His Hired Girlfriend (10 page)

His heart skips a beat.
Oh, yeah, you rascal, you know exactly why. You missed her
so much that you couldn’t stop e-mailing her every day.
In fact, he e-mailed her every
chance he had. Not to mention he even visited her Facebook page
just to see her profile picture and see what she was up to. He
was
that
pathetic.

“
How’s Jacob?” he asks,
suddenly feeling guilty at the thought of dragging her away from
her father.

“
He’s recovering well,” she replies, thinking about that
dreadful week her dad had his heart transplant. In the waiting bay,
she hugged him and wished him luck while her mom cried and prayed
the procedure would go well. Then the anesthetist wheeled him off
into the theatre, and she and her mom waited in dread for five long
hours. She sighed with relief when her dad ended up in the ward
instead of ICU because that meant the procedure went well. But her
relief was short-lived when they found out a day later her dad
contracted pneumonia from the bacteria
Streptococcus pneumoniae
. The doctor informed her it was quite common for an
elderly man with a low immune system to be infected with it. They
gave him strong antibiotics, and within a week he recovered. Now
he’s home and taking things easy.

“
Thanks, by the
way.”

“
What for?”

“
For the money. Without it, Dad wouldn’t have been able to
have his surgery.”

Jay couldn’t help but grin
from ear to ear.

Alex sees this and laughs. “You’re so cute when you smile,”
she comments. And silently adds—
too bad you’re gay.
“They are suspicious I have to go away.”

“
Huh?” He is still
grinning and thinking about her last comment.

“
I told my family that I’m
going overseas, New York City to be precise, to do some more
training. I lied to them.”

Jay glances sideways at
her. “You could just tell them the truth.”

“
I can’t do that. I can’t
tell them that I’m pretending to be your girlfriend, and now I’m
coming to New York to meet your family.”

Jay laughs. She frowns at
him.

“
Sorry,” he says cheekily.
“You could have just told them you are my real girlfriend and that
you are coming to meet my parents.”

“
But we are not in a real
relationship. I mean you’re not my real boyfriend. You’re
gay.”

Good point. He totally
forgot about that. Shit! Lies upon lies. He wonders which is worse;
lying to his family that Alex is his girlfriend or lying to Alex
that he is gay. No! He has to put that out of his mind. He has to
think about what’s going to happen when Alex meets his family, when
Alex meets Beth.

“
Alex?”

“
Huh?”

“
We need to clear
something up.”

“
Clear what up?” Alex
replies sleepily.

“
Us.”

She glances at him.
“Us?”

“
Yeah, us. We need to be
clear about our story.”

Alex nods in understanding. “Oh, you mean you and me? How
we met and stuff like that?”

“
Uh-huh.” Jay nods, his
foot pressing down on the brake pedal as the car comes to a red
light.

“
Right. Go on
then.”

“
First of all, we have to
be really close,” he says. The light changes to green, and he steps
on the accelerator. “What I mean is we want to make people think we
are in a serious relationship.”

“
Yes, I know.”

“
Good,” Jay says, making a
right turn. “Secondly, to do this, you’ll have to start talking to
me more intimately. Like words of endearment.”

“
Endearment?”

“
Yes, like sweetheart,
honey. You know? Endearment.”

“
Right.”

“
Now I’m going to tell you
a bit more about my family.”

“
Okay
,” Alex says
sleepily. The sound of the car engine humming is like a lullaby to
her ears, and she closes her eyes.

“
Okay
, we’ll start
with my dad then. His name is Tom McCartney,” he begins. “He meets
mom ...”

Five minutes later
,
he glances at his passenger. He blinks. Damn, she’s already sound
asleep. He shakes his head. Well, his family story would have to
wait. He steps harder on the accelerator as the car merges into the
highway. An hour later, the black Mercedes-Benz drives past rows of
gigantic, expensive mansions on the Upper East Side of New York
City and through wrought iron gates that open up automatically. The
car comes to a smooth stop in front of an immaculately kept,
massive three-story mansion.

Jayden slides out and rushes over to the passenger side. He
cocks his head to one side as he gazes down at Alex, who is still
asleep. He can’t blame her for being so tired, and he can’t blame
her for looking so adorable, too. When people sleep in the car they
don’t look adorable, they usually look stupid. But Alex is
different.

He chuckles and brushes his fingers gently across her
forehead. Should he wake her up? He knows his family would be up by
now, waiting to greet his fake girlfriend. No, he shouldn’t wake
her. It would be cruel. She needs her rest. With his mind made up,
he effortlessly scoops her up in his arms, turns on his heels,
kicks the car door shut, and strolls toward the house. Before he
can reach the bell, the large double-door is opened up for
him.

“
Thanks, Maggie,” he says
to the plump, smiling housekeeper who is dressed in her very
spotless and immaculate uniform consisting of a black shirt and
skirt.

“
You’re welcome, Master
Jayden,” the woman says warmly, her gaze resting on Alex, who is
snuggling her face comfortably against Jay’s hard chest.

“
Your girlfriend? She
looks tired,” Maggie says. “I’ve arranged your room at your
request. New sheets, duvet, drapes, sofa, and, of course, a
beautiful vase with a bunch of red roses. Oh, so
beautiful.”

“
Thanks, Maggie,” Jay
says, grinning.

“
You’re welcome, Master
Jayden.” The housekeeper nods and shuts the door. “Just so you
know. Everyone is up.”

“
Right.” He knows his family will be in the dining room
having their breakfast, and that they’d be expecting him to bring
Alex there for introductions. Not yet. He feels it just isn’t the
right time for that. Besides, he dreads what will happen when Beth
meets Alex. He has no doubt Beth will jump on Alex and claw her to
bits, figuratively speaking of course.

Hoping that they are still
blissfully unaware of their arrival, Jay paces toward the
stairs.

“
So she’s
here!”

Jay groans inside. He slowly turns to see his grandmother
down the hallway. As usual, she looks elegant. Nothing is out of
order on her person: perfect hair, face, and clothing. This morning
she wears a pretty pink suit that fits her slim body gracefully.
His mother, Gracie McCartney, comes out from the dining room into
the foyer just then. She’s tall and slim. Her manner gives the aura
of elegance and gentleness. Her blue eyes, very much like his, are
gazing at the sleeping Alex, who is oblivious to the presence of
the people surrounding her.

“
She is tired, I suppose,”
Gracie says.

“
Jay,” a voice echoes from
the top of the stairs.

Jay glances up and sees his sister Kelly. She is dressed in
a pretty blue sundress, her blond curls resting about her
shoulders.

“
You’re back,” she says as she comes down the stairs.
“Thought you’d be late with
you know who
so
demanding and all.”

Jay knows who his sister is referring to. It’s Sarah. Kelly
knows he and Sarah were dating. But Kelly doesn’t know they broke
up. Now he sees the puzzled look in her eyes, questioning him as to
what he is doing with another woman in his arms. Come to think of
it, Kelly was right. Sarah is a spoiled little brat who always gets
what she wanted. Why he didn’t see it before is beyond
him.

Kelly comes to a complete stop at the bottom of the stairs
once she sees Alex in Jay’s arms. She opens her mouth as though to
ask Jay who this person is when Granny Beth says, “Why is she
dressed like that? Why is she sleeping in your arms?”

“
She has just arrived and
she’s tired, Grandmother.”

“
Well, she’d better be up before the dinner party starts,”
Beth comments, gives one more glance at Alex in distaste, and
strolls into the lounge with her nose in the air.

Gracie shakes her head at
Beth’s stiff attitude. “So this is your girlfriend?”

Jay manages to nod without
flinching. He feels guilty lying to his mother. But he has no
choice.

Gracie comes to stand
beside him and peeks at Alex. “She’s cute. Good choice,
Jay.”

He glances down at the
woman in his arms. Yup, Alex is cute when she’s sleeping. She also
looks peaceful, young, and very innocent.

“
I bet she’ll sleep better
in a bed than in your arms,” Gracie suggests.

“
I agree,” Jay comments,
laughing. “Better take her up then.”

“
Yes, yes. Don’t forget to
wake her before afternoon tea,” Gracie says, walking into the
drawing room. “We need to get to know her better before the guests
arrive. By the way, you’ve told her there’s a party for her
arrival, yes?”

Jayden groans.

“
Thought so,” Gracie
chuckles. “Better do it soon.”

“
Sure,” Jayden responds as
he walks up the stairs.

Halfway up, he glances
down at his sister. Kelly eyes him suspiciously, telling him he’d
better tell her what the hell is going on. Jay nods in response to
her silent demand. Kelly raises her brows and then goes into the
dining room.

* * *

E
ight

Alexandra has the most
horrible headache ever. She flashes her eyes open and rubs her
temple, swearing silently. The bright sunlight doesn’t help either.
She squints and grits her teeth.

“
Good afternoon, sleepy
head.”

She snaps her eyes open,
wondering who’s in the room with her. She licks her lips and turns
to look behind her. Jayden is standing just at the end of the bed,
hands in the pockets of his trousers. His white shirt is unbuttoned
halfway, showing off his muscular chest.

Oh
, my God!
He’s so handsome—just like a
devilishly hot Calvin Klein model. She has no doubt he’s wearing
Calvin Klein anyway. She can’t breathe properly as she stares at
him. Her heart is beating abnormally fast.

Okay
, Alex, calm
down.
Then she wonders why
Jay asked her to be his fake girlfriend when he could have chosen
someone prettier—s
omeone like
Mary St. Clair.
But then
again Jay is gay. Because he is not interested in women, he
wouldn’t know which is hot, which is pretty, and which is plain
like her. That explains why he wasn’t affected by Mary’s famous
charm. God made him a perfect creature, but—

She shakes her head and
tells herself to stop thinking stupid things. She licks her lips
and does some more blinking.

Jayden chuckles and moves
onto the bed. He comes to sit beside her. “What’s
wrong?”

Alex touches her temple
again and frowns. “I’ve got the most horrible headache.”

Jay moves closer and peers
into her eyes. “You poor thing.” Then he strokes her forehead
gently, rubbing her skin so that it’ll ease the tension within her.
“You need some aspirin.”

“
I don’t want any aspirin, thank you,” she says, her heart
starting to do a hard out disco dance.
Oh, my God!
He’s
so close. She can feel his warm breath against her skin. Her
insides are exploding with hot, thrilling sensations.
She loves it!
Not good. This is not good. She can’t believe
she’s excited that a gay guy is paying her attention. How twisted
is that!

“
Why not? You’ll feel
better after some.”

“
Because I hate aspirin. I
hate any pills. I hate swallowing them. I can’t swallow them
properly, and they taste bitter.”

Jay chuckles. Then when he sees her seriousness, he stops.
“Hey, you okay?” he asks, now cupping her face so that she will
look up at him.

Alex blinks and nibbles
her lip, her headache now forgotten. “Yeah, why?”

“
Your face is red. I know you look flushed when you’re
tired. You
are
tired. I’m sorry about
that.”

Alex is staring at his sensuous lips as he’s
speaking.
What is he talking
about? Why is she staring at his lips?

Jayden laughs. “You poor
thing. You can’t even think straight. You’re not even listening to
me.”