Page 38 of Matchmaking the Rival

"I need to see you," I said.

"Right now?" Her voice sounded strained.

"Yeah."

"Well, Iamclose to the high school. You could drop by. " She sounded nervous, but she didn’t say no, and that was a good thing.

My phone buzzed with an incoming message; she'd sent her address to me. Did she need to see me just as badly? I flipped it to my phone’s GPS and realized she was only five minutes away. I kept the phone on speaker as I drove.

"Okay, I'm almost there," I said when I turned onto her street.

"Really? Oh my God. Okay, um, I need to make myself decent."

"Don't trouble yourself on my account," I responded. I’d love to see a discombobulated Meredith; I was sure she’d look adorable.

"Cade!" She sounded half exasperated, half excited.

I parked right in front of her building. Getting out of the car, I noticed a few stones at the base of an oak tree that gave me an idea. I picked small ones, glancing up at the second floor. There were lights on in all the windows. I saw her silhouette at the second window and threw one stone. Nothing happened after the first one, so I threw two more until she opened the window.

"Cade!”

“You mentioned something about throwing stones.”

“I'll let you in right away. Just call number 12," she said. Even that glimpse of her at the window was enough to cause a stirring in my jeans and a tug in my chest.

She disappeared from view, and I walked up the stairs to the front door, pressing the button next to “Apartment 12.” She answered quickly.

“Second floor.” She sounded breathless.

“I know.”

The buzzer went off the next second, and I pushed the door open. A couple people were waiting for the elevator, so I took the stairs.

At the second floor, I immediately saw her door. It was slightly open.

“Meredith,” I said, walking toward it with determined steps.

She opened it wider.

"Cade," she muttered. She was wearing a robe but was fully clothed underneath, at least from what I could tell. I barely kept my hands from reaching out and pulling her closer to me.

I stepped inside.

“So... the high school, huh?" she asked. "Were you in the area, and that’s what made you visit the school?"

"Not really. I went with Grandmother to a musical."

Her eyes bulged. "You hated musicals in high school."

"I still do."

"Not much you wouldn't do for your grandmother, huh?" Meredith looked pleased with me, and for some reason, that made my whole day.

"Damn straight."

"Including pretending that her matchmaking was successful."

I looked straight at her. "I don't regret it. And I'm not sorry about the kiss either."

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