His Hired Girlfriend (27 page)

When she finally comes downstairs, the makeup artist, Laura
Andrews, is there. She’s busy chatting away animatedly to Kelly,
Gracie, and Beth in the drawing room.

“
Alex, did you sleep
well?” Gracie asks.

“
Yes,” Alex replies, but
her tone and her eyes tell a different story. “I’m
starving.”

“
And so you should be,”
Gracie says. “Not good missing dinner, you know.”

“
I know,” Alex replies.
“Hi,” she says to Laura.

The beautiful woman
replies a polite greeting.

“
Morning, Beth,” Alex says
to the elderly, regal woman.

“
Morning,” Beth replies
stiffly.

“
Hey, Kelly, I’ll be back after breakfast,” she says. Once
she receives a confirming nod from the bride to be, she heads to
the dining room.

“
She looks awfully pale,”
Laura comments. “Is she not well?”

“
Maybe just tired. She’s
from New Zealand,” Kelly says. “Don’t you love her
accent?”

“
Yes, it’s unique,” Laura
comments. “She’s Mr. McCartney’s girlfriend?”

“
Yes,” Kelly replies, a
bit too enthusiastic in Beth’s mind.

“
What a lucky girl,” Laura
says, and then they return to their makeup consultation.

A moment later, Stephanie
barges in through the door with uncontained enthusiasm. “I have the
most exciting news,” she announces to her audience.

The four women look at her
with raised brows.

“
You will
never
believe what I saw yesterday.”

“
What?” Kelly asks, her
eyes half closed as Laura expertly applies a golden brown eye
shadow on her left eyelid.

“
It’s Jayden,” Stephanie
shrieks excitedly. “I saw him and Alex at Tiffany’s.”

“
And?” Kelly asks. Now
Laura is applying a thin layer of black liquid eyeliner on her
right eyelid.

Stephanie takes a deep
breath and then shouts, “Jayden was buying Alex an engagement
ring.”

Kelly shoots up and
growls, “You’re kidding me!” The black liquid liner spreads up to
her temple.

“
Oh, dear.” Laura frowns at the mark she made on Kelly’s
pretty face. But Kelly doesn’t seem to mind.

Gracie says, “This is
great news.” Then she rushes up to Kelly, who looks dumbfounded,
and hugs the girl. “Alex is going to be a part of the family
and—”

“
And the baby,” Stephanie
shrieks, jumping with joy.

“
What?” Beth shoots up
from her seat and glances from Gracie to Stephanie. “Alexandra is
pregnant? And now they are engaged?” She turns accusingly to Kelly.
“Why am I the last to know about this?”

Kelly is lost for words.
Apparently, she doesn’t know about it either. Heck, aren’t her
brother and Alex only acting?

“
I can’t believe Jayden
didn’t tell me,” Beth says bitterly.

Gracie puts in, “Jayden
hasn’t told anyone.”

“
And?” Beth prompts,
frowning, obviously upset about the whole thing.

“
And we should all pretend we don’t know and keep it quiet
until Jayden tells us himself. They are probably waiting for the
right time.”

“
I agree,” Stephanie puts
in. “Maybe he’s going to tell everyone on your wedding day,
Kelly.”

“
That would be the perfect
time,” Gracie agrees.

“
What’s all the commotion
about?” An unwelcome familiar voice says at the door.

Stephanie turns and folds
her arms across her chest. “Who invited you, Britney?”

Britney brushes her long
hair over her shoulder. “Beth, of course.” Then she does a catwalk
into the room, her hips swaying from side to side. “So, what’s
going on?”

“
Jayden and Alex are
getting engaged,” Stephanie says.

Britney glares at
Stephanie, her face red. “What? That’s impossible.”

“
Well.” Stephanie shrugs
her shoulders, implying she doesn’t have to believe it.

Laura knows she’s about to see a catfight between Stephanie
and Britney any moment now if she doesn’t do something soon. “Very
exciting news, I must say. Kelly, what do you think about this
look? Good? And Stephanie, please come here and get yourself ready
so I can do your face.”

Stephanie narrows her eyes. Britney folds her arms across
her chest, telling Stephanie with her look to ‘bring it on’.
Stephanie itches to oblige, but she knows not to do anything stupid
because they’re in the company of the two most respected women in
New York, Beth and Gracie. She shrugs her shoulders and goes to sit
beside Kelly.

Beth walks up to Britney
and says quietly, “I think you should leave.”

“
What?”

“
Come with me.” Beth leads
Britney to the door. “You know I was not pleased with the way you
treated Alex the other day at Vera Wang.”

“
But I thought we agreed
she’s not good enough for Jayden.”

“
Things change, Britney. I
hope your behavior toward Alexandra will change, too.” She turns
and goes back into the house.

Alone at the front door, Britney grits her teeth. “Stupid
old witch,” she mutters under her breath. One way or another, she
has to get what she wants—
and
that is Jayden’s money.

She strolls to the side of the house and flips her cell on.
She dials a number and waits. A second later a male voice
says,
“Hello?”

“
It’s me,
Britney.”

“
Darling, I’ve missed you.
Shall we meet somewhere?”

Britney doesn’t beat about
the bush. “Kyle, I need your help.”

A pause.
“How can I
help you, my dear?”

She could hear the playful
mocking in his voice, but she ignores it. “I need to get
that stupid slut Alexandra far, far away from Jayden.”

“
Alexandra? Jayden?”
Another pause, as though he’s trying to think who these
people are.
“Ah, that
Alexandra.”

“
Well?” Britney
prompts.

“
I think in this case, sweetheart, you and your enemy will
have to work togethe
r. You
two have the same goal.”

“
Are you talking about
Sarah?” Britney snaps.

“
Who else,
darling?”

Britney takes a deep
breath. “Fine, I’ll see her. Where?”

“
Good,
darling.”

After Kyle
gives her
the location where they need to meet, Britney flips her cell shut
and sighs. “Shit!” she swears and stalks to her car.

In the music room, clutching her trusty duster against her
chest, Maggie feels sick to her stomach after hearing the monologue
outside the window. Ignoring her half-finished job, she hurriedly
makes her way to the door to find Gracie.

* * *

T
wenty-
O
ne

Alexandra stares at
herself in the mirror, wondering if perhaps she’s a bit too pale in
that lotus pink mini wrap dress. No, she looks all right. She’s
just a bit tired that’s all.

She groans. She doesn’t feel up for the hens’ night, but
she already agreed with Kelly that she’d come along. It’s supposed
to be fun, after all, with only the girls out and about having a
good time. She hopes they won’t be doing anything too embarrassing
or naughty like back in Dunedin such as making the bride kiss
random guys and ask for guys’ underwear in the bar.

“
You look fine,” she murmurs to herself, once again
wondering where Jayden is. She hasn’t seen him all day, and already
she missed him dearly, which is a bad sign. She knows she is
getting too attached to him. Now, every minute she’s thinking about
him, which is crazy.

She quickly puts on her black pumps, grabs her handbag, and
leaves the room.

Down by the door, she sees
Gracie looking rather anxious. Perhaps she’s nervous and emotional
about the wedding. It’s a big thing for a mother, after all, to let
her only daughter go.

“
You look beautiful,”
Gracie comments.

“
Thank you,” Alex replies.
“I love Laura’s makeup. She makes my eyes look bigger.”

“
Yes, she is good. Are you
sure you’re feeling well enough to go?”

“
Yes. I’ve agreed with
Kelly, so I’m not letting her down.”

“
Don’t you tire yourself
you out,” Gracie says. “You have to look after
yourself.”

“
Of course I won’t tire
myself,” Alex chuckles.

Kelly comes down the stairs then and says, “Don’t worry,
Mom, Alex is a big girl.”

“
Yes, of course,” Gracie
agrees. “Now, you go and have fun.”

Kelly kisses Gracie on the
cheek. “We will,” she says and leads Alex to the BMW.

“
Good night,” Alex says to Gracie.

“
Good night,” Gracie replies, nodding. She watches until the
convertible is out of sight before she shuts the door. In the
corridor, she stops and gazes at the phone. She sighs, picks the
receiver up, and starts dialing.

* * *

Kelly’s hens’ night begins at Parcha, where they have their late
dinner in a privately booked room. The food is excellent, and the
service is impeccable. Alex thoroughly enjoys herself. She looks
around the table and is pretty sure that the other eight girls are
also enjoying themselves tremendously, considering the amount of
alcohol involved. She’s glad Kelly and Stephanie chose to sit next
to her, and they make sure that she doesn’t get left out of
anything.

When the meal is over,
they leave for the club.

Alex can’t believe there’re so many people, young women
dressed in their most expensive, sexiest clothing and men in jeans
and formal shirts. The music is loud as people mingle and
dance.

Stephanie and Kelly both pull Alex to the dance floor.
Oddly enough, the fast pace of the music makes her want to dance.
The pumping of her heart speeds up, and her blood rushes through
her vessels like a Formula One car.

“
The bride! The bride!” the girls yell at the top of their
lungs as they dance along with the song
Barbara Streisand
by Duck Sauce. Suddenly, Kelly is in the middle of the
dance floor and does her moves. Then Kelly grabs Alex’s hands to
join. Alex is embarrassed and stands there awkwardly at first, not
knowing what to do. When Kelly pulls her along in tune with the
music, Alex lets go of her reserve and dances. She shakes her body
and moves her hands as if she’s a pro. She closes her eyes and
allows her mind to relax as she moves her body along with the
beat.

About two hours later,
Kelly says, “I’m thirsty. Let’s get a drink.”

The girls agree, and they
all squeeze their way to the bar. Alex collapses onto the seat next
to Stephanie.

“
I’ve never had so much
fun,” she shouts.

“
What?” Stephanie blares
back.

“
I said I never had so much fun,” Alex yells.

Stephanie laughs. “That’s
good.”

A waiter comes to their
table and takes their orders. About five minutes later, after the
waiter managed to bump into an arrogant man in black uttering some
apology, Alex finally receives her drinks. She’s so thirsty she
finishes her drink within five minutes, which is a record for her.
A few moments later, Kelly leads the way back into the dance floor,
grabbing Alex’s hand.

“
No.” Alex shakes her
head. “I’ll be there in a second. I need a little rest.”

“
All right, then. Come soon,” Kelly chuckles.

“
Will do,” Alex
replies.

Alex watches as Kelly and
the girls disappear into the thick crowd. She is now alone. Well,
not that she’s really alone since there’re loads of other people
around, only she doesn’t know any of them.

She relaxes back in her seat and closes her eyes, listening
to the pounding of the loud music. This time it’s
Memories
by David Guetta. Her mind drifts off into a dream
world. Her dream, however, only consists of Jayden.

She flashes her eyes open,
angry at herself for thinking about him again. She must forget
about him, she tells herself, at least for tonight.

“
Hey
there,” a male
voice says.

Alex looks up. Her heart
misses a beat as Kyle moves in to sit next to her, too close for
her comfort. She shifts, her body quivering
uncomfortably.

“
I see you’re feeling
lonely,” he says, resting his arms over the sofa.

Alex grabs her bag and
stands up, intending to leave. She suddenly feels a wave of nausea
rushing through her being. He catches her arm and pulls her back
down on the seat.

“
Hey, let go,” she
snaps.