His Hired Girlfriend (32 page)

“
Nothing out of the
ordinary,” Jayden replies, shrugging his shoulders.

She asks him more
questions about his business. The picture that the journalist gets
on him is of a hard-working, down-to-earth man who enjoys life to
the fullest, which is exactly what Jayden is. Then Janet starts
asking him about his personal life.

“
How did you two meet?”
she asks, glancing from Jayden to Alex.

“
In New Zealand,” Jayden
says. “I kind of bumped into her.”

Alex nods in
agreement.

“
And things got flying
from there,” he continues.

“
When is the date for the
wedding?”

“
Excuse me?” Alex asks,
her brows rise, confused.

“
No, we’re not that far
yet,” Jayden comments. “It’s going to be some time
away.”

“
You two look great
together,” Janet says. “Would you mind if we take some photos of
the two of you?”

Alex shakes her head. At
the same time Jayden says, “Go for it.”

Jayden pulls Alex closer
to him and wraps his arm around her waist. They smile as the camera
flashes continuously.

“
That gown is beautiful on
you, Alexandra,” Janet says. “May I ask who designed it for
you?”

“
MacK
ey,” Alex
says.

“
Ah, I see,” Janet
remarks. “Well, thank you both for the interview. It’s been a
pleasure.”

* * *

Alex glances up at the chandeliers and the ornate ceiling above her
as she sips her red wine. The wedding reception, being held in one
of the main halls at the McCartney’s Hotel, which Jayden proudly
told her he owns half the shares, is truly beautiful and elegant.
She can’t believe she’s there, attending one of the biggest
weddings in New York, sitting in a five-star hotel, and enjoying a
high-class meal. She is stoked and thoroughly enjoying
herself.

She glances at the man
beside her, the man who made it all possible for her.

Jayden leans to her and whispers, “Aren’t you going to go
up?”

Alex is confused.
“Why?”

“
Don’t you want the
bouquet?”

“
Is Kelly going to throw
it now?”

Jayden nods. “Go on. You
better go.”

“
I don’t think
—
”

She is interrupted by
Stephanie, who is pulling her by the arm to her feet and then
dragging her toward the area near the stage. “This is
exciting.”

“
Yeah,” Alex responds,
trying to keep up with Stephanie’s fast pace.

They beg their way through
the girls and stop right in the middle of the crowd. The girls
shove and push in excitement, shouting, “Give it to me! Give it to
me!”

Kelly, who is on the
stage, laughs and then turns around so that her back is to them.
The men cheer and urge Kelly to get it going.

Kelly says, “All right. Here we go.” She throws the bouquet
up high. The girls scream and shove, their hands in the air as they
try to catch the beautiful bunch of flowers. Alex gets shoved back
in the process. She’s laughing and thinks she’d better get out of
the way before she gets stampeded by excited young women competing
for a bouquet. Before she knows what’s happening, however, the
flower bouquet flies straight at her and lands in her
arms.

Stephanie shrieks, “Alex
got it! Alex got it!”

Another cheer goes up.
Alex rushes back to her seat, her heart pumping loud and
fast.

“
Well done,” Jayden
chuckles, clapping loudly. “So who’s the lucky guy? When’s the
wedding?”

Alex slaps his arm in annoyance. He only laughs back in
response. Then the music starts, and Sam and Kelly walk to the
center of the dance floor. It’s the song
Oh, My Love
. All
eyes are on the newlyweds, who are slowly dancing and swirling
around the floor. Suddenly, Tom and Gracie join in and then Sam’s
parents.

Jayden moves to Alex, who
is enjoying the show. He says, “Come on.”

He takes her hand, pulls
her to her feet, and leads her to the dance floor.

“
Jayden,” she hisses.
“It’s only for couples.”

“
We are one, aren’t
we?”

“
Well, I
suppose.”

On the dance floor, he
wraps his arms around her waist and tells her to put her arms
around his neck. She obeys and bites her lip nervously. Then he
leads her along with the slow music. Alex starts to relax as she
closes her eyes and listens to the beat and lyric of the
song.

“
Why are you closing your
eyes?”

“
Because I can understand
it better that way. I get myself lost in the song, and I can feel
it through my body.”

“
Right.” He closes his
eyes, too. A moment later, he opens them and says, “It’s
true.”

Alex laughs. They dance
along, and Alex closes her eyes again. Jayden can’t help himself
and moves his face to her. Then he kisses her on the
lips.

Alex gasps and opens her
eyes. When she is about to stop the kiss by moving her head back,
Jayden has his hand behind her neck, forcing her to stay still.
Then he deepens the kiss. His mouth is sweet and warm against hers,
and Alex finds it’s hard to resist. She responds to him and
tightens her arms about his neck.

Suddenly, the music stops.
A loud applause follows. Alex flashes her eyes open and moves her
head back. She sees that indeed all eyes are on them. She flushes
in embarrassment as Jayden, grinning from ear to ear, leads her
back to their seats.

“
I need to go to the
ladies’ room,” she says to him breathlessly and rushes
away.

Once she is safely inside,
she sighs and takes a deep breath. She starts washing her hands,
grinning.

So this is love, then?
This wonderful feeling she’s having right now?

“
I see you’re enjoying
yourself, bitch,” Britney says at the door.

Alex gasps and turns to
look at the sexy woman advancing toward her in a threatening
manner.

“
I am,” Alex says, squaring her shoulders.

Britney comes to stand in
front of her and sneers. “Enjoy it all while you can. It won’t
last. Jayden’s not over Sarah yet. He’s going to go back to her.
You and I both know that. He knew her and dated her for five years.
And you? You’ve just met him for what, a month or two?”

Alex grits her teeth. “I
think this is none of your business.”

Britney raises her hand in a defensive manner. “Hey, I know
this is none of my business. But I’m just warning you before you
get your heart broken because you don’t look the kind who can
handle such a nasty thing.”

Alex folds her arms across
her chest and says sarcastically, “Well, thank you for your advice.
Now, if you’d excuse me.” She heads toward the door.

Britney grabs her arm and
swings her back. “Admit it! Admit you’re only trying to get
Jayden’s money. Admit it’s because he’s rich. Admit it
now.”

Alex thrusts her arm free.
“You think I’d stoop that low? Listen here, Britney. I’m not that
kind of girl. I don’t go for a guy just because he has money to
throw away. I’m a big girl. I can look after myself. And F.Y.I.? I
happen to love Jayden for the man he is.” She fakes a smile at the
woman and turns on her heels.

“
Go back to your slum
,
bitch, and leave us alone,” Britney growls.

Alex swirls around and
slaps Britney in the face, hard. She feels satisfied indeed to see
red finger marks on the woman’s flawless cheek. “I’m not a bitch,
not like you, Britney. And I happen to live in New Zealand, a clean
country that’s hardly a slum.” Then with her head high, she marches
off.

Along the corridor, still breathing heavily from the
unexpected encounter, Alex can hear Britney shouting, “I’ve warned
you, Alexandra. You’ll see. He’ll go back to Sarah. He’s still in
love with Sarah. He will never love the likes of you, you slum
bitch!”

Alex grits her teeth,
holding back tears. God, how she wishes she could go back and slap
that silly woman again. As she gets closer to the hall, however,
she wonders if perhaps Britney is right. Perhaps Jayden still has
feelings for Sarah. Perhaps he—

“
Miss?”

Alex turns to see a
handsome receptionist before her. “Yes?”

“
Are you Miss Alexandra
Stewart?”

“
Yes, I am,” she replies,
wondering what this is about.

“
This is for
you.”

Alex takes the little card
he hands to her. She glances down and sees that it has the name
Jayden at the bottom. “Thanks.”

The young man nods and
leaves her. Alex reads the content of the note.

Alexandra,
meet me at 11 p.m. exactly in room 879.

Jayden

She’s curious.
What could this mean? Why would Jay ask her to meet up with him
alone?

When she gets back to her
seat, Jayden is nowhere in sight. Perhaps he has already gone up to
room 879?

* * *

Jayden glances down at the note he received from a pretty
receptionist only a few minutes ago.

What is Sarah doing here in the hotel? Why does she want to
see him?

He comes to stand in front of room 879 and then hesitantly
knocks on the door. A few seconds later, it flings open, and Sarah
stands there, extraordinarily beautiful and sexy in a short, flimsy
nightdress.

“
Jayden, you came,” she says, smiling, her eyes shining. “I
was beginning to think you had backed out. That you wouldn’t come
after—” She breaks off dramatically, her face appears to have gone
terribly sad. “But please do come in.”

The living area is elegant
and comfortable, and Jayden notes that Sarah has her back to him as
she pours two glasses of wine. Of course, he does not see that
Sarah has dropped a small tablet into one of the glasses. She
swirls it about until the tablet dissolves entirely.

“
A drink?” she asks softly
as she turns around, holding the glasses up.

“
No, thanks. Why did you
want to see me?”

“
Jayden,” Sarah says,
striding to him, her voice seductive and sad at the same time. “Why
are you talking to me like this? We used to be so close. We used to
be in love.”

“
Things changed, Sarah.
You’ve chosen your path, and I want to know why.”

Sarah grits her teeth at the reminder. Sure, she chose Kyle
over Jayden simply because she thought Kyle was better-looking and
had better prospects in terms of money and status, but she is not
going to tell him that.

“
Jayden,” she moans,
forcing tears to brew in her eyes. “I’ve made mistakes. I now know
that—that I don’t love Kyle after all. I thought I did.”

She sits on the sofa and puts the glass down on the table.
She shakes her head as she continues, “He’s having an affair with
Britney. I just found out. What can I do, Jay?” She looks up at
him, her eyes large and glistening with fake tears.

Jayden can’t believe Kyle is having an affair with Britney.
And all while he’s dating Sarah? This is beyond his
comprehension.

Suddenly, Sarah starts
crying so hard that her shoulders are shaking. She reaches her hand
out for him, begging him to come to her. Jayden reluctantly
complies and sits beside her. She wraps her arms around him, her
head resting against his chest as she sobs gently.

“
I can’t believe it, Jay. I can’t believe it. But you know,
in a way I am glad because I now know what he’s like. I now know I
don’t love him.” She gazes at him then, moving her face to him. “I
realize I still love you, Jay. Sweetheart, won’t you forgive
me?”

Jayden snorts. “Sarah, I
don’t—”

“
Oh, Jay, please,” she
begs. “I love you. Don’t leave me. Please.” She pulls him to her
and starts kissing him. Jayden tries to push himself back up, but
she only holds onto him tighter.

The door flings open.
There’s a loud gasp.

Jayden glances up in shock
to see Alex standing there staring at them in confusion.

“
Alex!”

Alex, trembling, shakes
her head and murmurs, “No. No. No.”

“
Jay,” Sarah says
seductively, tightening her arms around his neck and starts kissing
his cheek. “Come on, babe, tell me you want me. Tell me you love
me.”

Alex feels the world spinning around her mercilessly. Her
ears are deafened by the noise of her thumping heartbeat. She’s
having difficulty breathing.
Oh, God!
She steps
back, her knees barely holding her. She turns on her heels and
starts to run down the corridor.

“
Alex!” Jayden
shouts.

“
Jay,” Sarah
purrs.

“
Alex!” Jayden yells. He
shoves Sarah from him and heads to the door. “Alex!” he shouts,
racing after her. “It’s not like what you see.”