Perception (Club Destiny #6)(42)
Author: Nicole Edwards

Mercedes swallowed hard, but her gaze didn’t waver from Xander’s. She’d already given herself a pep talk earlier. This was a commitment she’d made, and now she had to deal with the fallout. A deal was a deal and worst case, if she couldn’t survive this first test, she’d easily let Xander know at the end of the night.

For now, she was committed to the next few hours, no matter what was on the agenda. She had no idea how Shane was going to react to whatever Xander had planned for her at Devotion, but she couldn’t very well argue after she’d entered into this agreement with her eyes wide open.

“You don’t care to know what he said?” Xander asked, an indiscernible tilt to his full lips the only sign that he was amused by her reaction.

“Of course I care,” she said with a matching smile, trying to hide her reaction to his teasing.

When Xander didn’t offer more details, Mercedes laughed. “Quit playing with me, X. Just tell me what he said.”

“He said he’s looking forward to seeing us tonight.”

“He didn’t ask any questions about why I wasn’t going to Kink? Or about why you and I were going to Devotion together?” Although the notion of their going out to various places together wasn’t completely absurd, Mercedes knew Shane was rather perceptive. Not to mention suspicious.

“Of course he asked why,” Xander admitted, sitting back when Tony arrived to pour the wine.

Mercedes tasted the rich red that Tony offered and then signaled her approval before turning her attention back to Xander.

“And?”

“I told him that I was taking you to dinner and then taking you to Devotion. I didn’t feel the need to explain my reasoning to him.”

Mercedes knew his explanation hadn’t been accepted without more questions. Rather than push Xander, she sat back, waiting patiently.

He laughed. A brilliant, rich sound that made her insides jump to attention. She loved when he laughed. It was such an amazing sound, probably because it was so rare. At least like that anyway.

“I told him he’d be seeing a lot more of you tonight.”

“You did not!” Mercedes gasped.

Xander laughed again, which settled her somewhat. The man was incorrigible.

“No, I didn’t. But you and I both know that it’s going to happen.”

Mercedes wasn’t all that worried about Shane seeing more of her, as Xander put it. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen plenty of her before. When they played at Kink, the individual play rooms were all open to the public. The private rooms could be viewed if the participants chose so there were plenty of times Shane could’ve witnessed a scene between her and one of her subs.

What she was worried about was what Xander had planned.

“Are you going to use one of the main play rooms?” she asked, referring to the large glass rooms that were centered on the main floor.

“I haven’t thought that far ahead yet,” he told her, another devious smirk teasing his lips.

It was official, she was not going to survive the night.

Chapter Thirteen

“How’s your mom and dad?” Mercedes asked after Tony delivered their meals a short while later.

They’d already made it through the salad course, shared another glass of wine and managed to talk about very little. Mercedes was nervous, there was no doubt about that. In a sadistic sort of way, Xander liked the idea of her being nervous. It meant she viewed this dinner as something more than two friends or two business associates enjoying a meal together.

And this was definitely more than that.

“They’re good. Right now they’re enjoying the sights in Columbus, Ohio.” At least that’s where they were when he’d talked to his mother early that morning.

“Are they planning to head back here anytime soon?”

Xander took a sip of his wine as he watched Mercedes. “Not if they have anything to say about it.”

His parents, married for going on forty years, were retired and after plenty of discussions had decided they wanted to set out to see the world. Or more specifically, to tour any state within the US that they could physically drive to. Xander had bought them a recreational vehicle with all of the bells and whistles and he was pretty sure they hadn’t looked back since.

That was three years ago.

He talked to his mother every day to catch up on what they were doing or for her to grill him about what he was doing. Didn’t matter if the call lasted three minutes or thirty, he still made a point to talk to one or both of them every day.

“Where are they off to next?”

“As of this morning, they hadn’t decided. Either Michigan or Pennsylvania. I think they’re going to stay right where they are though for at least a week.”