His Hired Girlfriend (36 page)

What should you do tonight, Alex?
she asks herself.
Not Facebooking surely?
You’re not stalking Jayden again. No. No. Don’t be
stupid.

Of course, she hasn’t been
on Facebook since she got back from America. Jayden’s handsome
face, however, is still in her mind. She truly wants to forget
about him, but finds it so hard, which is rather
annoying.

“
Oh damn!” she swears.
Why does it have to be so hard?

Bam!

She gasps, feels the warm
tea splashing on her front, soaking into her bra and skin. She
feels herself falling off balance, backward. A pair of hands grabs
her arm and pulls her back into a warm embrace.

Alex glances up and widens
her eyes in shock.

She must be dreaming. Yes,
Alex, you miss Jayden so much that you’re fantasizing about him
being here for real in New Zealand, right here in front of
you.

Oh, how pathetic she is.
She just stares up at him, her mouth agape and her heart pounding
away.

“
So you’re not that
clumsy, eh?” comes the voice that is so similar to
Jayden’s.

“
Huh?”

“
How are you going to fix
this?” the fabricated Jayden points to his now-stained Calvin Klein
shirt. “Clean it for me with your bare hands? Or put it in the
washing machine?”

Alex could only stare at him.
Is she actually fantasizing this?
He’s so real though.

“
Is it guaranteed?” he
continues.

Alex bites her lip, confused and lost. If he is her
fantasy, when she touches him he’ll disappear. To test her theory,
she brings her hand up and touches his face. She gasps. He’s warm
and very real.
God! He’s
real!

“
Jayden?” she whispers,
her voice shaking, tears brewing in her eyes.

“
Yes, Alex, it’s Jayden,”
he chuckles.

“
I’m sorry I ruined your
shirt again,” she says absentmindedly as tears flow from her eyes.
She can’t believe he’s there right in front of her for
real.

“
But you’ll fix it,
right?” he teases.

“
Yes. Yes, of course,” she
says. “If I can’t wash it out I’ll buy you a new one. Well, maybe
not here cos we don’t have the type you want here. But a similar
one.”

“
No, I don’t want a
similar one.”

“
Then what do you want?”
she asks, wondering why they’re discussing his stained shirt when
he should be kissing her.

“
This is what I want,
Alex.” He bends down to one knee.

Alex frowns in confusion
as she looks down at him.

“
Alex,” he says, pulling a small box out of his trousers
pocket. “I want you. That is all I want.
You.
Will you
marry me?”

Alex gasps. Her heart is
pumping so hard she thinks it’ll burst out of her chest any second
now. Her whole body is shaking in reaction as she stares at the
princess cut diamond set in platinum sitting in the pale blue
Tiffany & Co. box. The same one she tried on back in New
York.

“
What do you say, Alex?
Will you be my wife?”

Alex can’t breathe. She
nods her head, crying hard out. “Yes. Yes, oh yes, Jayden,” she
sobs.

Jayden jumps up, grabs her
face in his hands, and kisses her—tears and all.

“
Oh, sweetheart, I’ve
missed you so much,” he says, dropping little kisses on her
face.

“
Me, too,” she
sobs.

Jayden slips the ring onto
her left finger and gives her little kisses again. Alex feels like
she’s alive again and in heaven. Suddenly, she hears loud clapping.
She moves back and looks over behind Jayden. She gasps when she
sees Jayden’s family there, including Sam and Stephanie. Peter is
there as well, and so is her family. She runs to her mother and
hugs the woman. Everyone starts laughing.

Oh, God, Alex thinks, this is too much for her. She simply
can’t believe it.

Later that day, they have a barbeque at her house; everyone
mingling, getting to know each other, and having a good time. She
and Jayden go for a walk along St. Clair Beach. The sunset is
beautiful in the distance, the air warm, and the gentle breeze is
delightful.

Jayden pulls her into his
arms. “I thought I lost you back in New York.”

“
You did?”

“
What you saw, Alex,” he says, cupping her face in his
hands. “What you saw back in New York that night was planned. It
wasn’t real. I lost my feelings for Sarah a long time ago. I don’t
know when, but I do know that I did. Since the first day I met you,
I have had feelings for you. Only I didn’t know it back then,
because you know, I’m a guy and that kind of thing is really slow
for us to register.”

“
So when did you think you
started to have feelings for me?” she asks curiously.

Jayden cocks his head to
one side. “I think it was when I saw you in the bathroom at Peter’s
house that night. You were topless.” He chuckles. “All I wanted to
do then was to kiss you and touch you and look at your
breasts.”

“
Jayden!” she shrieks.
“You really did?”

“
Heck, yes, sweetheart,” he says, laughing.

“
But you were supposed to
be gay,” she mutters.

“
Yes, I was, and a bloody
hard thing to do, too, especially where you are concerned. You are
such a temptress,” he says, kissing her nose.

“
No, I’m not.”

“
Oh, yes, you are,” he chuckles.

Alex bites her lip,
staring into his eyes. “So, um, are you going to kiss me
now?”

He laughs
, loud and
clear. “Heck, yes, sweetheart.” He lowers his head and claims her
sweet, soft lips.

Alex wraps her arms around
his neck, and they kiss deeply and passionately.

A dog runs up to them, yapping excitedly, and then hops
around their feet as they kiss. An elderly couple, the owners of
the dog, walks by, sees them, and smile knowingly. The woman
shouts, “Stanley, come on!”

The dog barks and rushes up to her as they walk farther
away.

Jayden and Alex are oblivious to this. Finally, Jayden
releases his lips from hers. They laugh, and Jayden lifts her up
above him, causing Alex to shriek happily in the air, her feet
kicking. He lets her down, cups her face, and kisses her again.
Their future is now certain, and Jayden thinks,
God, she was his best hired girlfriend
ever.

* * *

T
hirty

One month later

NEW YORK CITY, USA

“Oh, my gosh!”
Emma shrieks as she runs from the luxurious sitting room into the
large Ambassador Suite bedroom. “I can’t believe I’m actually in
New York City! I’m actually in a hotel!” she shouts, racing about
Gracie, who simply laughs and shakes her head. Emma jumps onto the
king-size four-poster bed and collapses in a fit of
giggling.

“
Emma
, darling, please
calm down,” Mali chuckles. The two ladies meet eyes and
laughs.

“
I can’t wait to go
sightseeing. Did I tell you that you’re the best sister, Alex? And
that you are extraordinarily beautiful today?”

Alex laughs. “Yeah. You keep saying that, missy.” Then she
turns to look at herself in the full-length mirror. She still can’t
believe it. She has to say that she looks stunning in the MacKey
A-line princess dress. It’s made out of white silk taffeta with a
one-shoulder neckline combined with pleats and roses to the side,
and it fits her perfectly. Her hair is in soft curls and a loose
bun, with a white lily down on the side of her left ear. Her fair
skin is smooth and soft, her eyes bright, and her lips
red.

“
Something blue,” Kelly says, showing her the blue garter.
“Now pull your skirt up so I can put this around your
thigh.”

Alex bites her lip and
does as she is told. With the garter in place, Beth comes up to her
and says, “Something borrowed.” She holds a lovely ruby necklace in
front of Alex.

Alex stares at the masterpiece. “Oh, my, that looks really
expensive. It’s an antique? Don’t you think it’s, err—”

Beth waves Alex’s
hesitation aside. “Yes, it is antique. Over one hundred years old.
But it is now yours.”

“
What?” Alex
gasps.

“
It’s my present to you as
my granddaughter-in-law.”

Ruby, Nikita, and Isabella
all stare at the necklace in awe.

“
You lucky girl,” Ruby
says, laughing.

“
Oh. Thank you, Beth,”
Alex manages to say, and her heart constricts with
gratitude.

Beth smiles and puts the
necklace around Alex’s neck. Then she kisses Alex on the
cheek.

“
Would you look at that,” Kelly remarks, shaking her head as
she watches the large LCD television across the room. Everyone
turns to look at the TV. On the screen is a mug shot of Kyle Shore
and Michael Marcelo. Then it cuts to a pretty journalist with a
microphone. She’s in front of the courthouse.

“
It is confirmed that Mr.
Marcelo, one of the most powerful and respected businessmen in New
York, is sentenced to a 10-year imprisonment for fraud and an
attempted murder and Kyle Shore to five years’ imprisonment as an
accomplice. Mr. Marcelo stole over five billion dollars from the
government over the past 10 years ...”

“
Can’t believe he could do that,” Beth murmurs. “I thought I
knew him.” She shakes her head sadly.

Alex touches Beth’s
arm.

“
Is everyone ready?” Jacob
pops his head in through the door.

Alex suddenly feels butterflies in the pit of her stomach.
Here she goes. She’s going to marry her knight in shining
armor,
Jayden McCartney, the
man who hired her to be his girlfriend, the man who convinced her
that he was gay. She wants to giggle.

She takes a deep breath
and says, “Yes. I’m ready.”

Jacob comes to stand beside her and puts his arm out. Alex
takes it, and they walk out the door. As they get off the elevator
and walk across the corridor, they pass Britney and Sarah, dressed
in maid uniforms. They’re struggling with their tasks of carrying
glasses and cutlery toward the kitchen. Behind them is the cleaning
manager, barking orders.

“
Hurry up, you two. Can’t you go any faster? The chefs can’t
wait any longer. They need to get those appetizers to the main
reception hall half an hour after the wedding ceremony. It’s our
Mr. McCartney’s wedding, for God’s sake. Everything has to be
perfect.”

“
Hey, don’t you dare shout
at me like that!” Britney snaps back, waving her hand in the air.
As she does so, her hand brushes against some empty glasses,
sending them to the hard marble floor. The glasses smash to
thousands of pieces.

“
Holy Mother of God!” the cleaning manager mutters. “Now
look what you’ve done!” She shakes her head. “You two clean that up
right now. Those will come off your pay this week. I won’t stand
this nonsense. Now go and get it cleaned up.”

“
I won’t!” Britney snaps.
“I’m Britney Marcelo,” she shouts. “I shouldn’t be here,” she
wails.

“
Stop it!” Sarah snaps and
slaps Britney on the cheek. “Look at you. Don’t you think I hate
being here, too?”

“
Well, you don’t have to
be here. Your dad still has money.”

“
No, you fool! He’s bankrupt. Kyle cleaned me and my dad
out. I have to work now. That blasted Kyle is in jail for five long
years, and I can’t get my hands on his neck so I can kill him
myself.”

“
What’s the holdup?” The manager snaps. “You.” She points to
Sarah. “Take those glasses and set them right in the reception
hall. And you.” She points to Britney. “Get your fat ass moving and
clean those broken glasses.”

Britney is about to cry
again when Sarah tells her to quit it and get a move on.

* * *

In the great hall of the McCartney’s hotel, a thousand or so guests
and journalists and paparazzi are waiting expectantly. It’s one of
the biggest and hottest weddings of the century in New York City.
Anyone worth knowing is invited. In the center stands the handsome
groom, Jayden McCartney, and beside him are Peter and
Timothy.

Jayden is nervous. Damn
it, but he has never been this nervous before. He hasn’t seen Alex
all day, and it’s killing him.

Then he sees Beth, Gracie, and Mali rush into the room and
take their seats in the front pew. A moment later, the orchestra
seated behind the stage strikes the
Here Comes the Bride
.

Jayden turns toward the
towering double door and sees Emma slowly walking toward them. She
is followed by three of Alex’s friends, all dressed in designer
gowns of ruby color. They all look stunning. Behind them is his
bride herself with Jacob, who is giving her away.