CHAPTER 30
Two Weeks Later
DUNEDIN, NEW ZEALAND
Life for Alex was colorless and meaningless. She wasn’t interested in reading books, food just didn’t taste good, work was a haze of fog, people were just faces without souls, and life had been essentially just a series of meaningless events.
Day after day, she came to work and did her thing. Only her mind was always occupied with Jayden—the way he smiled, the way he touched her, the way he kissed her, the way he moved and laughed.
Things got pretty bad the other night when she browsed the net and saw an article about Kelly’s wedding on the Your Wedding website. Near the bottom page, there was a photo of her and Jayden together. The footnote said:
Young, handsome billionaire Jayden McCartney with beautiful girlfriend Alexandra Stewart. Rumors said there was a secret engagement, a baby on the way, and marriage is just around the corner.
She growled then, in anger and frustration.
Snapping herself from that thought, she stared up at the clock on the cafeteria’s wall. Five to two, it said. Time to go back to work. She gave out a deep sigh and got up, grabbing for her handbag and half-filled cup of tea. With her head bowed and her eyes on the dark-grey carpet, she made her way toward the conveyer.
What should you do tonight, Alex? she asked herself. Not Facebooking, surely? You’re not stalking Jayden again. No. No. Don’t be stupid.
Of course, she hadn’t been on Facebook since she got back from America. Jayden’s handsome face, however, was still in her mind. She truly wanted to forget about him but found it so hard, which was rather annoying.
“Oh damn!” she swore. Why does it have to be so hard?
Bam!
She gasped, feeling the warm tea splashing on her front, soaking into her bra and skin. She felt herself falling off balance, backward. A pair of hands grabbed her arm and pulled her back into a warm embrace.
Alex glanced up and widened her eyes in shock.
I 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 was. She just stared up at him, her mouth agape and her heart pounding away.
“So you’re not that clumsy, eh?” came the voice that was so similar to Jayden’s.
“Huh?”
“How are you going to fix this?” The fabricated Jayden pointed 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. Am I actually fantasizing this? He was so real, though.
“Is it guaranteed?” He continued.
Alex bit her lip, confused and lost. If he were her fantasy, when she touched him he’d disappear. To test her theory, she brought her hand up and touched his face. She gasped. He was warm and very real. God! He was real!
“Jayden?” she whispered, her voice shaking.
“Yes, Alex, it’s Jayden.” He chuckled.
“I’m sorry I ruined your shirt again,” she said absentmindedly. She couldn’t believe he was there right in front of her for real.
“But you’ll fix it, right?” He teased.
“Yes. Yes, of course,” she said. “If I can’t wash it out, I’ll buy you a new one. Well, maybe not here ‘cause 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 asked, wondering why they were discussing his stained shirt when he should be kissing her.
“This is what I want, Alex.” He bent down to one knee.
Alex frowned in confusion as she looked down at him.
“Alex,” he said, pulling a small box out of his trouser pocket. “I want you. That is all I want. You. Will you marry me?”
Alex gasped. Her heart was pumping so hard she thought it’d burst out of her chest any second now. Her whole body was shaking in reaction as she stared at the princess-cut diamond set in platinum sitting in the pale-blue Tiffany & Co. box. The same one she had tried on back in New York.
“What do you say, Alex? Will you be my wife?”
Alex couldn’t breathe. She nodded her head, crying hard. “Yes. Yes, oh yes, Jayden,” she sobbed.
Jayden jumped up, grabbed her face in his hands, and kissed her—tears and all.
“Oh, sweetheart, I’ve missed you so much,” he said, dropping little kisses on her face.
“Me, too,” she sobbed.
Jayden slipped the ring onto her left finger and gave her little kisses again. Alex felt like she was alive again and in heaven. Suddenly, she heard loud clapping. She moved back and looked over behind Jayden. She gasped when she saw Jayden’s family there, including Sam and Stephanie. Peter was there as well, and so was her family. She ran to her mother and hugged the woman. Everyone started laughing.
Oh God, Alex thought. This was too much for her. She simply couldn’t believe it.
Later that day, they had a barbeque at her house, everyone mingling, getting to know each other, and having a good time. She and Jayden went for a walk along St. Clair Beach. The sunset was beautiful in the distance, the air warm, and the gentle breeze delightful.
Jayden pulled her into his arms. “I thought I lost you back in New York.”
“You did?”
“What you saw, Alex,” he said, 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 I did. Since the first day I met you, I’ve had feelings for only 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 asked curiously.
Jayden cocked 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 chuckled. “All I wanted to do then was kiss you and touch you and look at your breasts.”
“Jayden!” she shrieked. “You really did?”
“Heck yes, sweetheart,” he said, laughing.
“But you were supposed to be gay,” she muttered.
“Yes, I was, and a bloody hard thing to do, too, especially where you’re concerned. You’re such a temptress,” he said, kissing her nose.
“No, I’m not.”
“Oh, yes, you are.” He chuckled.
Alex bit her lip, staring into his eyes. “So, um, are you going to kiss me now?”
He laughed, loud and clear. “Heck yes, sweetheart.” He lowered his head and claimed her sweet, soft lips.
Alex wrapped her arms around his neck, and they kissed deeply and passionately.
A dog ran up to them, yapping excitedly, and then hopped around their feet as they kissed. An elderly couple, the owners of the dog, walked by, saw them, and smiled knowingly. The woman shouted, “Stanley, come on!”
The dog barked and rushed up to her as they walked farther away.
Jayden and Alex were oblivious to this. Finally, Jayden released his lips from hers. They laughed, and Jayden lifted her above him, causing Alex to shriek happily in the air, her feet kicking. He let her down, cupped her face, and kissed her again. Their future was now certain, and Jayden thought, God, she was his best hired girlfriend ever.
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