Page 109 of Love Not Qualified

“I’m listening.”

“I was just wondering if you come here frequently,Mr. Graves,” she joked.

“Not really,” I admitted. “But you have to admit the view is great.” My eyes moved to my side where the glass wall was. It was dark outside, but that didn’t mean the city was any less beautiful.

Haelyn nodded, biting her lip. “It is.” She followed my gaze, then turned it back to me. “That’s why I don’t understand why it’s so empty here.”

“Usually it’s not.”

“Then why is it empty tonight?” she questioned.

I wasn’t sure if I should tell her and I decided I shouldn’t. The last thing I wanted was for her to feel pressured by the way I planned this date.

“No idea,” I said, then looked to the side.

“You didn’t…” Haelyn murmured, leaning on the table toward me. “Tristan!”

My eyes snapped to her. “What?”

“Did you buy this place?” Her eyebrows launched to the end of her forehead and I could tell she was pissed.

Thank God I didn’t do what I was planning to. “No.”

She huffed. “Don’t lie.”

“I’m not lying. I didn’tbuyit.”

“Then what did you do?” She crossed her arms over her chest, playing the role of a mother who just caught her son spending money on the most idiotic things.

A sigh fell past my lips and I scratched the back of my head, still not wanting to give in. “Does it matter?”

She shook her head with a smile. “I can’t believe you rented this whole place for a date when you weren’t even sure I was going to show up.”

I wasn’t shocked she figured it out. Haelyn was a smart girl and there weren’t many things a man could do to have a place as empty as this besides buying it or renting it.

The only thing I hoped for was that she wasn’t going to ask me about Unlock. Because if she found out I bought it just to be able to match again with her tonight…

“I knew you were going to show up,” I pointed out. “Merielle granted it.”

“Speaking of Merielle. How did you convince her to help you? As far as I knew she wasn’t a fan of yours.” She wiggled her brows.

I shrugged as if I didn’t spam her with calls, showed up at the cafe bar she was working at, and told her I was ready to get on my knees if that meant she was helping me. “I’m a charming man and she realized my intentions about you were honest.”

Haelyn laughed and my insides warmed at the sound. “Okay, charming. But just so you know, you ruined the game by mentioning her name.”

I frowned. “What game?”

She gestured with her hands. “The one where we were pretending we don’t know each other.”

“I don’t know…” I started. “I remember you said something about me not knowing if you showed up or not.”

“Did I?” She squinted at me and when I nodded, Haelyn bumped her head on the table, groaning. “I’m not good at playing games.”

“Me neither,” I admitted. “But I don’t think I can pretend I don’t know you, Haelyn. Not when you’ve been everything on my mind lately.”

She gulped and my heart stopped beating in my chest as her eyes zeroed on me. I wasn’t sure if now was the right moment to say that, but it rolled off of my tongue before I could’ve stopped it.

Haelyn opened her mouth to say something, but the server came to the table with our food. While she placed a plate in front of Haelyn and another in front of me, I could feel she wanted to say something and I waited for her to do so.

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