Nicole Edwards - Perception

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.

Aside from making it look like a prison, it didn’t hold any appeal whatsoever.

But Xander wasn’t going to say anything. He didn’t give a shit if the place were surrounded by land mines. The price was right, and if the building wasn’t going to fall in on itself, he knew it’d be a damn good investment.

And at this point that was all that mattered.

Mercedes pulled into one of the partially striped parking spots right near the front doors of the vacant building. She was doing her best to focus on the road and not on the intimidating man crammed in her car.

She had struggled to hold in her laugh when he somehow managed to squeeze his gigantic body into her small car. And then again when he somehow managed to get the seatbelt on. No wonder he’d offered to follow her. Then again, he had been a good sport because if she’d been in his shoes, she wouldn’t have attempted to fold herself into such a small space. As it was, his neck was at an odd angle.

Definitely a good sport.

But, despite his discomfort, they had made it. Thank God. She was about to get a chance to breathe fresh air, rather than the subtle, sultry scent of what she could only assume was expensive cologne. The man smelled amazing, but she damn sure didn’t want him to know she thought so.

Xander Boone was everything Shane had described him as being. Tall, confident, straight-forward. And blunt, as she’d learned by his less than discreet reference to the dilapidated building she currently worked out of. Too bad Shane hadn’t bothered to add that Xander was also ruggedly handsome and a tad on the intimidating side.

Not that she was going to let the last bother her. She could hold her own.

Climbing out of the car, she headed to the glass doors. Using the key she’d had to pick up that morning, she gained entrance and held the door open for Xander. To her surprise, he merely glared at her, placing his hand above her head and holding the door open.

“Ladies first,” he told her with a grin that gave her a glimpse of straight white teeth.

“Thank you,” she answered, trying not to smile back at him and failing.

Once inside, Mercedes did her best to stay out of his way. There wasn’t much she could show him, and he wouldn’t have to go far to see everything. The warehouse was huge, without a lot of walls. Not to mention in desperate need of some cosmetic surgery.

That was an easy fix, and if what Shane had told her was true, Xander wouldn’t be bothered by a few blemishes.

So, she stood back, watching him move around the warehouse.

She was drawn to him, just as she had been when he’d stepped through her office door. But she realized after just one glimpse that she shouldn’t be drawn to him. They were too much alike.

Just that morning, while she had waited for Xander to arrive, she’d dared to ask Shane a little more about the mystery client who was coming to see her.

“He’s a Dom,” Shane had told her.

Interesting. “Does he belong to the same club you do?” she had inquired, hoping to sound casual. Shane had informed her that he was a member of Kink, an opulent BDSM club she’d heard about, but had never visited.

Mercedes belonged to a club, but she hadn’t bothered to mention that to Shane. She’d been surprised to find out Shane was a Dom in the first place, and still hadn’t produced the nerve to question him more even though she was intrigued.

“Yeah. He’s the one who got me in there.”

Yep, that’s about all she learned about Xander Boone. Well, other than what the Google search had offered her. He wasn’t just a Dom. He was a rich Dom. A very successful, rich, Dom.

Which meant he was off limits.

And that was a good thing because the man’s charisma was palpable, and when he turned those sexy, moss green eyes on her, had she been any other woman, she might’ve swooned.

She wasn’t the swooning type.

“I want to know how serious the owner is to sell,” Xander stated firmly as he made his way toward her. “There’re quite a few things that have to be done to this place to get it up to code.”

Ok, so the man definitely wasn’t new to this.

“I can ask.”

“I prefer to tell,” he told her as he approached. “I’ll list out the issues because I do want to make an offer. I assure you, it’ll be fair.”

Mercedes nodded her head as she watched him. Yes, she certainly could see his dominating personality. It was prominent, yet somehow not terribly overbearing. If that were even the right word to use to describe a man who stood at least six and a half feet tall and was built like the defensive line of a football team. The whole freaking line.

“So what do you say? We’ll go back to your office and get things started?”

Although he’d kindly phrased it as a question, Mercedes got the distinct impression that he was informing her, not asking.

Mercedes was speechless.

For the first time in her entire life, she didn’t know what to say. And that was saying something because not only was she a damn good real estate agent, she was also a formidable Domme.