His Hired Girlfriend (17 page)

“
Is Madison Avenue big?”
Alex asks Kelly. “Is it near Central Park? Is Central Park
big?”

Gracie laughs. “We’ll have
to take you on a tour, Alex.”

“
Yes, please,” Alex
replies, at which point she turns her eyes meaningfully to
Jay.

Jayden suddenly gets the hint. Now he knows why she’s so
excited and keeps grinning at him. He promised to take her on a
tour today. Damn! He forgot about that.

“
We are on our way to Vera
Wang, Britney dear. I assure you we won’t be late for lunch,” Beth
says to her Blackberry.

“
Aw, Beth, do you have to
tell her we’re going to Vera Wang?” Kelly mutters.

Beth ignores Kelly. “I’m
on the phone, dear.”

Jay turns over to the
chauffeur behind him and says, “Vera Wang, John.”

John nods and starts the
car.

As they drive out of the
Upper East Side of New York City, Alex widens her eyes with wonder,
staring at the tall buildings. And Jay in turn finds himself
enjoying watching her expressive face.

Not long afterward, they are heading along
77
^th
Street off Madison Avenue. The limo
comes to a sudden halt in front of Vera Wang. Before Alex can enjoy
the sight of one of the most fashionable streets in the world, she
is bustled away into the elegant store.

And what a store it is. There are beautiful, expensive
wedding gowns on display, chandeliers with bright crystals hanging
above them, tall vases of flower arrangements giving off vibrant
colors and scents, and sofas and chairs arranged near the dressing
room and in the center of the store for comfort.

“
You’re here!” a voice
sings out.

Alex sees a pretty redhead rushing toward them. Kelly and
the woman hug and do some girlish giggle type of excitement. “Oh, I
can’t wait to see you in it.”

“
I know. I know,” Kelly
chuckles. “Oh, this is Alexandra Stewart, Jay’s new
girlfriend.”

Alex turns
her
attention to them.
New?
What does Kelly
mean by that? But before she can ponder on the subject any further,
Kelly pulls her aside and introduces her to Stephanie Wilson, the
maid of honor.

“
So, Alex, how did you
meet Jayden?” Stephanie asks, a note of curiosity in her
voice.

“
Back in New Zealand,”
Alex says, eyeing Jay who is now sitting on one of the antique
sofas and making himself comfortable. He already looks as though
he’s bored to tears. She wonders if he hates shopping that
much.

“
Well, come along now. We haven’t got all day,” Stephanie
says, pulling Kelly by the hand away toward the dressing room.
“Nice to meet you, Alex,” she says over her shoulder.

Alex replies, “Same here,” with a bright smile. Then she
wonders what she should do to pass the time. She thinks about
joining Gracie and Beth, who are now comfortably seated on the sofa
chatting and sipping their tea that a sales assistant has placed
before them. She, however, decides against it and so busies herself
exploring and touching the lovely, soft fabrics of the wedding and
evening gowns designed by Vera Wang. They are all so beautiful, the
type that she could never afford or ever dream of
wearing.

She has just finished her browsing when she sees a stash of
evening gowns near the back of the shop. Clearly they aren’t
popular to be left there out of the customer’s eye. Curious, she
starts browsing. They are all elegant, pastel colors with some
mixtures of gold and silver laces. Then she finds one that catches
her eye. She picks it up and inspects the tag. There’s no price
mark. Furthermore, she realizes it does not have a Vera Wang label
on it.

“
Have you found one you
like?”

Alex jumps. She twists
around, her heart hammering in her chest. “Jay!” she
whispers.

“
What?” he asks, his brows rise. “That one looks good,” he
comments, touching the lilac-pink, silk material in her hand. “Why
don’t you try it on?”

Alex widens her eyes.
“What? Don’t be silly. I can’t afford it.”

Jay chuckles. “Just try it
on.”

“
No,” she says sharply,
stacks the gown back in its place and turns to go. What the heck is
wrong with him? Why is he so adamant that she should try on the
dress?

Jay catches her arm and pulls her back. He is so close that
she can feel his breath on her forehead.

“
Come on,” he says, his
hand on her wrist as he leads her toward the dressing
room.

“
Jay,” she whispers
sharply. She feels her panic rising as she realizes he’s serious
and that the dress is in his hand. “Jayden,” she snaps as she draws
herself back. It’s impossible because his hand is firm on her
wrist.

She reluctantly follows him and then something flashes in
her mind. It’s like a déjà vu. She glances up at Jay and then she
realizes.
Oh my God!
It was Jayden who helped her that
Saturday night in the bar when that drunken man tried to take
advantage of her. And thus far he has never mentioned it to
her.

He nudges her into a neat
changing room. He hangs the gown up for her before he leaves.
“Don’t take too long now,” he says as he shuts the door.

“
What a demanding man,”
she mutters, grinning.

Alone, she fingers the soft fabric. No, she shouldn’t. The
gown is too expensive and elegant for her.

She leans back against the
wall, her eyes gazing at the dress and a dreamlike smile on her
lips as she imagines herself in it, dancing in Jayden’s
arms.

Snap out of it, you silly
girl.

“
Knock! Knock!” Jay’s
voice comes from the other side.

Alex wants to laugh.
Instead of knocking the door he said the words. He’s being silly,
of course.

She moves forward and
opens the door. He immediately pokes his head in, his eyes wide
with expectation.

“
That was fast,” he says.
Then when he sees that she’s still in her own clothing, his face
becomes serious. “You haven’t gotten it on.”

Alex shakes her head.
“It’s not for me.”

“
Don’t be silly,” he
mutters and comes into the changing room. “Come on, let’s get this
on you.”

“
Let’s take it back, why
don’t we?” she says with a smile, folding her arms across her
chest.

“
No. You have to try it
on. You need help?”

Alex shakes her head. She
wants to leave as the room suddenly seems small and tight what with
Jay now in there with her. She finds him too close for comfort. And
the fact that he’s standing right in front of the door doesn’t help
either. It’s as though he’s blocking her in, refusing to let her
out. She starts to get this odd fluttering excitement in the pit of
her stomach.

“
Do you need help?” he
asks again. “Come on then. I’ll help you change.” He puts his hand
to the hem of the sweater and starts to pull it up.

“
Jayden!” she exclaims.
“What are you doing?”

“
I’m helping you change.”
Then he starts pulling her shirt again.

“
Don’t be silly! I can
change myself.”

He relaxes. “So you’ll try
it on?”

Alex is about to say no
when she sees the glint in his eyes. She knows then that he’d make
her try the dress on no matter what. She sighs. “Yes, I’ll try the
damn dress on,” she mutters and puts her hands on his chest and
shoves him back.

Jay lets her go, a smirk
on his lips. Alex pokes her tongue at him in annoyance. He laughs.
He says as he’s leaving, “Don’t forget to come out and let me have
a look, my sweet. You know the shop owner does have
keys.”

In response to his
request, she shoves him out and slams the door on his smirking
face.

Alone, she silently
seethes while she undresses. About two minutes later, she unlocks
the door and pokes her head out. She sees him leaning against the
wall, waiting too patiently for her liking.

“
So you wanna see or not?”
she asks in anticipation.

He straightens up as he
says, “Of course,” with too much enthusiasm.

Alex readies herself for
his criticism as he approaches. She waits as he inspects her, her
heart thundering loudly in her chest.

“
Well?” she asks finally
after a long silence.

Jay smiles at her. “You
look good.”

“
Yeah, right,” she responds. “I think it shows too much
skin.”

Jay moves closer to her, his nose just above her head. He
can smell that lovely floral scent which is pulling him in. “That’s
not such a bad thing, is it?” he says, his mind is elsewhere. He’s
gazing at her smooth skin. His finger automatically comes up and
starts stroking her arm.

Alex feels that magic
sensation within her. She tilts her head and gazes at him. She can
feel her senses swirling around her, sucking her in like a
whirlpool. She wants to feel his lips on hers.

Jayden moves his head
slowly toward her, his lips are an inch away from touching
her.

“
Jay? Alex?” a female voice drifts to them.

Alex blinks. She realizes this is wrong. She almost kissed
Jay. What was she thinking? Jayden is
gay,
for God’s
sake!

She takes a step back, her
knees weak and her breath shaky.

The door opens. “Oh, there
you two are,” Stephanie says with a bright smile. “You should come
and see Kelly. Aw, she is so beautiful.”

Alex pulls away uncomfortably as Stephanie is eyeing them
too keenly. Jayden, however, doesn’t seem to mind nor does he
sympathize with her that she is embarrassed. He’s actually pulling
her closer, his hands about her waist and his nose and lips now
touching her bare shoulder. She could feel the heat from him on
her.
Holy snap!

* * *

T
hirteen

Alexandra doesn’t
quite comprehend what’s going on except for the fact that Jayden is
leading her by the arm out from the changing room, with Stephanie
smirking knowingly behind them. There’s a sort of excitement on her
pretty face that leads Alex to wonder what the cause is. She
glances back at the redheaded woman and sees her winking. That’s
when it hits her in between the eyes.

Oh
, my God! Stephanie
thinks she and Jayden were making out. Oh, no, no, no. She’d have
to explain to the woman that nothing of the sort happened. That
it’s all a misunderstanding. Gosh, what a muck-up this all
is!

“
There you two are,” Kelly
announces. “What do you think?” She points to her dress.

Alex comes to a sudden
stop, and the thought of explaining to Stephanie about her and
Jayden is completely wiped out of her mind once she sees Kelly. My
God! The young woman is truly beautiful in that wedding
gown.

It’s a dress like Alex has
never seen before in real life, the type of dress she has only seen
in high fashion magazines. The gown is an ivory white strapless
with a full A-line and a natural waist. There’s a bow of golden
silk on the side, and the skirt itself is asymmetrically draped
with a bias tiered origami shape.

“
Wow!” she
exclaims.

Kelly smiles. “I know,
right?” Then she touches the material of the skirt.

“
It’s a one of a kind
piece,” Victoria, the sales consultant says, who is standing just
behind Kelly.

The sales assistant who is
standing on the other side of Kelly says, “A lot of brides want
this dress, but most can’t afford it.” She touches the fabric on
the side of Kelly’s skirt and spreads it out to show off the
pieces.

“
I’m so happy. I love it!
Sam will love it!” Kelly announces.

“
Of course he will,” Beth
says, smiling. “Now, come here and give your grandmother a
kiss.”

Kelly laughs as she puts
her arms around her grandmother. Then she kisses the woman on both
cheeks.

“
That’s my girl,” Beth
says. “You’re beautiful, just like me when I was your
age.”

A loud cheer goes up then.
The room echoes with their laughter. Kelly can’t help beaming from
ear to ear.

When the cheer dies down a
voice says, “Yes, I do agree it is rather a beautiful
dress.”

Alex glances to her right. There sitting on the sofa is
Britney, dressed in a mini, sexy black dress, her long, slender
legs crossed elegantly.

“
If I were to get married,” Britney continues as she stands
up. Then she sexily tosses her long hair behind her bare shoulders,
similar to the action in a hair commercial. She comes to stand
beside Kelly and says, “I’d wear a gown that’s a bit more
extravagant than this one.” She touches the fabric in distaste,
which causes the shop assistant to frown darkly. “The skirt a bit
fuller than this one. One with a long train like the one Princess
Diana wore on her wedding day. There’d be some red mixed with the
boring white color. Gold doesn’t go with white, don’t you
think?”