Page 97 of One Bad Idea
Or maybe she was on some airplane, headed back to New York.
Or–oh, God– maybe she was here.With him.
I felt my brow wrinkle in concern. Across the club, Jaden was still frowning.
But why?
I didn't know. And I didn'twantto know. Already, I'd had more than enough of Jaden Bishop for one day -- cripes, maybe even one lifetime.
Deliberately, I looked back to my new acquaintance. "Sorry, what were you saying?"
"Nothing," he said. "You were the one talking."
"Oh." I forced a laugh. "What was I saying?"
"Got me," he said looking suddenly annoyed. "You never finished."
It was actually kind of strange. Sometime within the last two minutes, he'd gone from Mister Friendly to Mister Disgruntled. For some reason, it reminded me of Jaden, and I didn't like it.
At the thought, I snuck another glance in Jaden's direction, only to feel my eyebrows furrow in confusion.He was gone.I scanned the crowd, but no saw no sign that he'd ever been there at all.
I almost scoffed out loud. This was just like him, too, to come in and get me all stressed out for no good reason.
I said a silent vow.Not tonight.
Next to me, the stranger said something that I didn't quite catch.Maybe something about horses? Polo horses?
I sighed. I had no idea.
I looked back to him and said, "Sorry, what?"
He looked down toward the floor. "Isaid, do you wanna see it?"
Obviously, I'd lost total track of the conversation. And now, I was almost afraid to ask.See what?
I was still trying to figure it out when a familiar male voice answered the guy on my behalf. "No," he told the guy, "she doesn’t."
Chapter 37
I whirled to look. Sure enough, standing directly behind me was my troublesome boss, who frowned down at me like he'd just caught me humping a bar stool.
I stared up at him. "Excuse me?"
"I wasn't talking toyou." He looked past me toward the stranger. "I was talking tohim."
Oh, for God's sake.
As I watched, Jaden gave the stranger a hard look. "She's not interested, so fuck off."
I stifled a gasp.What the hell?
Now, I was glaring. "What's wrong with you?" When he made no reply, I turned back to the stranger and said, "I'mreallysorry."
The stranger's gaze darted from me to the jerk standing just past my shoulder. The stranger made no reply, not that I could blame him. After all, this wasn't exactly normal.
Speaking loud enough for Jaden to hear, I said, "His manners reallyareatrocious."
From behind me, Jaden said, "Yeah. They are. But he's still leaving if he knows what's good for him."
