His Hired Girlfriend (13 page)

Jay groans and stands up. He thinks he’d better go up and
see how Alex is getting on. She’s probably so scared at the thought
of meeting so many people she doesn’t know, people who’d probably
bombard her with inconvenient questions, that she’s probably hiding
somewhere. The closet, perhaps?

As he comes out, he sees
many guests mingling at the foyer. The men are dressed in suits and
the women in their lovely, designer dresses. The hallway is in a
chaotic state of guests greeting.

“
Ah, Jayden, how are you?” Mrs. Greenwood says, a rather
large woman with fiery red hair, large green eyes, and Irish skin
that tends to get red at the slightest of
irritation—
emotional
irritation
. She strolls
toward him elegantly, and her red dress that doesn’t quite suit her
complexion hangs about her body like a tent. She grabs his hands
and smiles widely, showing her snow-white teeth that would have
taken the dentist many times to get to perfection.

“
Where is this girlfriend of yours? I can’t believe she’s
from New Zealand, so your grandmother told me. Where is New
Zealand, anyway? A state in the US? I’ve never heard of it. Or is
it some small town in the UK or France?”

“
How are you, Mrs.
Greenwood? How is your husband doing? And no, New Zealand is not a
state in the US, nor is it a small town in the UK or France. New
Zealand is a country of its own.”

“
Really now? Why, your
grandmother said it is such a ghastly place to have met a girl. A
plain place for a plain girl. She wonders why you went there in the
first place,” she says, chuckling away enthusiastically.

“
Excuse me.”

“
Oh, all right. We’ll chat again at dinner, yes?”

“
Of course,” Jay replies. Then he struggles his way through
the throng of guests who one by one stop him with their polite
greeting. When finally he manages to reach his intended
destination, which is the stairs, Beth elegantly steps in front of
him with a big smile on her face.

“
Jayden, you must come along and meet Britney,” she says.
Without giving him any choice on the matter, she leads him to the
drawing room.

“
You’ll love her, Jay.
Britney is such a darling,” she says excitedly. “Britney darling,
you remember Jayden, don’t you?”

Jayden notices a slim woman in a sexy red, designer dress.
She is talking to a young man with light blond hair and grey eyes.
Ted Wilson is his name. His family is extremely well off. They just
moved into the neighborhood of the Upper East Side a year
ago.

Britney Marcelo turns
slowly and smiles brightly at him, showing her perfect, white
teeth—as though she practiced that bit many times to perfection.
She has dark brown hair that curls into loose waves about her
shoulders, bright green eyes that Jay thinks are rather sharp, and
full ruby red lips that any man would want to kiss.

Whoa! Britney is one hot
chick. And from the look of adoration from young Ted standing next
to her, she is not one to be missed.

Yes, Jayden finds her hot
all right. But the dress is showing a bit too much of
her—especially her generous bosom that leaves little to the
imagination.

“
Jayden,” she says, her
voice smooth and sweet like melting chocolate. She touches his arm
and moves her face closer to him, which causes Ted to glare at
Jayden.

Jay can smell her strong perfume. A mixture of rose,
vanilla, and some spices.

“
Britney, long time no
see,” he says, managing a small smile that doesn’t quite reach his
eyes. He sees Beth nodding her head furiously, her smile bright
with glee. He knows she is up to her matchmaking tricks again.
Somehow he’d have to convince her that Alex is his girlfriend and
that any other woman wouldn’t do.

Still dressed in his
casual clothing, Jayden finds himself being dragged along with Beth
and Britney to greet other guests that have just arrived. And
before he knows what’s going on, it’s dinner time.

Crap!
He needs to
find Alex, fast. He feels like a jerk, leaving her to her own
devices like that. He only hopes Kelly is there with her, wherever
she is.

They are just passing the hallway into the dining room
along with their fifty or so guests, when Jayden sees Kelly descend
the grand stairs. She is fetching in her yellow sun dress. But he
doesn’t notice her for too long because he glimpses someone
directly behind her. Jay can’t make out who it is because it looks
as though the woman is hiding and trying hard not to draw attention
to herself. He notices that Kelly has a smirk on her face. He knows
she’s up to one of her mischievous plans again. He wonders what it
is.

Kelly clears her throat
loudly so that everyone turns to look at her in some sort of
expectation. Standing there atop the stairs she says, “Evening,
everyone.”

“
Kelly, darling,” Mrs.
Greenwood says. “My, you do look radiant. Heard your fiancé is not
here tonight. What a shame. Where is he, by the way? And who is
that behind you?”

Kelly politely says, “Yes,
it is a shame Sam can’t be here. He is in Hawaii, sorting out
business there.” That out of the way, she proceeds to move to one
side. As she is doing so she says, “Why, Mrs. Greenwood, it’s
Alexandra Stewart, of course.”

As Kelly steps aside,
Jayden gets a good look at Alex, and silence falls into
place.

All that Jayden can do is
to stare at her as though he is in a trance, lost in another world.
Alex looks enchanting in that emerald green dress, her long hair
styled in a loose bun like a Greek princess. He doesn’t know he’s
gawking until Beth nudges him. Britney comments that the green
dress is so last year.

Jay comes to his senses and then just realizes that his
mouth is agape in marvel as he gazes off at his hired girlfriend.
He clears his throat, and it is only then that he sees the
nervousness in Alex’s posture. He steps up the stairs and reaches
one hand to her. Alex glances hesitantly at his hands, smiles in
relief at him and then places her small, cold hand into his large,
warm one.

Kelly giggles and rushes
down the stairs.

“
So that’s Alexandra from
the State of New Zealand,” Mrs. Greenwood states. “Such a pretty
little thing. Not so plain at all.”

As Alex steps down the
stairs with Jay, she whispers, “Why did Kelly do that?”

Jay can hear the dread and embarrassment in her gentle
voice. He moves his lips to her ear and softly says, “She didn’t
mean to embarrass you, darling. But I’m glad she did
it.”

Alex feels his warm breath against her flesh and shivers.
Her insides shudder with excitement. “Jay, how could you?”
And he just called her
darling?

“
How could I what,
sweetheart?” This he said loudly so that everyone could hear him,
and then he kisses her cheek. Alex sucks in her breath as her heart
does a somersault. She turns to him. He smiles and winks at her,
then proceeds to lead her toward the guests.

Alex is dazed.
Oh, my
God!
Jay was so hot when he
smiled and winked at her.
Ah!
Stop it! Stop, Alex, Jay is gay. Remember that!

* * *

T
en

Alex is exhausted. Her feet ache.
She just wants to scream and kick the shoes off. She blames the
four-inch high heels or stilettos or whatever they’re called for
this because she’s unaccustomed to them. Sneakers and slippers are
her best friends. When she has no one to talk to during their long
dinner party she dreams of her thick, fluffy Sylvester the Cat
slippers. She dreams of how warm and cozy and soft they’d be on her
feet.

Her eyes are also
irritated because of the dry weather. It’s worse when she wears her
contacts. She wants to take them out and put on some eye drops to
relieve the irritation.

At least for the past two
hours she found the conversation with the handsome Tom McCartney
immensely stimulating. They talked about politics, which she knows
nothing about. She, however, managed to tell him a little bit about
John Key, the prime minister of New Zealand. She also feels quite
good when she happened to mention Obama and how smart he
is.

Tom has a pleasant
personality, just like Jayden, and she likes him immediately. She
thinks he feels the same way toward her. At least she hopes so. The
longer she looks at Tom, the more she is certain Jay inherited most
of his father’s traits.

She glances over the table at Jay, who is sitting beside
Britney. Beth seems to be egging them on. Then Britney moves closer
to Jayden, kind of shoving her generous boobs toward him. Thank God
Jay doesn’t seem to be paying her any attention, at least the type
of attention a man pays to a woman.

“
Tell me about life in New
Zealand,” Tom says, picking up his wine glass.

“
Oh, not much to tell, to be honest,” Alex replies,
shrugging her small shoulders. “I love going to the farmers’
market, though. I assume you have it here, too? It’s fun. Just out
and about, buying fresh veggies from the farmers themselves. Rather
entertaining, too.”

“
Ah, yes. I’ve never been
to one. Always been too busy,” Tom replies.

“
I find the simplest
things I do most enjoyable. I also love to observe people. Like
right now,” she says, eyeing Jayden and Britney.

Tom glances in that
direction.

“
Have they known each
other long?”

“
Who?” he replies,
pretending ignorance.

“
Them,” Alex says, nodding
her head toward Jayden and Britney across the end of the
table.

“
They met when they were
young,” Tom replies. “Don’t worry. Jay’s not that
stupid.”

Alex turns to look at him,
her eyes questioning. “He isn’t?”

“
Of course not. Britney is
wasting her time,” he says, eyeing his son. Jay is studying them
and not listening to Britney’s continuous yapping.

“
Yeah, she is,” Alex
agrees. Jay will never be turned on by that type of woman—or any
other woman for that matter.

Finally, for what seems like an eternity for Alex, dinner
is over and the guests slowly thank Mr. and Mrs. McCartney for the
lovely dinner and then leave. And, yes, Alex has never felt so much
joy as when she sees the door to her bedroom.

She rushes in, kicks off the stilettos, and throws herself
on the large, soft bed. She sighs and simply gazes up at the golden
chandelier, marveling at the bright lights. It feels so good to lie
there and do nothing. Her pleasure dies a quick death when she
feels the sting in her eyes starting to play up again, and she
knows she has to take the lenses out.

She rolls off the bed and
her knees land elegantly on the floor, her upper body still on the
bed. She gives out another loud, weary sigh.

Jay enters the room at that moment. After closing the door
quietly so that he won’t disturb her, he leans his strong body
against it, his hands in the pockets of his trousers. He cocks his
head to one side as he studies her. She looks as though she has
fallen asleep in her sitting position with her head resting on the
bed.

“
I see that you like my
dad,” he says.

“
Huh?” Alex pops her head
up and looks at him. “He’s very nice, much like you.”

“
Yeah? What are you
doing?”

“
Huh?” And then. “Um,
trying to make myself get up, I guess.”

“
Sorry.”

“
About what?”

“
All this. You’ve just arrived, and then you have to meet
all those people. You need your rest. Promise tomorrow will be a
relaxing day for you.”

“
That sounds good, thank
you,” she replies, closing her eyes, her head sinking deeper into
the cozy duvet. “Do I get to go sightseeing, by the way?” she
murmurs.

Jay thinks she looks like
a toddler falling asleep before dinner, with her little bottom up
in the air like that. He knows she is about to fall asleep if he
doesn’t do something fast. In two long strides, he’s beside her and
scoops her up in his arms.

Alex flashes her eyes
open. “Uh? What are you doing?”

“
You need to take that
lovely dress off and shower before you sleep, Madam,” he replies
and strides to the bathroom.

Alex wiggles herself in his arms. “Please put me down, Jay.
I’m not so sleepy anymore. I’ll go and shower now.”

“
You sure you don’t want
help?”

Alex nods, wondering if he means carrying her into the
bathroom or helping her undress and then shower.
Whoa!
The idea brings on a delicious shiver down her
spine.
Good God! Such
thoughts in her mind?

“
All right,” Jay
reluctantly put her down.

Alex’s feet land quietly
on the soft carpet. She blushes as she gazes up at him through her
thick lashes and sees him grinning down at her. She rushes to the
walk-in wardrobe to find her things.