Page 80 of Matchmaking the Rival

Chapter Twenty

Cade

Meredith was quieton the drive home. So quiet, in fact, that I thought she fell asleep when she rested her head on the window. It was only when the car arrived in front of my building and I leaned in to wake her up that I realized she wasn't sleeping at all.

"We're here, babe," I said.

She nodded, straightening up. She was still a bit tipsy.

"Stay put. I'll go around and open the door for you."

The cold bit my cheeks when I got out of the car. I hurried to her door, opening it and then holding out my hand for her. She gripped it tightly and leaned on me as she got up. I was steady on my feet, supporting my woman, and immediately put an arm around her as we walked up to the building.

"Man, it's cold," she said. I unlocked the door as fast as possible, waiting for her to step inside first. "This place looks amazing." She glanced around the second I turned on the light in the mudroom. “Do you have a fireplace?”

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t take you for the type to live in a brownstone.”

“What did you imagine?”

“A penthouse.”

“Not my style.”

I looked at her closely. She seemed completely different than back at the fair. Something was off. "Babe, what's wrong?"

She shrugged.

"Esther bothered you," I concluded.

"Obviously, and I hate that because I'm always so confident, and I don't let people get to me."

"And I love that about you."

"I don't want you seeing me like this."

My woman was feeling vulnerable because of that snotty bitch. Esther and I had gone out a few times but were never a thing. Conversations were dull, and we had nothing in common.

"I don't mind. Babe, I'm honored that you can feel this comfortable around me, that you're showing me this side of you. Really, it’s okay."

"But I don't want to show it to you," she whispered.

"I'm sorry we ran into her."

"Who was she?"

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