Southern Seduction by Brenda Jernigan Read Free Book Online Page A

woman’s resentment. Brooke just needed time. She had to earn the staff’s respect and trust. It would have been one thing if she had come to them as Travis’s wife, but that wasn’t the case.
    Brooke remembered yesterday with a smile as she stretched, not yet wanting to give up the warmth of her covers. Even with all the problems she’d encountered since her arrival, Brooke was glad she’d traveled to America. Back in London, she had been readily welcomed at parties and had even set some of the latest fashion trends, but she’d never been completely accepted. There were always the few that whispered about her. Now she had a chance at living some kind of a normal life, even if she still had to work through a few problems here.
    But Brooke Hammond was nothing if not a survivor. She would figure out the solutions to her problems.
    As she slowly came awake, she looked around her room. She really couldn’t complain about her accommodations. They were at the far end of the hall so it was very quiet. At night, the only sounds she heard were the cries of night birds calling in the wind.
    The walls were painted a warm rose color. The four-poster mahogany bed was big and soft with a feather comforter and quilts of pink and cream colored silk. All in all, the room was quite lovely.
    A crackling sound caught Brooke’s attention, and she pushed herself up on her elbows to see. Apparently, one of the upstairs maids had crept in while she’d been sleeping and built a small fire in the marble fireplace. Good, Brooke thought, the nights had turned surprisingly cool, considering the balmy days, and the idea of the cold, wooden planks under her feet was not very appealing at the moment.
    She yawned and stretched and dared to stick one foot out of the warmth of the bed. The air in the room was tolerably warm now that the fire was going. She couldn’t solve her problems by lounging, so she tossed back the covers and slid out of bed.
    Today, Mr. Jeffries was leaving to attend to few matters before he returned to England. Last night, he’d explained that he had business with other clients that would require his attention for a couple of months in St. Louis. Then he had to make sure that Jocelyn was settled comfortably in her New York home.
    Mr. Jeffries pointed out that his departure would give Brooke and Travis time alone together, so they could get to know each other. Brooke had her doubts that ten years alone with Travis would help.
    He seemed to have little desire to know her at all. Since she’d arrived, he’d made himself scarce, so getting to know him had proven difficult. However, he had managed to grace them with his presence at dinner every night so far. Although the conversation continued to be strained, Brooke kept trying.
    Travis was proving to be a very stubborn man, and Brooke was slowly learning patience, not an easy task for someone who had none.
    If she didn’t find a way to get Travis talking to her soon, she’d never be able to win him over.
    Brooke splashed cool water on her face, remembering the scathing looks that Travis sent her way more than once every night at dinner. She often wondered what the exasperating man was thinking because he seemed to be studying her. Whatever it was, he hid his thoughts very well.
    Damned man.
    She sighed. Travis Montgomery was an ever changing mystery. Brooke wasn’t sure how she was ever going to break through Travis’s frosty outer shell, and he most definitely had one. She suspected he was trying to drive her away by being rude, but that wasn’t going to work.
    She was nothing if not persistent.
    Brooke had to do something to make herself indispensable, and today was the day to get started, she decided as she peered into her wardrobe. She needed just the perfect outfit, she thought, hoping she remembered how to flirt and seduce a man after being out of practice for so long.
    Perhaps it was like riding a horse, and one never forgot. She smiled, then sobered. It had been