Mercedes did the only thing she knew to do. She held him back. Sliding her arms around his head, she teased the hair at his nape gently. She didn’t even know what to say.
For the first time in all of her life, the man seemed… vulnerable.
Thankfully, she didn’t have to come up with something to say because a minute later, he pulled back and looked up at her. “The jet will be ready in an hour. I didn’t know if you had anything you needed to do this morning.”
“I’ve got a call to take, but I can do that from anywhere,” she told him, reaching for her coffee cup again as she took a step back. “Do I need to pack anything?”
“No. We’ll be coming back tonight. I’ve got a meeting tomorrow morning that I can’t miss.”
Well, then. “Ok.”
An hour later, almost exactly, Carson was dropping them at a private airport where Xander’s personal jet awaited them. She’d only been aboard this plane once previously, and that had been when Xander took an interest in a property, in New York of all places. He’d taken her along so they could check it out, although her real estate license wasn’t instated there, he’d insisted that she go with him.
But this wasn’t a business trip. It was personal. Extremely personal because his parents were involved. Which meant that Mercedes would be spending time with his mother and father, probably in close quarters.
Until a few days ago that prospect wouldn’t have bothered her. Now, it did. Mainly because she had no idea what she was going to say to them. Would they realize she had fallen in love with their son? Would they pick up on the tension that radiated from Xander? She certainly had and she knew it hadn’t been there the night before so she was all the more confused.
Rather than bother him, she pretended to work and for whatever reason, he left her alone.
For the entire flight.
By the time they stepped foot out of the plane onto Ohio soil, she was more or less to the breaking point. Xander had been on the phone for much of the trip. And when he wasn’t, he appeared contemplative as he spent his time staring out of the small window. He hadn’t asked how she was doing, and she hadn’t interrupted him once.
Now, as they climbed into the limo that was waiting for them, Mercedes knew she had to say something. Anything.
But she couldn’t find her voice.
“We’re going on a field trip today,” Xander informed her shortly after the door to the limo closed behind them.
“Field trip?”
“Yeah, my dad wants us to check out the Pro Football Hall of Fame.”
Hmm. That sounded… interactive.
And maybe that was a good thing. That meant less time for Mercedes to stumble over her words. Maybe.
“And then we’ll have lunch.”
Lunch. Ok. Lunch was good.
She didn’t respond, just thumbed through her phone, glancing at her email although she didn’t see any of the words on her screen.
What had happened between last night and today? Why was Xander acting so strangely? Or was he?
Maybe it was her. Maybe she was the one acting strangely, and he was just adjusting to her mood.
Crap.
Once the limo was in motion, Mercedes took a moment to glance out the window. That was when Xander reached for her hand, sliding his fingers through hers. She had to fight the urge to look at him, but the relief she felt in her chest was palpable.
When he didn’t speak, she knew she had to, and the words finally tumbled right out of her mouth. “Are you all right?”
“I will be,” he answered, glancing down at their linked fingers.
“Is your dad ok?” Mercedes knew he’d been worried about his father ever since he had learned of the fall.
“My mother is insisting that’s the case,” he told her as he looked sideways at her. “She’s hiding something from me.”
Oh. Well, that definitely explained his mood. “Did you talk to her today?”
“Yes. I called her this morning to let her know we were flying in to see them. You would’ve thought I was threatening to take them back home to Texas or something with the way she clammed up all of a sudden.”
Mercedes knew how close Xander was with his parents. He was always sharing stories about his parents, his childhood. She knew he did it because he loved them, but also because he had always hoped to get her to open up about her family.
Yeah, well, Xander had soon learned that she hadn’t lived the Brady Bunch life and had no desire to share the horror stories of growing up with her father.
“You nervous?”
Mercedes glanced down at his mouth, then up to meet his eyes once more. “Why would I be nervous?”