His Hired Girlfriend (3 page)

As she was walking toward them,
Jay couldn’t help but stare at her. She looked nervous, like a
shoplifter leaving a store knowing she might get stopped at any
moment.

She glanced at them, gave Peter
a fleeting smile, and rushed past.

“What do you think?” Peter
asked.

“Not her,” Jay felt his gut
retching with dread, “please tell me it’s not her.”

“It’s her,” Peter chuckled.
“Once your family sees her, they will leave you alone.”

“How do you know that for
sure?” Jay growled.

“Because they
will give up. If you show them that
she
is the type of girl you are in
love with and, mate, I know you are not at the moment, they will
give up in the end and leave you alone.” Peter smiled smugly,
crossing his arm across his chest as he leaned back in his
chair.

Mary finished her phone call
and joined them.

“You look busy,” Peter
said.

“I am,” Mary replied, “every
patient in ED seems to have pneumonia. Then there are those with
colds and flu. Can’t they just go to their GP?” She turned to
Jayden who had suddenly gone very quiet and had a trance-like look
on his face. “Are you okay?”

“Huh? Oh, I’m fine.” Jay
sounded much like a deflated balloon.

“Hey, we should go out Saturday
night,” Mary suggested, eyeing Jayden. “Dinner, a movie, a quiet
drink and then...’

Jay raised his eyebrows. Peter
cleared his throat and nodded. “How about inviting the others along
too? It’ll be fun.”

Mary frowned at Peter who
simply shrugged his shoulders and tried on an expression of
innocence – which failed.

*****

CHAPTER 2

THOUGH HER
EYES were on her book, Alexandra Stewart, known simply as Alex to
close friends and relatives, knew
Mr.
Hot-Choc
was still watching her. Odd that
he had switched seats and was now facing in her direction. Perhaps
he wanted to sit next to Mary St. Clair, which would not have
surprised her at all. Her ex-classmate from high school was very
popular with everyone, and her catwalk figure, dark brown curls and
bright blue eyes stole the tongue right out of the mouths of the
boys. Couple this with a very rich family and high intelligence,
which had inevitably led to her current position as a medical
student, and you could have said she was perfect, almost. If only
if she didn’t act like such a bitch, thinking everyone was beneath
her and that no one else was as deserving of her perfect
life.

Alex could
never behave like Mary.
No way
hosay!
She would rather hide in a closet
or do dishes than flirt with a guy. In her world she felt she
wasn’t pretty enough to have the confidence that seemed to exude
from Mary.

And now Mary
looked to be really hitting on
Mr.
Hot-Choc
. Again she wasn’t surprised. The
man was a hunk, tall and trim, blonde hair and blue-eyed. She was
sure she had never seen him around Dunedin. He had walked around
the long table with that loose limbed grace usually only seen in
big cats. A true-bred alpha male, he had that powerful aura about
him that fairly screamed -
Don’t challenge
me or I’ll eat you for breakfast’.

Why was he
watching her with such intensity though? Who was he? Why was he
sitting with Peter and Mary? Were they friends?
And why had she decided to name him Mr. Hot-Choc?
Because he was damn hot and at the moment she was
craving for a cup of hot chocolate that was why. Only she couldn’t
afford one right now. Her budget was very tight, every cent
supporting the family.

She bit her lip and tried to
concentrate on her novel. Hercules Poirot uncovered the murderer,
the motive was laid bare, and all from brilliant deduction of
seemingly insignificant facts. She couldn’t figure out how, and now
her mind, without warning, flipped to her dad, Jacob Stewart.

How long could he wait for a
heart to be available?

His condition was getting
worse. He needed a new heart and fast, as Peter, the cardiologist
and long-time family friend, had told her. Finding a donor,
however, was very difficult. There was the option of going to a
private hospital. Alex knew there was no way they could afford
that. There were the costs of flights to Auckland, the
accommodation, the surgery, and of course the heart itself, but
they were desperate, and her mother, Maly Stewart, had been willing
to apply for a personal bank loan just so Dad could get his surgery
done more quickly. Unfortunately, as Alex had found out only half
an hour ago, the bank had rejected the application. The risk of
non-payment set against her modest income as a lab scientist and
the mortgage on the family home had been too much. On top of that
she had her student loan and the family living costs. Then there
was Timothy and Emma, her younger siblings. Tim was just about to
finish his high school and a university place was on the horizon.
Emma still had a couple of years to go, but...well, the expense
just kept on climbing.

She ground her teeth. It was
one thing after another. The company Dad had worked for had closed
the Dunedin factory and moved it overseas, chasing cheap labour in
their quest to worship the almighty dollar. They had told Jacob
that his services were no longer required. What a bitter day that
had been! And Dad had gone into overdrive trying to find another
job, any job that would let him provide for his family. It was the
stress that had led to his sudden massive heart failure six months
ago, and it was a miracle that he had survived. Alex had hoped that
he had taken health insurance, but a frantic search of his papers
as the ambulance sped him to the hospital had revealed nothing. Too
late now, she thought, but her mind wasn’t in the mood for staying
on one subject today. She remembered the text message she had
received from Peter. She took out her cell phone and read the
message again.

Happy Bday, Alex. Bck frm Qtwn.
Catch up? Coffee?

I hve a frnd u shuld meet. He
can hlp u & yr dad. C ya soon :P

A grin crept across her face.
Peter always remembered her birthday, and his gifts were usually
thoughtful, but lately he had been trying to find her a guy, which
was really annoying. It had started innocently enough with some
simple suggestions, until last year, when he had arranged a blind
date for her. The guy, Andrew something or other, had seemed
pleasant enough to begin with, although the evening had been
awkward. Then, as the hour grew late he had made a quite
inappropriate move on her and she had slapped his face and left.
When she told Peter about the incident he had ended his own short
friendship with the man.

She knew Peter meant well, but
she simply didn’t have the time for a boyfriend. She had far more
important things to think about right now, and what exactly had he
meant about a friend who could help with her dad? Help with the
cost of the surgery perhaps? She felt hope rise in her at the mere
thought of it.

The light
trill of a woman’s laughter drew her attention. Mary was giggling
away loudly and enthusiastically, leaning ever closer to
Mr. Hot-Choc
, and Alex
couldn’t help but admire the way he was handling the situation.
Mary was an outrageous flirt, confident that the men around her
would be enchanted, but he seemed not to be affected at all. In
fact it looked as if he were playing the game and playing it well,
in full control of the situation.

Suddenly he glanced her way and
caught her. She looked away, her heart pounding and her cheeks hot
and flushed with guilt. She pretended to be interested in her phone
but she felt his amusement from across the room. The urge to be
somewhere else, anywhere else, was strong, but not as strong as her
curiosity about this extraordinarily handsome man. Then a thought
struck her and she started texting.

Hey, Pete, sorry didn’t join u
cos u hve frnds.

Coffee sunds good. Sunday?
2:30? SAN Cafe?

A push of a
button and the message was on its way. She peeped up and saw Peter
checking his BlackBerry. A second later he turned round to face her
with a big grin, waved and nodded.
Mr.
Hot-Choc
was watching her with interest,
the gentlest of smiles playing with his lips. She was about to
smile back when she noticed Mary’s hateful glare. The message was
clear – ‘
piss off - he’s mine!’
Alex reddened again and dived for cover into the
musings of the great Monsieur Poirot.

Ten minutes
later she glanced up as Peter,
Mr.
Hot-Choc
, and Mary left their seats and
headed toward the exit. Well, she supposed she should get going,
too. Back to work for her. She tidied up, wrapped the satchel over
her shoulder, and picked up her half empty cup of cold tea. She was
deep in thought, her eyes seeing only the threadbare carpet as she
headed toward the conveyer. What happened next was a bit of a blur.
She was aware of cold tea seeping quickly through her jersey and
chilling her skin. She felt strong hands holding her as she
tottered. She looked up straight into his clear blue eyes as he
pulled her upright and almost into an embrace. Warmth and strength
seemed to flow from him in an intoxicating mixture.

She heard a voice, his voice,
saying, “Are you all right?” and it was low and deep and wonderful,
full of rich tones and soothing, like the calmness of a great sea
gently tasting the pebbles on the shore. She took a deep breath and
was overcome with the scents of fresh spices floating on a spring
breeze.

Snapping back to reality she
stared in disbelief at the cold tea that had somehow transferred
itself from her old jersey onto his expensive looking jacket.

“Oh God, I’m so sorry. I didn’t
mean to. I’m sure it will wash out,” she apologised as her hands
were busy dabbing at his jacket. “I’m sorry,” she repeated,
glancing up at him.

It’s him! It’s Mr.
Hot-Choc!

She spiralled away into the
fathomless depths of his cobalt blue eyes. The colour reminded her
of those lovely summer days years ago at the farm where she had
worked as fruit picker. The sky had been huge and the air had
hummed with the busy sounds of insects. Suddenly she could smell
the sweetness of ripe strawberries. She didn’t know where it was
coming from but it was there. She remembered the feel of the long,
soft grasses and the cool sprinkling of water against her skin, and
she missed those wonderful, simple things that had made her feel so
carefree.

The intensity of his gaze
disturbed her from her reverie, and she blushed as she lowered her
head and said, “I’m sorry. It was my fault. Let me get something to
clean it off.” She picked up the empty cup from the floor and put
it on the food conveyer belt. Then she grabbed a handful of napkins
from a nearby table and started to pat his jacket dry.

Jayden watched her for a
moment.

‘That’s okay,’ he said and took
hold of her hands again, softly but with insistence. The contact
made her nerves jump, and excitement coursed through her body. It
was a touch filled with such intimacy and promise.

“It’ll wash out.” He noticed
her discomfort and let go of her hands.

“I’m truly
sorry,” she said, realising that he had an accent –
an American one
.
So
Mr. Hot-Choc
was not a Kiwi. He must be a tourist then. No wonder he stood
out so much. “I’m not usually
this
clumsy.” She glanced up and saw him raise an eyebrow. “There. It’s
kind of dry now.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he
said, and there it was again, that voice! A delicious shiver
tickled its way along her spine. She cleared her throat. “Sorry,”
she repeated, walking over to the bin and tossing the wet napkins
in. “You have a good day.” She waved as she turned to the
corridor.

He caught her before she had
walked more than three steps, “Hey, you work here?” he asked.

She turned and nodded, “Yeah,
are you lost? Or has Peter deserted you, he sometimes does
that.”

“No, he didn’t. I...um...what’s
your name? Are you a friend of Peter?”

“Yeah, he’s a friend,” she
replied and then hesitated for a moment. “It’s Alexandra, by the
way. Look I have to go back to work. To get out just go this way
and turn right and then down the stairs to the main reception.”

Jay nodded in
understanding.

“Sorry again about the tea. As
I said I’m not usually this clumsy. Bye now,” she rushed, and then
she was gone.

Jayden’s grin stayed with him
all the way to the bottom of the stairs. Her eyes, he thought, such
a deep brown, like the colour of melted chocolate – and she seemed
very sweet and delicious too! There was something about those eyes
that had drawn him in and left him feeling slightly breathless.

Peter was waiting for him by
the reception desk.

“What took you so long?”

“I couldn’t find the bathroom
after all,” Jay replied.

As they
walked through the door of the hospital, Jay thought –
so she’s not usually that clumsy, is
she?

***

ALEX GASPED AND span around,
her eyes squinting in the sudden darkness. Had the light bulb blown
again? Damn! She’d have to get the torch and replace it. She shook
her hands out of the warm, soapy water, wiped them dry with a clean
towel and headed round the bench-top. As she groped her way into
the living area she heard a giggle, which sounded very much like
Emma, and there, floating in the darkness was a huge chocolate
cake, candlelight flickering across its surface. Now she could see
her Dad was holding it, and her Mom, with her arm in his. Her best
friend Ruby Williams came into view, removing any doubt over whose
idea this was. Nikita Buchannan and Isabella Robertson were there
too, and everyone was wearing big sloppy birthday smiles.