Claimed by the Mountain Man (14 page)
Read Claimed by the Mountain Man Online
Authors: Amelia Smarts
Lily has dreamed of performing on stage since she was a small child, and at the age of eighteen she approaches Jesse, the owner of the local saloon, to ask for a job singing and dancing for his customers. Lily has been secretly in love with Jesse ever since the day he took it upon himself to comfort her when she was in tears one day in town, and that only makes it more painful when he refuses to hire her, telling her that a saloon is no place for a sweet, innocent girl like her.
Determined to convince him to change his mind, Lily returns the next day. Within moments of stepping through the doors of Jesse’s establishment, however, she finds herself pulled over his knee for a good, hard spanking followed by an embarrassing scolding and a stern warning never to set foot in the saloon again.
Though Jesse tells her to forget about both him and the saloon and find herself a proper, respectable husband, he cannot keep Lily off his mind, even after she takes his advice to heart and begins courting the town’s self-righteous preacher. The situation comes to a head when Jesse catches the preacher in the midst of a vicious crime against one of the saloon girls.
Terrified for Lily’s safety, Jesse takes matters into his own hands and informs her of his feelings for her. He makes it clear that he considers it his duty to provide her with both the love and attention she craves as well as the firm discipline she has needed for so long. But with her former suitor bent on revenge and trying to run Jesse out of town, can he keep his little Lily safe and keep the saloon in business at the same time?
Amelia Smarts Links
You can find author interviews, excerpts of upcoming books, and general thoughts from Amelia Smarts via her blog, her Facebook and Twitter pages, and her Goodreads profile, using the following links:
https://www.facebook.com/author.amelia.smarts
https://twitter.com/AmeliaSmarts
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14705453.Amelia_Smarts
Table of Contents
Chapter Four: Nettie’s Freedom
Chapter Five: Learning Survival
Chapter Eight: Warmth in Winter
Chapter Nine: Sadness of Spring
