Page 53 of Matchmaking the Rival

"For us, it is."

“Cade Whitley." I shimmied in the car seat, sipping from my latte. I was positively giddy when we turned onto Commonwealth Avenue, and even more so when we stopped at number 725.

The second he parked the car, I got out, taking in a deep breath. My pulse accelerated when he came up to me. God, he was so handsome. I couldn't believe he was taking me on the perfect date. This sexy man who insisted he was a flirt. Well, he might be, but clearly that didn't mean he couldn't pull together a fantastic date.

"You know your way around?" I asked.

"Yes. They explained on the phone what we needed to do, and I jotted down the directions." He reached in his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper.

"Then lead the way."

I'd never been inside Boston University. It felt a bit eerie to walk through it at night, like we were doing something forbidden. It was utterly and completely empty except for a couple of night security guards. Cade had some credentials, so we just sailed on by and headed up to the fifth floor. The telescopes were above the astronomy department. There were a couple domes around us, and an older man was there waiting.

"Mr. Whitley?" he asked.

"Yes. I’m Cade. This is Meredith.”

“I’m Professor Hastings. My colleague informed me that this is a private tour."

"Exactly," Cade replied.

"Allow me to take you to our telescopes. Follow me."

I looked around, mesmerized. This was so dreamy!

“I can't tell you how exciting it is to have a small, intimate group that I can share my knowledge with," Professor Hastings said

Cade didn't smile.

"Thank you so much," I said. I suspected this wasn't the romantic evening Cade had in mind. In fact, I was betting he'd imagined we'd be all alone up here. To be honest, so had I.

"Come here. Look through these telescopes. You can each take one. A perk of your private tour is that you don't have to wait your turn."

Once again, Cade said nothing. He was shooting daggers at the professor with his eyes, as if he wished Hastings would vanish into thin air.

I looked through the telescope and sighed. "The sky's beautiful."

“It is, isn't it? Now, let me tell you all about constellations."

For the next hour, he yapped nonstop. I had no idea how he even had time to breathe, but I loved every minute of it.

"Any more questions?" he asked once we stepped back from the telescopes.

Cade looked at me, so I offered the professor a polite smile. "No, I think that's everything."

"Really? I'm yours for the evening. Seriously. You can ask me anything."

"As Meredith said, I think we've heard a lot," Cade replied. "It was very informative. Thank you for your time."

"Okay," he said, clearly disappointed.

He walked with us through the university building, right out to the parking lot, where he got in a small Honda and drove away.

Cade groaned as we reached the car. I laughed. "The evening didn't go quite as you expected, huh?"

"When I booked a private tour, I expected us to be alone."

I narrowed my eyes. "What exactly did you expect we'd be doing at the astronomy building?"

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