Jack adjusted his glasses. “You did all of that calculating yourself in your head?”
Mercedes smiled at him. “Of course. What do you think I was doing while the three of you were talking? Standing here looking pretty?”
Takashi and Amy laughed. Jack looked amused by her words, but also embarrassed for asking. Aaron, on the other hand, didn’t seem to find any amusement in the conversation.
Mercedes and he went back and forth some more. Takashi tried to continue his conversation with Amy, but Aaron’s increasing irritation tempted Takashi to step in. No, this is Mercedes. She can handle it. She was a manager in a male dominated field and knew how Lusara Fates worked. She also proved she was more than capable of handling this guy.
Amy leaned in and kept her voice low. “Your date is handling that guy really well.”
“With her line of work, I’m sure she’s dealt with worse,” Takashi said, finding himself looking at Mercedes again.
He thought Narissa had been joking when she claimed to plan on making Mercedes somehow even more irresistible than she already was. Takashi didn’t think it were possible for Mercedes to be any more distracting. He was proven quite wrong when she met him at the car. The way her dress clung to her frame—and the short style—teased his imagination; he found a primal desire demanding he forget about the party and escort her back up to her hotel room and lock the door behind them.
Watching her now go toe-to-toe with this business entrepreneur in the same sexy dress, that need returned.
Amy turned to Mercedes. “Excuse me, Mercedes?”
Mercedes looked her way. “Yes?”
Takashi wondered what this woman was up to. Aaron did not look pleased to be interrupted, but neither woman appeared to care.
“Takashi here mentioned you’re a businesswoman yourself, though not in the gaming industry. May I know what you do for a living?”
Mercedes smiled in a way that gave Takashi the impression that she understood something he was missing. “I’m a manager at my father’s car restoration shop. It’s a family business.”
“Fascinating. So you’re probably well-versed in industry changes, yes?”
Takashi now understood. She was aiming to give Mercedes a credibility boost, even if her field wasn’t the same.
Mercedes nodded. “You have to be. The technology in vehicles changes at a rapid pace. On top of that, we have to be flexible due to the popularity of cars older than sixty years.”
Jack spoke up. “Since it’s a family business, as you claim, how long have you been involved in the industry?”
Mercedes laughed. “When other girls were playing with dolls, I was learning the differences between a socket wrench and a hex wrench.”
“And how much of the game industry do you know?” Aaron asked.
Mercedes smirked. “When other girls were setting up for tea parties, I was getting frustrated at the dog in Duck Hunt for making fun of me.”
Jack’s brow rose. “That’s quite the retro game.”
Mercedes smiled at him. “My mother taught me to appreciate where games came from. I’ve got a vast collection of systems and games ranging from the 1980’s to the most recent console systems that are still hanging on, even with the increased popularity of virtual reality.”
Jack’s interest in Mercedes grew. Takashi had seen this happen several times throughout the night. He’d seen very few men deterred by her cybernetic, and most found greater interest in her when they learned more of her professional background, as well as her gaming hobby and contributions to the gaming community. He wasn’t sure where she got the idea that her cybernetic put her at odds in the dating scene. He did know, though, she made it clear she was with him, and that made him feel like the luckiest man here.
The conversation continued, Aaron eventually backing out and going off somewhere else. When an hour passed, the party concluded.
Takashi rested his hand on Mercedes’ lower back as the pair said their farewells and left. He found himself doing this several times during the party, but she never minded. One thing Narissa had right, he struggled her keep his hands off Mercedes tonight. Every time the space between them increased, he yearned to bring her back to him. He enjoyed the contact—the subtle claim she allowed.
His rental car pulled up in front of the hotel and he opened the passenger door for Mercedes. She smiled her thanks and slipped in. He swallowed hard when the movement gave him a brief glance down her dress, and quickly shut the door. This dress will be the death of me.
He got himself situated in the driver’s seat and had Ochi drive them back to Mercedes’ hotel. As they merged into the late evening traffic, Takashi reached out and grasped Mercedes’ hand, lacing his hands in with hers. She looked at him and smiled. The expression elated him, as did her acceptance. “Did you enjoy yourself?”
She nodded. “I did. The dinner was nice, and most of the conversation was pleasant. I learned a lot, too. I didn’t realize there were so many different ways to do business in the game.”
A wide grin spread across his face. “Considering changing professions?”
She laughed. “No, I’m happy doing what I do.”
“Plenty of people were impressed with your line of work. Made you quite popular.”
“I’m used to that kind of attention. People for some reason find it fascinating women like that field of work, even in this day and age. It was the other kind of attention that threw me.” She grinned, her eyes glowing. “But, unfortunately for them, I’m happy with the date I picked for the party.”
He couldn’t help but smile back. “I’m glad.”
“So, this was the last day of the seminar. Did you get out of it what you wanted?”
“As boring as some of the topics were, I did, and then some.”
She smiled. “That’s great.”
He noticed her smile didn’t reach the full width of her face, which wasn’t like her when she was happy. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong.” She pursed her lips. “Just thinking. What are your plans now that the seminar is over? You hopping on a plane tomorrow to see your family?”
He studied her before speaking. “Well, I thought I’d stay a few more days. Spend more time with you and help you out with testing.”
She chewed her lower lip and her gaze lowered. Normally that’d be a hard tease for him, but he didn’t get a good feeling from it this time. “Narissa thought a week’s worth of testing would be good to start with this. But as of this morning we’re thinking I’ll have to stay for another week, if not more.”
That was the reason for her distress? “Mercedes, I’ll stay as long as needed. If you need to stay here for three weeks, then I’ll help you.”
Her brow creased. “But your family deserves to have you home. They don’t get to see you often.”
Takashi squeezed her hand. “Trust me, it’ll be fine. They’ll understand, and that doesn’t mean I won’t have time to see them. I haven’t booked my return ticket, and I can work just about anywhere.”
“But what about your cat?”
“My neighbor is watching her, and told me I can take an extended time away if needed. I just have to let her know in advance, and wire some money to her.”
Mercedes sucked in a tight breath, her eyes showing the conflict raging in her. “Okay, if that’s what you want.”
He didn’t understand. Did she not want him to stay?
“I just don’t want to get in the way of your life.”
What? She thought she was an issue for him? Why would she think that? Mercedes was everything to him at this point. He didn’t want to ever have to say goodbye to her.
Wait. Emi said something about her self-esteem. Was this all related to why she didn’t react the way he’d hoped to the flowers? He’d given her another bouq
uet to gauge her reaction again, and nothing had changed since the first time.
Takashi took a quick breath and looked at their entwined fingers. He needed to put his question into words, and this was as good a time as any. “Mercy, can we talk about something?”
Her brow furrowed. “Uh, sure.”
He realized he should have assured her she wasn’t getting in the way, but this conversation would clear that up. “I’ve tried to make this clear without pushing too many boundaries too quickly, but there’s been a lot of dodging. So I need this to be out there for us to just talk about now.”
Takashi squeezed her hand and then looked into her eyes. “I want there to be an ‘us.’ If you don’t, that’s fine. We can stay friends and we’ll forget I brought this up. But I don’t want to continue to wonder where things stand, and guess what is and isn’t okay for boundaries.”
Mercedes’ gaze dropped, her teeth catching her bottom lips. He would have gotten a bit nervous, had it not been for the fact she wasn’t trying to pull away from him. “I… I do want there to be an us. I…” She sighed and leaned back in her seat. “I’ve just been having a hard time telling you. With everything I’ve had to deal with, it just hasn’t felt real. Like... it’s some dream I’m going to wake up from and none of this ever happened.”
Takashi tugged her closer, and she complied, her brow furrowed. He reached out, cupping her cheek, and pulled her closer until her lips crashed into his. They both inhaled in unison, and he didn’t pull away until he saw white.
Her eyes fluttered and her mouth remained partially open as she processed everything. He grinned. “Did that feel like a dream?”
It took her a moment to respond. “Felt pretty real to me.” A smile spread across her tempting lips. “But if this a dream, I don’t want to wake up.”
“Me either.” Takashi went to lean in for another kiss, but Ochi interrupted, frustrating him.
“Takashi, if you’d like me to ‘accidentally’ miss the turn for the hotel, you may want to tell me now, else we will be there in less than a minute.”
Takashi sighed as Mercedes laughed. “No, continue the course.”
He would have liked to say something else, but based on the most recent conversation, and how hard it was for him to get this to be official, he was better off not pushing his luck right now.
The car pulled up to her hotel and he let go of Mercedes’ hand to exit. Miss Independent didn’t wait for him to open her door. She’d done this when they arrived for the party, too. He wished she’d allow him to dote on her for more than a few minutes.
Takashi managed to get around the vehicle in time to offer his hand to help her out, which she was more than willing to accept.
“Thank you for inviting me to the party,” Mercedes said, smiling at him. “I really did enjoy myself.”
His hand still holding hers, he smiled back. “I’m glad you accepted. I know short notice isn’t ideal, especially since you’ve been testing all day, but—”
She placed a finger on his lips and hushed him. “Stop. If it was an issue, I would have told you. You know that.”
Takashi pulled her finger off and pressed her hand against his chest. “I’ll take your word for it.”
She glanced back at the hotel entrance. “It’s late. I shouldn’t hold you up anymore.”
Disappointment pricked in him, but if she didn’t want to invite him to stay, he wasn’t going to force it on her. Small steps with her. He was just glad he’d gotten this far.
Takashi reached out and cupped her cheek, making her look at him. Her blue eyes widened and her mouth opened, but he captured her lips with his before she had the chance to speak. She sucked in a deep breath, but didn’t push him away.
Her tantalizing scent and taste numbed all his other senses. He drank it up while resisting the urge to deepen the kiss and push this farther.
Takashi pulled away, Mercedes’ eyes fluttering back open. He noted her flushed face and relaxed posture. He grinned, pleased. “Goodnight, Mercedes.”
He headed for the car, and Mercedes called out to him. “Takashi, wait.” He stopped and looked back, interested in what she had to say. He found her grinning. “Treasure hunt, I pick. I’ll give you one hour to meet me in-game.”
He had to admit, he was a bit disappointed she specified in-game, but he liked that this date wasn’t exactly over yet. He smiled. “Meeting location, my shop.”
Her grin remained as she turned away and headed into the hotel. Takashi watched her leave, her hips swaying back and forth, hypnotizing him. The moment she left his sight, he came back to his senses and hopped into the car. He needed to get back to his hotel ASAP.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
An arrow whizzed past Takashi’s head, sinking deep in the target’s chest—a jungle orc, grey-skinned beastly humanoids with sloping foreheads and large tusks. They weren’t particularly smart creatures, but they were brutes, and Takashi had riled up a whole tribe of them by accident.
Their treasure hunt had gone smoothly until that point, unless Takashi counted the number of times he had to refocus himself on the task instead of on Mercedes. Even behind an avatar that didn’t have many similarities to her, he couldn’t help but be distracted. He saw past the rendered façade; the way she narrowed her eyes as she thought hard, the broad smile that reached her ears when she smiled, the way her stride made her hips sway just right. This woman would be the death of him. If these orcs aren’t first.
An arrow from the enemy orc landed in a tree next to him with a thunk, telling Takashi he needed to focus. He conjured up a fireball and lobbed it in the direction of a few clustered enemies. Several jumped out of the way, reducing the damage they took, but a handful weren’t so lucky. They screamed and roared as the smell of their burning flesh filled the air.
Three more arrows came at him—two he managed to dodge, the other sinking deep into his shoulder. He clenched his teeth as he stumbled. The one downside to this advanced virtual reality was the pain simulation. The game didn’t simulate damage to the full extent, making raiding and PvP doable, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.
Three battle-weary orcs nearby rushed for him, but Mercedes had his back. A volley of arrows rained down on the orcs, taking two out, and her precious pet, Lo’quena, lunged for a killing blow on the last. The assault gave him a chance to move back and unleash a crackle of lightning. The electric charge zapped another three clustered orcs, sparks arching between the creatures. It didn’t do as much damage as he hoped, but all three hunched over, temporarily paralyzed.
Mercedes took the opportunity to pierce them with more arrows until they collapsed into a heap of flesh. There were only a few enemies remaining, but Takashi was running low on mana, the energy source sorcerers used to cast spells, and he suspected Mercedes may be running low on arrows, though he didn’t know how prepared she’d come. On raid days, she’d been known to fill several quivers and bags so she wouldn’t have to port in and out of the raid to restock.
“Takashi, I’m going to have Lo’quena corral them for you,” Mercedes called out as she let another arrow fly. “Please don’t hit her.”
He nodded and gathered up the last of his mana reserve for a final fire attack while the glowing feline beast ran on Mercedes’ order. The rare elemental-infused creature was Mercedes’ newest pet as of approximately thirty minutes ago. The NPC spawned only three times a week in this jungle, and since a treasure hunt challenge happen here this time around, Takashi suggested they check the spawn locations while they were here. To her luck, Lo’quena prowled near one of two spawn points, and now Mercedes had a new companion, opting to keep the NPC name for novelty’s sake.
Lo’quena zig-zagged around, taking quick strikes with claws and electrical shocks to draw the attention of all remaining orcs. As hoped, all but the archers closed in on the pet. Mercedes called
the elemental beast back as she unleashed a volley of arrows on the cluster, and Takashi took that as a cue to release his final attack. Fire flew into the sky and then fell from the heavens in a large radius, incinerating the enemy.
The two remaining orcs roared in rage and knocked arrows, but weren’t as fast as Mercedes and her pet. She unleashed a flurry of arrows on one, and Lo’quena took out the remaining enemy. Then the jungle grew still. The stench of burning flesh, hair, and plant matter permeated the air.
Mercedes jumped in excitement. “Yahoo! We did it!”
Takashi threw an exhausted fist into the air and then fell back onto the ground. Mercedes gasped and rushed to his side. That last attack had taken the remaining energy from him, and it’d be a few minutes before his mana meter started to recover.
“Are you okay?” she asked as she fussed.
He chuckled and got her to stop. “I’ll be fine. I took a bit of damage, but this is from my depleted mana pool. I’m all tapped out.”
Her face creased with concern. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay? Caster mana withdrawals are a pain.”
“Even if I wasn’t, it was my fault for walking face-first into that band of orcs.”
“Okay, if you say so.” She looked to the piles of bodies. “I’m going to search for loot, and retrieve what arrows I can while you rest.”
He nodded and she ran off, searching each body that had anything left to them. Takashi suspected she wouldn’t find much, since he’d incinerated a good portion of the orcs. It was one of the other aspects of this game people liked. Players liked the realism of the attacks, even if it caused issues from time to time, like fire and loot.
Lo’quena dragged bodies to her master, and Mercedes rifled through their pockets, checking their gear and weapons, too. Thunder rumbled in the distance, concerning him. The jungle terrains were known for their unpredictable weather, and weather conditions did affect players, similarly to how they’d affect people in real life.
Takashi had regained his strength by the time Mercedes returned, a large grin on her face. His brow twisted. “What are you happy about?”
Spellbinding His Ranger: A Sci-Fi Gamer Friends-to-Lovers Romance (Looking For Group Book 1) Page 18