Page 25 of One Bad Idea

He looked beyond amused, and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why – unless it was purely to annoy me.

With my hand too low for him to see, I flipped him the bird and said a silent prayer that he'd be gone by the time I returned with Cassidy. At that point, we could simply hop into the truck and drive away, leaving all of the madness behind.

Little did I know, the madness had barely begun.

Chapter 9

I'd just crawled onto the bed when the bedroom door flew open, and Cassidy rushed in, looking surprisingly excited.

With a happy smile, she breathed, "I've got the best news."

Cassidy didn't know it, but I'd only returned to the bedroom ten minutes ago, after relocking the truck and retrieving my charger from the kitchen.

I'd found it exactly where he'd indicated, which only confirmed what I'd suspected all along. He hadn't been doing me a favor. He'd brought the charger inside for one reason – and one reason only.

It was to make me parade past the floor sandwich.

Yes, itwasstill there, reminding me of my tantrum. Who knows, maybe his twisted script called for me clean it up.

I hadn't. And I wasn't planning to.

Take that, Shirtless Guy.

Cassidy's steps faltered. "Oh. Sorry. Did I wake you?"

Hardly.

I sat up and shook my head. "Actually, I was just getting up."

As if I'd slept at all.

Forget sleep. I couldn’t even relax. Turns out, the quiet room had been the perfect place to obsess over the mess that I'd be facing in Nashville.

No job?Check.

No money?Check.

No guarantee that I wouldn’t be arrested?This was a check so big, it seemed to fill the whole room. But surely, Stuart had been bluffing, right? I mean, once I returned the truck safe and sound, he'd calm down and be reasonable.Wouldn't he?

Cassidy shut the bedroom door behind her and said, "Well? Don't you want to know what it is?"

I was almost too distracted to think. "Sorry, what?"

"My news."

"Oh. Right." I summoned up a smile. "Sure. What is it?"

She bounded forward and announced, "I've got a lead on this incredible job."

My stomach sank. "Really?"

She nodded. "Yeah. And it's really, really good."

I almost didn't know what to say. If she meant a job here, I'd be insanely happy for her. And yet, it would also mean that this whole trip had been for nothing.

When I made no reply, her smile faded. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I rubbed at my aching eyes. "I’m just a little tired, that's all." Trying to sound more enthused than I felt, I asked, "So, what kind of job is it?"