How to Rope a Loyal Cowboy by Anya Summers

18

The following day, while the boys were taking a nap, Morgan found it: the missing link tying Kate to the theft. This was it—a direct deposit made to Kate’s personal account. The fact that she thought they wouldn’t uncover it astounded her.

With excitement humming in her veins, she called Amber first.

“Morgan, what can I do for you?”

“Actually, it’s what I can do for you. I just emailed you the proof you need, and the direct link to who is behind the theft. Kate Crenshaw has been siphoning funds for months, possibly longer than that. If I were you, I would do an audit of your books for the entire time she has been employed by Silver Springs Ranch. You might also want to consider hiring a forensic accountant to do the rest of it.”

Amber laughed. “Yeah, once you found those discrepancies, I went back even further than the six months and discovered more missing payments. I think you might have found what I did connecting Kate. It’s been turned over to the police as evidence already. Sheriff Tate and I are on our way to arrest her.”

Wade and Zack emerged from their room with sleepy eyes.

“I want to be there,” Morgan said.

It was almost time for the boys’ riding lessons, anyhow. This way, she could watch that woman go down.

“As long as you don’t interfere or tip her off, I have no problem with you being there to watch the spectacle. I’m going to call Noah when we get off the phone and tell him we’re on our way too.”

“I won’t, promise,” Morgan swore, knowing that this was going to affect Noah. He had known Kate practically his whole life. A betrayal like this wasn’t something you just snapped out of at all. It stuck with a person. Made them question their loyalty, and that of the people they loved.

“See you in a bit,” Amber said with satisfaction brimming in her words.

“Yep, I’ll see you soon.” Morgan hung up and wanted to tap dance across the floor. She smiled at Wade and Zack. “Hey boys, why don’t we get you dressed for your riding lesson and head to the stables?”

“I’m hungry,” Zack whined, rubbing his eyes.

“Me too,” Wade said.

“I already have a snack for you. And I will let you eat it in my truck.” She’d have to clean out any crumbs and messes after the ride to keep the wildlife from climbing in to get all the tidbits they would leave behind. But the mess would be worth it in the long run to see the show.

At the thought of eating in her car, something she had never permitted them to do before even when they had been whimpering with hunger, the boys jumped up and down with enthusiasm. She hurried them along—which, when working with four-year-olds, was about as successful as trying to get a sloth to break records in the forty-yard dash.

By the time Morgan got them in the truck, she was praying that she would make it to the stables before the fireworks ensued. Noah would be crushed that they had the proof it was a lifelong friend who had been embezzling funds. But in the end, he would be better for it. She would make sure of it.

Morgan would soothe the wounds left by Kate’s betrayal. And maybe, now that this matter had been resolved with her help, it might push him over the edge into caring about her.

* * *

On Thursday,Noah sat in his office, stunned after the phone call with Amber.

Betrayal was rife in his chest, weighing on his soul. It had been Kate all along. Kate was the culprit. It had not just been those two checks, either. Morgan and Amber had both found discrepancies in the books dating back months. He couldn’t believe it. But the proof was incontrovertible.

When he thought of all the time he and Sara had spent with Kate over the years, how much she had helped him out at the stables in the beginning after Sara died while he was figuring out how to be a single father of twins, the depths of her betrayal were a bottomless pit.

Morgan had mentioned all the financial stuff her dad had hidden, and Noah had felt sorry for her, but he’d never thought he would understand the type of blow to the ego, to the heart, it could be. And yet, she hadn’t let it shut her down, nor had she stopped loving her father because of his failures.

That didn’t mean Noah was going to forgive Kate anytime soon.

As far as he was concerned, she was a thief, and one who needed to be brought to justice. What pained him was that he had trusted her, and had been blind to her deception.

At the knock on his door, his head shot up. Kate stood in the doorframe, in jeans and a tank top with a short-sleeved flannel over the tank. Her ivory cowboy hat was pushed up. She cast him what he could only say was a predatory gleam.

How had he never noticed the way her eyes calculated him?

She sauntered into his office, closing the door behind her, deepening his disquiet.

“Kate, what can I do for you?”

She walked in what he was sure she thought was a sexy manner. But to his eye, it looked contrived. Perhaps it was because he knew she had been embezzling funds from the stables for years that he viewed it that way. And if she hadn’t gotten greedy with the big checks that had come in, they might never have uncovered the rest of the missing funds.

“I think it’s more: what we can do for each other?” Kate stated in a low, sultry tone.

Before he could stop her, she plunked herself in his lap, gripped his shirt, and planted her mouth over his.

Noah was beyond stunned. He froze, and went to move her, but she was wily and clamped her hands on the back of his head, really giving it her all.

Everything inside him rebelled at her kiss. The only woman’s lips he wanted on his were Morgan’s.

Before he could break it off and shove Kate away, he heard Morgan’s voice, as if the thought of her had conjured her up. “You big jerk! Come on, boys.”

He shoved Kate away so hard that she tumbled to the ground at his feet as he shoved his desk chair back and rose, needing to put some distance between them.

“What the hell has gotten into you?” he snapped at Kate. He glanced out of his office and couldn’t see Morgan any longer. The woman must have run with Wade and Zack all the way back to her truck.

Fuck.

What had she been doing here? The boys didn’t have their lessons for another hour.

Kate rose, dusting herself off and prowling his way. “Isn’t it obvious? I’ve wanted you for years, Noah. I know you, know what you need. We’d be perfect together.”

Years? What the fuck? How had he not known Kate had the hots for him? An insidious thought occurred that stopped the breath in his lungs. “Did Sara know?”

“She guessed my feelings toward the end.” Kate shrugged, still following him around his desk.

“Toward the end? You mean, before she swallowed a bottle of pills. When did she find out about your feelings? Was it right before she killed herself?” Noah snarled. His rage knew no bounds. What had this bitch told Sara? Had Sara believed he was sleeping around and screwing her best friend? Was that what had pushed her over the edge?

Kate blanched white and finally stopped pursuing him. “You aren’t suggesting it was my fault she committed suicide?”

“With her postpartum depression, it would have taken very little to shove her there.” Noah was shaking, he was so fucking furious.

Tears lined Kate’s lashes. “I would never do that, to either of you. Sara was my best friend. I love you, Noah. I know given time, you could—”

A brittle smile formed over his lips at spying Amber approaching his office with Sheriff Tate at her side. He shook his head and stared at Kate with disdain. “No, Kate, it was never going to happen between us. All I have ever considered you is a friend. Now, in light of new information, I’m doubting that moniker.”

Kate spied the sheriff and Amber as they waltzed into Noah’s office. For the first time ever, he noticed a slash of fear enter her eyes. Good. She should be afraid. Heaven help her if he ever discovered that it had been her admitting her feelings for him to Sara that had been the tipping point for Sara.

“Kate Crenshaw, please put your hands behind your back. You’re under arrest,” Sheriff Tate stated, pulling his cuffs from his belt. Noah liked the sheriff. He was a few years older than Noah, had bits of gray dotting his black head of hair, and was about as no-nonsense as they came.

Kate became dismissive and sneered, “For what?”

With narrowed, assessing eyes, Sheriff Tate said, “For embezzling funds in the hundreds of thousands of dollars from the stables and Silver Springs Ranch. I have a warrant approved by Judge Beck not twenty minutes ago.”

“That’s a load of crap!” Kate screeched, and began backing away, her gaze searching for a way out, like she was planning on making a run for it.

“Ms. Crenshaw, put your hands behind your back. Now. Don’t make me tell you this again.” Sheriff Tate had a hard glint in his eyes, like he wasn’t going to put up with her bullshit much longer.

“I will not. I did nothing wrong,” Kate stated, shaking her head, her disbelief evident.

“We can do this the easy way, Kate, or the hard way. Do you want me to add resisting arrest to the list of charges?” Sheriff Tate asked.

When she still didn’t comply, the sheriff wrangled her, forcing her up against the wall while she called him names. It was a sight to behold. Kate struggled and screeched as he placed her in handcuffs. Once she was all trussed up, the sheriff carted her out, still cursing and denying the allegations.

“Thanks for getting here when you did, before things got any worse,” Noah said.

“Why? Did something else happen that I don’t know about?” Amber asked. She had a satisfied expression on her face as they watched the sheriff put Kate in the back of his patrol car.

Morgan. She’d done everything to help him. And then she had walked in on a scene that would anger anyone. He grimaced. “Yeah, something happened, big time. If only you guys had been thirty minutes earlier, I could have avoided the extra shit that woman just stirred up for me.”

“What did she do?”

Noah sighed at the swift turn of events and explained, “Kate made a pass at me—did this whole we belong together spiel, and kissed me before I could stop it. Morgan discovered us that way, with Kate and me in a liplock. I was fighting her off, but not hard enough. I should have, though.”

“Ouch. Kate really did a number on you, both professionally and personally. If you want to go deal with the situation and fix the disturbance it has caused between you, I can give you the afternoon off. I’ll ask Carl to cover for you. That way, you can put your life back in order.”

Noah glanced at Amber, surprised by the offer. “You sure?”

“Yeah. I happen to like Morgan a lot. She did us a solid with her accounting skills, and I want to return the favor. I think you two are good together.”

“I do too,” Noah said. More than he’d ever thought possible. He wanted Morgan with him. Hell, he just wanted her, period. She made him happy in ways he had never thought he would be again.

“Well, then go make up with your girl, cowboy.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.” Noah left the stables with every intention of apologizing to Morgan. He would make her see that Kate had come on to him.

For once, work and the stables weren’t at the top of his concerns. His biggest concern was Morgan.

Hiswoman.