stomach. Gosh how she missed her
family.

“
Sweetheart, how’s things?
The conference not tiring you out? I know how much you don’t like
travelling and especially going to another country.”

“I’m good, mom, how’s dad and
everyone else?”

“
Everyone here is good. Oh
sweetheart, we miss you so much and it has only been four
days.”

“I know. I miss you all
too.”

In the
distance Alex could hear Emma’s voice shouting
, “Mom? Is that Alex? Hey, Alex, have you been shopping for
my presents yet? Remember I want gifts. And have you been
sightseeing at all yet?”

Alex shook her head. She wanted
to laugh. Emma was Emma.

Sightseeing?
She had been wanting to
go sightseeing since the day she had arrived, but so far that
handsome fake boyfriend of hers hadn’t even yet taken her as far
out as the street in front of the house.

“
Don’t
mind her,”
Alex heard her mom
say.
“You know you how your sister
is.”

Alex laughed. “Yeah. Mum? I
love you and Dad too. I have to go now.”

“
Oh. Of course, sweetheart.
We’ll talk later. And see you again soon.”

“Yeah, bye now,” she said and
hung up. After placing the BlackBerry back on the bedside table,
she ambled to the balcony. Looking down at the immaculate garden,
she saw Sam and Kelly kissing passionately near the water feature.
Then a moment later they reluctantly parted and hopped into the red
Ferrari. Alex felt an odd tug in her heart as the car drove away
toward the gate. No doubt they’d be having a wonderful time
together, she thought.

‘
Ugh!
What’s wrong with you, Alex?’
She
asked herself. She was not usually a jealous person,
but...

Heck she was envious of Kelly
for finding the right man who really loved her. But she was also
happy for Kelly because the woman deserved it.

Once the car disappeared from
sight, she turned on her heels and went back into the bedroom. It
was such a lovely day. She couldn’t believe she was wasting it here
in the bedroom, half sulking.

She threw
herself on the bed and groaned. Here she was dressed in a sexy
dress hoping the damn man would take notice of her new look. But
what did she get? Nothing. Not even an invitation to go for a short
walk. Oh yeah! No plan for the day? What the heck did you plan to
do for the whole day, Jayden? Sleep? Work?
Nothing?

The next moment she felt
somebody sitting on the bed. She widened her eyes, her heart
beating faster. Then she felt the warmth of a body near her and a
hand touching her hair. Then a voice said into her ear, “Still
tired, huh?”

Alex turned. Her face nearly
collided with Jayden’s. She saw him grinning, his eyes a sky-blue
colour as he gazed down at her.

“I’m not that tired. Just
nothing to do so...”

“Well then. Would you like to
come on an errand with me?”

Alex’s eye lit up.
“Errand?”

“I have something I must get,
else my head will get chopped off. How about it, partner? We have a
mission. It’s important,” he chuckled.

Alex smiled, her eyes twinkling
with excitement. “Um... Yeah. Sure. Why not.”

“Good,” he said. “Come along
then.” He pulled her up by the hands and led her towards the
door.

“Wait,” Alex chuckled. “Not so
fast. I need my shoes and bag.”

“All right. Hurry, hurry,” he
chuckled, letting her hands go.

Alex rushed into the wardrobe,
grabbed a pair of Loubouttin peep-toe pumps and her new Gucci hand
bag.

Jayden grabbed her wrist
impatiently and led her towards the stairs. His action was so quick
that she dropped her shoes. She pulled him back and said, “My
shoes.”

She bent down and picked them
up as Jayden shook his head that meant ‘women’. Because she was so
damn slow for his liking, once she had gotten control of her shoes,
he scooped her into his arms.

“Oh,” Alex gasped. “I can walk,
you know.”

“Yes, I know you can,” he
chuckled, rushing down the stairs carrying her.

Outside he dropped her into the
front seat of his BMW convertible. Alex laughed as he rushed around
to the other side and slid in.

“Comfortable?” he asked.

“Very much, thank you.”

“Good,” he said, starting the
engine.

Alex felt exhilarated sitting
beside Jayden with the sun warm on her skin and the breeze dancing
about her face and playing with her hair. She pulled out her
Christian Dior sunglasses and put it on.

“What do you think?” she asked,
turning to him.

“Beautiful,” he replied,
smiling.

“It is, aye?” she said,
giggling. “Quite expensive, too.”

Jay laughed.
He didn’t have the heart to correct her that he was
not
referring to the
sunglasses that was beautiful. He was referring to her.

Alex couldn’t contain her
excitement as the car cruised along the busy streets of Manhattan.
She busied herself by enjoying the scenery, her head turning this
way and that, pointing to things she found fascination and asking
Jayden loads of question of which she was sure he found either very
amusing or very boring. She didn’t care, however, as she had
decided to simply enjoy herself and have fun.

She couldn’t believe that New
York City was so crowded. The buildings were sky high, the
footpaths crammed with people, and the roads jammed with cars. The
pollution was probably up there as well, she was sure. She thought
the taxi was very cool because they were yellow since taxis back in
New Zealand were like normal cars except for the ‘taxi’ sign on the
top. Also you couldn’t simply wave and have them stop right in
front you. In Dunedin you have to phone the company and tell them
to pick you up.

Jayden slowed
the car down along 5
^th
Avenue and parked in front of a tall building
famous for its jewellery.

Alex finally realised that the
car had stopped. “Are we here?” she asked.

He nodded as he got out off the
car.

“That was quick,” she said and
got out as well, her eyes still wide at her surrounding like a
child lost in wonderland.

Jayden came to take her hand as
he locked the car. Alex grinned, walking beside him. In that
instant she felt like she was his real girlfriend, which caused her
heart to miss a beat.

As they headed toward the
building, she took her sunglasses off and read the sign on the
front door of the building. It said Tiffany & Co.

Alex’s jaw dropped. “Oh my God!
It’s Tiffany, like in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s with Audrey
Hepburn.”

Jayden chuckled. “Yes it is,”
he said, leading the excited and stunned Alex by the hand into the
store.

At the grand entrance a well
built man dressed in polished black suit opened the door for them,
nodding a polite welcome as they went through. Alex bit her lip
with anticipation as her large eyes wandered around inside the huge
store. She took in the chic, glamorous décor. She noted the many
jewellery on display – some in glass cases and some in the open for
people to admire and touch. Her breath was taken away. What a
wonderful place to see for her first sightseeing, she thought in
excitement.

A pretty blonde sales assistant
dressed in a sleek suite of red and black came towards them. “May I
be of assistance?” she asked pleasantly, with a wide smile on her
face.

“I’m here to pick up a
package,” Jayden said.

“Of course, sir. Would you
please follow me. We need to get some details.”

Jayden looked at Alex who
nodded at him that she’d be alright alone. Once the sales assistant
and Jayden were gone, Alex wandered around, admiring the iconic
jewellery store that was for the rich, the powerful and the famous.
She simply couldn’t believe she was there. She felt like a million
dollars.

After he had given the sales
assistant the details, Jayden returned to the main lounge and sat
on the leather sofa. He crossed his legs and rested one arm over
the back, wondering where Alex had gone off to. He scanned around
the place, pausing here and there to admire the jewellery. Long
ago, before he had found out about Sarah and Kyle, he had wanted to
buy an engagement ring from Tiffany and Co. for Sarah. But the
thought of it now only brought forward a painful jab about his
chest that had nothing to do with his health, and he dismissed it
immediately.

He noticed four very smart
looking chicks admiring the emerald necklaces were glancing his way
– showing him with their body languages that they were available.
He dismissed them and turned to his left. He saw Alex, wide eyes
and grinning from ear to ear as she stared at a particular piece of
jewel.