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“You could’ve warned me,” Colton growled.
Joel only laughed. “It’s more fun this way.”
Colton looked back at his thief, but she was steadfast in her avoidance. What was she doing here? She must’ve found the ranch’s address from the business cards in his wallet, but what kind of scam was she trying to pull? She sure had balls to steal from him and then show up here to involve his employers.
His jaw clenched. Stepping around the table, he willed her to look up. When she did, he glimpsed fear in the brown depths of her eyes. The flush in her cheeks had noticeably paled. And the smile, that damn cheeky smile of hers that made him feel like an awkward teenager had disappeared as well. Good.
“What’s going on?” he asked, pleased the polite inquiry revealed none of his inner turmoil.
Joel stepped forward and put a hand on the woman’s shoulder. As if he knew her. Colton stopped the frown that threatened to draw his brows together. What the heck was going on here? He glanced at Britt. She smiled.
Suspicion curled in his gut. Was this some elaborate practical joke? His tension began to ease, though the thought of having cancelled all his credit cards made him want to groan. If he had told Joel what happened on the phone, he could’ve saved himself a hell of a lot of headache.
“I’d like you to meet Kendra Zelner,” Joel said. “Kendra, this is the JBM Ranch manager, Colton Lawe.”
Colton extended a hand toward Kendra. Okay. Fine. He’d play along; see where this was all headed. She bit her lip as she hesitated, and his gaze was drawn to her white teeth against her full bottom lip. It distracted him enough that when she placed her small, cool palm against his, he flinched in surprise.
He kept his grip gentle at first, and then tightened it. Her eyes widened, and her nostrils flared as she drew in a quick breath.
“Nice to meet you,” Colton murmured.
“Kendra’s my sister.”
Colton released her hand and whipped his head around. Joel didn’t appear to be joking. “Didn’t know you had a sister,” he commented.
“Me neither. And technically, she’s my half-sister.”
Focusing his narrowed gaze on Kendra again, Colton read genuine fear. Of him. That ruled out the practical joke angle real quick.
She was right to be worried. Because in a second, he was going to expose her for a lying thief. Joel and Britt were more than his employers, more than his friends even, they were as close to family as it got without blood ties.
Colton had applied at JBM Ranch fresh out of high school, feeling guilty as hell and scared to death because someone had to pay the medical bills from his father’s accident. Joel took him under his wing and taught him everything about running the ranch. A few weeks ago, when the previous manager, Todd, had gotten married and left to work on his wife’s ranch, Joel turned management over to Colton so he could continue to concentrate on training the horses with Britt.
He couldn’t let Joel down now; he owed him the truth. But before he could form the words, Joel spoke.
“Kendra, and her brother, Noah, will be staying for awhile.”
Colton glanced at Joel. “There’s a brother, too?”
Joel smiled. “Yeah. Cody thinks it’s hilarious that a kid his age is actually his uncle.”
Colton’s gut clenched. Joel appeared to have accepted every word the girl said. Whatever line of bull she’d fed him, it must’ve been good, because Joel wasn’t easily fooled. Worse, he looked genuinely happy about the supposed new additions to his family. With everyone watching, no way could Colton tell him he’d been played for a fool. He’d have to wait and talk to Joel in private.
But he couldn’t help commenting, “Wow, a sister and a brother, all in one day.”
The apprehension in Kendra’s eyes increased when his subtle sarcasm registered with her, as he’d intended. She swallowed hard and seemed to be waiting for him to lower the ax. Oh, how he’d love to do that—payback for the sidewalk humiliation. Just the thought of it—
“They can stay in the guesthouse,” Britt said.
Colton and Joel both swung around.
“What?” she asked. “It makes sense—give them some privacy as we all get to know each other. Besides, we don’t have any clients planning to use it anytime in the near…” Her gaze shifted from one to the other. “What?”
“Colton’s roommate is moving to Toronto. I told Colton yesterday he could use the guesthouse instead of finding someone else or looking for a different apartment,” Joel explained. “I should’ve talked to you about it first, but I didn’t think you’d mind.”
“Oh,” Britt said.
Colton suspected Joel had really offered the house to help Colton’s strained financial situation. They’d spoken about it some, but per his request, Britt wasn’t aware of the extent of his father’s medical bills. His suspicion was confirmed when Joel cast him a glance before saying, “Kendra and Noah can just stay here with us. We’ve got more than enough room.”
