Page 39 of Matchmaking the Rival

Her chest was rising and falling rapidly. Suddenly, all I could think about was pulling off her robe.

"Neither am I," she murmured.

I closed the distance between us, stepping right into her personal space. She'd put a spell on me, and I was a goner.

"Tell me you want it to happen again," I said, putting a hand on her cheek. I wasn't brushing her lips, not yet.

"Cade. This is... It feels very sudden."

"It is, but I don't want to overthink any of this."

"Don't you? I thought flirting was your territory." Her tone was teasing, but I knew she was serious. I couldn't even tell how I knew.

Her chest was rising and falling even quicker now. I was a flirt. I wasn’t serious about women. So why was I after her? I knew she wanted an explanation. I didn't have one. I couldn't make sense of things at all.

The sound of a phone ringing broke the silence.

"Oops, that's my phone." She took it out of her pocket.

"Take it," I said.

She brought it to her ear. "Hey," she said, walking away from me. "Sure. Yeah. Oh, you're already... How many minutes do you need?" She looked up at me, panicked. "Yeah, of course you can. No problem."

The second she closed the phone, I moved next to her again. "Who was that?"

She narrowed her eyes. "I don't like that tone of voice.”

“Meredith! You're seeing someone?"

“Why would you jump to that conclusion?" she asked defensively.

"Who else would come uninvited this late into the evening?"

“I don't know, someone like you?"

"I mean it." Fucking hell, I was jealous. I couldn't believe it.

"It's my sister. She’s going to spend the night with me.”

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah. Her husband is working out of town this weekend, and she doesn’t like to be alone at night. So I'm pampering her a bit."

I groaned. She grinned. "Your plan is being thwarted again?"

"What are you doing tomorrow?" My voice sounded raspy. I cleared my throat.

"Tomorrow I'm leaving for a weekend trip with Everly."

I dropped my head back. "Jesus.”

Meredith looked at the clock on the wall, then said, "You have to go now."

"You're kicking me out?"

"Cade, if she sees you here, she's going to ask questions, and I don't have answers."

"Meredith, I want to see you when you're back."

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