Page 88 (1/2)

Mercedes did the only thing she knew to do She held hi her arently She didn’t even knohat to say

For the first time in all of her life, the man seemed… vulnerable

Thankfully, she didn’t have to co 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 ot a call to take, but I can do that froain as she took a step back “Do I need to pack anything?”

“No We’ll be co that I can’t miss”

Well, then “Ok”

An hour later, al 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 Whichtime 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 waspoint Xander had been on the phone for much of the trip And when he wasn’t, he appeared conte out of the s, and she hadn’t interrupted hi for the

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”

Hood thing That meant less time for Mercedes to stumble over her words Maybe

“And then we’ll have lunch”