His Hired Girlfriend (31 page)

“
What are you concerned
about? Alex will be back next week.”

“
But I don’t follow. Why
would Alex be back next week when she plans to stay away forever? I
mean she’s run off with a man who has no intention of marrying her,
and she knows it.”

Jacob is confused. “But
Alex is in New York for a conference.”

Mary laughs. “And you believe her? That she really is at
this conference? A medical laboratory science conference in
New York
? I find that very hard to believe.”

“
What are you
implying?”

“
That Alex has run off
with a man. She’s secretly with him. She’s his mistress. Don’t you
know that? He’s already married.”

Jacob clutches his chest.
His vision starts to blur. “She told us—”

“
Mr. Stewart, are you okay
?”

“
I—”

“
Mr. Stewart?” Mary
watches as Jacob collapses onto the floor. She rushes down to touch
his pulse. She sighs with relief. He’s still breathing. Then she
hears a voice coming through from the front door.

“
Honey? I’m home.” Mali appears. “Oh, God! What
happened?”

“
He collapsed,” Mary says. “I think he’s going to be okay.
Look I have to go.” Before Mali can ask her to stay and help or
question her as to why she’s there, Mary grabs her handbag and
rushes out the door.

* * *

T
wenty-
F
our

It’s a beautiful
summer day in New York, perfect for a wedding. In a mansion on the
Upper East Side of Manhattan, there is a hype of activities.
Champagne is poured into glasses, the bride and bridesmaids are
busy having their hair and makeup done, relatives and close friends
come and go to congratulate the bride. All this Alex watches in
awe, wishing that one day it would be her turn. The thought brings
a nice feeling to her body, and her eyes search for Jayden. She
finds him among his three cousins: two male and a young female.
They’re much younger than he is, and they seem to worship him like
he’s some kind of god. He catches her watching him and gives her a
smile. She blushes and grins back.

“
Alex,” Gracie’s voice
snaps her mind back to the present. “You should be getting
changed.”

Alex turns to look at
Gracie. “Oh, right,” she says, nodding her head. “I suppose I
should.”

“
Yes, yes. It’s nearly
time to go.” Gracie nudges her toward the door.

Alex chuckles and says, “I
won’t take long, you know.”

“
Yes. But you still need
to change. And don’t you ruin your hair.”

Alex absentmindedly
touches her beautifully coiffured hair with a large pink oriental
lily inserted on the left side near her ear. “I won’t,” she
replies, heading to the door.

The house is filled with
people Alex has never seen before. She’s just stepping onto the
grand stairs when a woman says, “You must be Alexandra from New
Zealand.”

Alex turns and smiles.
“Yes, I am.”

“
Well, you’re a pretty
thing, aren’t you? No wonder. Congratulations, by the
way.”

Alex blinks. She wonders
if the woman is talking to the wrong person. Perhaps she thinks
that she’s Kelly. If she’s a friend of the McCartney family, then
she hasn’t been well informed.

“
Oh,” Alex responds,
wondering what she should say.

“
Oops,” the woman
chuckles. “Wasn’t supposed to say, but congratulations
nonetheless.”

Then she’s gone. Alex
raises her brows in confusion. She shakes her head and hurries up
the stairs. Halfway up she hears somebody say, “Hey, Alex, right?
Congratulations!”

Alex just smiles. There we
go. Another one. She’d have to tell Jayden that his family’s
friends are congratulating the wrong person.

In the bedroom, she goes
into the walk-in wardrobe and takes her silk gown out. She holds
the dress to her chest, and can’t believe that her life could be so
different in such a short space of time. She sighs, tears brewing
in her eyes.

Don’t cry, Alex,
the
voice in her head says.
Or
you’ll stuff up the makeup Laura worked so hard on.

She giggles at the thought of going to the wedding with
panda eyes as she begins to take off her shirt. Then her jeans and
bra follow. She slips the soft material of the gown over her head
and pulls it down, feeling the cool fabric against her skin. She
adjusts the dress about her slim body and then reaches over the
back
to do the zip. She gets
halfway and stops, finding it hard to pull it to the
top.

“
Can I help?”

Alex turns, her heart
hammering in her chest. “Jayden!” she exclaims. “How long have you
been standing there?” There’s a note of accusation in her
voice.

“
A while,” he says easily,
ambling to her, a devilish grin on his face.

Alex blushes intensely,
wondering what he means by that. A while could mean anything, and
going by the smirk on his face, a while probably means a good long
time.

“
Why didn’t you tell me
when you were here?” she asks, frowning at him.

“
Quit frowning. You’ll ruin the makeup,” he chuckles. He
finds that he can’t take his eyes off her. She looks so beautiful
with her hairdo, the oriental lily on her head, her face all made
up to perfection, which enhances her eyes and luscious lips, and
her milky skin, soft and silky smooth.

“
Okay
. I’ll stop
frowning now. So why didn’t you tell me when you came in?” she
queries again, this time with a fake pleasant smile on her
face.

“
Because I was too busy
looking at what I like,” he says. “My eyes are dilated.”

“
Oh,” is all that Alex
could get out. She bites her lip. So he likes looking at her?
“Jayden!” she exclaims.

“
Yes, Alex?” he responds. “Can I help you with that
zip?”

“
No, thank you,” she says
curtly, “I can manage.” She turns her back to him and begins to try
zipping again.

Jayden cocks his head to
one side and watches, a grin on his face.

Alex gives up because her hands are getting sore. She
glances at him and says, “All right.”

He smiles smugly and steps
to her. Alex becomes nervous. She starts fidgeting and biting her
lip. Jayden reaches out for the zip, his hands warm against her
bare skin. He pulls the zip up, his knuckles brushing against her
back, stroking her all the way up. Alex holds her breath, sensual
sensations rushing through her body.

Once he’s done, Jayden
leans his head to her and whispers in her ear, “You look
beautiful.”

She smiles and whispers
back, “Thanks.”

Jayden snuggles his nose
in the nape of her neck and starts to kiss her there. He moves his
lips slowly to her chin and then to her lips. Alex tilts her head
back to look up at him, her eyes large. “I can’t kiss you,” she
says softly.

“
Why not?”

“
Because you’ll ruin my
makeup,” she replies, a satisfied smile on her face.

Jayden’s face became serious. “Well, then,” he begins.
“Since you can’t kiss me, I’ll kiss you.”

“
Huh?” She gazes at him in
confusion.

“
Don’t worry. I won’t ruin
your makeup,” he says and moves his lips to her nape again. He
kisses her there, softly and gently, setting Alex’s body in a glow
of fire.

“
But Jayden,” Alex
begins.

“
Shh
...” He moves his
lips to her back, and with his fingers, he peels the strap down
from one of her shoulders.

Alex’s head is swimming. She thinks that if he doesn’t stop
now she’ll fall to the floor because her knees are getting weaker.
She wants him to stop, but at the same time she doesn’t want him
to.

“
There you two are,” a
female voice echoes from the door.

Jayden looks up to see
Beth frowning at him, telling him that there’d be plenty of time
for that but not now.

“
It’s time we leave for
church.”

“
Yes, of course,” Jayden says. Once Beth is gone, he turns
to Alex, who is blushing profoundly. “Sorry, sweetheart.” He gently
replaces the strap back on her shoulder and leads her to the
door.

Their drive to St. Bart’s Church is a short one. There they
mingle with family and friends, and Jayden proudly introduces Alex
as his girlfriend if anyone happens to ask. When the ceremony is
about to begin, they take their seats in the front pew. Alex
watches and sees that Sam is all smiley-faced. The piano starts
playing
Here Comes the
Bride
and the bridesmaids
enter slowly, one small step at a time. Stephanie, as the maid of
honor, is last and then behind her is the beautiful bride herself,
Kelly. All eyes are on her.

Once Kelly reaches the
front stage, Sam takes her hand, grinning from ear to
ear.

“
Ladies and gentlemen,” the priest begins, “we gather here
to celebrate ...”

Alex feels Jayden’s hand over hers. She glances up and sees
him wink at her. Her heart misses a beat.
Oh dear!
As she
turns back to watch Sam and Kelly, she can’t stop
grinning.

“
Will you,” the priest
says, “Sam Hunter, have Kelly McCartney to be your wife? Will you
love her, comfort and keep her, and forsaking all others, remain
true to her as long as you both shall live?”

Sam clears his throat, and
with a smile, he says, “I will.”

The priest turns to Kelly
who is grinning behind her white veil. “Will you, Kelly McCartney,
have Sam Hunter to be your husband? Will you love him, comfort and
keep him, and forsaking all others, remain true to him as long as
you both shall live?”

Kelly nods as she says, “I
will.”

The priest turns to Sam.
“Will you please repeat after me ...”

Once both Sam and Kelly have repeated after the priest, Sam
puts the ring on Kelly’s finger, and Kelly does the same to him.
Sam says, “With this ring I thee wed, and all my worldly goods I
thee endow. In sickness and in health, in poverty or in wealth,
till death do us part.”

Gracie sniffs and pat
s her hanky about her cheeks. Beth is doing the same
thing.

The priest says, “You are
now husband and wife. You may now kiss your bride.”

A loud cheer erupts then, and Sam lifts Kelly’s veil up and
then kisses her. A loud applause follows, and then they sign their
wedding certificates.

“
That was a wonderful
wedding ceremony, Jayden,” Alex says.

“
Yeah, it was,” he agrees.
“Time for some photos.” He winks at her.

“
Oh, no. Must I be in them?”

“
Yes.” He stands up. “Come
on.”

Alex groans as he leads
her to the newlywed couple where they are surrounded by
well-wishers, journalists, and paparazzi.

“
I didn’t know this would be so big,” Alex says, glancing up
at Jayden, trying to slow their pace. She dreads the thought of
facing those people and the continuous flashing of the
cameras.

“
Yes,” Jayden
replies.

Alex sees Kelly wave at
her to come over.

“
Let’s have some family
photos,” one of the cameramen shouts into the buzzing
crowd.

“
Family photos,” Jayden
says. “Come on.”

“
But I’m not family,” Alex
whispers. “You go.”

“
No. You’re coming,”
Jayden says.

“
Alex, come on,” Kelly
shouts.

“
Alex, come stand by me,”
Gracie calls out, pulling her forward.

And so Alex finds herself
wedging in between Jayden, who has his hand around her waist, and
Gracie. She smiles and laughs as the cameramen make jokes and
demand that they repeat what they say. She suddenly forgets about
the people and the rapid, continuous, flashing lights from the
cameras.

Once the family and friend photos are done, and the
well-
wishes die down,
everyone starts leaving the church. Jayden is just leading Alex
toward the door when a middle-aged journalist and her cameraman
appear before them.

“
Hello, Mr. McCartney,” she says pleasantly. “My name is
Janet Tallmark. I’m a journalist from
Your Wedding Magazine
.”

“
Yes?” Jayden
says.

“
As you know, your sister’s wedding will be a feature
article in our magazine. As part of it, I would like to ask you a
few questions, if that’s all right with you and your girlfriend,”
Janet says, smiling at Alex.

Jayden glances at Alex,
who smiles up at him. He says, “Of course.”

“
Thank you. Much appreciated,” Janet says as she takes out
her recording device. She clears her throat and begins. “So you are
one of the top ten youngest billionaires here in the States. How do
you feel about that?”