Seduced By A Steele (Forged of Steele #12) - Brenda Jackson Page 0,30
He’d run into her a few years ago at one of their college homecomings, and she was still trying to find a rich husband.
“They don’t look too busy today,” he said, pulling into the lot of the auto dealership.
Sloan glanced around and he smiled at the sparkle he saw in her eyes. “There are so many beautiful cars.”
“Yes,” he said, bringing his own car to a stop. “And there’s one out there with your name on it.”
“I’m positive this is the car I want,” Sloan said excitedly, smiling brightly at both Mercury and the car salesman. Her smile then faded somewhat when she thought of something. “But can I afford it without any credit history?”
To Sloan’s way of thinking, the smile the salesman returned was even brighter than hers. “Don’t worry about that, Ms. Donahue. Everything has been taken care of.”
She lifted a brow, not liking the sound of that. It reminded her of what salespeople would say when they knew her parents would take care of any debts she incurred. “What do you mean by that?”
Before the man could respond, Mercury said, “What he meant is that he’s in the business to make sure the customer gets any vehicle they want, even if it means adjusting the payments to accommodate the buyer. Right, Mr. Lowery?”
The man looked over at Mercury, nodded and then glanced back at her. “Yes, that’s right.”
“Great! Thanks, Mr. Lowery.” Like Sloan had told them, she really liked this car. It was a gorgeous sky blue Chevy Camaro. Same make and model as the red car that had been stolen from Mercury, but this one was the current year and brand spanking new. The exterior was so shiny she could practically see herself, and the interior was a dark blue leather with that new-car smell.
“Now I have my very own Camaro,” she said, trying to hold back her emotions. Sloan knew she would love this car forever because it was hers. It was a car she would work hard to pay for and that no one had given to her. It was hers and no one could take it away from her.
“Yes, you have your very own Camaro,” Mercury said, smiling down at her.
“How much down?” she then asked the salesman.
He looked at her strangely. “How much down?”
“Yes. How much money do I need to put down on this car?” Sloan figured the more she could put down the lower her payments would be. She only had twenty thousand dollars to work with and there were other things she needed to do with that money, which included putting a deposit on an apartment. She also needed to make sure she had enough to make the first couple of car payments in case she didn’t find a job right away.
The man hadn’t answered yet, but another question popped in her head. “Are there papers I need to sign? What about documents showing this car is truly mine? Or do I get them in the end when I pay off the car?” Sloan wasn’t sure how that worked since she’d never purchased a car before.
“You will get everything later,” Mercury said. “I will make sure all the paperwork is mailed to you.”
“But I don’t have a permanent address yet,” she said, nibbling nervously on her bottom lip. She hoped that wouldn’t be a problem getting everything in order in time to make her first payment. Now more than ever it was important that she got a job.
Over breakfast Eden had mentioned her friend Margaret Fowler, the one with connections to the Miss Universe pageant, wanted to speak with Sloan on Monday. Although the pageant was held every December, the job of interpreter was year-round and required a lot of traveling the last four months of the year. The other eight months entailed working from home, communicating with pageant officials who spoke other languages.
“I’ll pick it up and deliver it to you.”
“Thanks, Mercury.” She thought he was being nice about everything. So far, she had only two debts to worry about. The car payment and the money she had to pay back to Mercury for the bank deposit. “When