His Hired Girlfriend (7 page)

“
Well, your call must be
very
important then,”
Margaret retorts, shaking her head. She wipes her hands clean with
a towel and rushes to pick up the receiver. Meanwhile, the two men
turn their attentions back to the Blackberry that refuses to give
any sign of an urgent incoming call.

“
Hello, Margaret speaking,” she says, heading toward the
kitchen. A short pause and then, “Hello, Alex dear, how are
you?”

The two men snap their heads up and zero in on the phone in
Margaret’s hand. They both jump up at the same time and rush toward
Margaret, who is oblivious to their eager advance and is chatting
animatedly to Alexandra.

Peter races up and
intercepts his mother. He says, “Mum, Alex?”

“
What?” Margaret asks, clearly confused. “Of course it’s
Alex. Wait! What are you doing?” she snaps as Peter tries to seize
the phone from her hand. “Don’t you dare! I’m talking to Alex.” She
shoves the phone away from him.

“
No, Mum, this is
important,” Peter begs, his hand reaching out
everywhere.

“
Yes, very important,”
Jayden put in, nodding his head. “Please give him the
phone.”

“
What is so important? It’s only Alex,” Margaret says, the
phone up in the air and away from their reach. “Besides, I haven’t
talked to Alex for ages.”

Pete snatches the receiver
from his mother simply because he’s taller. “Sorry, Mum, you can
talk to her later.” He places the receiver against his ear. “Alex?
That you? It’s Pete here.”

“
Oh! Hey,
Pete.”

“
So what is it? What’s
your decision?” Pete asks as he eyes Jayden, who looks rather
nervous all of a sudden.

“
Look—um—I’ve been
thinking—I’ve—I’ve decided to help Jay.”

Peter grins and motions a
thumb up at Jayden, winking at the same time. Jay nods and
smiles.

Margaret
sees Peter
winking cheekily and shakes her head as she goes into the kitchen.
She says loudly, “Why don’t you invite her over for
dinner?”

“
Who? Alex? Ok
ay,”
Peter says and then to the phone. “Great, Alex. Good decision.
Listen, why don’t you come over for dinner?”

“
Oh, okay
. I’ll be
there in a jiffy. Bye now.”

“
Bye,” Peter says and
hangs up. The two men laugh and do a high five.

Margaret
sees this
and raises an eyebrow. She wonders if Peter is trying to set Alex
and Jay up. She hopes so because that sweet girl deserves a fine
young man like Jayden.

“
She’s coming over,” Peter
shouts to his mum.

Jay said, “I still haven’t
forgiven you.”

“
About what?” Peter asks
innocently.

“
About that lie. I’m not
gay.”

Peter chuckles. “Hey, bro, I know you’re not, but it’s the
only way to get her to change her mind. She feels sorry for you.
You ought to be pleased with that.”

Jay takes a seat and leans
back against the comfortable sofa. “Yeah, I suppose I
should.”

* * *

Five

The room suddenly feels awfully small and the air so thick Alex has
to sit down and take deep, slow breaths to calm herself.

It’s done.
She agreed
to Jayden’s proposal, and her stomach still hasn’t stopped
fluttering. She wonders what it will be like to live with
her
Mr. Hot-Choc
for two long weeks and have to see
him every single day.

Oh, shoot! Has she just referred to Jayden as
her
Mr. Hot-Choc
? Oh God!
What was she thinking?

Shaking her head at her
silly thought, she rushes up and busies herself trying to find
clothes for a quick shower. As she heads to the bathroom, she
shouts, “Mum, I’m going out for dinner tonight.”

“
Will you be late home?”
her mother asks from the kitchen.

“
No, I won’t. I’m only going to the Thompsons’,” she
replies.

“
Great, say hi to them for
me, won’t you? Oh, we’ll have to give them some of our lettuces and
silverbeet.”

“
Yeah, sure. I’ll pick
them after my shower.”

“
Don’t worry. I’ll do
it.”

“
Okay
,” Alex shouts
and then shuts the door. When she’s out and ready to leave, her mum
grabs her attention. “Don’t forget this.”

Alex gets the plastic bag full of lettuce and silverbeet as
she says, “Thanks, Mum.” She glances at her dad in the La-Z-Boy
chair, now reading the
Otago
Daily Times
. His face is not
as pale as before.

“
Bye, Dad.”

Jacob looks over to his
daughter. “Drive safely, won’t you?”

“
You know I do,” she
comments and comes over to kiss him on the cheek.

“
Good girl.”

“
Hey, I want to come,” Emma says over the many scattered
papers and science books on the dining table. Her dark curls are in
a wild mess, and her brown eyes are sparkling with hope as she
looks at Alex.

“
No, you may not. They
only invited me. There will not be enough food for everyone if you
come along,” Alex teases.

Tim, his eyes narrowed as he glances at his younger sister,
says, “Get back to your homework, missy, otherwise you won’t get
into Uni with your laziness. All you think about is
food.”

Emma pokes her tongue at
her brother, telling him to bugger off. Then turning back to Alex,
she says, “I don’t eat that much. I’ve been told I’m too thin
anyway.”

“
Yeah, yeah,” Alex
mumbles. She turns to her mom and gives the woman a peck on the
cheek. “Love you.”

“
Love you, sweetheart,”
Mali says.

Ten minutes later, Alex parks her Toyota Corolla in front
of the Thompsons’ house and gets out. She rushes to the door and
rings the bell. As she waits, she glances at the beautiful view
before her.

The Thompsons’ house sits on top of a great hill that
overlooks the harbor and the city below. On days like this one,
though slightly breezy and cold, the view is spectacular. There’s
the turquoise blue of the glistening water, the dark blue of the
clear sky above with the occasional clouds scattering here and
there, and the stunning green of the hills with dots of houses on
the other side.

The door opens. Alex glances up, smiling and expecting to
greet one of the Thompsons. But it is not any of the Thompsons who
stands there at the door, grinning down at her.
It’s Jayden.

Her heart misses a beat and pumps faster.
Calm down, old girl; it’s only Jay.
And he’s gay. He’s not interested in you.

“
Hey there,” she says cheerfully. “What
are ya doing here?”

Jay, with his greeting
smile still fixed on his handsome face, says, “I’m staying here for
a little while. Love the view.”

Alex nods in agreement.
“Yeah, Waverly’s great.”

She waits for him to take
a step back to let her through the door, but he doesn’t budge. He
just stands there looking down at her from his great height. She
makes an attempt to enter through anyway and ends up squeezing
herself between him and the side of the door.

She glances up at him as she passes, her face red because
he’s so near her she can actually
feel
him. She can
feel his warm breath on her forehead. She can feel his muscular
chest brushing against the side of her arm.

Once she passes the threshold of the house, she bends down
to take her shoes off.

“
Alex, that you?” Margaret’s loud voice comes from the
living room.

“
Yes. Hi, Margaret,” Alex says, shooting up as she does
so.

Bam!
She collides
with Jay. Why is he behind her when there’s plenty of room in the
hallway? It’s not like they’re in a tiny closet, for God’s
sake.

“
Sorry,” he says, grinning
at her, and his face seems to be moving closer to her.

Alex smiles apologetically
and strokes her fingers through her hair because she is getting
rather hot from being so close to him. Her body is working
overtime.

“
That’s okay
,” she
manages to say, avoiding his eyes as she walks into the living
area, with Jay following close behind her.

“
Oh my dear, I haven’t seen you for such a long
time,”
Margaret says as she
comes around the bench, her arms wide open. She hugs Alex, patting
the girl’s back as she does so.

“
Sorry, I was quite busy with work and all,” Alex explains,
moving back. “Here, it’s from Mum.” She hands Margaret the bag
filled with lettuces and silverbeets. “Mum said hi.”

“
Well, she doesn’t have to
do that. Tell her I say hi back and thank you for these.” She
gestures to the bag in her hand. “What would you like to drink,
honey?” she asks as they both walk into the kitchen.

“
Ribena would be good,
thanks,” Alex replies, watching Jay, who is now on the other side
of the spacious, modern living room picking up his mug of
beer.

“
Ribena? You got it,” Margaret says, opening her large
stainless steel fridge door.

That’s better—seeing him sitting on the other side of the
room makes her feel better.
Space.
She needs
space. She needs to breathe properly.

She leaves her satchel on the bar and then takes her jacket
off. Margaret hands her a glass of Ribena.

“
Thanks,” she says, taking
the cool glass in her hands. “How come Jay’s staying
here?”

Margaret
glances up
with raised brows. “You know each other, huh?”

“
I met him at the
hospital. Peter was there with him.”

“
Peter thought Jay needed company and a change,” Margaret
says as she takes out the roasted pork and vegetables from the
oven. She grunts as she carries the hot, heavy tray across the
small space and places it on the chopping block. “Why don’t you set
the table, dear?” She starts picking out the roasted potatoes,
kumara, and carrots, and puts them into a large serving
bowl.

“
Sure,” Alex replies, puts
down her drink on the bench and proceeds to roll up her sleeves.
“Smells delicious,” she comments. Then she shakes her hair and
tucks the strands behind her ear so they are out of her face.
“Where are the plates?”

“
Behind you,” Margaret replies without looking up from her
pork.

Alex nods and turns.
“Shoot!” She gasps as she feels a hard body against her.

Jayden catches her arm with one hand to steady her. He
places the now-empty mug onto the benchtop as he searches her
face.

She glances up, and her heart starts to beat faster. Oh,
God, he’s touching her. Then she feels something wet about her
breasts. She glances down and sees that her jersey is soaked with a
dark liquid.

“
You all right?” Jay asks
in concern, still searching her face, his body way too close for
her comfort.

“
Sorry, I didn’t see you
behind me.”

Margaret
looks up
from her pork. “Just an accident. Why don’t you clean up before
dinner, Alex?”

Alex turns to smile at Margaret. “Yeah, I’ll do that.
Excuse me.” Then she squeezes herself between Jay, who doesn’t seem
to notice that she needs some room and won’t move an inch, and the
bench.

After watching her leave
the room, Jay says, “I think she’s upset with me.”

“
Oh?” Margaret looks at him.

“
I better go and see how
she’s doing since I’m the culprit.” Jay grins gingerly and leaves
the kitchen.

Margaret
smiles and
goes about preparing their dinner, humming to herself.

* * *

Jayden wanders along the hallway, cursing himself. What the hell is
wrong with him? Why is he showing so much interest toward Alex? And
why did he have to stand so close to her just then?

No, wait. Pause right
there, hot shoot!

He knows why. It’s because
she smells great, like spring or something. He wasn’t able to help
himself because he wanted to smell her again after she had squeezed
past him through the entrance door into the hallway. It’s not a
strong, perfumery smell like most of the women used back in New
York, but rather a subtle scent, just a hint of lovely floral that
pricks his interest, just a hint that makes him want to inhale
more.

He reaches the bathroom door, puts one hand on the knob,
and knocks lightly a couple of times with the other. When he
doesn’t hear any reply, he opens the door slightly and pops his
head in.

He sees her busy cleaning
herself with some Kleenex. She has her jersey off, which is lying
on the floor. She’s wearing only her white singlet and her skinny
jeans. He clears his throat. No response. He knows she probably
doesn’t hear him because she’s too busy frowning at her stained
singlet. Jay has no doubt that she doesn’t like the look of the
dark stain on the white fabric. The singlet looks new. Maybe that’s
why she’s upset. Then she yanks the material to her nose and
sniffs. She makes a face as though she is disgusted. Jay guesses
she doesn’t like the smell of that beer either. Then she starts
pulling the hem of the singlet from her waist, ready to take it
off.