Read Online His Hired Girlfriend by Alexia Praks - Free Book Online

all the wrong conclusions about him. She considers herself
safe in his presence when she’s half-naked? And she thinks he is a
good man?
    “ All right then. That’ll
fix it.”
    “ What’ll fix it?” Alex
asks, looking up at him.
    “ I’ll get one of my shirts
for you since I’m the one who spilled beer on you,” he says and
reluctantly takes a few steps back. “And yeah, we’ll keep it a
secret.”
    “ Thanks. Can you like
hurry cos I’m hungry.”
    Jay nods. “Right,” he says
and opens the door. “Back in a sec.”
    Alex grins. Jay closes the door. Alone, she turns and
glares accusingly at her old bra. It’s the bra’s fault, of course.
She can’t believe the stupid thing coiled with her singlet and came
off. Gosh, she needs to buy a new one.
    * * *

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
    S ix
    In the dimly lit dining room, Jayden watches Alex from across the
table, grinning to himself. She has on his dark grey jumper. It’s
way too big for her person, but she manages to make it look as
though it fits her perfectly, with the sleeves rolled up to her
slim forearms.
    “ So how’s the house
renovation going, Pete?” Alex asks, glancing up from her plate of
roasted pork and various veggies.
    “ Not too well,” Peter
says. “Did I tell you about that mold?”
    Alex shakes her head as
she pops some pork into her mouth.
    “ We have to take down the
walls. God, more labor cost and more materials needed now,” he
mumbles. “And Tracy is not very happy.”
    “ I’m sure I wouldn’t be
happy either,” Alex comments, thinking about the amount of money
needed for a house renovation.
    “ So, Alex,” Mr. Thompson says from across the table, sipping his glass of white
wine.
    Alex looks over at Dr.
Mark Thompson, who had only arrived five minutes before dinner. He
had been busy at the Dunedin Public Hospital and at the lab. Well,
as a head consultant hematologist, he is expected to be busy and he
is expected to be called in at any time.
    “ How’s Dad?” he
asks.
    “ He’s not doing too well,”
Alex says, wondering if she should tell Mark her dad is getting
worse day by day.
    Jay pops a piece of the
roast meat into his mouth and chews as he listens to their
conversation. He wonders what’s wrong with Alex’s dad. Is that why
she was reluctant to talk about her family back at SAN?
    “ He’s still having those
fainting spells now and again.”
    “ I suggest surgery if it
gets worse,” Mark says.
    “ Likewise,” Peter
agrees.
    Alex could only nod in
agreement, as she doesn’t know what else to say. She turns her
attention to Jayden and sees him watching her. Her stomach flutters
oddly as his gaze seems to be drawing her deeper into some kind of
spell. Then he looks away and pops another piece of sweet potato
into his mouth.
    “ You do like kumara?” she
asked, watching him.
    Jay looks up at her.
“Kumara?”
    “ Yeah, kumara,” Alex says,
nodding her head. “You’ve had three big pieces already.”
    “ I have? I don’t remember
eating them.”
    Peter and Margaret starts to laugh. Peter says, “She means
sweet potatoes.”
    “ Yeah, we call them
kumara. It’s a Maori word for sweet potatoes,” Alex
says.
    “ Kumara,” Jay tries out
the word. “I like the name.”
    Everyone
laughs.
    After a good, hearty
dinner and then dessert of ice cream and fruits, Alex says good
night to the Thompsons and leaves. It’s cold and dark outside as
she rushes to her car. She is about to get in when Jay calls out to
her. “Hey, sorry to bother you.”
    “ That’s okay ,” she
says, shivering and hugging herself against the cold wind. “Oh,
yeah, totally forgot. Your jersey.”
    “ No worries. You can give
it back to me tomorrow.” A good excuse indeed to see her
again.
    “ Tomorrow? What’s
happening tomorrow?” Alex asks, confused.
    “ We have a lunch date,” he
says, grinning from ear to ear.
    “ We do?” she asks. Her brows rise, her heart beating just a
little faster than usual.
    “