Miss Wilson's Secret Seduction

By Lisa Plumley

Everyone in the small town of Morrow Creek knows that Adeline has been sweet on Clayton Davis for years—and that he still hasn't proposed! While Adeline reluctantly waits for her man, Clayton is falsely accused of being a thief and the sheriff is hot on his tail. Now Adeline has to do everything in her power to stop him leaving town, even if she has to be positively indecent to make Clayton stay by her side—and in her bed....

This is a Morrow Creek short story exclusively available in e-book format.

This story is part of the Morrow Creek series, which includes: The Matchmaker (1), The Scoundrel (2), The Rascal (3), *Morrow Creek Marriage* (4); Mail-Order Groom (5), *Miss Wilson's Secret Seduction* (6), The Bride Raffle (7), *Something Borrowed, Something True* (8); The Honor-Bound Gambler (9), Notorious in the West (10), Morrow Creek Runaway (11), and Morrow Creek Marshal (12). (asterisks denote *novellas and short stories* included in the series)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lisa Plumley
• Release date: May 12, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370008414

Lisa Plumley

USA TODAY best-selling author Lisa Plumley has delighted readers worldwide with more than two dozen popular romances. Visit Lisa at www.lisaplumley.com, friend her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lisaplumleybooks, or follow her on Twitter @LisaPlumley today!

Book preview

MISS WILSON'S SECRET SEDUCTION

by

Lisa Plumley

Smashwords Edition

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previously published by Harlequin Historical

as Wanton in the West (an Undone! ebook exclusive)

Everyone in the small town of Morrow Creek knows that Adeline Wilson has been sweet on Clayton Davis for years—and that he still hasn't proposed! While Adeline reluctantly waits for her man, Clayton is falsely accused of being a thief and the sheriff is hot on his tail. Now Adeline has to do everything in her power to stop him leaving town, even if she has to be positively indecent to make Clayton stay by her side—and in her bed....

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Copyright © 2017 by Lisa Plumley

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, then please respect the hard work of this author by purchasing your own copy. Thank you!

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USA TODAY best-selling author Lisa Plumley has delighted readers worldwide with more than three dozen popular novels. Her work has been translated into multiple languages and editions, and includes contemporary romances, western historical romances, paranormal romances, and a variety of stories in romance anthologies. Her fresh, funny style has been likened to such reader favorites as Rachel Gibson, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, LaVyrle Spencer, and Jennifer Crusie, but her unique characterization is all her own.

To sign up for new-book reminder e-mails, read first-chapter excerpts, catch sneak previews of upcoming books, and more, visit www.lisaplumley.com today.

Lisa also writes cozy mysteries as Colette London. Her Chocolate Whisperer series (featuring chocolate expert—and amateur sleuth!—Hayden Mundy Moore) kicked off with Criminal Confections and now includes Dangerously Dark, The Semisweet Hereafter, and Dead and Ganache, all from Kensington Books.

Visit www.colettelondon.com today to find fantastic chocolate recipes, sign up for new-book reminder e-mails, and catch sneak previews of upcoming books in the Chocolate Whisperer series.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter One

Note from the Author

Email Reminders

What People Are Saying...

Series Books by Lisa Plumley

Complete Book List: Lisa Plumley

Cozy Mysteries by Lisa Plumley (writing as Colette London)

Complete Book List: Colette London

MISS WILSON'S SECRET SEDUCTION

by

Lisa Plumley

Morrow Creek, northern Arizona Territory

July 1884

On hot summer days, most women longed for a cool breeze, a refreshing fan or a bracing lemonade. Adeline Wilson was different. On the hottest day in the memory of any Morrow Creek resident, Adeline longed for lace—yards and yards of Brussels lace fashioned into a very specific garment: a bridal veil.

The moment Adeline stepped inside Mr. Hofer's overstuffed mercantile, she spied that pile of ivory lace. It beckoned to her amid the wares and hubbub and smells of tobacco and pickles. There seemed no choice but to beeline toward it—all the better to examine its fine stitches, savor its undoubted softness and imagine herself the bride she so yearned to be…someday.

The lace felt exactly as wondrous as she expected. Delicate and whisper thin, it deserved much better than to be abandoned on the counter by a previous customer the way it apparently had been. Irresistibly tempted, Adeline drew the lacy bridal veil to her cheek. Envisioning herself wearing it, she sighed.

Ah! So then it has happened! Mrs. Hofer bustled over, beaming as she spoke in her accented voice. "Young Mr. Davis has finally proposed! We all knew he would. This is a happy day!"

As though she'd been stung, Adeline lowered the veil. Beside her, her closest friend, Violet Benson, gasped in shock.

"He's proposed? Clayton's proposed to you? Adeline! I can't believe you didn't tell me! We've come all this way to town—"

No. He hasn't proposed. This time, Adeline dropped the veil altogether. For good measure, she jabbed it with her elbow just to make sure it stayed far away from her and her foolish, much-too-public dreams. At least not yet, he hasn't, she added with a lift of her chin. But I'm sure very soon he'll—

She broke off, unable to actually voice her dearest hope: He'll ask me to be his bride, and we'll be married at last.

Violet stared at her in distress. So did Mrs. Hofer. Adeline felt unaccountably responsible for disappointing them.

I'm sorry, Mrs. Hofer, she said. And Violet, too. Please don't feel bad for mentioning it. It was a reasonable mistake—

Yes, it was. Especially given how long Clayton Davis has kept you waiting on him, Violet interrupted, her usual good cheer temporarily overridden by loyal indignation. Almost two years now! she grumbled, with his smiles and his charm and his refusal to give you a wedding ring. The nerve of him!

Clayton isn't lacking in nerve, Adeline disagreed. And as for the wedding ring… Well, he says he's saving up.

Mrs. Hofer gave her a dubious look. So did Violet. So did, Adeline fancied, all the other customers in the mercantile. In Morrow Creek, folks tended to know one another's lives fairly intimately. Everyone here knew she'd been sweet on Clayton for years, and