His Hired Girlfriend (2 page)

Peter glances sideways at his friend. “I suggest you find
yourself a new girl, bro, and take her to New York.”

For an extended moment in the complete silence that
follows, Jay’s blue eyes stare intensely into Peter’s green ones.
“You’re kidding, right?”

“
Nope,” Pete replies. He
stuffs some crisps in his mouth, chews loudly, and takes a solid
gulp of beer.

Jay considers this for a
second. “I’m not up for it, Pete. You know I’m not.”

Peter raises his eyebrows
in question. “Sarah?”

“
It’s still too new,” Jay mutters. No, he’s not over Sarah
yet, and dating again right now just seems wrong and odd, like they
remain linked in some way. Basically, he’s just not
ready.

“
Look,” Peter began. “You
don’t have to do this dating thing yet. I said you just need to
find a girl and take her to meet your parents. You don’t have to
date her.”

“
Meaning what, exactly?”
Jay looks at his friend in a weird way.

“
Meaning you hire a girl and take her to see your
parents.”

Jay doesn’t make any comment, but his expression quite
clearly says—s
eriously, dude,
can’t you come up with a better plan than that?

No, wait. It’s supposed to
be a joke. Peter is simply joking with him, that’s all. On cue, Jay
starts laughing. He laughs so hard that his stomach begins to hurt.
When he manages to stop, he looks at his friend and asks, “You are
joking, right?”

Peter’s face, however, is
serious. “No.”

“
What?”

“
Just hire a girl.
Simple.”

It must be a Kiwi thing, and he couldn’t stop himself from
blurting out, “Who the hell is desperate enough to want to
pretend
to be my girlfriend?”

“
Lots,” Peter says.
“Professionals.”

Jay narrows his eyes. “Oh, no. I’m not hiring those types
of girls. Gracie and Beth have criteria.”

Peter, who has just taken another gulp of his beer, nearly
chokes. “What? Your girlfriend has to fit your grandmother’s
criteria?” It’s his turn to start laughing.

“
Damn it, Pete! Help me out here.” Jay snaps and punches
Peter on the arm.

Peter continues chuckling
as he rolls away from the punch, though the hard glare from Jay
manages to dampen his amusement.

“
Okay
,” he says
calmly. “You need a new girlfriend, a fake one. I think I just
might know where you can find one.”

“
She better not be a professional. She has to be
perfect
,” Jay says, and he manages to sum up the criteria for
Peter.

“
Nope, she’
s not a
professional at all.” Peter confirms. Grinning like a Cheshire cat,
he adds, “In fact, she’s the total opposite.”

* * *

Jayden gazes out at
the sleeping town as Peter maneuvers the SUV through the streets of
Queenstown. He hadn’t realized until then just how much he actually
enjoys this place. He loves the view, the placid waters of the
lake, the food, the people, and even the crazy sports. This is a
perfect holiday spot. He’d definitely be back.

The drive is exhilarating, and Jayden lets his eyes feast
on the rough beauty of the Central Otago area. Coarse, snow-covered
mountains, pristine blue lakes, and twisted, gusting rivers come
together as one in picturesque harmony. Now and again, distant
winding roads lead to vineyards and orchards and the remote
formless dots of farmhouses. Sometimes the roads are so close to
the edge of the cliffs Jay feels they’re toying with the end of the
world.

Three and a half hours of
driving later, they arrive in the city of Dunedin on the east
coast.

“
So this is it? This is
George Street, the center of the city?” Jay asks as they come
through the short length of the Octagon toward the north end of the
town.

“
Yep,” Pete responds, coming to a stop at the traffic lights
on Hanover Street. “It’s a small town, bro. The Edinburgh of the
South, they call it. We’ll have to park in the Meridian car park
building. Damn busy on a Friday. Bloody students
everywhere.”

“
A city of students, huh?”
Jayden comments, eyeing the crowd crossing the streets in front of
them.

“
Yeah,” Pete responds,
taking out his cell phone.

Jay glances at his friend,
his eyebrows rising. “Not supposed to be texting while
driving.”

Pete chuckles, and his thumbs move faster like he’s on a
texting marathon.

Jay shakes his head and turns his attention back to the
streets. There’s a thick crowd of students, and they are
exceptionally well-dressed. There are young men in fashionable
jeans and coats (a few in shorts, a T-shirt, and flip-flops) while
the young women wear flimsy coats, super skinny jeans or leggings
and miniskirts, and three-inch heels. They stride and mingle as
they laugh and chat with their shopping bags in hand. The flawless
faces of the girls are similar to that of the supermodels back in
New York by design, no doubt. Not bad for a small city from a
near-forgotten country. Certainly few in New York would be familiar
with this place.

Perhaps it’s for this very
reason that his eyes are suddenly drawn to a young woman striding
across the street. She’s completely different from the others. She
wears a bright blue coat that has seen better days, and her long,
dark hair is a mess, streaming around her as she dashes across the
street. She darts her way through the crowd, passing through them
like a trained soldier racing through a minefield. He notices that
she isn’t wearing the high heels so liked by others. Instead, she
wears a pair of white sneakers that are a complete contrast to her
black jeans. Jay has to shake his head. She has no sense of fashion
whatsoever.

“
Done! You didn’t see
that,” Pete says.

Jay glances at his friend and sees Peter slotting his cell
phone back into his jeans pocket. As the traffic lights change to
green and Pete’s foot presses on the accelerator, Jay glances at
the girl in the blue coat. He notices that she has slowed down her
pace. She slips her hand into the pocket of her coat and pulls out
a cell phone. As she strolls toward a door, her head is down as
though she’s reading a message. Jay glances up and sees the logo in
blue, big bold letters that say
ANZ Bank
.

Not long after that, Jayden finds himself in the Dunedin
Public Hospital cafeteria. He looks about his surroundings in
astonishment. The atmosphere is as grey and dull as the faded wall
paint, washed-out carpet, and the smell of hospital
food.

He can’t believe he actually agreed to cancel their week of
fun extreme sports and drive all the way from Queenstown for
this.
Looking at patients
eating their lunch?
If this
is Peter’s idea of a joke, then it’s in extremely poor
taste.

He watches an elderly
patient sitting across the table from them trying to pick up a
sandwich with wrinkled, liver-spotted hands that shake with the
desperate determination of old age.

“
What the hell are we doing here?” he hisses. “I thought we
were supposed to, you know—” He suddenly feels rather
self-conscious. Even though he has dressed down, it now occurs to
him that the people in here couldn’t care less what they or he
looks like. Most are dressed in baggy clothing. But then again, Jay
tells himself, they
are
in a
hospital.

“
Looking for the perfect
girlfriend for you,” Peter says enthusiastically.

“
Very funny,” Jay snaps, picks up his ham sandwich, and
takes a bite.

They’re looking in the
wrong place. No proper socialite chick, even one desperate enough
to be hired for whatever reason, would be found in this type of
place.

At that moment, a large group of young doctors comes into
the cafeteria with trays of food and drinks in their hands. Some
are wearing scrubs while the younger ones wear semi-formal clothing
with stethoscopes hanging around their necks. Jay notes that a few
of the female doctors look quite appealing.

“
Hey, I can tell you like
the looks of this,” Peter says, his mouth full of food, as they
watch the doctors taking their seats not far from them.

“
Is she a doctor?” Jay
asks.

Peter shakes his
head.

“
A nurse?” Jay watches a
pack of young and old nurses wearing dark blue scrubs file into the
cafeteria.

Again Peter shakes his
head.

“
What does she do then?
You said you know her,” Jay says, watching a pretty female heading
their way.

She looks very attractive, long legs in heels, medium brown
hair that flows down her back, full lips, and bedroom eyes.
Perfect!

Peter nods. “Of course I know her. She’s exactly what the
criteria
are
not
.”

“
What? But she’s perfect.” Jay watches the woman glides
toward him. Then she smiles at him.
My God, she’s beautiful. She could be a model if she wants
to; only she’s a doctor, which is even better. She has brains and
possibly a good family background. What about manners?
He has no doubt she has excellent
manners. He can't imagine her yelling and screaming insanely at her
sick, elderly patients.

Yup, she fits the criteria
all right.

“
Really, that’s good. I’m
glad you agree,” Peter says, eyeing the woman coming toward them.
He waves as she approaches the seat opposite them.

“
Hey, you,” she says, greeting him. “I thought you were on
holiday. What are you doing back here?”

Jay likes the sound of her
voice. It’s soft and sweet.

“
Mary, this is Jayden, a friend of mine.” Peter introduces
her, nodding toward Jay, who rises and offers his hand.

“
Hi,” Mary says. “I’m
Pete’s cousin. I’m a trainee intern.”

Jay likes her hand, too. It’s soft. He can sense both
gentleness and strength in it.

“
So how is your holiday going?” she asks. “You’re not back
to work yet, right?”

Peter shakes his head.
“Not for another week.”

She nods prettily and
turns to Jayden with a sparkle in her eyes. “So where are you
from?”

“
The States,” Jayden
replies promptly.

“
I like your accent.” She laughs delicately, brushing her
hair over one shoulder. “So what brings you to New
Zealand?”

“
Just a
holiday.”

“
Having fun so far?” She leans toward him across the table.
Then beep, beep, beep. She glances down. “Oh, damn, my pager.
Excuse me for a second.” She gets up and hurries to the phone on
the far side of the room.

“
She fits some of the
criteria so far,” Jay comments, watching Mary. He sees her eyeing
him as she’s talking into the phone and jotting down
notes.

“
How do you know when you
haven’t met her yet?” Peter asks.

Jayden glances at his
friend, frowning in confusion as he brings the cup of hot coffee to
his lips. “Mary?”

“
Nope, not Mary—
her
.” Peter nods
toward the far entrance of the cafeteria.

Jayden glances in that direction, and his eyes widen in
shock. His breath catches at the back of his throat, and he starts
spluttering—hot liquid burning his tongue.

“
Hey, are you all
right?”

“
Yeah,” Jay mutters, wiping his mouth with the napkin. He
glances up and watches intensely, his frown darkening into a scowl.
This female—the girl in the blue coat he saw in the street—the girl
who is walking toward them with a satchel over her shoulder and a
cup of tea in one hand—is nothing like what he expected. She
doesn’t fit the criteria.
Period!

She’s average height. She’s not pretty. In fact, she’s
plain. Her baggy jersey is an odd, dull g
rey color and doesn’t exactly enhance her skin tone
either. It makes her face look pale and ghostly. Her long, dark
hair is a mess and hangs forward in long bangs that hide her
eyes.

As she walks toward them, Jay can’t help but stare at her.
She looks nervous.

She glances at them, gives
Peter a fleeting smile, and then rushes past them.

“
What do you think?” Peter
asks.

“
Not her.” Jay feels his
gut retching with dread. “Please tell me it’s not her.”

“
It’s her.” Peter chuckles. “Once your family sees her, they
will leave you alone.”

“
How do you know that for
sure?”

“
Because they will give up. If you show them that
she
is the type of girl you are in love with—and, mate, I know
you are not at the moment—they will give up in the end and leave
you alone.” Peter smiles smugly, crossing his arms across his chest
as he leans back in his chair.

Mary finishes her phone
call and joins them.