His Hired Girlfriend (20 page)

Jayden thought about this for a
moment. Any chances in purchasing a property he’d take it with a
both his hands – especially ones that was an island. And as he had
already found out great deals could be made in just five minutes –
anytime, anywhere. He didn’t want to miss out on the chance.

“All right,” he said, seeing
Kelly purposefully striding toward him. “I’ll see you soon.” Then
he flipped his cell shut.

Kelly came to a stop in front
of him and put her palm out as though she had expected a gift from
him. Jay raised his brows and said, “You don’t expect me to pay for
your wedding dress too, do you?” Then he chuckled.

“Of course not,” Kelly snapped.
“Come off with it, Jay. Your credit card. We need to pay for Alex’s
gown, among other things.”

Jay reached for his black
checkered Louis Vuitton wallet in his back pocket as he said, “What
other things?” He handed over his black American Express credit
card to his sister.

Kelly pinched it from his hand
and said, “Many other things for Alex. You do realise she needs a
complete make over and a whole new wardrobe, right?”

Jay didn’t really know what to
say to that. He thought Alex looked pretty as she was. She needn’t
change anything. She was kind of perfect.

With Jayden’s blank look, Kelly
frowned and snapped, “Oh come on, Jay. Didn’t you hear what
that...” She wanted to use the word bitch but caught herself just
in time. She said, “Britney said to Alex?”

“Yes, I’ve heard.”

“Well, that’s why Stephanie and
I are taking her out shopping.”

Jay chuckled. “Go easy with my
money, won’t you?”

Kelly grinned. “For your lovely
girlfriend, Jayden, only the best will do. Like you. You’re the
best.” She chuckled, kissed his left cheek lightly and rushed
away.

Jay relaxed back against the
sofa, smiling. They’d have fun, he thought, going shopping. And
what the hell had Kelly meant by ‘only the best for his
girlfriend?’ Like him?

*****

CHAPTER 14

BY THE TIME Alexandra had come
out of the changing room, she found that Jayden had left. When
Kelly had told her he had gone to lunch with Britney and Beth after
all and that they had no idea when he’d be back, her heart
shattered. She realised then he was not going to take her to
central park, and she had never felt so disappointed. She had been
looking forward to it, spending time with him doing silly, regular
things – things a girl do with her boyfriend. Not that he was her
real boyfriend of course.

“Don’t be so down, Alex,”
Stephanie said as they left Vera Wang. “We have loads of fun things
to do.”

Alex wondered how Stephanie
knew she was upset. Perhaps it was showing on her face. She had
never been any good at hiding her emotions.

“What kind of things?” she
asked curiously.

“Make-over and shopping!” Kelly
shrieked excitedly.

“It’ll be fun,” Stephanie put
in, clasping her hands as they stepped toward the limousine.

“Cool,” Alex said, pushing the
disturbing thought of Jayden having lunch with Britney alone to one
side. Perhaps time spent window shopping with the girls might be
fun after all, an experience she knew she’d never have again once
she returned to New Zealand.

“I like window shopping,” she
said, a smile on her lips.

At that moment John stepped
forward and opened the door for them.

“We are not window shopping,
Alex,” Gracie said. “We are shopping for your new wardrobe.” Then
to John she said, “Thank you.”

The limo driver touched the tip
of his hat and bowed at her.

“Say what?” Alex exclaimed in
shock.

“You need a whole new wardrobe.
And a complete make over,” Kelly said as she nudged her in.

Alex looked at Kelly
confusingly as she slid into the seat beside Gracie. “I do?” she
asked.

“Of course you do,” Stephanie
said as she took her seat opposite Alex. “Or didn’t you hear what
that—” she paused, her face grim as thought she was about to say
the word bitch again. But she said instead, “Britney said?”

Alex sighed. Of course she had
heard. But what could she do? She couldn’t really change the way
she looked or who she was. After all, she was not like them who
were born with everything handed to them on a silver platter. She
was a down to earth girl, nothing extravagant and nothing special
about her.

Kelly saw the hurt expression
on Alex’s face and said, “Hey, don’t you listen to Britney. Let’s
just have fun, why don’t we?”

Alex looked at Kelly. Gosh,
Kelly was so nice, just like Jayden. Her thought suddenly switched
to the man.

Why had he
left without at least saying goodbye to her or tell her that he’ll
see her tonight or something? Perhaps Britney had forced him? But
then again perhaps Jayden had really wanted to go? Who wouldn’t
anyway? Britney was a sex vixen. What man wouldn’t be attracted to
that type of woman? Yes, Britney was oozing with sexiness and
Jayden was oozing with hotness
. They were
perfect together!

“Besides,” Kelly continued, “we
do want to polish you up for my wedding. And as girlfriend of my
brother, who is, by the way, one of the top ten bachelors in New
York and not to mention one of the youngest billionaire in the
States, you have to look good. Everyone will want to know who you
are.”

Alex widened her eyes in
shock.

Stephanie leaned forward as the
limo started moving off. “Oh don’t be alarmed, Alex. Understand
that we are trying to help you out. Can’t you see already? Britney
is trying to steal Jayden from you.”

“Like asking him to lunch with
her dad for instance,” Kelly said. “If people see, words will
spread. She’s trying to show everyone that she and Jayden are a
couple.”

“Now girls,” Gracie put in
calmly, “Britney is not that bad. Shall I call Lawrence?”

“Oh yes, Mom, Lawrence. It has
to be Lawrence. Surely he must be available for us. This is an
emergency,” Kelly said. “Besides, my hen’s night is tomorrow night
and Alex must be ready by then.”

Alex heard her name in the
conversation and said, “Hen’s night?”

“Oh, Mrs. McCartney, you don’t
know Britney. She’s capable of anything,” Stephanie said. “Don’t
you agree, Kelly?”

“Yes,” Kelly replied.

“Like mother like daughter I
suppose,” Gracie murmured as she started dialling on her
BlackBerry.

“What’s a hen’s night?” Alex
asked curiously.

“She’s no different from
Sarah,” Kelly muttered, looking at Stephanie. “I’m glad Jay’s over
her.”

It took a while for Alex to
absorb that piece information. Once she had realised what it meant
she shouted, “What?”

“Lawrence? Hello? Lawrence? Is
that you?” Gracie shouted into her cell. “Ah, Lawrence, are you
free this afternoon? We have an emergency...”

Kelly widened her eyes and bit
her lower lip when she realised what she had done. Stephanie
glanced at her friend, clearly confused as to why Kelly was looking
so ashen.

“What do you mean? Who’s
Sarah?” Alex asked.

Kelly laughed uncomfortably and
said, “She’s nobody, Alex. Don’t worry about it.” Then she quickly
turned to Gracie. “Mom? Is Lawrence available?”

Gracie glanced at her and
nodded. Kelly did a thumb up. “How about lunch first? Where to?”
she said, still trying to ignore Alex completely.

“I feel like Italian today,”
Stephanie said. “What about you, Alex?”

Alex bit her lip. “I don’t
mind,” she said, her mind still reeling on who this Sarah person
could be. Kelly had said that she was glad Jayden was over the
woman. What did that mean? She knew in her gut that this was
important, at least to her anyway. She simply must find out.

Gracie said, “See you this
afternoon then, Lawrence. Thanks so much.” Then she ended the call.
“There. All sorted,” she said to the three girls. “Now where were
we?”

“Lunch,” Kelly put in
quickly.

“Yes, lunch,” Stephanie said.
“Italian?”

At Buon Appetito along Madison
Avenue, Alex watched as Gracie and Kelly strolled side by side into
the flash restaurant. When she was sure they were at a good
distance and that they wouldn’t be able to hear her, she quickly
caught up with Stephanie. She cleared her throat and said,
“Stephanie? Can I ask you something?”

Stephanie gave her a big smile
and said, “Of course. Go a head, sweetheart.”

“I was just curious. Well I was
kind of wondering and you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want
to. Who’s Sarah?”

Stephanie paused and grabbed
for Alex’s hand. “You poor girl,” she began, patting Alex gently.
“Jay hasn’t told you, has he?”

Oh
shoot!
Alex thought. This didn’t sound one
bit good. Now she wondered if she really wanted to know who this
Sarah person was.

“Well, no, not really,” she
said, going along though she didn’t know what it all meant.

“She’s no good for him. Such a
slut,” Stephanie said. “He loved her so much, you know. Then she
goes and hurt him, sleeping with his best friend the way she
did.”

Alex shut her eyes for a
moment, trying to take it all in. This was all very confusing to
her. What was Stephanie talking about? Who was sleeping with who?
And who hurt who? And who was whose best friend?

“Wait, Stephanie,” she said,
“who loved Sarah very much. And who has Sarah slept with?”

Stephanie sighed. “Come on. I’m
hungry,” she said, and they started walking toward the restaurant
again. “It’s Jayden of course.”

Alex came to a sudden halt. Her
face paled and she felt sick. Her heart missed a beat and then it
started to thump again, fast and furious.

“Hey, Alex sweetie?” Stephanie
stared at her. “You all right?”

Alex blinked and said in a
shaky voice, “I’m fine.”

“Good. Oh I see.”

Alex was confused. “Huh? What?
What do you see?” she asked, a hint of panic in her voice.

“You’re tired and hungry.
You’re so pale just now. Come on. I don’t want you to faint. We
have a lot to do this afternoon.” Then she led Alex into the
restaurant.

They saw the maître d’ in a
very neat black and white uniform leading Gracie and Kelly toward a
table near the window. As they were approaching the two women, Alex
asked, “Was Sarah Jayden’s ex-girlfriend?”

“Yes,” came the prompt reply
from Stephanie.

Alex could feel the room
swirling around her. She felt hot and dry, and her head was
pounding. “Who was Jayden’s best friend?” she asked further. She
couldn’t help herself. She simply needed to know.

“Kyle Shore. Never liked him
much to be honest.”

Alex was feeling very shaky as
they took their seats. She grabbed for the glass of water that
Kelly had poured for them and gulped it down. She told herself to
calm down before she embarrassed herself and fainted.

“Alex, are you all right?”
Kelly asked.

Alex put the empty glass down,
her hands still shaking. “Where’s the rest room?” she
whispered.

“That way,” Kelly said. “You
don’t look too good.”

Alex saw that Kelly was staring
at her intensely, as though she thought something had disturbed her
emotionally. She glanced at Stephanie and saw that the woman too
was looking at her in concern. Alex knew that she mustn’t let them
know Jayden had lied to her about him being gay and the fact that
he had an ex-girlfriend was really affecting her.

She swallowed. She could feel
herself sweating.

“I just feel sick at the smell
of food, that’s all,” she lied, and before any of them could ask
her anymore questions, she stood up and rushed away.

Gracie said, “Oh.”

Alex was in such a hurry that
she didn’t look at where she was going and bumped into somebody
along the corridor.

“Sorry,” she said
apologetically, glancing up.

“Watch where you’re going,
won’t you?” the woman snapped, her hazel eyes scanning at Alex up
and down, her bright red lips twisting in obvious disgust.

Alex thought that she was
incredibly gorgeous – long blonde hair styled elegantly like movie
stars in the 1920s and pastel green suite that fitted her perfectly
and showing off her Victoria’s Secret body.

Alex wanted to get past her,
but the blonde woman seemed to be in no hurry to move.

“Excuse me,” she said, stepping
forward.

“Ugh,” the chic gasped. “Don’t
come near me.”

“Huh?” Alex was shocked and
confused as to what she meant.

The blonde glared at her. “Get
out of my way,” she snapped.

Alex quickly stepped to one
side because the woman looked as thought she was about to shove her
back.

Before she passed, the blonde
frowned at her and shook her head. “Your manager should train you
better.”

Alex was too stunned to
reply.

“You know you shouldn’t treat
people that way?” a male voice said from the distant.

Alex glanced to her left along
the corridor and saw a handsome young man there, leaning against
the wall with his arms folded across his chest. The moment she met
his eyes, she regretted it. His stare sent a chill down her spine.
There was also a glint of something in his eyes that told Alex he
was not to be trusted. He looked ruthless.

The woman flicked her blonde
curls over her shoulder and said, “It’s none of your business,
Kyle.”

The man named Kyle moved
forward and brushed his finger against her cheek in a stroking
manner. The blonde woman shoved his hand away and snapped, “Don’t
touch me.” She glanced over at Alex and said, “She’s your type. Low
and dirty. If you don’t get to sleep with that slut Britney
tonight, go for her.” She nodded toward Alex.

“Sarah, that’s enough,” Kyle
said, his voice hard.