Page 24 of Nerdy or Nice
To her question, I replied, "You mean the replacement wheel? I don't have it. He does."
"But you just said he gave it to you."
"Yeah, but I gave it back because he's going to stop by and install it."
She smirked. "Sure he is."
Oh, for crying out loud."So what'syourtheory? He bought the wheel just to keep it for himself for a pet-stroller he doesn't have?"
"How shouldIknow?" She gave a jerk of her chin. "Maybe he's just messing with you."
I'd known Harper my whole life. And I loved her. Really, I did. But sometime within the past couple of years, her attitude had taken a serious turn for the worse when it came to men.
What I needed now was backup. I looked around. "Where's Lexie?" Lexie was Harper's younger sister and pet-sitter number-three. Ifshewere here, I might stand a chance of making Harper see reason.
Harper gave a tight shrug. "For allIknow, she's making out on the street."
"What?" I looked toward the front windows.
"Notthisstreet," Harper said. "The lastIheard, she was making out in front of my parents' place."
I looked back to Harper. "Really?" This was the first I'd heard of it. "With who?"
"Oh, that's the best part," Harper said with a bitter laugh. "I'm pretty sure it was with that monster across the street."
I let out a gasp. "No way." The guy in question was Lexie's old boss. When she'd first spotted him at the mailbox across from us, she'd been horrified to realize we were living so close to the guy who'd practically fired her. "But she hates him." I hesitated. "Right?"
"Well, sheshouldhate him after what he did. But get this. This past Saturday night, I'm talking to my mom on the phone, and I hearDadsay in the background that Lexie was making out with some guy in an SUV, which is news to me because as far as I know, she's not even seeing anyone. So when she gets home – or rather when she gets backhere– I ask her about it. And you wanna know what she says?"
"What?"
Harper looked seriously agitated. "She gives me this story about some guy in accounting."
"Accounting?" This made no sense. "You mean at the candy store?"
"No. At heroldjob." Harper rolled her eyes. "C.J. she calls him. But I know there's something she's not telling me, so I get to thinking about her old boss. And you know what? He definitely owns an SUV."
I almost laughed. "Yeah, but lots of people do."
"Sure, but I'm not done," Harper said, waving away my objection. "I already know his first name is Cole, and his last name is Henster. But what if hismiddlename begins with a 'J'?"
I gave it some thought and decided that the odds were actually pretty good. Just off the top of my head, I could think of at least a dozen popular names that began with that letter. "So, did you find out?"
"Oh, yeah. I checked his company website, and it listed his full name. You wanna guess the middle one?"
I winced. "John? Or maybe James?"
"No." Her voice hardened. "Jamison."
Yup, that was a "J" alright."So you think C.J. is her old boss?"
"I'm almost sure of it," Harper said. "I mean, come on. You know how she's always watching him through the window blinds."
Ididknow. Right from the beginning, it had been pretty obvious that Lexie found the guy attractive. I'd actually teased her about it. But evenIhadn't foreseenthisturn of events. "So, did you ask her what's up?"
"Of course I did. I already told you, remember?"
"Yeah, but did you mention what you learned about the initials?"
