Page 58 of One Bad Idea

Stalling, I picked up my sandwich and took a little nibble. It was amazingly good. Still, it was no pastrami.

I looked up and gave his sandwich a longing look as he took his first bite. But then, our eyes met, and I felt a little flutter deep in my stomach. In the end, it wasn't thesandwichthat made my mouth water. It washim.

Damn it.

Chapter 22

Back at the apartment, Cassidy was saying, "So Stuart got that truck fromJaden? You're kidding."

"I wish." I gave a shaky laugh. "Or maybe Idon'twish. Actually, I don't know what to think." I shoved a nervous hand through my hair. "He's the most confusing person I've ever met."

She frowned. "Stuart?"

"No. Jaden. I mean, most of the time he's a total jerk, but then, I see hints of something more. Like with the whole truck thing, it was actually pretty nice."

"Jaden Bishop? Nice?" She laughed. "You're kidding, right?"

Was I?I gave it some thought. He was definitely a smart-ass. And he'd scared the crap out of Stuart. But in reality, I'd never seen Jaden do anything cruel, unless I counted him giving me such a hard time when I'd first shown up on his doorstep.

And even then, he'd been annoying more than anything.

Plus, unlike Stuart, hehadn'tcalled the police.

When I explained all of this to Cassidy, she said, "But I don't get it, why wouldJadencall the police?"

"You know, for that whole scene at the house."

She bit her lip. "Oh. Yeah, thereisthat."

Cassidy still didn't know about the incident with the sandwich, and I had no plans to tell her. The wayIsaw it, she'd been embarrassed by me more than enough already.

She asked, "But what about the license plate? How did Jaden explain that?"

"He didn't, but I think I figured it out." As she listened, I told her my theory – that they'd simply transferred the plates from Stuart'soldtruck to Stuart'snewtruck.

"But wait," Cassidy said, "so what kind of plates are onyourtruck?"

"Technically, it's not my truck," I reminded her. "It's Jaden's."

"Oh, you know what I mean."

I did. So I went on to tell her that when I actually looked, I discovered that the truck I was currently driving was now sporting Florida license plates.

Looking perplexed, Cassidy glanced in the general direction of the driveway. "Really? I didn't notice."

"Yeah. Me neither until I checked. I mean, it's not like I spend a lot of time looking at the back bumper."

"So when did he switch them?" she asked.

"I don't know."

"Maybe that security guy did it."

I shrugged. "Maybe."

"You don't know?"

I shook my head. "I was going to ask, but…" I sighed. "It just got all weird and awkward. Like get this, I try to thank Jaden for the whole truck thing, and what does he say? He tells me that he did it for himself, andnotfor me."