Free Seduced by Jess Michaels Page B

man…with this wicked proposition.
    Audrey seemed to ponder that question a moment before her face lit up. “I might have something that can help with that question. One moment.”
    She scurried from the room with a grin on her face. Claire moved toward Letty. “I’m almost afraid of what she has in mind.”
    Letty laughed weakly. “As am I.”
    “There is nothing wrong with deciding to take your own happiness,” Claire said, smoothing a curl away from Letty’s face. “Life is far too short and unpredictable to do otherwise.”
    Letty bent her head. “Yes, I have lived that truth. Noah’s illness came on so suddenly, none of us could truly prepare. I know he left behind a great many things undone, unsaid, unconfessed.”
    “Then learn from his loss and don’t do the same,” Josie said softly. “I’m sure it’s what he’d want for you.”
    Letty thought of Aaron. He’d said something similar, though perhaps for slightly different reasons. It was like the stars were aligning, all pointing toward one answer.
    To take a lover. But not some gentleman—to take a lover like Jack.
    Audrey returned to the parlor with her hands behind her back and a wicked smile on her face. “Jude gave this to me a few months ago and we have gotten a lot of fun out of it. But it truly gives some practical advice in these matters, including how to approach a gentleman who you’d like to take as a lover.”
    She held out the item behind her back, and the room gave a collective gasp.
    “Is that The Ladies Book of Pleasure ?” Claire squealed, snatching it from Audrey before Letty could take it.
    “Yes,” Audrey said, glaring at her older sister pointedly. “For Letty .”
    “Oh, I know,” Claire said, flipping open the plain leather-bound book. “I’ve just always wanted to see it.”
    The others moved closer, including Letty, and she gasped. There, in full detail and color, was a picture of a man bending a woman over a chair…taking her. She turned her face in shock, trying to ignore the heat that seemed to spread through her whole body.
    The others seemed more interested than surprised, though Josie and Mary did shift slightly and exchange an embarrassed glance.
    “G-goodness, it is exactly as everyone has said all these years,” Josie stammered.
    “Yes, it’s very naughty,” Audrey said with a laugh. “You will at least get a little titillation from the book, Letty. But as I said, it does have some good advice. Take it for a while and see if it will help you think up a plan of approach.”
    Letty stared as Claire pushed the book at her. Take it? Read it? God, she wasn’t ready for that. Just the one picture made her heart drop into her stomach and her legs wobbly.
    “Er, I—”
    “Do it, Letty,” Claire said, forcing the tome into her hands at last.
    Letty took it with reluctance and sighed as she crossed to her reticule. She slipped it inside, taunted by how she could still see the top of the book even when she pulled the strings to tighten it.
    “I think we’ve tortured poor Letty enough,” Mary said. “Audrey, you said those roses you’ve been struggling with are finally trying to bloom. Why don’t we get some air and see them?”
    Letty shot her friend a grateful look and watched as the others gathered themselves to go outside into the garden. It had been a very interesting day, indeed, and now she had a great deal to think about. Mostly if she was brave enough to approach a man to become her lover.
    Hell, Jack. That was who she thought of. Only she had a few questions before she could dare contemplate the idea with any seriousness.
    Claire was at the rear of the group of her cousins, and Letty moved forward to catch her arm and hold her back.
    “Claire,” she said. “I did want to talk to you about one other matter, not related to this problem.”
    Claire nodded. “Of course. What is it?”
    “Well, you know that I met War’s brother, Mr. Blackwood, at your wedding and later sat with him at