Page 30 of Matchmaking the Rival

"You stalked me?"

Shoot. Why did I bring that up?

I cleared my throat. “I was curious.”

He leaned in closer. "You can ask me anything you want."

I held his gaze, determined not to balk even though I was melting from the sheer heat and masculinity rolling off him.

"Meredith, Cade. Good to see you two together,” Sonya said. I hadn’t noticed her return.Damn, she’s been like a ninja today.

She looked back and forth between the two of us with a smile. "You've been holding out on me. You didn't tell me you’re such good friends. This is even better than I hoped."

Better? For what?

"Since you have an in with Cade, I'll just lay all my cards on the table," Sonya continued. "I’m interested in selling Sonya's Blends. To be honest, the reason I entered this competition at all was in the hopes of catching the eye of a big fish."

I felt as if she'd thrown a bucket of ice-cold water at me.

She wants to sell? What the hell? When did she start planning this?I’d just gotten this promotion, and she hadn’t said one word.

My vision blurred for a few seconds. I drew a deep breath, but I couldn’t help the panicky feeling in my throat.

My job was not secure, and I'd had no clue of that until now.

If Sonya ended up selling, that was bad news. The buyer usually brought their own management team, too, and got rid of the old one.

"I see," Cade replied in a measured tone.

"We should set up a meeting to discuss this in more detail. Meredith, I’m sure you can arrange something for us,” Sonya said with a wink. "Now, I'm going to grab a glass of champagne and toast to your friendship.”

I was too stunned to react at all. I watched her walk to the bar as if she hadn't just rocked my world.

"Meredith?" Cade asked. He sounded tentative for the first time.

I looked up at him. "What was up with that? Why didn’t you tell her we just met again last week?"

“Why didn’t you?”

“I was too shocked.” Surely he could tell by the look on my face.

The slight grin was back. "And I was just playing along."

"What would you have done if she thought we were dating?"

His eyes flashed as he leaned in. "Kissed you right here in front of her to seal the deal."

I licked my lips. "I can’t believe that’s where your mind went."

"Yep. I was surprised by that myself."

Did I secretly want him to kiss me? My nipples perked up at the thought alone.

I sighed. "I need to talk to Sonya."

His brow furrowed. "She blindsided you with this information, didn't she?"

"Completely," I admitted. "I have no idea why she didn't even warn me before." I really didn’t. I was a little hurt.

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