A Deal with Benefits. Susanna Carr

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      He tilted his head and captured her gaze. “Was it?” he asked softly.

      Ashley stiffened as she sensed the danger lurking beneath that question. How much did this man know? She needed to take control of this meeting. Her legs shook and she felt jittery, but she forced herself to remain standing. “Inez Key suffered a lot of damage during the hurricane, and the insurance wouldn’t pay for all of it.”

      He shrugged. “I don’t care how you got into debt.”

      She wanted to claw at his bored expression. Ashley curled her fingers into her palms as she felt her temper flare dangerously. “I didn’t make an agreement with you,” she said roughly. “I had a payment plan with Raymond.”

      “Which you couldn’t pay,” he said. “You took a gamble and you lost.”

      Ashley gritted her teeth. It was true and she couldn’t deny it. She had taken many risks when she’d accepted the loan. She’d had difficulty finding the money to repay, but she couldn’t let it end here. She had to get Inez Key back.

      “Raymond understood why I was having trouble making the payments,” she said, her voice shaking as emotions ran wild inside her. “He was giving me more time since he had been best friends with my father.”

      “I’m sure he was the epitome of understanding and compassion. But it was smart of you to keep it out of the banking system.” He wagged his finger at her. “I would have found out about it earlier.”

      Did he think this was funny? That this was a game? Her future was at stake here. “And then you wouldn’t have had to sleep with me to get that kind of information,” she retorted.

      Sebastian’s gaze slowly traveled down her tense body, resting briefly on her gentle curves. “That isn’t why I took you to bed.”

      Her skin burned. She couldn’t stop the fragmented memories flooding her mind. She remembered his hot masculine scent and the taste of his golden skin. Her dress felt tight as she recalled the sharp hiss between his teeth and the bite of pain when his strong fingers had tangled in her hair.

      Ashley abruptly looked away. She had a tendency to remember that night at the most inconvenient moments. Her heart was pounding against her chest and her body was flushed. “You didn’t have seduction in mind the moment you stepped on Inez Key,” she mumbled. “I find that highly unlikely.”

      “I didn’t know that you would indulge in pillow talk after sex,” he drawled as he leaned back in his chair and steepled his long fingers together. “I certainly didn’t expect you to reveal your agreement with Casillas. That was a bonus and it was impossible for me not to use that information for my benefit.”

      Ashley stared at Sebastian as her chest twisted painfully. How could he be so callous about that intimate moment? Didn’t he realize that she never confided in anyone? But she had felt close and safe enough to tell him her worries. She had been interested in his opinion and valued his advice. It was only in the light of day that she realized she had been lulled into a false sense of security.

      She somehow knew that rare slip of the tongue would come back and haunt her. He had used that moment of weakness to his advantage. “I will not allow you to take this island from me!”

      Sebastian was unmoved by her heated declaration. “It’s too late.”

      “Why are you being so unreasonable?” Her voice echoed in her ears. She lowered her hands firmly against her sides and tried again. “Why can’t you give me a second chance?”

      He seemed genuinely surprised by her question. As if she was more naive than he had given her credit. “Why should I? Have you done anything that would suggest you deserve a second chance?”

      She saw the way his eyes darkened. There was something about his choice of words. Suspicion slithered and coiled around her weary mind as she crossed her arms. “Is this because I kicked you out of bed the next morning?”

      Ashley wanted to bite her tongue the moment she spoke without thinking. She knew she had to be careful with her words. She cringed as she heard his husky chuckle.

      Sebastian’s smile was a slash of white against his dark skin. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

      She knew she had caught him off guard when she’d refused his offer to continue the relationship. Sebastian would never know how much the idea had both delighted and scared her. If he had seen her resolve weaken, he would have gone in for the kill. Her answer came across cold and unfeeling and she knew the rejection had stung.

      To think she had felt bad about it! She had spent hours reviewing that moment and wishing she had refused more gracefully. And more than once she wished she had the courage to have accepted his offer.

      But she realized that even after one glorious night, she was in danger of becoming the kind of woman she hated. A sexual creature. A woman who was driven by her emotions and needs. She had pulled away to protect herself.

      “I can’t help but think this is all personal,” she said, glaring at him.

      He arched a dark eyebrow. “How is that possible when we had not met until I arrived on Inez Key?” he murmured.

      Ashley felt as if she was missing something. She knew they’d never met. One would never forget the briefest encounter with Sebastian Cruz. “You lied to me about your name, you had a hidden agenda and you seduced me. I was right to follow my instincts and get rid of you.”

      “And I’m right to follow my instincts and remove you from the island immediately,” Sebastian said, clicking his computer keyboard as if the discussion was over.

      Immediately? Panic gripped her chest. Before she’d walked in here she’d had two weeks to leave the island. She was making this worse. “Inez Key is all I have,” she said in a rush. “Without it, I have no home, no money...”

      He didn’t glance away from the computer screen. “That is not my concern.”

      She marched over to his desk and braced her hands on the edge. She would demand his attention if she had to reach over and grab him by the throat. “How can you be so cruel?” she asked in a low growl.

      He lifted his gaze and held hers. “Cruel? You don’t know the meaning.”

      She leaned forward. “I can’t lose Inez Key. That is my home and my livelihood.”

      “Livelihood?” He scoffed at the word. “You haven’t worked a day in your life. You rent out your home to wealthy people for the occasional weekend.”

      She let that criticism slide. She may not have a traditional job, but that didn’t mean she didn’t work hard to hold on to everything that was dear to her. “They pay good money for privacy. You did. What makes you think others won’t?”

      He reached for his pen and uncapped it. “There aren’t enough rich celebrities looking for privacy to pay back your loan.”

      “I haven’t been doing it long enough,” she insisted. She needed to buy a little time. “Raymond understood that.”

      Sebastian shook his head. “Raymond Casillas wanted you to dig a deeper hole. He knew you were never going to be able to pay back the СКАЧАТЬ