Perception (Club Destiny #6)(16)
Author: Nicole Edwards

Shit. She was going to have to get a serious grip.

And soon.

The devilish gleam in his eyes said he’d caught on as well.

~*~*~*~

Doing his best to hide his amusement, Xander pushed back from the kitchen table and followed Mercedes through her condo. He didn’t, however, try to hide the fact that he was staring at her ass as she moved gracefully through the house.

The woman was fucking gorgeous, and she had an ass that made a man’s mouth water. Heart shaped and the perfect size to fill his hands nicely.

He’d been hoping she would come out of her bedroom after her shower wearing one of those form fitting, yoga outfits that she favored when she was home. Casual wear, she called them. Much to his dismay, Mercedes had clearly armed herself for battle wearing a short skirt and a blazer with those damn red heels that gave him an instant hard on.

Still, it didn’t matter what she wore. She was hot as hell. Shit, he was pretty sure she could wear a potato sack, and his dick would still stand up and take notice.

Mercedes cleared her throat, and Xander forced his eyes to move upward. He wanted to laugh because he’d been clearly busted while admiring her perfect ass. Rather than pretend he hadn’t been eyeballing her, he tossed her one of the heated looks he’d perfected over the years.

“Sit down,” she said with a choked laugh.

He was fairly certain that Mercedes was on to him. How could she not be though? After last night?

If she seriously thought that what happened between them at Devotion was just a demonstration, the woman was clearly missing a few marbles. And he knew that wasn’t the case because Mercedes was one of the most perceptive, intelligent women he’d ever met.

He waited for her to take a seat behind her desk before he lowered himself to the chair across from her.

“Mornin’,” Shane greeted as he made his way into the oversized room.

Xander glanced back over his shoulder, offering Shane a tilt of his chin in response. The man was decked out in one of those three thousand dollar suits he’d recently begun sporting. Although his own watch probably cost more than Shane’s entire closet, Xander had to admit, he was impressed with his friend’s recent transformation.

Shane Gibson was one of Xander’s closest friends. They’d known each other for approximately fifteen years after they’d met during their junior year in college, were both turning thirty-six this year, and although Xander’d started growing his business back in his early twenties, Shane had just recently started getting serious. Now that Shane was starting to rake in the money, he was definitely beginning to look the part, which Xander found amusing considering all the shit Shane had given him through the years.

He wiped the smile off of his face when he looked up to see Shane glaring at him.

Based on the stern expression on Shane’s too handsome face, it was clear that this was going to be a tense meeting and truthfully, Xander would’ve preferred to spend his time finding a way to get Mercedes naked again.

Twenty minutes later, Xander found himself fisting his hands in his lap as he sat patiently waiting for Shane to calm down.

Tense had been an understatement. Shane had lost his cool the moment Xander hadn’t given in to his demands. It would’ve been comical if Xander were in the right frame of mind.

Keeping his composure, he remained as relaxed as he could while Shane paced the floor behind him. Mercedes was sitting at her desk, watching both of them intently which was the only reason Xander didn’t lose his shit.

She’d been the main reason his focus was off all morning, and the last thing he could afford was to let Shane win this round. Clasping his hands together in his lap, Xander crossed one ankle over the opposite knee and glanced over at Shane, who was moving up beside him.

“Come on, man. You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Shane grumbled, his face contorted with anger and frustration. He turned and stomped back the way he’d come before Xander could say anything.

Uncharacteristically restless, Xander leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he glanced up at Mercedes to see that she was smiling. He wondered if she was entertained by his unease. Probably.

Any other day, he might’ve taken offense to her obvious amusement at his expense. But today… Today he just couldn’t find it in him to get pissed off.

No, today he was apparently going to spend every waking moment thinking about her naked.

The woman had blown his damn mind last night.

Having known her for years, Xander had to give himself a significant amount of credit for keeping his hands to himself all this time. Lord knows he’d been tempted ever since he first saw her in that rat trap of an office she had been working out of back when Shane introduced them.