He’d been here this morning, though not because he busted his arm again… surprisingly. He dropped off breakfast for the two of them and chatted, going into deep analytical conversation with Narissa on occasions. Mercedes stayed out of those and watched the two interact instead. Ajax zeroed in on their cybernetic genius and followed her every movement. It made her wonder when he’d make his move on Narissa.
Narissa pulled a chair up and sat down in front of Mercedes. “Spill it. You’ve avoided telling me what happened last night and now you’re actively lying to me. I want details.”
Mercedes threw her head back. “Why can’t you leave this alone?”
Narissa grinned. “Because I’m your friend, and I’m nosey. So tell me, what happened last night?”
“Chinese for dinner, testing, and we watched a corny movie.”
Narissa’s eyes narrowed. “C’mon, Cede. That wouldn’t get you all embarrassed. What happened between all that?”
Mercedes sighed and leaned back. She wasn’t going to get away from this. “After we did the spontaneous testing with my arm, we watched the sun set on the balcony.”
A wide grin spread across her friend’s lips. “He held you, didn’t he?”
Mercedes’ face flushed and she looked away as she nodded, unable to keep eye contact with her friend. “No prompting needed. It was… nice.”
Narissa leaned forward. “What else happened? That’s tame. You wouldn’t avoid that answer unless something else happened.”
A tight exhale escaped Mercedes’ lips. She would push this. “There… there may have been some kissing…”
Narissa threw her hands in the air. “Hallelujah, there is a god!”
Mercedes couldn’t stop the chuckle from her throat. Narissa’s mother was a rather religious woman, whereas Narissa had her own opinions on the matter. It made such outbursts so funny.
Narissa calmed down. “Now, tell me more.”
Mercedes’ gaze fell on the desk and she rubbed her arm, sending all sort of signals to her brain. Shit, forgot. “It wasn’t anything major. I was trying to keep the box of crab rangoons to myself and he kissed me quickly to get me to stop long enough to take them from me.”
“Did he now?” Narissa leaned in closer. “And what did you do about it?”
She continued to avert her gaze. “I… was too shocked to do anything. I didn’t expect him to anything like that.”
“So, you didn’t kick him out, and I have a feeling that wasn’t the only kiss thrown around, either.”
“I… went to kiss him goodbye on the cheek and he turned to look at me, and…” Mercedes didn’t want to say it, but Narissa’s eyes showed she was going to have to. “And I accidentally kissed him for real.”
Narissa’s lit up and she slapped Mercedes on the leg and stood up. “Look at you taking charge!”
“I just said it was an accident. A pleasant one, but that doesn’t change that it was still an accident.”
Narissa looked back at her as she walked away. “And? You still took charge and made a move, Cede. Your love life is the only thing you don’t take by the horns enough. You wait for ‘Mister Right’ and run away when he shows up bearing gifts.”
Her friend wasn’t wrong, but Narissa had flawed thinking too. Mercedes tilted her head down as she stared at her friend. “Like you’re one to talk.”
Narissa sat down in her chair. “I’m not ready to go back out there yet, Cede. I thought I had a happy marriage. I thought everything was going great. You know exactly how messy that ended.” She glanced at her computer. “I’d rather crunch data, install cybernetics, and help people than try to see if someone else will do that to me again or not. I’m just… not ready.”
Mercedes frowned. She knew that divorce had shaken her friend’s confidence, but she didn’t realize it had shaken her that badly. She never met Narissa’s ex—Mercedes came along after the divorce happened—but from what she knew, he sounded like a great guy to start, and seemed that way up until all the secrets were discovered. Then everything went downhill quickly. Ajax will have a better chance at seducing a non-interactive NPC at this rate if Narissa doesn’t let go. It wasn’t fair to assume everyone would turn out like her ex, but that fear set deep, and really, Mercedes couldn’t blame her friend. She nearly lost her life in all that mess.
Mercedes’ phone started to ring and Tasha spoke, “Miss Mercedes, Takashi is calling you.”
“Of course he is,” Narissa teased, her eyebrow rising up and down. “He wants that goodbye to turn into a hello.” Mercedes flipped her friend the middle finger and Narissa chuckled, turning back to her computer work. “Save that for him.”
Mercedes rolled her eyes. “Go ahead and answer his call, Tasha.”
“On speaker!”
The phone stopped ringing and Takashi’s voice rang through on speaking. “Hello?”
“Hey, Takashi,” Mercedes said.
“I’m on speaker again. Are you not feeling well?”
Mercedes laughed. “No, that was Narissa’s doing. She actually got Tasha to answer on speaker without me having to approve or deny.”
“My apologies, Miss Mercedes,” Tasha said. “I assumed, due to the number of times you spoke to Takashi on speaker in the last few days, Narissa was reminding me.”
All three friends laughed and Mercedes spoke to her assistant. “It’s okay, Tasha. I don’t mind that he’s on speaker.”
“Very well.”
“So, I have to make this quick,” Takashi said. “Our lunch is short as they need to cram in a few extra things before the seminar ends today, but I wanted to ask you something. Since today is the last day, there is a dinner party tonight, and I found out I can bring a guest. I was wondering if you’d be interested in going.”
Narissa’s eyes snapped to Mercedes and she nodded, mouthing, “Say yes. I’ve got you.”
Mercedes smiled. “Yeah, I’d love to.”
“Great.”
“I’ll make sure she looks nice and sexy for you,” Narissa shouted out. “You won’t be able to keep your eyes or hands off her when I’m done.”
Mercedes’ mouth dropped. She couldn’t believe her friend right now.
To her surprise, Takashi chuckled. “You won’t have to do anything, then.”
Narissa grinned and Mercedes was speechless.
“I’ll pick you up at six thirty, Mercedes. I have to go now.”
Before she could formulate a response, the call ended. Mercedes found Narissa staring at her, her face resting on the palm of her hand. “You two are adorable.”
She needed to get back at her friend. She was getting too many legs up on her today with all these comments. A wicked grin spread across Mercedes’ lips when a thought came to her. “Coming from the woman who likes to sit on the lap of a particular hunky patient and then deny everything when caught in the act.”
Her friend’s cheeks reddened and she sat up straight. “Because it’s the truth.”
“Uh huh, sure.” Mercedes stood up. “Or maybe you just don’t want to admit you are ready to move on.”
Narissa crossed her arms. “Keep that craziness up and I won’t take you shopping.”
She shrugged. “Fine, I have my own money. And I’m capable of shopping for something nice all on my own.”
A long sigh came from Narissa, and then she stood up. “Brat. You’re not going without me. No way am I going to not help you with your big date.”
Mercedes’ eyes darted away. “I wouldn’t call it a date. There will be other people there that we’ll have to interact with.”
“Doesn’t mean it won’t be just the two of you later.” Narissa winked. “Unless, of course, you’re into that kind of thing.”
Mercedes laughed. “Now you sound like Shira.”
She bowe
d. “Pleased to be of service.”
The two laughed some more and then left to shop.
Narissa fussed with Mercedes’ golden hair, curled and waved, while Mercedes applied her lipstick. She had to get her friend to stop when her makeup application ended, and then she fussed with her tight, sapphire blue, low-cut cowl cocktail dress Narissa bought for her. The back had a criss-cross back comprised of several strips, and the dress was overall a little short for what she’d think best for a dinner party, but Narissa insisted it was perfect for the occasion.
Mercedes wiggled her toes in her heeled sandals and then faced her gorgeous friend. “I think I’m ready.”
A large grin spread across Narissa’s lips. “To go to a party or seduce your date?”
Mercedes smacked her friend on the arm. “Stop it.”
Narissa chuckled and left the bedroom. Mercedes looked herself over in the mirror one last time and then followed.
“Miss Mercedes,” Tasha said from the room infrastructure. “Takashi sent you a text message. He will be here in five minutes.”
“Thank you, Tasha.” Mercedes took a deep breath. “Here we go.”
Narissa handed her a clutch and her phone. Tasha auto transferred to the phone and the two left the hotel room. Mercedes tapped her fingers on her clutch as they stood in the elevator. She didn’t know how Takashi would react to seeing her. As much as she liked the dress, a part of her thought it was more club material, rather than dinner party wear.
Narissa nudged her. “Calm down. He’s going to love what he sees.”
“Yeah… maybe…”
Her friend sighed but didn’t push. It’d been a long day for them. Between shopping, dealing with the arm testing, and trying to determine if this move with Takashi was the right one, Mercedes’ nerves were all out of whack. Nothing Narissa could say would help her calm down.
The box came to a halt and the two headed for the large entrance doors. The lobby was busy, and Mercedes found herself hyper aware of any attention she received—some positive, some not so much. Nothing she hadn’t dealt with before.
Mercedes took a deep, calming breath before leaving the building, the hot and humid California night air slamming into her. Good thing I know how to use hairspray. A white 2106 Nissan Altima sat out front, Takashi leaning against the front fender, his nose in his phone as he texted someone. He had one of his hands shoved in one of his pant suit pockets, oblivious of their approach. Mercedes looked him over. He looked good in a suit and tie. A primal want simmered in her. He’d look good without it, too.
“I hope you’re not texting some other woman,” Narissa called out. “You got a good one right in front of you.”
Takashi’s head snapped up and the moment he laid eyes on Mercedes his jaw dropped. Well… he likes it… I think…
Takashi composed himself. “You look amazing, Mercedes.”
Mercedes looked herself over. “Not too over the top?”
“Definitely not.”
She smiled and then squeaked when Narissa latched onto her. “I made her irresistible, didn’t I?”
Takashi grinned. “I told you, you didn’t have to do anything to get her to that point.”
Mercedes’ face warmed. She knew he liked her, but hearing him be so open about his opinion of her in front of others, it was a new feeling for her. Not even her last boyfriend had been this way. Is Narissa right? Were all of them the problem and not me? Or is Takashi just an oddity?
Takashi flicked his wrist, and a bouquet of white roses with red tips appeared in his hands. Takashi held them out to her, a smile on his face.
Narissa let her go, and Mercedes accepted the gift. “Thank you, Takashi. They’re beautiful.”
He smiled, but didn’t say anything, his eyes never leaving her.
More white and red. He hasn’t given up yet. She should give him an answer, but the right one lodged in her throat. She needed more time.
Mercedes smelled the flowers and a coy smile spread across her lips. “You’re going to have to teach me one of these days how you manage to do this.”
Takashi’s smile spread into a grin, his eyes smoldering. “One of these days, I might.” He held out his hand to her. “We should get going. We don’t want to be late.”
Narissa took the roses from Mercedes. “I’ll get these into a vase in your hotel room.” She winked. “I’ll fetch you two some water, too, if you’d like.”
Mercedes smacked her in the arm. “Stop it.”
Narissa laughed and then excused herself to allow the pair to leave. Takashi took her by the hand and opened the passenger door for her. She smiled and then slipped in. He shut the door and jogged to the driver’s side.
“Good evening, Mercedes,” Ochi’s computer voice said from the car dash.
“Hello, Ochi.”
“I am pleased you could make it. Your acceptance of Takashi’s invitation made him quite happy.”
She smiled. “I’m glad he invited me. I just hope I’m dressed properly for this.”
“I’m sure you look perfect.”
Takashi hopped into the car. The action caused the necklace he always wore to move from under his tie. She shouldn’t have been surprised he still wore it, as he did say he rarely took it off, but there was a part of her that had thought he would have for such a formal event. I wonder if there’s more significance to it than I once thought. “Ochi, we’re all set to leave.”
“Please buckle up, you two. We will arrive at our destination in seventeen minutes.”
The two snapped their seatbelts into place and the car pulled away, merging into the busy evening traffic.
Loud chatter filled the large room. Takashi conversed with a young woman by the name of Amy, who also specialized in auction house trade in Lusara Fates, and discussed the upcoming changes to business coming in the new expansion. The expansion would include improved store fronts that could now be manned by NPCs with custom dialogue, personalities, and reactions. Many, including Takashi, were quite excited for this change, but several were a little less enthusiastic.
A tall man with a physique similar to Ajax approached, though his darks eyes pinned on Mercedes, who stood next to Takashi, listening in on his and Amy’s conversation. Here we go again. He did his best not to react as the newcomer pushed his way in between Mercedes and another man by the name of Jack, who had been contributing to the conversation every now and then. This had been a common occurrence all night.
The gentleman extended his hand to Mercedes. “Name’s Aaron.”
Mercedes responded with a pleasant smile and shook his hand, though Takashi noticed the well-hidden twitch of her eye. He worried all this hand shaking was causing her too much trouble with that prosthetic. “Mercedes Gail.”
A muscle in Aaron’s neck twitched. Strike one. To not give a full name in an introduction for a setting such as this, even if he were trying to impresses Mercedes on a non-business level, was the most basic mistake.
Aaron was determined to try again. “Can you believe all this talk about the new NPC change? It’s not a good thing to get excited over.”
Mercedes sipped some wine. “I disagree. This change has a great deal of potential.”
Strike two.
Aaron frowned. “It removes the human element to our business, and will ruin what we have going on now.”
Mercedes tucked her hand under her elbow and swirled her wine. The way she held herself told Takashi she was going to invest in the conversation, but not in this man. “I can tell you’re not an auction-based businessman, so I’m going to assume you focus on the current style of business fronts. Your way of doing business won’t change. This new NPC change will, however, allow for people like Amy and Takashi here to not only focus on auctions, but have a storefront for players to interact with directly, instead of having to
visit an action house. It adds an element to the game that is missing, but it doesn’t take away from what you do already.”
Aaron’s eyes narrowed. Takashi liked that he wasn’t getting his way. Aaron assumed Mercedes was eye candy and easy to impress with a few words, but he was going to find out just how intelligent she really was. And how much she didn’t like arrogant pricks.
“You can’t expect an NPC to act like a human,” Aaron argued.
Mercedes smiled. “You’re right, and no one is. These NPCs will be NPCs. They will never be PCs. But by having unique NPCs manning a store, it improves PCs interactions with your business and increases the chance of their return. It also benefits someone like yourself if you need to step away from your store front for any amount of time. You are ensured your customer won’t receive a static, sub-quality experience in your absence.”
Takashi was impressed. He knew she could hold her own around someone like this, but he never expected this kind of insight from her. It also proved valuable for those in this business, as she was technically a potential customer. He could tell Amy and Jack were also taking mental note of her responses.
Aaron’s mood soured more, amusing Takashi. He liked that this arrogant businessman wasn’t getting his way. “You act like you know the statistics for this supposed win.”
“Ochi,” Mercedes said, not taking her eyes off Aaron.
“Yes, Mercedes?” Ochi responded from Takashi’s pocket.
“Can you tell me the result of the player satisfaction rate increase I had to you run ten minutes ago?”
Takashi’s brow furrowed. “How did I miss that request?”
She glance him an alluring sidelong glance with a grin. “You were busy talking with Amy.”
Cheeky. He loved it, too.
“Without knowing all data factors, my analysis indicates that there will be a minimum of a forty percent increase in player satisfaction with this new non-player character store front change. Did you finish your own analysis?”
“Yes. I came up with a thirty-eight percent increase, give or take five percent error threshold.”
Spellbinding His Ranger: A Sci-Fi Gamer Friends-to-Lovers Romance (Looking For Group Book 1) Page 17
