How to Rope a Loyal Cowboy by Anya Summers

17

On Wednesday, with Noah’s permission, Morgan reviewed more of the accounts. She wasn’t a fan of subterfuge, but numbers, she liked and understood.

Noah had even contacted Amber this week and let her know about some of the disparities Morgan had found. Amber had given her blessing to let Morgan keep working through them. Amber had uncovered the discrepancies as well, but she thought it was nice to have a backup in case she missed anything. The bank was doing an internal investigation into who had cashed those two checks.

Morgan hoped she would be able to figure out who was behind the theft. Noah had been worried about it all week.

Thinking of Noah made her heart flop over in her chest. She rubbed the heel of her palm over the ache there. She loved him. She could tell he wanted her, had laid claim to her, body and soul. But he was holding back.

Even when he cuddled her after sex, she felt him holding back.

She should be over the moon. She had this great guy. The sex was out-of-this-world amazing. A single heated look in her direction, and he had her quivering with need. She loved his boys. Morgan didn’t consider herself the mommy type. She had never mooned over babies like the girls at school growing up.

But she had taken to Wade and Zack, their antics, and need for a mother figure, like peanut butter to grape jelly. She adored them even as they frustrated her, worried her, and left her laughing at their mischievous behavior.

Just last night, they had gotten into markers, and decided it would be fun to draw on each other’s faces. They had been so dang proud of themselves when they showed her and Noah their new faces. Once she and Noah got them cleaned up, the pair of them had laughed until they had tears streaming down their faces at their antics.

At the knock on the front door, she startled. They weren’t expecting anyone that she knew of, but it could be Amber to check on her progress with the books.

Morgan answered the door, and her smile froze in place. Kate was on Noah’s doorstep in skinny jeans, and a form-fitting tank. Her brown leather boots were clean, and appeared new. Her golden hair was pulled up into a long ponytail.

Every time she was near the woman, Morgan’s back went up. There was no love lost between them. They tended to be like two feral she-cats dropped into a room together, spitting and hissing at each other.

She crossed her arms over her chest. “What can I do for you, Kate?”

Kate wore the fakest smile imaginable, and stared at Morgan like she was a simpleton. “Noah needs me to pick up a few things for the stables. He said they were in his office.”

The office Morgan had been working in moments before? The same office where there were copies of the ledgers for the stables that she helped keep? Right. Like Morgan was dumb enough to allow her inside. There was no way in hell she was letting the woman into Noah’s house, let alone his office.

“I’m sorry, but unless I have it confirmed from Noah, I can’t allow you into his office.”

Kate’s eyes narrowed. “Just because you’re the tart of the month, doesn’t mean he’s going to keep you, so you can drop the high and mighty tone with me. I hate to tell you this, but he married my best friend in the whole world, and drove her to suicide. He likes having a new flavor whenever it suits him. At the end of the day, he’s going to realize that someone like you will never keep him satisfied in the long run.”

Fury filled every corner of Morgan’s being. She wasn’t one for catfights, but she wanted to box the woman’s brains in and go after her for disparaging Noah, even as her words tripped all of Morgan’s insecurities. With sarcasm dripping from her voice, she said, “And yet, you’ll work with him? I thought you were friends.”

“A job is a job. And he happens to be the boss. Look, all I’m saying is that an inexperienced girl like you won’t be able to give him what he needs. Because what he needs is a woman.”

Morgan curled her hands into fists and dug her nails into her palms to keep herself from smacking the smugness from Kate’s face.

“That may be, but I’m still not letting you into his office without his say so. I can call him right now if you like, and we can confirm it.”

Kate’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll come back at another time then.”

Sure, she would. But Morgan still wasn’t letting the bitch anywhere near Noah’s office. The woman set off alarm bells, raising a plethora of red flags.

“Does Noah know?” Morgan asked, spying the desperate need in the chick.

“Does Noah know what?” Kate spat, and gave her a condescending stare.

“That you want him. Because it sounds to me like you were even jealous of your best friend because she got him, and you didn’t. I hate to say it, honey, but Noah doesn’t care for old hags with bad attitudes.”

“Bitch!” Kate stormed away. Her angry footsteps carried her to her truck.

That was the best she could come up with? Calling Morgan a bitch and storming off like a petulant toddler?

Checking the time, she sighed. That woman had gobbled up the rest of her free time. Now she had to go pick the boys up. She stored the files away, with the notations she wanted Noah to review when he got home that night. Then she rushed out the door, making sure she locked the house up. She wouldn’t put it past Kate to try and get in when no one was home.

Morgan would bet that Kate was behind the theft—or she was involved with the person who was, at the very least, and they were trying to cover their tracks.

* * *

Later that evening,Morgan lay naked and spent with her head resting against Noah’s chest. It was the favorite part of her day—basking in the quiet stillness, sated, and being held like she was cherished. It was where they talked about their day.

“How long have you known Kate?”

Noah glanced down with a raised brow. “Why do you ask?”

“She stopped by the house earlier today. Told me you wanted her to pick up something from your home office.”

“And you’re just telling me this now?” He scowled.

“Well, we were a little busy. And I didn’t want the boys to hear me say her name, they like Kate.”

He ran his free hand through his hair in frustration. “I don’t want it to be her.”

“I know. I get it more than you might think. After my dad died, when I discovered how much he had mortgaged the house and business to pay for his gambling debts, I didn’t want to believe it. Even with the proof of it staring me in the face.”

“Kate and Sara were best friends growing up. I’ve known Kate as long—well, longer now—as I knew Sara. We all met in grade school. Went through middle and high school together.”

“Did you and Kate ever date?”

“No. Sara and I were inseparable from high school on,” he said, and glanced away with ghosts in his eyes.

“What was Sara like?” she asked, because she had only seen her in the gas station occasionally. Morgan had never really talked to her. But she had been a beautiful woman with miles of black hair and blue eyes, just like Wade and Zack. Morgan was curious about the woman who had garnered so much love from Noah.

He shot her a weird stare. “Why do you want to know?”

“I just want to know you more. Do Wade and Zack take after her at all?” Morgan pressed, hating that she was jealous of a dead woman. But she was—as in, pea green with envy.

“Sara was kind, soft spoken, and a dreamer. She had a wicked sense of humor. Woman could always make me laugh. But she was sick and hid her mental illness, her depression, from me. It wasn’t until she battled postpartum after the boys were born that I realized something was wrong.”

“I’m sorry. You must have loved her very much,” Morgan said, worrying that no matter what she did, she would never be able to compete with a dead woman.

“I did,” Noah replied solemnly.

“Losing her when the boys were so young couldn’t have been easy.”

“It wasn’t. I still don’t know half the time if I’m doing the right thing by them. But you’ve balanced them out a bit. They still get into trouble, and likely always will. I think it’s my karma coming back to bite me in the ass for all the shenanigans I put my parents through, especially as a teenager.”

“For whatever it’s worth, I think you’re a great dad. Wade and Zack adore you. I can’t tell you how many times they have told me they’re going to be just like their daddy when they get big.”

His eyes warmed, and his lips curled in a lopsided grin. “Yeah? God help us all.”

“I know you don’t want it to be Kate, but with everything I’ve uncovered, I think you need to prepare yourself.”

“I know. I’ve been coming to terms with it as our internal investigation has progressed. But I don’t want to talk about Kate tonight.”

“Oh no? Then what do you want?” Morgan asked, watching his eyes go dark with lust, and seeing the evidence of his hunger rise.

Noah rolled them until she was on her back with him between her thighs. She sucked in a breath as he imprisoned her hands above her head. “It’s not just what I want, it’s what I’m going to do. I need to fuck you. I always fucking need you.”

He slid inside her in a single, swift thrust. Her body welcomed the invasion. Her back arched at the pleasure cascading through her. She moaned.

“That’s it. You like it when I fuck you. Don’t you?” he growled, not wasting time with pretenses or foreplay. The man went from zero to sixty, and had her gasping for breath.

“Yes, Daddy. I love it.”

“That’s my dirty girl.” He groaned softly and claimed her mouth.

It was a long time before they came up for air. And they only did because they had pushed their bodies to the point of sexual exhaustion.