Southern Seduction by Brenda Jernigan Page B

time for my wedding to Hesione. That should take care of my father’s wishes.”
    Mr. Jeffries wiped his mouth with the linen cloth and placed it beside his plate. “I shall do my best, sir.”
    Brooke noted that Travis didn’t look much like a man in love. As a matter of fact, he was frowning as was his usual habit, and a muscle flicked angrily in his jaw before he continued. “My arrangement with Hesione will provide a perfect match,” he said.
    He sounded like he was trying to convince himself as well as the rest of the people in the room, Brook e thought. Perhaps, there was hope that Jackson’s plan would succeed yet.
    Travis shoved his chair back from the table and then stood up. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, Mrs. Hammond, Jefferies, the cane harvest starts today.”
    “Then it will be the perfect time for you to show me our plantation,” Brooke said firmly. She folded her hands on her lap and waited to see how Travis would respond.
    He stiffened, then he faced her. Keeping his features deceptively composed, his burning eyes held hers. Once again, Brooke was struck by his stark good looks, and no matter how surly he was, something about him attracted her. Perhaps, like a month to a flame, she was doomed. She wasn’t sure she liked that scenario.
    “I was rather expecting or should I say hoped that you’d be leaving with Mr. Jeffries,” Travis told her.
    Brooke smiled. No wonder he’d been in such a cheerful mood this morning. He was expecting her to be gone. “I just bet you were,” she said matter-of-factly. “Sorry to disappoint you, but my business is here not in St. Louis with Mr. Jefferies.
    “ Plus there is the matter of the little party you must plan. I wouldn’t miss that for the world as I am to be the reason for the ball.” Ignoring Travis’s smoldering glare, Brooke rose and walked around the table to Mr. Jeffries. “The next time I see you,  I shall have had quite an education about running Moss Grove Plantation.”
    Mr. Jeffries tried to hide his smile, but Brooke saw it in the quirking at the corners of his mouth. “I’m hoping that the two of you will work something out to the satisfaction to your dual satisfaction.”
    “My satisfaction would be for you to take her with you,” Travis muttered sourly. “Moss Grove is no place for this woman.” Then he turned and abruptly left the dining room.
    As Brooke watched the ir ritating man stride from the room, she prepared herself for the battle of wills ahead of her. But first things first. She turned to Mr. Jeffries and took his hands in hers, holding them out in front of her. “I hope you will have a safe and pleasant trip.”
    Jeffries smiled. “Remember, my dear. Montgomery is still adjusting to you being here,” he cautioned. “He’s stubborn like his father, but he will come around.”
    “Miracles do happen, I suppose,” Brooke said, sarcastically. Of course, this miracle might need divine intervention. “Now, where are the stables?”
    “I believe they are to your right when you leave by the front entrance,” Mr. Jeffries said. “I shall finish gathering my things, and then I’ll leave. I shall see you upon my return. I sincerely hope that your relations with Travis will have smoothed over by then.”
    Brooke had grown so fond of the man that she impulsively hugged him, producing an immediate flush on his cubby face. He bade her good-bye, then turned and left.
    She strolled out of the dining room to the foyer where she found Travis there slipping on his dark brown coat. She swept past the damned man, hating the way he made her feel so stupid.
    She hated even more the fact that she needed him. She knew full well that hating him was not going to help her achieve her goal. She had to make Travis so hungry for her that that he would break off his engagement to the mysterious Hesione. Brooke hurried outside determined to find the damned stables with or without him. She heard the door open and close behind her, but she