His Hired Girlfriend (11 page)

That gets her attention. She glances up to his eyes and
sees the mirth there. He’s making fun of her. Stupid man!
Stupid. Hot. Gay man!

She brushes his hands away
and shifts out of bed. “Where am I? Are we at your
house?”

Jay makes himself
comfortable on the bed. “You’re in our bedroom.”

Alex misses the word
“our”
. She simply
nods and wonders where the bathroom is.

“
There.” Jayden points to a door to the left.

“
Thanks,” she says and
rushes in.

Jay waits, and a moment
later, she comes back out. “I need my things. Where are
they?”

“
Hold on.” He gets off the
bed, opens the giant walk-in wardrobe, and grabs her luggage
out.

Alex widens her eyes at the array of men's clothing in
there, all neatly arranged. Very
expensive
looking
clothing.

Jay puts her bag on the
bed. “There you go. I’ll go down and find you that
aspirin.”

“
Jay, those clothes, whose
are they?” she asks, pointing to the wardrobe.

“
Mine,” he says, winks at
her, and then strolls out the room, whistling.

Alex just stands there,
staring at the walk-in wardrobe. Those are Jay’s clothes? What the
heck are they doing in there? Oh shoot! Her head hurts. She can’t
think anymore. She raids her luggage, finds the things she wants,
and rushes into the bathroom.

She takes her sweet time
showering. The warm water soothes her aching body. After shampooing
her hair and cleaning her face and body, she feels a lot better.
She dresses herself in the skinny jeans and T-shirt and then does
her makeup. Once all set, she rushes out and finds Jay sitting on
the bed, waiting for her.

“
Feeling
better?”

She nods, suddenly feeling conscious of her shabbiness what
with her inexpensive jeans and T-shirt she bought from K-mart at
sale prices.

Jay gets up and comes to stand right in front of her. He
touches her temples again with his fingers and thumbs and gives her
gentle massages.

Alex nibbles her lip
shyly, her eyes downcast.

“
Not hurting as
much?”

Alex shakes her head.
“Uh-huh. I always feel better after a good, warm
shower.”

“
Good.” He moves to grab
the aspirin on the bedside table. “Here,” he says, the medicine in
hand.

Alex stares at the two
tablets as though those things are going to bite her if she isn’t
careful.

“
Go on.” He brings his
hand higher.

Alex shakes her head. “I’m
feeling better, thank you. I don’t need them.”

Jay tries hard to hide a
smile. He can see she’s afraid she really has to take those
tablets. He wonders what she’d do if she had a fever or one of the
yearly flus back in New Zealand.

“
Go on. It won’t hurt.
Just swallow.”

Alex shakes her head again
and starts to dash away.

“
Oh, no, you don’t!” he chuckles, grabbing her arm. He pulls
her back, and to prevent her from running, he places one hand
behind the nape of her neck. “Right, come on.”

Alex feels warm pleasure
where his hand is touching her. Her stomach is all fluttery. He’s
making her feel things she has never felt before. To hide her
emotion, she glares up at him. “You’re not my dad,” she snaps a bit
too sharply.

He chuckles. “No, I’m not. But since you’re here and I’m
responsible for you—you, missy, will do as I say. I don’t want
Peter or your dad to hunt me down and torture me if anything were
to happen to you.” He pushes the aspirin tablets in between her
lips.

Alex keeps her mouth shut.
Jay is determined and pushes the tablets into her mouth.

Alex can taste the bitterness, and she groans in disgust.
She signals for him to get the glass of water for her, her finger
pointing and her face all scrunched up.

Jay chuckles as he quickly
grabs the glass. Alex downs the whole lot in at once—water and
aspirin. Once she finishes, she shuts her eyes and covers her
mouth.

“
There, not that bad,
right?”

Alex opens her eyes, sees
him smirking and slaps his arm. “Stupid man,” she murmurs and
places the empty glass back on the bedside table.

“
I’ve got something for
you.”

“
More aspirins?” she
teases. When she turns, she sees him on the other side of the room,
retrieving something.

“
Of course not.” He comes
to stand in front of her. “Here.”

Alex glances down and sees
a Blackberry in his palm.

“
It’s for you. Thought you
wanted to ring home.”

She watches him grinning, her insides turning liquid warm.
“But I’m only going to be here for a couple of weeks.”

“
In case you get lost and
can’t find me. In case you get bored and want to text me. My number
is in there.”

“
Oh.”

“
No worries,” he chuckles.
“So are you up for it?”

She glances at him, her
thought still on the Blackberry. “Up for what?”

“
Meeting my
family.”

“
Oh, right. Yeah, I suppose. L
et’s do it.”

“
Sure?”

“
Uh-huh. Though I am
rather nervous.”

“
Nothing to be nervous
about. Come along.” He grabs her arm. Alex places the Blackberry on
the bedside table and follows him.

In the hallway, he says,
“Don’t forget. Endearment.”

Alex, who is staring wide-
eyed with marvel at her surrounds, says, “What would you
prefer? Darling or honey?” Then she laughs.

“
I like both.”

“
Your house is big,” she
comments as they come down the stairs. She looks at her
surroundings and feels as though she’s in a celebrity’s mansion.
Everything is so glamorous with white marble floor, enormous glass
windows that overlook an immaculate garden, crystal chandeliers,
fancy drapes, and luxurious furnishing.

Jay pulls her closer and
places his hand about her waist as they walk toward the drawing
room.

Oh, dear, this is not at all what she expected. This
girlfriend thing is going to be a bit too real.

The moment Alex steps into
the elegant drawing room, she knows she’s completely out of place.
The three women sitting on that expensive looking sofa are all
dressed in the latest fashion.

Jayden nudges her forward.
Alex nervously glances up at him. Jay smiles at her and guides her
toward the armchair. She stiffly follows him.

Granny Beth frowns at the
couple, her blue eyes sharp. Gracie smiles at them, and Kelly just
clamps her lips together as she waits for the two people to take
their seats.

There is only one seat where Jay is leading Alex. Once he
takes that seat, Alex wonders what she should do. Stand or find
somewhere else to sit. Her decision, however, is taken out of her
hands when Jay pulls her down and makes her half sit on his lap and
half on the chair.

“
Grandmother, Mother,
Kelly,” Jayden begins, “this is Alexandra Stewart from New
Zealand.”

At this point, Alex doesn’t know what to do.
What does one do exactly when one
first gets introduced to one’s boyfriend’s family?

“
Hi,” Kelly
says.

“
That’s Kelly, my sister.
It’s going to be her wedding,” Jay supplies.

Alex smiles nervously and
nods at Kelly. “Right. Hi,” she says to Kelly.

“
That’s Mom, you can call her Gracie.”

“
Hi,” Alex
says.

“
Nice to have finally met
you, Alex.” Gracie leans forward and grabs Alex’s hand. They shake.
“Can I call you Alex?”

“
Yes, of course,” Alex
replies, laughing nervously.

“
I like your accent,”
Gracie says. “Jay has been telling us so much about
you.”

“
Oh, thanks.” Alex’s eyes meet Jay’s. He gives her a wide
grin and winks at her. Alex blushes. She wonders what kinds of
things he told his family about her. Oh dear! She’d better ask him
when they’re alone.

Granny Beth frowns. She
doesn’t seem to like what she sees and says, “So what do your
parents do?”

“
Um,” Alex begins, looking
at Jay for help.

“
Her dad is retired. Her mom is a sales manager,” Jay says
as he pulls Alex fully onto his lap. “Sweetheart, are you feeling
better? That aspirin working?”

Alex blinks. Did Jay just call her sweetheart?
Oh, my God!
Jay just called her sweetheart.
Okay.
It’s
only part of their act. It’s nothing real. Calm down,
Alex.

“
Yes, my head doesn’t hurt
as much now. Thank you,” she says, smiling at him
tightly.

“
I hate trave
ling,
too,” Gracie says. “I get a headache sometimes.”

Alex nods in
agreement.

“
So whereabouts is New
Zealand?” Beth asks, picking up her delicate Wedgewood china and
begins to sip her tea.

“
Down south. It’s a small
country. We call it Aotearoa in Maori. It means the land of the
long white cloud.”

“
Sounds romantic,” Kelly
says.

“
Maybe we should all go outside. It’s such a lovely day,”
Beth interrupts. Though her voice is soft and gentle, there’s a
hint of command that no one dares disobey.

“
Yes, I agree.” Gracie
stands up.

“
Oh, Britney is coming for
the dinner party tonight, Jay. You remember Britney Marcelo, don’t
you?” Beth asks, looking at her grandson.

“
Britney? Oh, yes, I remember her,” Jayden says somewhat
reluctantly. Just then he remembers he hasn’t told Alex there’s
going to be a welcoming party for her.

“
Yes, she is coming. Such
a nice girl, Britney is. Her dad is Mr. Marcelo. You remember Mr.
Marcelo, don’t you?” Beth continues.

“
Yes, I remember him. One of D
ad’s good friends. Haven’t seen him for a long time,” Jay
says, glancing at Alex, wondering if he should mention about the
party now.

“
They just got back from
Rome,” Beth says excitedly. “Such a lovely girl, Britney
is.”

Alex looks at Beth and
knows instantly something is up. She knows the old woman doesn’t
like her. Beth must be matchmaking Jay with this Britney Marcelo.
No wonder he’s trying to get away from it all. She pats his arm to
show him her understanding.

Jay chuckles and winks at
her.

“
Come along now; we shall
continue our tea in the garden,” Beth says, elegantly waltzing out
the door.

“
Oh, it’s so nice to have finally met you,” Gracie comments
and hugs Alex.

“
Yes. So good to meet you, too,” Alex replies. Once she
moved back, Kelly rushes in and hugs her.

“
Good to meet you, Alex.
We’ll have to find you a dress for my wedding.”

“
Oh, right,” Alex
comments, moving back.

“
Don’t worry. I know lots
of designers. They’ll be begging you to wear their dresses. It goes
into a high fashion magazine, you know, this wedding of
mine.”

“
Really?” Alex is
shocked. She didn’t expect that. High fashion magazine? Top
designers? Oh, dear.

At the door, Kelly says to
Jay, “Don’t forget we have things to talk about, Jay.” Then she and
Gracie walks arm in arm down the hallway.

“
They won’t be taking
pictures, will they?” Alex asks Jay, looking up at him.

“
For the
wedding?”

Alex nods.

“
Yes, they will. Y
ou
don’t have to be in it if you don’t want to.”

“
I don’t.”

“
Come on then,” he says,
pulling her toward the door.

As they stroll down the
hallway, Alex says, “I haven’t forgiven you yet, by the
way.”

Jay glances at her. “What
about?”

Alex squares her small
shoulders and replies, “You forcing those aspirins down my
throat.”

“
I’ll do it again, you
know.”

“
No, you
won’t.”

“
Yes, I will. And besides, the next time you’re sick, you’ll
be begging for those aspirins knowing how effective they are
now.”

Alex thinks about this and
says, “You’re right. I feel better now. So, thanks.”

“
You’re welcome.” He
grins, leading her out into the sunshine. “By the way, there’s a
party tonight.”

Alex smiles. “I gathered
that from what your grandmother said about this Britney
Marcelo.”

He glances at her. He’s
surprised she’s taking the news quite nicely.

“
You’ll be the honored
guest. The party is to welcome your arrival,” he adds, watching her
closely.