by Alexia Praks
So this was Sarah? Jayden’s ex-girlfriend? The sense of realisation settled in her, and Alex felt sick in the stomach.
“Did you enjoy yourself last night? You didn’t stay too late with Britney, did you?” Sarah asked.
Jayden ignored her questions and fired one of his own. “What are you doing here?”
“Lunch of course, darling,” Sarah replied sweetly.
“Sarah, we’re getting our table,” the man said behind her. He came to a stop when he saw Jayden. “Well, well, well. New York certainly is a small place.”
“It is, isn’t it? I wish it wasn’t,” Jayden said sarcastically. “How are you, Kyle? Have you managed to bankrupt another company yet?”
Kyle gritted his teeth. “That’s none of your business, Jayden,” he sneered.
“Oh. Sorry for asking. Don’t you have your own table to go to?”
Sarah gritted her teeth at his comment.
Alex could feel the woman glancing at her. There was a sense of curiosity and jealousy in her eyes.
“Meet my girlfriend, Alexandra Stewart,” Jayden said, nodding towards Alex, his arm around her shoulders.
“Your what?” Sarah shouted in shock. “This toilet cleaning slut is your girlfriend?”
Jayden’s eyes became dark and cold and his face turned rigid. Alex had never seen him looking so ruthless and dangerous before and the image set her pulse racing. She had to admit, however, that he still looked damn hot.
Alex turned her attention to Sarah Taylor. What an arrogant bitch this woman was. The woman had thought that she, Alex, was a cleaner before and had treated her so horribly that Alex was not prepared for it to happen again. This time she’d stand for herself. It was a free country after all.
Alex smiled pleasantly and coldly as she slowly stood up, her eyes on the other woman. “I’m sorry, Miss Perfect, but I don’t think I’ve ever told you that I’m a toilet cleaner or that I am a slut. In fact Jayden is my very first boyfriend and if you so wanted to know he will also be my last. I’m not like some other women.” Moving her face closer towards Sarah, she added, “I don’t cheat either.” Her brows rising just a bit, mocking blondie.
Alex glanced at Jayden, hoping that she hadn’t gone too far. She sighed with relief when she saw that he didn’t look angry. In fact, as she stared into his eyes longer, she realised that there was a glint of pride. Her heart did a somersault. She grinned as he reached his hand out and touched hers, like a boyfriend would to his girlfriend, to show her that he supported her, cared for her, and loved her.
Sarah’s face burnt with humiliation. Alex thought the woman must really want to murder her right now if she could what with the glare she was getting. But she couldn’t of course, and Kyle started to beg her to leave.
“I’m not leaving, not yet,” Sarah hissed as they went to the table that was offered to them, which was not very far from where Jayden and Alex was. In fact the two tables had a very good view of one another.
Alex watched as they took their seats, Kyle looked as thought he wish they were somewhere else and Sarah looked stiff and angry. At that moment an idea suddenly popped into her head. She saw her chance and moved her chair so that she and Jayden sat side by side, like a loving couple. She whispered softly into his ear, “Sorry about that. I thought I was a bit too forward.”
Jay chuckled. “I see the little bird now has finally flown out of its nest.”
She cocked her head to one side. She fluttered her long lashes a few times in confusion and asked, “What does that mean?”
“Just that,” he said, gently tucking some hair back behind her ear. He wondered if she knew her lashes were very long and that the innocent fluttering really affected him.
Alex felt a fluster of warm sensations melting through her and relaxed. Jayden moved his lips to her ear and said very softly, “I’m sorry you have to meet them here.”
His warm breath tickled her sense. She giggled and snuggled her face against his neck. Once she had managed to settle herself down, she asked, “Who are they?” She was pretending ignorance of course.
“Nobody you should know. Ah. Here’s our food.”
They made the most of their meal, both in the delicious food itself and in putting on a show for their unwelcomed guests Kyle and Sarah. Alex knew without question that she had to make Sarah know her place, that she was no longer Jayden’s girlfriend and that she, Alex, now was. She knew she must act as the perfect girlfriend and so she did her best flirting with Jayden, though she really had no idea what she was doing. At least she thought she was flirting with Jayden. And this was done by putting some of her food in his plate, feeding him, smiling at him, said stupid things that she knew would probably make him laugh of which he did most of the time, and yeah, touching him most intimately. She knew, too, that Jayden was uncomfortable with the presence of Kyle and Sarah and that he was tense and that he was probably thinking about Sarah through out the whole meal. That didn’t sit well with her because she knew Jayden still had feelings for Sarah. Otherwise he would have a new real girlfriend by now and not having to hire her to be one.
They finished their meal and took their leave, managing a curt ‘see ya around’ to Kyle and Sarah on their way out.
Sarah watched until the love birds were out of sight before she allowed her full hatred expression to show on her face.
“Ugh! I can’t believe this. Disgusting!” she muttered.
“She’s hot,” Kyle said, smiling.
“What? You think that b... that girl is hot?” Sarah asked in disbelieve.
“I have to say Jayden does have really good taste. Alexandra,” he said softly. “Even her name sounds sweet. Can’t wait to taste her.”
Sarah glared at him, her mouth twisted. Then slowly she smiled as a thought entered her mind. “You really want her?”
Kyle laughed. “What man doesn’t? She’s one hot chick all right.”
Sarah picked up her wine glass and sipped, a plan forming in her head.
***
“WHERE ARE WE?” Alexandra asked, looking around her. Jayden had been driving her around the city, showing her the sight, which she still couldn’t believe since he had not uttered one word to her about where they were going since they had left the restaurant. It had been such a pleasant surprise, and she was sure they both had enjoyed themselves tremendously. At least she had been and hoped that Jayden had as well. She hoped also that their encounter with Kyle and Sarah hadn’t bothered him too much.
Jayden got out of the convertible and came over to her side. “Come on, missy,” he said, pulling her out of the car.
“All right. Hold on,” she chuckled, grabbing for her handbag.
Once out he led her towards the wharf. She had no idea where they were but she loved the scenery. All she knew was that she was at the harbour because she saw lots of yachts around, really big, expensive looking ones.
“Slow down will ya,” she said, laughing. “I’m wearing hells. My feet are sore now.”
Jay shook his head. “Women,” he said under his breath.
“Well excuse me for being one,” she snapped as she tried to catch up with him so that his hand on her wrist wouldn’t hurt her as much as he was dragging her along.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he said. “Just kind of a figure of speech.”
“Yeah right,” she retorted, ignoring him. Suddenly one of her heel got stuck in between the plank. “Hold on.” She wiggled her foot, pulling him back. “I’m stuck.”
“What?” Jay halted and glanced down. He laughed, loud and clear that his chest was rumbling.
She smacked him on the arm. “Stop it. This is serious.”
Once he had managed to stop, he got down on his knees and helped pull the shoe out. Finally after a good attempt, he said, “You might have to take that shoe off.”
“All right,” she said, bending down.
“No don’t. I’ll do it.” He began help ease her foot out of the peep-toe pumps as she leaned over him
for support. Once her foot was free, she stepped back so that Jay could do the manly thing of freeing her shoe from the board. His force was so hard that he broke the heel.
“Shit!” he swore, staring at the dismantled shoe in disbelief.
Alex laughed. She couldn’t help herself as she touched him on the shoulder, staring into his face. “You’ve destroyed my shoes, Jay. I can’t believe it. It was very expensive, you know.”
He grinned, his eyes twinkling. He got up, shoe in hand. “Well then. What shall I do?” he asked dramatically, his head cocked to one side.
“I dunno,” Alex replied, hands on hip, her face all serious now. “You broke it. You fix it, Mister!”
“Damn!” he muttered. “I’ll buy you another one. That’ll fix it.”
“I happened to like that one, Mister McCartney. And you can’t buy me happiness.”
“Really?” he prompted.
“Really,” Alex echoed, now folding her arms across her chest. “So what ya gonna do with that shoe?” She pointed out.
Jayden looked at the broken shoe in his hands as if he was in a great dilemma. “Well, I can always do this,” he began and then threw the thing into the water near by.
Alex gasped, her mouth opened in the form of an ‘O’. Once she had gained her sense back she snapped, “Jayden! Now how am I supposed to walk?”
“Well, I see no other option now than too, erm...”
Alex raised her brows, wondering what he meant by that. Her curiosity was answer when he suddenly scooped her up in his arms.
“Oh dear me,” she gasped, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“Since you can’t walk with one shoe, I’ll carry you.” He grinned.
“Well, I’m not that heavy anyway, and you have to work off all that lunch you just had,” she teased as she wiggled herself to get more comfortable in his arm.
“I have worked it all off, darling, due to your incessant chattering for the past three hours.”
“Jayden!” she gasped. “I did not chatter. I just talked that’s all.”
“Talk is chatter, my sweet.” He grinned cheekily.
Alex smiled. She couldn’t believe he was using endearing words when other people were not around. That was surely odd because they didn’t have to act like a loving couple right now. But she felt all warm and happy inside when he had used those words.
“Comfy?”
She laughed. “Yes.”
Jayden nodded and started walking down towards the end of the wharf.
“Where are we going, by the way?” she asked some moment later.
“You’ll see,” he replied.
And Alex did see. There was a beautiful large, white yacht waiting for them. It had the name ‘Spirit’ painted on the side.
“Oh my,’ she exclaimed in excitement. “This is my first time in a boat. But I must tell you that I can’t swim.”
“Don’t worry. You’re in safe hands.”
“Who’s is it?” she asked curiously as they walked towards the main deck.
“Mine,” he said, grinning.
“Yours?” Of course it was his. He was a billionaire after all, and what billionaire didn’t own a boat?
“You like it?”
“Heck yeah!” she chuckled. “You know I can save up for the rest of my life and still would never be able to buy this type of stuff?”
He chuckled, glancing at her.
“I’m lucky. Thank you. So like do I get to look around?”
“Heck yeah!” he echoed her words, and Alex laughed, throwing her head back.
Jayden couldn’t help but felt a glow of happiness spreading through him.
He eased her down gently. Once her feet touched the smooth, shiny deck, Alex glanced up at Jayden to see that he was gazing down at her. His stare was so intense that she started responding. Her body was trembling and her heart was fluttering.
She knew her cheeks were red because she felt the heat rushing to her face. She bit her lip and quickly un-wrapped her arms from his neck.
When she was about to walk away, he caught her wrist and pulled her to him. “Come on, I’ll show you around.”
“All right,” she managed to say, her throat dry. She felt suddenly very thirsty.
He led her into the salon. Alex gasped in awe as she stared at the interior surrounding. The dining and living area was exceptionally beautiful with the leather sofa and a chandelier smack in the middle. The galley was very flash which was made out of oak wood and modern kitchen wears.
Jayden smiled at her look of wonder. “Come on,” he said, leading her towards the upper deck.
Alex was very excited when she saw that they were in the captain’s quarter. A moment later she heard the engine running. She glanced at Jayden and saw that he was guiding the yacht out of the harbour. She grinned and came to stand beside him, studying as the boat slowly steered its way towards the sea.
With the wind in her hair and a big smile on her face, Alex couldn’t help but feel like she was in heaven as Jayden cruise the boat about New York Harbour, showing her places that she could see from afar. He even let her steer the boat, with his guidance of course. She felt like she was in a romantic movie as he stood behind her, his face beside her, his hands on top of hers as she was steering the boat.
“Can you see that?” he asked, pointing north.
Alex narrowed her eyes. She gasped. “Oh my gosh! It’s the Statue of Liberty!”
“Yes,” he chuckled. “You know all about it, huh?”
“Can we go there?” she asked, looking up at him.
“We can’t. We need permission.”
“Oh. Right. But it’s still nice to see it from here.” She grinned at him.
Jayden suddenly switched off the engine. “Come on,” he said, taking her hand and leading her outside onto the deck. He made her stand by the rail, his body behind her, and his face very close to hers. He could smell her perfume, a floral sweetness scent. He loved it.
“Can you see New York City from where we are?” he whispered into her ear.
Alex nodded, biting her lips, enjoying the view and enjoying his warm breath against her skin. They stood there gazing out into the distance, enjoying the peace and silence moment. Alex didn’t want it to end because it was so wonderful.
“I had fun. Thank you,” she commented some moment later.
Jayden looked down at her. “You’re welcome,” he said, staring deep into her eyes.
Alex didn’t know what came over her as she tilted her face towards his, offering her soft lips. Then suddenly he kissed her, deeply and passionately. His tongue plunged into her mouth, igniting the fire within her. She groaned and wrapped her arms around his neck, responding to his demanding urge.
Alex felt like her whole body was on fire. She was all warm and cosy. She felt very alive.
She tightened her arms around his neck and dug her fingers into his thick, blonde hair. She groaned and wondered if she was in heaven.
Jayden suddenly stopped the kiss and pulled back. He stared into her eyes. He saw the passionate desire there and something else, something deep and personal. Oh shit! He realised what it was. She was in love with him.
His heart did a somersault. ‘Oh shit, Jayden, you really screwed this one up now.’ This, he thought, couldn’t be right. Alexandra could not fall in love with him, not when he was supposed to be gay. And the most ironic thing was that he knew he was falling in love with her too. But how the heck was he going to resolve this complicated web? Would she still love him if she knew he was not gay? That he was just like any other man?
He frowned, taking a step back, shocked at that realisation.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, searching his face. “Oh. I see...”
Jayden stroked his fingers through his hair. “Alex, I have to tell you something.”
“No you don’t. I understand,” she blurted out. She knew he was regretting that he had kissed her. In her heart she knew he still loved Sarah and now he felt disgusted
and guilty that he had kissed her. She knew he felt like he was betraying Sarah.
Alex felt the hurt built up in her chest. No, she thought, she could never make Jayden love her because his heart had already belonged to another woman, a woman who had cheated and betrayed him. How could a man love that kind of woman?
“No you don’t. Look, Alex.” He cupped her face in his hands, his heart felt tight with dread. Gosh how he wanted to tell her that he loved her, but he didn’t want to get hurt. He didn’t want to get rejected. He knew she’d hate him the moment she found out that he wasn’t gay and that he had lied to her. But he knew that it was either now or never.
“Alex,” he began. “I have to tell you something.”
“No, Jayden. You don’t have to. I understand,” she said, shaking her head, a dark expression in her eyes.
“Sweetheart, I’m very sorry. I’m not gay. I’m straight. Just like Sam and dad and Peter, like any other man you know. And I...” He couldn’t go on. The little voice in his head kept screaming— ‘Tell her, you idiot! Tell her you love her.’
“Why did you lie to me?” she asked, her voice quivering with emotion. “Why did you have to tell me that you’re gay when you’re not?”
“I couldn’t help it. It just all happened at once and...”
“There are many other women around. Ones that are better looking than me. Ones that... I don’t know, ones that belonged in your world. Ones that know your world. Me, Jayden, I don’t know your world. So why me?”
“I’m sorry, it just happened,” he said, lost and confused.
“Don’t be sorry, Jayden. I just don’t understand why you chose me, but I do understand why you did it. I know you still love her. You just need space so your family would stop bothering you about marriage and all. So you hired me.”
“Alex, sweetheart, it’s not like that.” His face now inches from hers that Alex could feel his warm breath on her skin.
“I don’t like people lying to me, Jayden, and I’m really upset about it. I totally understand why you did it though. But since you’ve paid me and I’ve used up the money, it’s my obligation that I must complete my part of the deal.”