Perception (Club Destiny #6)(2)
Author: Nicole Edwards

Shitty office. Nice clothes. Expensive car.

The combination confused him.

“Shane told me you’re a property developer,” Mercedes said, glancing over her shoulder as she continued to walk, her heels clicking on the eroded asphalt of the parking lot.

“I dabble here and there,” he answered ruefully. He did more than that, but he didn’t feel the need to explain himself.

Busted.

There was no doubt she’d just noticed he was staring at her ass. If it had bothered her in the least, he couldn’t tell.

“Yes, that’s what I’ve heard,” she said with a mischievous smirk.

He liked her already.

When Mercedes unlocked the doors to the small car using the key fob she clutched tightly in her hand, Xander climbed inside, ducking so that he didn’t hit his head on the roof. He hated little cars. With a passion.

“How do you know Shane?” he asked as she got situated, buckling her seat belt. Xander was attempting to do the same. Attempt was a rather loose interpretation of it too. As it was, he had to hunch over, crook his head sideways and then reach for the buckle without looking down. Damn little cars.

“I met him a couple of months ago. I’m in the market to rent a new office building. I called on a listing, and he answered the phone,” she told him as she started the car, put it in Reverse and began backing out of the parking space.

Xander knew Shane was following in Xander’s footsteps as far as property development went, but Shane was starting out slow. He was interested in residential, not so much commercial. The man had recently purchased a couple of buildings and was looking to rent them as office space. Xander, on the other hand, had taken the fast track in both commercial development as well as venture capital investments, and he attributed his success to his aggressiveness.

“This place is not doing it for you anymore?” he asked, nodding toward the building they were passing as she headed out of the parking lot.

Mercedes glanced over at him, pinning him in place with her stare. “Everyone has to start somewhere, Mr. Boone.”

True.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t implying –”

“Yes you were.” She laughed gruffly. “And I happen to agree. But, I did have to start somewhere.”

When Mercedes turned her attention back on the road, Xander fought the urge to squirm in his seat. Definitely time to change the subject.

“Tell me more about the warehouse. Shane didn’t know much. Just that it’s somewhere close to a hundred thousand square feet. True?”

“Yes, give or take a few.” She drove the same way that she walked, with sexy precision. He found himself transfixed by the way her hand maneuvered the stick shift. “The building went up in 1967 and has seen quite a few tenants over the years. The current owner’s been leasing it out for approximately fifteen years now. The current asking price is two point four mil.”

Mercedes glanced over at him briefly, and he had to wonder whether she was checking his reaction to the price. If she were waiting for something, she wasn’t going to get it. The price was incredibly low, even he knew that much.

“What did the last tenant use it for?” he asked.

“From what I understand, it was used as a call center.”

Xander intended to lease the building out as soon as he acquired it. Maybe he’d hang onto it for a few years then let it go for the right price. He knew without a doubt that he could get a tenant in there rather quickly, but he decided to question Mercedes. “If I need to find a tenant, can you handle that as well?”

“I can’t,” she told him matter-of-factly. “However, I do have a friend who can get me the name of a good leasing agent. I’ll get more information, and I’ll make an introduction.”

Xander definitely liked her. She wasn’t just looking to pass him along to someone else. And maybe that was because he was ready to purchase a two million dollar property, and she was more interested in the commission. He didn’t know for sure. But he did get the feeling that he could trust her to follow through.

A solid fifteen minutes later, Mercedes was pulling through an electronic gate that had seen better days. Rusted and hanging by the hinges on one side, Xander didn’t doubt that it was out of commission, which explained why it had been propped open.

He noted the eight foot stone wall that ran around the perimeter of the parking area and then back around behind the building. Interesting. They were in a light industrial area, but he knew the crime rate wasn’t high because he’d done some preliminary research. He figured the original owner must’ve thought the wall added something.