Free Seducing the Enemy by Noelle Adams

have to believe me. Just keep your eyes out, would you? Let me know if you notice anything off. I can’t let her take advantage of my family.”
    “Of course not, sir.”
    After Gordon left, Harrison stared at his computer but the words on the screen blurred. He was too tired. He’d gotten behind, though. And people counted on him. His family counted on him. So he drank the coffee until the words cleared, and then he started to work again.
    …
    The next morning, Marietta found the breakfast room empty, although the sideboard was filled with trays of eggs, potatoes, bacon, toast, tomatoes, and pastries.
    It was just seven o’clock, but apparently Damon and Harrison had already eaten, and Andrew wasn’t yet out of bed.
    She disliked being in the house alone, although she wasn’t sure the company of Damons would be preferable.
    She ate. Then she wandered around aimlessly without anything to do. Gordon told her that Damon had left instructions that she should make herself at home and that the staff was at her service. Apparently, he was busy with work all day. Harrison had gone to London until late afternoon.
    She took a walk around the grounds, trying to feel scorn rather than admiration for the beautifully kept gardens and wooded park. After lunch, she went to the library, hoping for something to read.
    What the hell was she even doing here, if everyone ignored her?
    She could have been home by now, surrounded by her friends and family and familiar landscape. She could have relaxed and fallen back into her real life.
    She’d taken this huge step, been victorious over her instinct to panic, only to be ignored—as if it were all for nothing.
    The library was huge and had a vast collection of books, but not the kinds she wanted. She needed something light and enjoyable—a romance or a cozy mystery. After browsing the shelves, she finally picked up Little Women and stretched out on a chaise near the window to read.
    It seemed strange that a male-dominated home like this one would have Louisa May Alcott on the shelves, but she would take her pleasures where she could find them.
    She’d gotten through a few chapters when something buzzed by her ear. She jerked away instinctively.
    A wasp darted toward her, hovering at the corner of the pages.
    She waved the book, but the wasp circled angrily, staying just outside the range of her book. Afraid it was going to sting her, she scrambled out of the chaise and backed away.
    She had no quarrel with the fat, friendly bumblebees that frequented the gardens in Provence, but she hated wasps. Thin and angular, they’d always struck her as looking malicious.
    When the wasp flew over to the bay window and buzzed around the glass, she warily sat back down on the chaise.
    In a minute, the insect flew over to join her again and Marietta jumped up, waving her book to shoo the wasp. She knew she shouldn’t rile them up by hitting at them, but how else could she get rid of them?
    The wasp made a few vindictive sweeps around her head, then returned to the window.
    She scanned the room and found a pile of magazines on a side table. Grabbing a glossy business publication, she stalked toward the window.
    The wasp had landed on the glass. She very slowly brought the magazine up and smacked it hard against the window.
    The wasp flew out of range just in time.
    With a snarl of annoyance, Marietta slapped at it again. She missed a second time, watching as it flew toward the ceiling, beyond the range of her arm.
    She waited, determined and on guard.
    This was war. She had to put up with arrogant, heartless Damon men, but she wasn’t going to be bullied by a Damon wasp.
    She stood perfectly still until the wasp alit on a delicate antique table that looked like it might be Chippendale. Inching toward it, she swung the magazine and once again missed her target.
    She chased the wasp to the arm of a leather chair, then the wall next to the window, and then a bookshelf. As it continued to elude her, she