Seduced By A Steele (Forged of Steele #12) - Brenda Jackson Page 0,26

job?”

“Of course I do.”

“And were you not the one who a few minutes ago made it clear to me, Sloan, that you don’t like depending on anyone?”

“Yes.”

“Then what’s the problem?” he asked, getting to his feet and then crossing the office floor to where she sat. She wished he hadn’t done that. Every time she saw his body in motion it did things to her. Things that didn’t make sense. She’d seen Harold move and it had never made her body hot in certain places. It never tempted her to glide her hands up his shoulders and abdomen to see just how tight his muscles were.

“Sloan, I asked what’s the problem.”

Mercury was now standing in front of her, and when she looked into his gorgeous green eyes, her pulse actually flickered.

“Did we not discuss this out in the parking lot? Did you not agree to accept my loan and that you would pay me back in installments?”

“But that was before I knew how much you would put into my account. Lisa was only going to loan me a thousand dollars.”

He tilted his head to further stare down at her. “And just how far do you think you’d get with a thousand dollars? Or do you intend to live with my parents forever?”

“Of course not!”

“Then what’s the problem? I’m loaning you enough money to get started. You’d need to put money down on a car, put a deposit on an apartment, buy food and clothes. So, I’m asking for the fifth time, what’s the problem?”

Sloan broke eye contact with him, knowing there was no way she could express herself logically while staring into his eyes, even if those eyes were upset with her at the moment. Licking her lips, she stared down at her lap instead, trying to gather her thoughts and not dwell on the heat curling in her midsection.

Drawing in a deep breath, she lifted her head to drag her gaze back to Mercury’s face and felt her body warm again under his regard. “The problem is that I don’t want to be in your debt, Mercury. I don’t want to feel dependent on you.”

She heard his frustrated sigh before he said in a calmer voice, “At some point, Sloan, you’re going to have to accept that, to get out of this mess your parents have placed you in, you’re going to have to depend on someone.” He paused a moment and then asked, “Do you prefer that my parents loan you the money?”

“No! I could never accept that from them.”

“Yet you were going to accept money from your friend Lisa. I’m offering you twenty times what Lisa was able to loan you. I don’t understand why you’re putting up such a fight. I’ve never before known any woman who didn’t like spending my money.”

His words set her off and she was out of her chair so fast it didn’t give him a chance to back up, so he didn’t. They were standing so close their bodies were touching, the way they had last night before they kissed. Trying to ignore how his closeness made her feel a little light-headed, she said, “I don’t want to become beholden to the one man in town who claims he knows every single woman who lives here.”

There, she’d said it. She’d expressed her feelings. Now all she had to do was get a grip on her heartbeat and slow it down. She wasn’t sure what reaction she had expected from him, but it wasn’t that he’d have no reaction at all. He was still staring down at her, those green eyes holding her captive.

“It shouldn’t bother you what woman I know or don’t know. I’m being generous. Are you going to let me help you or not?”

A part of Sloan knew she was being too prideful for her own good. She should accept his generous offer with the understanding that she would pay him back. Every cent. No matter how long it took. “Will you put me on a payment plan?”

“I told you that I would. Let me repeat myself. The money is a loan and not a gift.”