His Hired Girlfriend (35 page)

“
I don’t want to talk
about it, Pete. Can you just leave me alone for a while? I need
space.” She bows her head and turns to go.

Peter watches her walk
away. He knows Alex hasn’t been the same since she got back from
New York. He needs to know what Jayden did to her.

He goes up to Mary and
slides into the seat opposite her. “What did you say to
her?”

Mary looks taken aback.
“What do you mean?” she asks innocently.

“
Mary, you know it doesn’t
work with me,” he snaps. “Stop playing innocent.”

Mary bites her lip. She frowns and thinks she’d better tell
Peter the truth. She folds her arms across her chest and says,
“Just the truth.”

“
What truth?”

“
That he’s out of her league. That she’s
daydreaming.”

“
Get to the
point.”

Mary grunts. “Oh, all
right. I told her she’s a slut, running off after Jayden. But I’m
right. He’s way out of her league. I mean he doesn’t even look at
me. Why would he want her? I can’t believe she went all the way to
New York after him and lied to everyone that she was there for a
conference.”

Peter is stunned. “That’s
what you think happened? That’s what you said to Alex?”

“
Yeah? What else could
there be to it? I mean just think how much money she wasted to go
to New York. She’s poor, and her old man is not well, what with his
heart problem. She’s selfish and a slut. I can’t believe you don’t
see that in her.”

“
What else did you
do?”

“
Nothing.” Mary glances
away, couldn’t bear the intense gaze of Peter’s eyes.

“
Mary? What else? How did
you know Jacob has a heart problem?”

“
I—I went to her house. I
met her dad. I told him.”

“
What exactly did you tell
him?”

“
That Alex ran off with
Jayden.”

“
Holy shit, Mary. Do you know what you’ve done?”

Mary snorts. “What I’ve
done, Peter? What exactly have I done? I’m helping them. I helped
Jacob, or whatever his name is, see what his daughter is truly
like.”

“
Alex is nothing like
that. She’s not like you, Mary.”

“
What do you mean by that,
Peter?”

“
Stop fooling around, Mary, and open your eyes. You know
you’ll never be a doctor. And stop using those boys to do your work
for you. I know what you’ve been up to. If the deans knew about
this—”

“
Peter, you
won’t!”

“
Yeah? Watch me.” He stands up. “And don’t interfere with
Alex’s life again. Understand?” Before she can utter another word,
he stalks away.

Alone in the quiet
corridor of the hospital, he takes his cell phone out and dials
Jayden’s number.

* * *

NEW YORK, USA

The penthouse, spacious and luxurious, overlooks Central Park and
New York City below. It’s dark, and all Jayden can see is dots of
tiny lights across the city. He feels alone, as though he’s missing
half of himself. How he misses Alex. How he wants to hug her and
kiss her and do so much more to her.
Just hold on, Jayden
,
he tells himself.
Soon, you
will have her again.

His Blackberry rings. He
glances over his shoulder and reluctantly picks it up. “Jayden
speaking.”

“
What the hell did you do
to her?”

Jayden frowns in confusion
, and then he remembers who it is. “Peter!”

“
Yeah, it’s me. So tell
me, old friend, what the hell did you do to Alex?”

“
I’m sorry, Pete,
I—”

“
Explain yourself. I told
you Alex is like a sister to me. I told you not to hurt her in any
way. So what happened? I’m giving you a chance to explain before I
terminate our friendship.”

Jay rakes his fingers
through his hair in frustration. “I’m willing to explain
everything. I—Pete?”

“
Yeah?”

“
I love Alex. I would
never do anything to hurt her.”

“
Oh?”

“
Things just kind of got
in the way. There’s Sarah—”

“
So you’re back with her
and broke Alex’s heart? Is that it?”

“
No. That’s not it. She
came back and made things messy. Alex found out I wasn’t gay. Then
she found out about Sarah, who wants to get back with
me.”

“
Holy shit, mate! What the
hell?”

“
Yeah. Well, my
grandmother wasn’t exactly happy with me. She tried to match-make
me with Britney and things got even more complicated.”

“
So what are you going to
do about it?”

Jay pauses. “I’m going to
ask Alex to marry me. But first I need to get things straight with
her parents. And Pete?”

“
Yeah?”

“
Can you help
me?”

“
Sure thing, mate.”
A
merry laugh follows.
“Just so
you know, our friendship has not been terminated.”

“
Good,” Jayden
chuckles.

* * *

T
wenty-
E
ight

DUNEDIN, NEW ZEALAND

With his Mac laptop in hand, Peter Thompson marches up the short
driveway to the small bungalow in the secluded cul-de-sac. He rings
the doorbell and waits. A few second later, the lady of the house
appears.

“
Peter, come in. Alex is
out with Tim and Emma, showing them around Uni,” Mali says
cheerfully.

“
Very good. Jacob home?”
Pete asks.

“
Yes. Of course. I made
sure.” Mali winks at him.

“
Thanks for helping
out.”

Mali shakes her. “Peter, I should thank
you
for
helping my daughter out. Come on now.”

They make their way to the living area and find Jacob
there, reading the
Otago
Daily Times.

Jacob glances up from his
newspaper in surprise. “Peter? How have you been? Come on in and
sit down. Alex is out at the moment.”

“
Jacob, how are you, old
guy? Not working too hard, right?”

Jacob chuckles. “Of course
not.”

With that polite greeting
out of the way, Peter gets straight to the point. “Jacob, you need
to hear this. Actually, you need to see this.”

“
What is it?”

Pete slides into the seat
beside Jacob and turns on his laptop. “It’s about Alex. It’s about
what truly happened in New York.”

Jacob’s face darkens at
the mention of his daughter’s name and New York. “I already know
what happened, Peter. You don’t need to tell me.” There’s a hard
edge in his voice.

“
What you heard from
Mary?”

“
Peter, are you here to rub it in? I thought I knew you
better than that. Alex is a good girl. Yes, she may have done some
stupid things, but she’s my daughter, and don’t you dare—” He rubs
his temple.

“
It’s not like that, Jacob. You know jolly well how much
like a sister Alex is to me. I have to tell you the truth now. Alex
would never lie to you unless she had to.”

“
What do you mean?” Mali
asks, her hands clasping together nervously.

“
I was the one behind it.
But that’s not important. What’s important is what you need to hear
from the man himself.”

“
Man? What man?” Jacob
asks.

“
Yes, what man?” Mali
echoes.

“
Jayden McCartney. The man who stole your daughter’s heart.”
Peter looks heavenward and thinks that was a stupid way of putting
it. “What I mean is—oh, heck! Bear with me for a sec.”

Mali sits down beside
Jacob, and he takes her cold hands into his.

Peter logs into Skype and
then voilà—a young, handsome face appears on the screen.

“
Oh, my! Who is that?” Mali queried, amazed at the young
man’s good looks.

“
That, Mr. and Mrs.
Stewart, is Jayden McCartney, the man who stole your daughter’s
heart.”

Mali gasps in shocked
surprise, and Jacob is taken aback.

“
He’s Jayden McCartney? But I thought he was much older,”
Mali comments, her eyes on Jayden who is looking rather nervous on
the screen.

“
He’s only thirty
.”
Peter shifts the laptop around so that it faces him. “Hey, Jay. Mr.
and Mrs. Stewart are now yours. Do your best, bro.”

On the screen, Jayden
nods.

Peter turns the laptop
back to the couple and nods for them to proceed. Mali makes herself
comfortable as she holds onto her husband’s hand. Jacob waits
expectantly.

On the screen, Jayden takes a deep breath and then says,
“Mr. and Mrs. Stewart, I’m Jayden McCartney. I’m the one
responsible for everything that has happened to Alex. She only came
to New York because I asked her to. I needed her help, the type
that I’m very embarrassed to tell. I asked her to pretend to be my
girlfriend in exchange that I pay for the full price of your heart
transplant, sir.”

Mali gasps and glances at
her husband. Jacob tightens his hands about hers as he stares
intensely at Jayden in the screen.

“
However, once she was here, things got a bit complicated,
and I found myself falling in love with her. I love your daughter,
sir.” Jay looks at Jacob and then Mali. “I’m sorry for what
happened, but now I only ask for this. I want to marry Alex. I ask
for your permission, and I ask for your help to set things right
with Alex.”

A long silence follows.
Jacob seems to be in some sort of dilemma.

“
Sir?” Jayden’s voice
echoes into the silent room.

Peter nods. “Help
him.”

Jacob says, “Answer me
this, Jayden.”

“
Yes, sir?”

“
Will you do anything in
your power to make Alex happy?”

“
Yes, sir. I love her. I
will do anything to make her happy.”

“
And you will never hurt
her in any way?”

“
No, sir. I will never
hurt her in any way.”

Jacob leans closer to the
screen, as though he’s glaring into Jayden’s soul. Then he grins.
“Then we will help you. Welcome to the family, Jayden
McCartney.”

On the screen Jay sighs
with relief and smiles.

Peter gives out a loud
“Yeah!”

Mali laughs. “Welcome to
the family, Jayden.”

“
Thank you,” Jay
replies.

* * *

NEW YORK CITY, USA

In the
study room, Jay rakes
his hand through his blond hair in relief. He feels as though
finally the world has decided to go his way.

He looks up from the computer screen to his family, who
were watching and listening to his conversation with Alex’s
parents. Beth, Gracie, and Stephanie squeeze in the small sofa. His
father, Tom, sits on the other side with Kelly and Sam. Near the
side table, Maggie pops the champagne and everyone
cheers.

As Maggie pours wine into
glasses, Tom goes round to the computer screen and introduces
himself to the Stewarts. “Hello, I’m Tom McCartney, Jayden’s
father.”

On the other side, Gracie
comes around and hugs Jayden. “I’m so proud of you.”

Jay chuckles.
“Thanks.”

“
And you’ll make her
happy?”

“
I will.”

“
Champagne, everyone,”
Maggie says, going around and giving one to everyone.

* * *

T
wenty-
N
ine

Two weeks later

DUNEDIN, NEW ZEALAND

Life for Alex is colorless and meaningless. She’s not interested in
reading books, food just doesn’t taste good, work is a haze of fog,
people are just faces without souls, and life has been essentially
just a series of meaningless events.

Day after day she comes to work and does her thing. Only
her mind is always occupied with Jayden, the way he smiled, the way
he touched her, the way he kissed her, the way he moved and
laughed.

Things got pretty bad the other night when she browsed the
net and saw an article about Kelly’s wedding on the
‘Your Wedding’
website. Near the bottom page, there was a photo
of her and Jayden together. The footnote said:

Young,
handsome billionaire Jayden McCartney with beautiful girlfriend
Alexandra Stewart wearing a MacKey gown. Rumors said there was a
secret engagement, a baby on the way, and marriage is just around
the corner.

She growled then, in anger
and frustration.

Snapping herself from that thought, she stares up at the
clock on the cafeteria’s wall. Five to two, it says. Time to go
back to work. She gives out a deep sigh and gets up, grabbing for
her handbag and half-filled cup of tea. With her head bowed and her
eyes on the dark grey carpet, she makes her way toward the
conveyer.