by Alexia Praks
Jayden watched her with amusement as she strode like the Devil was on her tail. He couldn’t help admiring her little bottom and her slim, shapely legs in that black skinny jeans either. He found he quite enjoyed the view. When she closed the door behind her, he felt upset because he wanted to see more. Then his mind flashed back to when she had came out with only a thin towel wrapped about her small body. He could feel his blood rushing with pleasure at the thought of her near nakedness, as the slightly wet towel hid very little of her nice, shapely body from his eyes. Not to mention the beads of water glistening against her skin only roused his desire all the more. Then when she had tripped on herself and fell to the floor, the towel had nearly unwrapped itself from her body. Damn, he had hoped that it would – but she had been too quick for it, grabbing it just in the nick of time.
He simply loved the feel of her smooth, wet skin against his palm. Then his mind suddenly started reeling with ungodly images of her. Shit!
‘My God, Jayden, you must stop it this instance!’ He shook his head in disgust. This was Alexandra he was thinking about. Alex was a nice girl. He should not think of her in such a way. Then the thought of what he had done to her early this morning, kissing her without her permission, really turned his gut. She must think him a playboy or a ladies man or something along those lines, taking advantage of her. He’d have to keep his hands away from her otherwise he’d offend her again – and that he did not want.
He quickly showered and changed into a Jacob Cohen faded blue straight-leg jeans and a navy blue checkered Burberry shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms. He was just coming out of the bathroom when he saw Kelly entering the bedroom.
“What’s up?” he asked when he saw her serious face.
Kelly was dressed in a pretty Gucci light pink sun dress with a Prada heels. As usual she looked immaculate. She smirked at him as she folded her arm across her chest. “Good morning, Jay.”
“How is my sister today? You haven’t got cold feet, have you?” he half joked.
“Of course not,” Kelly scoffed. “I never get cold feet. Just a bit nervous is all.”
“Well I’m glad.”
Kelly brushed her blonde curls over her shoulder. “It’s about time you tell me what’s going on.”
“Uh-oh!” Jay narrowed his eyes at his sister. “Shoot.”
Kelly touched his arm and leaned closer to him. “About you and Alexandra.”
“Hmm?”
“Jay, you have to tell me. What happened to Sarah? What happened in Sydney?”
Jay sighed, felt a pang in his heart every time Sarah’s name was mentioned. “We broke up.”
“What? You and Sarah?”
He sat down on the bed. He said through clenched teeth, “You were right.”
Kelly came to sit beside him, her hand rubbing his shoulder. “About what?”
“Everything. She cheated on me. I saw her with Kyle,” he said in disgust, suddenly remembering that night at the hotel in Sydney. “I still can’t believe it.”
“Oh, Jay. I knew that woman is no good. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be, Kelly. I should have listened to you. But...”
“Not too late, eh? You did the right thing. And Alex?” Kelly asked, eyeing her brother with interest.
There was a long pause. Then Jay reluctantly said, “I hired her.”
“You what?” Kelly shouted, her eyes large as she stared at her brother in shocked surprise.
“I hired her to be my girlfriend. You know very well what Beth is like. Hey, you can’t mention this to anyone. Understand? If you do... It’s not me I’m worried about. It’s Alex.”
“Of course,” Kelly muttered. “Ah. I see now. The match-making”
Jay said when he saw the disapproving look on Kelly’s face, “Hey, Alex isn’t what you think she is. She’s a good girl.”
“Oh?” Kelly chuckled. She was curious as to why her brother was defending his hired girlfriend when she hadn’t said a bad thing about the woman. In fact she really liked Alex. What ever circumstances had brought Alex to Jay, she was only glad that it had happened because she thought Alex had helped heal Jay’s heart – even though Jay himself hadn’t realised it.
“So what about you, Missy?” Jay changed the subject. “Have you managed to kill Sam’s bank account with your extravagant expenditures yet?”
“Of course not,” Kelly snapped. “What about you? What are you doing to do with Alex when this is over? Ditch her? And what about Granny Beth? And Mom and Dad? You know very well Beth really wants great-grand children.”
Jay felt a mountain of guilt piling up. He hadn’t really thought about that. “No. I’m not going to ditch Alex. As for Beth, Mom and Dad – I’ll tell them the truth when this is over.”
“When what is over?” Kelly asked, her brows rose.
Jay shrugged his powerful shoulders. “When your wedding is over and when Alex returns to New Zealand.”
“And you expect everything to go back to normal? To the way things used to be?” Kelly questioned.
“Yeah, I supposed,” he replied, somewhat unsure.
“Well, I hope so, Jayden,” Kelly said as she strolled to the door, a hint of doubt in her voice.
Jay glanced at his sister. She looked as though she felt very sorry for him. Damn it! He didn’t want her to feel sorry for him, especially in his love life.
“For you sake,” Kelly said before she shut the door.
Jay raked his fingers through his still wet hair, muttering, “What the hell is she on about?”
*****
CHAPTER 12
Jayden came down to breakfast still thinking about what Kelly had meant when she had said, ‘I hope so, Jayden, for your sake’. What the hell did that mean? Surely Kelly didn’t mean that everything would fall apart, that his parents was going to find out Alex was only his hired girlfriend, and that he had no intention of ever settling down until he found the perfect woman – if he’d ever find one.
And Alex? Well, she’d be back in New Zealand – happy because she’d be with her family and she didn’t have to pretend to be his girlfriend anymore. After all, he suspected she didn’t like him much. She had only agreed to help him because she had needed the money for her dad’s surgery.
Suddenly he wondered what her reaction would be if he were to tell her that he wasn’t gay? He had never thought about that. She’d probably slap him in the face and call him a liar. Then she’d run home and never want to see him again.
The very thought didn’t sit well in his chest. He didn’t want her to see him as a liar and even worse was the fact that he didn’t want her to leave. Gosh, he thought in irritation, he was selfish.
“You seem to be deep in thought, Jay?” Gracie called out.
Jayden snapped his head up, had just realised that he had reached the dining room. His heart did a startled kick – very rare for him – when he had seen Alexandra sitting beside his mother, now all bright and smiling at him.
“Yeah,” he said, grinning now, the dilemma he had a moment ago wiped out of his mind. He came to sit opposite them and took a slice of toast. Then he poured himself a cup of black coffee.
“Alex has been telling me how you two met,” Gracie said.
Jay glanced at Alex. He saw her blushing. “Really? Do tell. I’m curious.”
Gracie chuckled. “She spilt tea on your jacket.”
Jay took a bit of his toast. After a bit of chewing he said, “She did.”
“Then you spilt beer on her,” Gracie continued. “How clumsy of you, Jayden.”
Jay swallowed. He suddenly remembered that night at the Thompson’s house when he had seen her half naked in the bathroom.
He threw the half eaten toast down and grabbed for the coffee. He took big gulps of the dark liquid to calm himself down.
“My Gosh! It’s already nine-thirty,” Beth announced at the door as she rushed into the room. “Come along now. We are late for Vera Wang.” She tsked loudly, frowning. �
�Where is Kelly?”
“Calm down, Beth, she’ll be down soon,” Gracie said and winked at Alex.
Jay saw Alex hiding a grin. When she saw him watching her, she winked at him. Jay nearly died of a heart attack then – not that his heart was weak since he was very fit. Oh God! How she affected him. He really wanted to leap over the table and kiss her silly. Only he couldn’t because a) he was supposed to be gay, b) his family was present, and c) he had promised himself not to touch her.
Shit! Shit! Shit! And more Shit!
He really needed to get away from her otherwise he wouldn’t be able to control himself.
He thrust the chair back with a loud screech and stalked out of the room. “I’ll get the car ready,” he announced as he left.
Alex slumped, wondering what had gotten into him all of a sudden as she stirred her lumpy porridge.
A moment later, Kelly appeared. “Oh gosh,” she said. “We are late. Come along, Alex, you’re coming too.”
Alex widened her eyes in shock. “Me?” She pointed a finger at herself, her brows rose.
“Yeah. We can’t just leave you here. Besides, Vera Wang is in Madison Avenue where all the fashionable boutiques are. We can go shopping for your dress when we are done,” Kelly said, her hands clasped together in anticipation.
“Yeah,” Alex said somewhat reluctantly.
Gracie grinned and said, “Come on. We are late.”
Alex nodded and then she was led by Kelly and Gracie on either side of her to the car.
***
Leaning his shoulder against the black limo, Jayden watched as his family and his hired girlfriend finally made an appearance.
“Oh, we are late, we are late,” muttered Beth. “We do not want to be late to lunch with Britney, too.”
Jayden saw Kelly smirked and then whispered something into Alexandra’s ear. Then they both giggle like school girls. Jay frowned, wondering what they were gossiping about. Him perhaps? Because they were now eyeing him with some sort of secret interest.
He opened the door for his grandmother who muttered something about the weather being too hot for her frail body to handle. Then Gracie slid in, which followed by Alex who smiled at him and thanked him most politely. He simply nodded at her with a masked face – and that was the most he was going to interact with her from now on, he vowed to himself.
Kelly said, “You look like you want to murder someone, Jay.” Then she chuckled. “Don’t worry, we won’t take long. I know how much you hate shopping.”
“Just get in the damn car,” he snapped and gave her a nudge.
Kelly chuckled again and slid in.
Jay shook his head and hopped in as well. He found himself sitting beside his grandmother who was busy on the phone talking to Britney. In front of him were Kelly, Alex, and Gracie. He thought that perhaps it was better for him to sit in the front with John, their chauffeur, because where he was now Alex was too close for comfort. Crap! He didn’t need this. She was within reach, and he could simply just put his hand out and pull her into his arms if he wanted to. Oh yeah – he definitely wanted to do that, especially when she grinned at him in that very alluring way, her eyes all lit up, her cheeks blushing to the colour of a pink rose and her damn full lips she kept biting like she was excited about something.
“Is Madison Avenue big?” Alex asked Kelly. “Is it near Central Park? Is Central Park very big?”
Gracie laughed. “We’ll have to take you on a tour, Alex.”
“Yes please,” Alex replied, at which point she turned her eyes meaningfully to Jay.
Jayden suddenly got the hint. Now he knew why she was all so excited and kept grinning at him. He had promised to take her on a tour today. Damn! He had forgotten about that.
“We are on our way to Vera Wang, Britney dear. I assure we won’t be late for lunch,” Beth said into her BlackBerry.
“Aw, Beth, do you have to tell her we’re going to Vera Wang?” Kelly muttered.
Beth gave Kelly a hard glare. “I’m on the phone, dear,” she said.
Jay turned over to the chauffeur behind him and said, “Vera Wang, John.”
John nodded and started the car.
As they drove out of the Upper East Side of New York City, Alex widened her eyes with wonder, staring at the tall buildings. And Jay in turn found himself enjoy watching her expressive face.
Not long afterwards they were along the 77th Street of Madison Avenue. The limo came to a sudden halt in front of Vera Wang. Before Alex could enjoy the sight of one of the most fashionable street in the world, she was bustled away into the elegant store.
And what a store it was – with beautiful, expensive wedding gowns on display, chandeliers with bright crystals hung above them, tall vases of flowers arrangements giving off vibrant colours and scents, and sofas and chairs arranged near the dressing room and in the centre of the store for comfort.
“You’re here!” a voice sang out loudly.
Alex saw a pretty red-head rushing towards them. Kelly and the woman hugged and did some girlish giggle type of excitement. “Oh, I can’t wait to see you in it.”
“I know. I know,” Kelly chuckled. “Oh, this is Alexandra Stewart, Jay’s new girlfriend.”
Alex’s ear bricked up. New? What did Kelly meant by that? But before she could ponder on the subject any further, Kelly pulled her aside and introduced her to Stephanie Wilson, the maid of honour.
“So, Alex, how do you meet Jayden?” Stephanie asked, a note of curiosity in her voice.
“Back in New Zealand,” Alex said, eyeing Jay who was now sitting on one of the antique sofa and making himself comfortable. He already looked as though he was bored to tear. She wondered if he really hated shopping that much.
“Well come along now. We haven’t got all day,” Stephanie said, pulling Kelly’s hand away towards the dressing room. “Nice to meet you, Alex,” she said over her shoulder.
Alex said, “Same here,” with a bright smile. She then wondered what she should do to pass the time. She thought about joining Gracie and Beth who were now comfortably seated on the sofa chatting and sipping their tea that a shop assistant had placed before them. She, however, decided against it and so busied herself exploring and touching the lovely, soft fabrics of the wedding and evening gowns designed by Vera Wang. They were all so beautiful, the type that she could never afford or ever dream of wearing.
She had just finished her browsing when she eyed a stash of evening gowns near the back of the shop. Clearly they weren’t very popular, to be left there out of costumer’s eye.
Her curiosity gotten the better of her, and Alex started browsing. They were all very elegant, pastel colours with some mixtures of gold and silver laces. Then she found one that really caught her eye. She picked it up and inspected the tag. There was no price mark. Further more she realised that it did not have a Vera Wang label on it. Instead it said Chandra.
“Have you found one you like?”
Alex jumped. She twisted around, her heart hammering in her chest. “Jay!” she whispered.
“What?” he asked, his brows rose. “That one looks good,” he commented, touching the lilac pink, silk material in her hand. “Why don’t you try it on?”
Alex widened her eyes. “What? Don’t be silly. I can’t afford it.”
Jay chuckled. “Just try it on.”
“No,” she said sharply, stacked the gown back on its place and turned to go. What the heck was wrong with him? Why was he so adamant that she should try on the dress?
Jay caught her arm and pulled her back so that she bumped into him. He was so close that she could feel his breath on her forehead.
“Come on,” he said, his hand on her wrist as he led her toward the dressing room.
“Jay,” she whispered sharply. She felt her panic rising as she realised that he was serious and that the dress – the one she really liked – was in his hand. “Jayden,” she snapped as she drew herself back. But it was impossible as he was stronger and his hand wa
s firm on her wrist.
Reluctantly she followed him and then something flashed in her mind. It was like a déjà vu. She glanced up at Jay and then she realised. Oh My God! It had been Jayden who had helped her that Saturday night in the bar when that drunken man had tried to take advantage of her. And thus far he had never mentioned it to her. Her heart missed a beat.
He nudged her into a neat changing room. He hung the gown up for her before he left. “Don’t take too long now,” he said as he shut the door.
“What a demanding man,” she muttered, grinning.
Alone, she fingered the soft, silk fabric, a smile on her lips. No she shouldn’t. She was tempted, but it was not in her place to dream and expect and get attached to things that didn’t belong to her. The gown was too expensive and elegant for plain Alex.
She leaned back against the wall, her eyes gazing at the dress and a dream like smile on her lips as she imagined herself in it, dancing in Jayden’s arms.
‘Snap out of it, you silly girl.’
“Knock! Knock!” Jay’s voice came from the other side.
Alex wanted to laugh. Instead of knocking the door he said the words. He was being silly of course, but she thought that he was very cute doing it.
She moved forward and opened the door. He immediately poked his head in, his eyes wide with expectation. “That was fast,” he said. Then when he saw that she was still in her own clothing, his face became serious. “You haven’t got it on.”
Alex shook her head. “It’s not for me.”
“Don’t be silly,” he muttered and came into the changing room. “Come on, let’s get this on you.”
“Let’s take it back, why don’t we?” she said with a smile, folding her arms across her chest.
“No. You have to try it on. You need help?”
Alex shook her head. She wanted to leave as the room suddenly seemed very small and tight what with Jay now in there with her. She found him too close for comfort. And the fact that he was standing right in front of the door – the exit – didn’t help either. It was as though he was blocking her in – refusing to let her out. She started to get this odd fluttering excitement at the pit of her stomach.