His Hired Girlfriend (36 page)

“Don’t you be a fool,” Beth
muttered.

“You have to get her back,
Jay,” Gracie. “She’s like a daughter to me.”

“You have to bring her back.
And the baby too,” Beth murmured, patting his arm. “Be a good boy
and bring Alex back, wont’ you?”

Jayden said, “I don’t
know.”

“Jayden,” Tom chimed in, “do
you love her?”

Jay glanced from Gracie to
Kelly and then back to his father. He nodded his head. “Yes I
do.”

“Do you want to lose her?”
Gracie asked.

“No I don’t,” Jayden said,
shaking his head. “Never want to lose her. Never!”

*****

CHAPTER 27

THERE WAS ONLY one thing Alex
was sure of her life right then once the plane had landed in the
Dunedin Airport, that she was not the same person she had been two
weeks ago. She wondered what her family would think of her once
they had seen the changes in her, not only in her physical
appearance but in her character as well.

Her whole
family met her at the airport. Her mom, brother and sister rushed
to hug her. Her dad, however, stood back. She could sense the
stiffness in his posture, as though he was holding back, as though
he didn’t know who she was anymore. She felt her heart constrict.
It hurt to know that her father assumed her to be the type of
character that she was not, that she was a slut, chasing after a
rich man. She had spent twenty-five years living with him.
Did he not know her better?
That it had only been because of his need for heart
transplant they couldn’t afford that had prompt her to do such a
thing?

“Sweetheart, so glad you’re
back,” Maly murmured, hugging her tight.

“Me too,” Alex replied.

“I miss you, sis. I admit I
actually missed you teasing me,” Emma chimed in.

“Me, too, Emma.” Alex chuckled.
“I miss teasing you, too.”

Her father
refused to hug her. In fact, he refused to say a word to her, not
even a
‘Welcome back’
or
‘Hello’
.
It was as though he refused to acknowledge her presence.

The drive home was a solemn one
for Alex, sitting there between her brother and sister, her mom
driving the car and her dad in the front seat. Home felt cold and
empty even though her family was as warm as ever to her.

As days gone by, she fell back
to her old routine and her dad soon began talking to her again.
Only she wished she didn’t missed Jayden so much.

Every
lunchtime at the hospital cafeteria, her mind would flash back to
that fateful day when she had met Jayden. She’d remembered their
time together in New York. Oh how happy he had made her feel. And
of course that wonderful morning had made love to her. The thought
brought forward an unbearable pain within her heart, and she’d be
angry at herself for stupidly believing his lies. But why did she
miss him so dearly? Why was it that every night before she drift
off to sleep and every morning when she woke up she’d think about
him? And every spare second she had she’d be thinking about him,
thinking about his kiss, his touch and his smile?
Was she going crazy?

He would never come for her,
that much she knew. By now he and Sarah had probably gotten
married.

It wasn’t long before Alex
realised that there was a person standing right in front of her.
She glanced up from her book and saw Mary there, arms folded across
her chest, a smirk about her lips.

“Well, well,” the woman began,
unfolding her arms and leaned forward across the table.

Alex closed her book, preparing
for the bitchy onslaught that was about to come her way.

“Back from your conference
already, have you? Actually, was it really a conference, Alexandra?
In New York City? Surely not?”

Alex gritted her teeth. “What
do you want, Mary?”

Mary shrugged her shoulders.
“Though I’d ask just to be polite. After all we used to be
classmate.”

Alex stood up to her full
height. “Oh really, Mary? Since I’ve known you, you were never nice
to me. Let me tell you this now, Mary. I don’t like the way you
treat me or my friends. Yes, I’m a geek. Yes, my family is not
rich. But that doesn’t mean you have the rights to treat me the way
you do. I think I’ve put with your nonsense long enough, don’t
you?” She narrowed her eyes at the pretty woman. Alex knew she was
standing on dangerous territory, but she couldn’t care less. She
was tired. She was frustrated. And bloody hell! She just didn’t
have time for this stupid thing anymore.

“You know what, Alexandra?
You’re a slut. That’s right, Alexandra, you are a slut. You think
you’re so great? Running off after a billionaire like Jayden? You
think he’d really marry you? You think he’s really into you? Forget
it, Alex, he’s a bloody billionaire. He can have any woman he
wants, a woman who’s a hundred times better looking than you.”

“Mary? I hate you. I hope one
day you get want you deserve,” Alex gritted out and walked away,
her hand fisted.

“What’s that supposed to mean,
Alex?”

Alex ignored Mary’s outraged
question and headed toward the exit. She passed Peter who stopped
and looked at her with concern. “Alex, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Alex replied and
rushed away.

Peter glanced over at Mary. The
woman saw him and shrugged her shoulders. Peter headed back to
catch up with Alex. “Alex wait!”

Alex halted in her stride and
turned to look at her friend.

“Alex, I know it hadn’t been
easy for you but...”

“I don’t want to talk about it,
Pete.” She gazed up at him, tears were brewing in her eyes.
“Please? Can you just leave me alone for a while? I need space.”
She bowed her head and turned to go.

Peter watched his friend walked
away. He knew Alex hadn’t been the same since she had gotten back
from New York a week back. He needed to know what Jayden had done
to his friend.

He went up to Mary and slid
into the seat opposite her. “What did you say to her?” He went
straight to the point.

Mary looked taken aback. “What
do you mean?” she asked innocently.

“Mary, you know it doesn’t work
with me,” he snapped. “Stop playing innocent.”

Mary bit her lip. She frowned
and thought she better tell Peter the truth. She folded her arms
across her chest and said, “Just the truth.”

“What truth?”

“That he’s out of her league.
That she’s daydreaming and not seeing the reality.”

“Get to the point.”

Mary grunted. “Oh, all right. I
told her that she’s a slut, running off after Jayden. But I’m
right. He’s way out of her league. I mean he doesn’t even look at
me. Why would he want her? I can’t believe she went all the way to
New York after him and lied to everyone that she’s there for a
conference.”

Peter was stunned. “That’s what
you think happened? That’s what you said to Alex?”

“Yeah? I mean what else could
there be to it? I mean just think how much money she wasted just to
go to New York. She’s poor and her old man isn’t very well what
with his heart problem. She’s selfish and a slut. I can’t believe
you don’t see that in her.”

“What else did you do?”

“Nothing.” Mary glanced away,
couldn’t bare the intense gaze of Peter’s eyes.

“Mary? What else? How did you
know Alex’s dad isn’t well? How did you know Jacob has heart
problem?”

“I...I went to her house. I
meet her dad. I told him what I knew.”

“What exactly did you tell
him?” Peter probed.

“That Alex ran off with
Jayden.” She didn’t dare tell him that she had lied to Jacob that
Jayden was a married man.

“Holy shit, Mary? Do know you
what you’ve done?”

Mary snorted. “What I’ve done,
Peter? What exactly have I done? I’m helping them. I help Jacob, or
whatever his name is, see what his daughter is really like.”

“Alex is nothing like that.
She’s not like you, Mary.”

“What do you mean by that,
Peter?”

“Stop fooling around, Mary, and
open your eyes. You know you’ll never be a doctor. And stop using
those boys to do your work for you. I know what you’ve been up to.
If the deans know about this...”

“Peter, you won’t!”

“Yeah? Watch me.” He stood up.
“And don’t interfere with Alex’s life again. Understand?” Before
she could utter another word, he stalked away.

Alone in the quiet corridor of
the hospital, he took his BlackBerry out and dialled Jayden’s
number.

***

NEW YORK, USA

THE
PENTHOUSE, BIG and luxurious, overlooked Central Park and New York
City below. It was dark and all that Jayden could see was dots of
tiny lights across the city. He felt alone, as though he was
missing half of himself. How he missed Alex. How he wanted to hug
her and kiss her and do so much more to her...
Just hold on, Jayden
– he told
himself.
Soon you will have her
again.

His BlackBerry rang. He glanced
over his shoulder and reluctantly picked it up. “Jayden
speaking.”

“
What the hell did you do to
her?”

Jayden frowned in confusion and
then he remembered who it was. “Peter!”

“
Yeah it’s me. So tell me,
old friend, what the hell did you do to Alex?”

“I’m sorry, Pete, I...”

“
Explain yourself. I told
you Alex is like a sister to me. I told you not to hurt her in
anyway. So what happened? I’m giving you a chance to explain before
I terminate our friendship.”

Jay raked his fingers through
his hair in frustration. “I’m willing to explain everything. I...
Pete?”

“
Yeah?”

“I love Alex. I would never do
anything to hurt her.”

“
Oh?”

“Things just kind of gotten in
the way. There’s Sarah...”

“
So you got back with her
and broke Alex’s heart? Is that it?”

“No. That’s not it. She came
back and made things messy. Alex found out I wasn’t gay and she
found out about Sarah who wants to get back with me.”

“
Holy shit, mate! What the
hell?”

“Yeah. Well my grandmother
wasn’t exactly happy with me. She set me and Britney up and things
got even more complicated.”

“
So what are you going to do
about it?”

Jay paused. “I’m going to ask
Alex to marry me. But first I need to get things straight with her
parents. Pete?”

“
Yeah?”

“Can you help me?”

“
Sure
thing, mate.”
A merry laugh
followed.
“Just so you know our friendship
has not been terminated.

“Good,” Jayden chuckled.

*****

CHAPTER 28

DUNEDIN, NEW ZEALAND

WITH HIS MAC laptop in hand,
Peter Thompson marched up the short driveway to the small bungalow
in the secluded cu-de-sac. He rang the doorbell and waited. A few
second later, the lady of the house appeared.

“Peter, come in. Alex is out
with Tim and Emma, showing them round uni,” Maly said
cheerfully.

“Very good. Jacob home?” Pete
asked.

“Yes. Of course. I made sure.”
Maly winked at him.

“Thanks for helping out.”

“Peter, I should thank you for
helping my daughter out. Come on now.”

They made
their way to the living area and found Jacob there, reading
the
Otago Daily Time.

Jacob glanced up from his
newspaper in surprised. “Peter? How have you been? Come on in and
sit down. Alex’s out at the moment.”

Peter prepared himself. “Jacob,
how are you, old guy. Not working too hard, right?”

Jacob chuckled. “Of course
not.”

With that polite greeting out
of the way, Peter went straight to the point. “Jacob, you need to
hear this. Actually you need to see this.”

“What is it?”

Pete slide onto the seat beside
Jacob and turned on his laptop. “It’s about Alex. It’s about what
really happened in New York.”

Jacob stood, his faced harden
at the mention of his daughter’s name and New York. “I already know
what happened, Peter. You don’t need to tell me.” There was a hard
edge in his voice.

“What you heard from Mary?”

“Peter, are you here to rub it
in? I thought I knew you better than that. Alex is a good girl.
Yes, she may have done a stupid thing but she’s my daughter and
don’t you dare...” He rubbed his temple.

“It’s not like that, Jacob. You
know very well how much like a sister Alex is to me. I have to tell
you the truth now. Alex would never lie to you, or you Maly, unless
she had too.”

“What do you mean?” Maly asked,
her hands clasped together nervously.

“I was the one behind it. But
that’s not important. What’s important is what you need to hear
from the man himself.”

“Man? What man?” Jacob
asked.

“Yes, what man?” Maly
echoed.

“Jayden McCartney. The man who
stole your daughter’s heart.” Peter looked heavenward and thought
that that was a stupid way of putting it. “What I mean is... Oh
heck! Bear with me for a sec.”

Maly sat down beside Jacob, and
he took her cold hands into his.

Peter logged into Skype and
then voilà – a young handsome face appeared in the screen.

“Oh my! Who is that?” Maly
queried, amazed at the young man’s good looks.

“That, Mr. and Mrs. Stewart, is
Jayden McCartney, the man who had stolen your daughter’s
heart.”

Maly gaped in shocked surprised
and Jacob was taken aback.

“He is Jayden McCartney? But I
thought he was much older,” Maly commented, her eyes on Jayden who
was looking rather nervous in the screen.