Perception (Club Destiny #6)(127)
Author: Nicole Edwards

“My pleasure,” Xander said, meeting her gaze before glancing over at the pilot who had stepped out of the cock pit looking for a thumbs up. Since no one else would be joining them on the short flight back to Dallas, Xander merely nodded his head in agreement.

“Did you talk to Logan while we were there?” Mercedes asked.

“About something specific?” She was with him during the brief conversations he’d shared with the man, so he knew she was looking for details about something.

Mercedes raised one perfectly groomed eyebrow.

Yes, he knew her well. She was fishing.

“Do you know if something is going on between Sam, Logan and, what was his name? Elijah something,” Mercedes asked, crossing one sexy long leg over the other, her extremely short skirt raising higher on her thigh and catching Xander’s attention. She enjoyed doing that to him. Got off on it. And truthfully, he didn’t mind at all.

Shit, what red blooded man wouldn’t enjoy being teased by the most gorgeous woman to grace the face of the planet?

“Why do you ask?” Letting his gaze linger on her long, sexy legs for a little longer than necessary, Xander took his time before meeting Mercedes’s eyes once more.

“I don’t know. Something just seems… different about her, I guess,” Mercedes said as the engines on the plane fired up.

“There’s something going on, but I don’t know any details,” he explained, hoping she wouldn’t ask him to elaborate because truthfully, he didn’t know what was going on. He didn’t want to know either. “I did talk to Logan briefly about my proposition. I’m still waiting for him to make a decision.”

“About your corporate takeover?”

Xander laughed. He wouldn’t go so far as to say it was a corporate takeover, but yeah. “He’s content working for XTX. I don’t blame the guy and Xavier Thomas is lucky to have someone so loyal. But I would like his help, if he’s willing.”

“What about Trent? Did you talk to him anymore?”

“A little.” Trent had reached out to him several months ago, digging deeper into Xander’s new business venture. It wasn’t so much a corporate takeover as it was a capital investment. One that he was currently moving forward with. Trent had expressed an interest as well, which meant he and Xander would be working together a little more in the future.

“So, they’re a thing now?”

“Who?” Xander asked, caught off guard by the random question. Hadn’t they just been talking about business?

“Pay attention,” she scolded him with a grin. “Logan, Sam and Elijah?” Mercedes asked. “I thought he would’ve been at the opening of AI but I didn’t see him.”

“He wasn’t there. Logan mentioned he was away on business, I think.” Xander had no idea. He didn’t make a habit of getting involved in other people’s love lives. Especially now that he had his own to focus on.

“I’d say that Travis was happy with the turnout.”

“He had every reason to be. Hell, I was rather impressed. They’ve worked hard to get to where they are.”

And he’d heard all about the design, the plans, and what the future held all within the first few hours after their arrival. He ensured Travis that he had no worries. The man knew what he was doing, and Xander told him as much.

And after the reassurances were made, they’d all moved on to the real reason they were there at the resort designed specifically for the naughty.

The pleasure.

And the activities that ensued from that point forward had been intense. It had almost been enough to keep his mind off of other things.

For the last twenty-four hours, Xander had been beside himself. Anxious. Mercedes had even noticed, calling him out when she found him fidgeting. Something that definitely wasn’t like him.

If she only knew.

But she didn’t. Mercedes had no idea that he’d been counting down the minutes for the last six months. And now the time had come. Finally.

For months, the two of them had been acting as a couple. Not only had Mercedes officially moved in with him, she’d also put her condo on the market just a month ago. She had relocated her office to the extra one he had at his place. They’d tossed around the idea of buying a local storefront to relocate their businesses, but after a lot of discussion, they found that working out of their home was just way too convenient.

Especially when they wanted to take a trip to his dungeon in the middle of the afternoon, which they did on a frequent basis.

But more importantly, for the last six months, Mercedes had begun to open up to him in so many ways. They’d shared many conversations about their childhoods, and he’d been shocked that Mercedes had lowered her guard enough to let him in. That, as much as the words, spoke volumes as far as Xander was concerned. He didn’t doubt her love for him and because she was willing to share the hard details of her life, he knew she didn’t doubt him either. Trust. That’s exactly what they’d found together.