He glanced down the long table at her, and as if she sensed him staring, she looked at him. Their gazes locked and held. There was no way Jonas wasn’t noticing, as well as Gannon. Hell, others were probably noticing as well, but he was too mesmerized to care.
Then Drew spoke and Mercury glanced over at his dad. “A game is on tonight. Anyone care to watch?”
His brothers all said yes. Mercury didn’t say anything because although he’d dropped eye contact with Sloan, he was still reeling. While holding her gaze he had tuned out everything around him...except for her.
Jonas leaned over toward him. “You still didn’t give me an answer to my question, Merk. But then, you truly don’t have to.”
“He doesn’t have to do what?”
That question had come from Gannon. Mercury then noticed that his brothers were standing around him at the table and everyone else was gone. “Where’s Sloan?”
“In the kitchen with Mom and our wives,” Galen said, looking at him funny.
“And why are you asking about Sloan?” Gannon asked, grinning. “You need to discuss something else with her locked in Mom’s office?”
Mercury frowned. Before he could say anything, Tyson’s wife, Hunter, walked into the dining room to grab the plates off the table. It wasn’t that he, his brothers or their dad were sexist. They could and did take their own plates to the kitchen, but those were Eden’s rules. Thursday was the one night she liked pampering her husband and sons.
When Hunter left, Mercury said, “Let’s speak Russian.” Because Eden had been a world traveler while modeling, it had been important to her that her sons spoke different languages. That was why Mercury and his brothers had the ability to speak several foreign languages fluently. The last thing he wanted was for Sloan to walk in to discover she was being discussed.
“Fine,” Eli said, dropping down in a chair.
Before they could begin their conversation, Sloan entered the room to gather the place mats. She smiled at them and they smiled back. She would probably wonder why they were speaking another language, but knowing she didn’t understand them was the important thing.
“We want to know where you stand with Sloan. We don’t want her to be taken advantage of,” Galen said, starting off the conversation in Russian.
Mercury stared at his brothers. Why did they think he owed them an explanation about anything concerning Sloan? Besides, hadn’t it been Eli and Tyson who’d dropped by his office yesterday, all but telling him he needed to do something before Eden got any ideas in her head? He took the time to remind them of that.
“We know,” Tyson said. “But that was before we got the chance to meet Sloan. We like her. In fact, we like her a lot. We all do.”
“I told you that you would,” Galen said, smiling. “She’s special.”
Mercury tried listening to his brothers while watching Sloan. Damn, she looked good moving around the table gathering the place mats. And she looked like she belonged here.
Belonged here? He didn’t like thinking that.
“So, what are your intentions toward her?” Gannon asked. “If you’re not going to make a move, I will.”
“The hell you will,” Mercury said to his youngest brother. “So, back off.”
Sloan glanced over at them with concern in her features. Mercury figured that although she couldn’t understand what they were saying, she could probably tell he was upset. “Look, guys, we will finish this discussion later,” he said, refusing to discuss Sloan with his brothers any longer. At least he’d let Gannon know she was off-limits.
At that moment the doorbell rang. Mercury glanced over at his brothers. “It’s late for visitors. Are the folks expecting anyone?” he asked them, still speaking Russian.
“Not sure,” Galen stated. “I’ll let Mom know she has company.”
“I can do that, Galen,” Sloan said. “I need to carry these place mats to the kitchen anyway. You guys can continue on with your conversation.” She then left the dining room.
Mercury and his brothers watched her leave, staring at her in shock and feeling the need to pick their jaws