His Hired Girlfriend (28 page)

“
Feisty,” he
chuckles.

“
Let me go, or I’ll
scream,” Alex demands through gritted teeth.

Kyle moves closer, his
grasp around her wrist tightens, hurting her. “Go on. Do it,” he
says, his eyes cold. “No one will hear.”

Alex can’t stand one more
second in his presence. She hits his chest and wiggles her wrist.
But Kyle only tightens his hold on her, laughing.

“
Come here and give me a
kiss,” he chuckles, wrapping his other hand around her neck and
pulling her to him. He’s about to plant a passionate kiss on her
when Alex claws his face with her fingers as she shoves him
back.

“
Bitch!”

Alex manages to pull
herself free as he struggles to compose himself. She slaps him hard
in the face for good measure and then runs away to the overcrowded
dance floor.

“
Shit!” Kyle swears again,
going after her. People are looking at them curiously, but Kyle
isn’t paying them any attention. He’s furious that Alex has
disfigured his handsome face.

Alex suddenly finds herself surrounded by people. She
glances behind her. Her stomach knots when she sees Kyle coming
after her. She bites her lip and hopes like hell she’s able to find
the girls. Only the dance floor is massive, and there are people
everywhere, squeezing, hitting, and shoving her. The air is hot and
tight, plus the smell of mixed perfumes, sweat, and alcohol causes
her stomach to turn over. That feeling of nausea comes again,
taking control of her consciousness. She feels sick.

“
Kelly, where are you?”
she mutters, her heart pounding away in tune with the
music.

She’s lost in the jungle
of people, who are dancing and screaming. The disco light above her
flicks this way and that, here and there, which makes her head
spin. She twists around in her spot, wondering which way she should
go. Then she glimpses Kyle, who’s getting closer to her,
growling.

She panics and rushes off, begging her way through the
throng of people. She breathes a sigh of relief once she’s out of
the dance floor. Her heart still pounding furiously, she glimpses
the double door—
the
exit
—and heads that
way.

Across the quiet corridor, she runs. At least she thinks
she’s running. She’s hoping there’s a ladies’ room somewhere she
can go in and hide. Only her world seems to be slowing down. She
glances behind her, sees the hazy figure of Kyle reaching for her,
and then her hand is caught.

“
Let go,” she says weakly as if she has no strength left.
Her mind threatens to black out any moment now. She can’t think.
She can’t control her body.

Kyle laughs as he pulls her to him. “Had enough
yet?”

Alex tries. God, how she
tries to keep herself alert, but it’s to no avail. “Let go,” she
manages to weakly say.

Kyle ignores her and moves
his head to her. “You’re going to be mine tonight,
Alexandra.”

“
No,” Alex whispers,
shaking her head.

“
Oh, yes, sweetheart,” he says, his lips near hers. He’s
going to savor every moment of it—a thought that sends thrills of
excitement rushing through his body. He gently touches his lips to
her. Suddenly, he feels his body yanked backward and then a hard
fist smacks on his jaw like a ton of bricks. He falls to the floor,
his lips bleeding.

“
Get your dirty hands off
her!” Jayden growls. He pulls Alex into his arms, searching her
face. She looks pale. Her eyes are sunken and lifeless as though
she has been drugged. Holy shit! He turns to glare at Kyle, who’s
busy pulling himself up.

“
What the hell did you do
to her?” he shouts.

“
What do you think?” Kyle chuckles. “Hey, she agreed to it.”
He wipes the blood from his lip. “Damn, Jay, your fist is still as
hard as ever. You know, bro, can’t help it. She’s attracted to me.
Can’t keep her hands off me. Man, I tell you that girl knows how to
flirt.”

“
You bastard!” Jay growls. “Alex would never be interested
in the likes of you. You drugged her. You spiked her
drinks.”

“
What’s going on?” Kelly
shouts from the other side of the corridor, rushing to them. “Jay?”
She glances at Kyle and frowns. “Alex? Are you all right?” she
asks, touching the girl’s face.

Jayden is so angry that he lets go of Alex. Kelly quickly
takes hold of the unconscious girl as she watches her brother march
to Kyle. Before Kyle can back away, Jayden smashes him on the
nose.
Kyle falls back again,
landing on the floor, his nose bleeding severely. Jayden grabs Kyle
by the shirt collar, shoves him up, and thrusts him against the
wall.

“
You bastard!” he grits
out. “You’re going to pay for this.”

“
Shit, Jayden,” Kyle
snaps. “She’s only a girl.”

“
She’s
my
girl,” Jay growls. “Don’t you ever
touch her!”

BAM! A fist lands against
Kyle’s stomach. Kyle groans in pain.

“
Jay, stop it!” Kelly
shouts.

Jayden tightens his grip
on Kyle’s collar.

“
Jay! That’s enough!”
Kelly shouts.

Jay doesn’t think it’s enough. He wants to beat Kyle
senseless, but he knows he can’t. It would solve nothing. Right now
he needs to get Alex home.

Slowly and reluctantly, he
releases his grip on Kyle’s collar and steps back. “Stay away from
Alex,” he says coldly. Kyle knows it’s his chance. He grabs Jay by
the shoulder, shoves him around, and his fist smashes on Jay’s
face.

Jay is thrown to one
side.

“
Jayden!” Kelly shouts in
response, her voice quivering with fear.

Jay grits his teeth and
glares at Kyle. He shakes his head and fists his hand tighter. He
marches forward and gives Kyle a hard blow on the right side of the
face. He grabs the man and gives him another hard blow to the
stomach with his knee.

“
Jay, Alex is getting
worse!” Kelly shouts.

Jayden glances back at his
sister. Kelly is begging him with her eyes to stop. He turns back
to Kyle and says, “You’re not worth it.” He shoves Kyle back
against the wall.

Jayden takes Alex into his
arms. “I’m taking her home. You go back and enjoy your
night.”

As he passes Kyle, he
says, “Don’t push yourself. I can do much more damage than break
your pretty nose.”

Kyle gets the hint as he
struggles up and heads to the men’s bathroom.

“
Will you be all right?”
Kelly asks at the stairs. “I’ll tell the girls, and we can quit the
night.”

“
Don’t be silly. It’s your
bachelorette party. Go and enjoy yourself. You know Alex
will be fine with me.” He glances down at the unconscious girl in
his arms. She looks so damn fragile that the thought of what Kyle
intended to do to her causes a newfound anger to rise in his chest.
He simply wants to smash Kyle’s face again.

“
I know that. You love
her, right?” she asks, her eyes intense on his face.

Jayden stares straight back at his sister, his eyes never
waver. “Hell, yeah! I love her.”

Kelly smiles. “And
Sarah?”

“
She’s gone, Kelly. Over
and done with. Now, go and enjoy your final night of
freedom.”

She laughs. “You drive
safely, Jay.”

“
Will do,” he replies, heading to the door. “Good
night.”

“
Good night,” she shouts after him.

Down in the parking lot,
Jay puts Alex into the front seat of the convertible and then
drives out. He keeps glancing at her on their way home to make sure
she’s comfortable and that the drugs don’t do her further
harm.

At home, Maggie opens the
door for him. Her eyes widen in shocked surprise when she sees him
carry the unconscious Alex in.

“
What happened?” she
asks.

“
Nothing,” Jayden replies
and heads up the stairs with a ‘no more questions’ look on his
face.

In the bedroom, he gently lays Alex on the bed and then
undresses her. With only her underwear on, he sponge bathes her
body with a wet towel and then dresses her again in her pajamas.
After brushing his teeth and showering himself, he lies between the
sheets beside her, pulling her into his arms.

She’s stone cold. Poor Alex. He blames himself for not
taking good care of her. He can’t believe Kyle did this to Alex,
spiking her drink and intending to rape her. This is by far the
most disgusting thing Kyle has ever done. Taking Sarah from him is
fine, but intending to hurt Alex is an entirely different
story.

He strokes his fingers
through Alex’s hair and then kisses her forehead.

“
I’m sorry, sweetheart,”
he murmurs. “I’m sorry I couldn’t take good care of you.” Then he
closes his eyes, drifting off into a slumber.

* * *

Kelly just can’t believe what a disaster her bachelorette party is.
Dinner and clubbing were fun, but after that everything went
downhill. She just can’t believe Kyle would do such a thing. What a
bastard that guy is. She’s still debating whether she should tell
her parents about the incident when she sees Britney stalking in
through the door of the club. Great, she thinks, another one to
make her night even worse.

She realizes something
isn’t right the moment Britney heads to Kyle. He’s sitting on the
other side of the bar, drinking some seriously strong booze and
nursing his injuries.

Holy Shit! Britney is
kissing Kyle?

Something is definitely wrong
, all right. She turns to Stephanie and whispers,
“Look.”

Stephanie glances in that
direction. “Holy shit! I can’t believe this.”

“
Me neither. I bet
something is up.”

“
Let’s find out,”
Stephanie suggests.

“
Yeah,” Kelly agrees. “Girls?” She turns to her friends.
“Stephanie and I have business to sort out. You all enjoy
yourselves, all right?”

“
Sure thing,” the girls
cheer back.

Kelly and Stephanie stand
up, arrange their short skirts properly, and toddle their way in
their three-inch heels toward the booth on the other side of the
bar. Once they’re near enough, they slide into a booth behind Kyle
and Britney.

“
Sweetheart, what
happened?”

“
Can’t you see? That
bastard Jayden destroyed my face. I can’t believe this. It’s your
fault, Britney. You planned this damn thing.”

“
Me? Well, yes, but Jayden wasn’t
supposed to come in and ruin everything. You were
supposed to take that stupid bitch somewhere and do what you want
to do with her. Take photos on your cell and all that stuff, then
send them to Jayden and make him see. But—”

“
I can’t believe this. I
was so close. She’s such a feisty little thing. She could have done
me real damage if it wasn’t for the drug I slipped in her
drink.”

“
Darling?” Britney moans,
“I promise to make it up to you. I’m sorry. We’ll have to find
another way to get that bitch away from Jayden.”

“
Ugh! I don’t want to
think about it, Britney. Right now I need my bed and you in it with
me.”

Kelly and Stephanie quickly turn away to hide their faces
as Kyle roughly drags Britney past them. Once they’re sure they
haven’t been spotted and the two people are gone, Kelly grits her
teeth and says, “I can’t believe what I’ve just heard.”

“
Me neither,” Stephanie
comments. “What a bitch that Britney is. I just can’t believe
it.”

“
We’ll have to tell Jayden
and my parents,” Kelly remarks, nodding her head.

“
Agreed,” Stephanie echoes.

* * *

DUNEDIN, NEW ZEALAND

Mary St. Clair
picks up her
wine glass and takes a sip, licking her lips afterward. She stares
at the hunky accountant sitting opposite her. She can tell by the
way he’s gazing at her that he’s really into her. Maybe tonight
he’ll join her in bed. Thrill rushes through her body, and she
laughs out loud.

“
Share the joke,” Hale
says, reaching his hand out to touch hers.

Mary grins. “I was just
thinking about how handsome you are. I can’t believe you’re still
single.”

He chuckles. “Well, I have been dating many times. Just
that you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever met, and I’m stoked.
Can’t believe you’re still single either. And want to come out with
me.”

“
Aw. You’re so sweet.” She
leans forward and kisses his cheek.

Over at the door of SAN
restaurant, Ruby, Nikita, and Isabella come through. A hunky waiter
greets them as the girls begin the process of taking their scarves
and gloves off.

“
Table for three, thanks,”
Ruby says.

“
Of course. This way,” the
young waiter says, leading them to a table behind Mary and her
date.

“
I’m so excited for Alex,” Nikita says as they take their
seats. “Just can’t believe the lab actually paid for her to go to a
conference in New York City. Can you believe it? Now I wish I did
Medical Lab Science.”