Chapter 1

      Gem, I am sorry and I hope you can forgive me one day.

      —Niecee

      Gemma Westmoreland lifted a brow after reading the note that appeared on her computer after she’d booted it up. Immediately, two questions sailed through her mind. Where was Niecee when she should have been at work over an hour ago and what was Niecee apologizing for?

      The hairs on the back of Gemma’s neck began standing up and she didn’t like the feeling. She had hired Niecee Carter six months ago when Designs by Gem began picking up business, thanks to the huge contract she’d gotten with the city of Denver to redecorate several of its libraries. Then Gayla Mason had wanted her mansion redone. And, last but not least, her sister-in-law, Chloe, hired Gemma for a makeover of the Denver branch of her successful magazine, Simply Irresistible.

      Gemma had been badly in need of help and Niecee had possessed more clerical skills than the other candidates she’d interviewed. She had given the woman the job without fully checking out her references—something her oldest brother, Ramsey, had warned her against doing. But she hadn’t listened. She’d figured that she and the bubbly Niecee would gel well. They had, but now, as Gemma quickly logged into her bank account, she couldn’t help wondering if perhaps she should have taken Ramsey’s advice.

      Gemma had been eleven when Ramsey and her cousin Dillon had taken over the responsibility of raising their thirteen siblings after both sets of parents had been killed in a plane crash. During that time Ramsey had been her rock, the brother who’d been her protector. And now, it seemed, the brother she should have listened to when he’d handed out advice on how to run her business.

      She pulled in a sharp breath when she glanced at the balance in her checking account. It was down by $20,000. Nervously, she clicked on the transaction button and saw that a $20,000 check had cleared her bank—a check that she hadn’t written. Now she knew what Niecee’s apology was all about.

      Gemma dropped her face in her hands and felt the need to weep. But she refused to go there. She had to come up with a plan to replace that money. She was expecting invoices to come rolling in any day now from the fabric shops, arts and craft stores and her light fixtures suppliers, just to name a few. Clearly, she wouldn’t have enough funds to pay all her debts. She needed to replace those funds.

      She stood and began pacing the floor as anger consumed her. How could Niecee have done this to her? If she needed the money, all she had to do was ask. Although Gemma might not have been able to part with that much from her personal account, she could have borrowed the money from one of her brothers or cousins.

      Gemma pulled in a deep frustrated breath. She had to file a police report. Her friendship and loyalty to Niecee ended the minute her former worker had stolen from her. She should have suspected something. Niecee hadn’t been her usual bubbly self the last few days. Gemma figured it had to do with her trifling live-in boyfriend who barely worked. Had he put Niecee up to this? It didn’t matter because Niecee should know right from wrong, and embezzling from your employer was wrong.

      Sitting back down at her desk, Gemma reached for the phone and then pulled her hand back. Dang! If she called Sheriff Bart Harper—who had gone to school with both Ramsey and Dillon—and filed a report, there was no doubt in her mind that both Ram and Dillon would hear about it. Those were the last two people she wanted in her business. Especially since they’d tried talking her out of opening her interior design shop in the first place.

      For the past year, things had worked out fairly well with her being just a one-woman show with her sisters, Megan and Bailey, helping out if needed. She had even pulled in her brothers, Zane and Derringer, on occasion, when heavy lifting had been involved. But when the big jobs began coming in, she had advertised in the newspapers and online for an administrative assistant.

      She stood and began pacing again. Bailey was still taking classes at the university and wouldn’t have that much money readily available, and Megan had mentioned just the other week that she was saving for a much-needed vacation. Megan was contemplating visiting their cousin, Delaney, who lived in the Middle East with her husband and two children, so there was no way she could hit her up for a loan.

      Zane and Derringer were generous and because they were bachelors they might have that kind of ready dough. But they had recently pooled all their funds to buy into a horse-breeding and -training franchise, together with their cousin, Jason. She couldn’t look in their direction now, due to that business venture. And all her other siblings and cousins were either in school or into their own businesses and investments.

      So where was she going to get $20,000?

      Gemma stood staring at the phone for a moment before it hit her that the thing was ringing. She quickly picked it up, hoping it was Niecee letting her know she was returning the money to her or, better yet, that the whole thing was a joke.

      “Hello?”

      “Hello, Gemma, this is Callum.”

      She wondered why the man who managed Ramsey’s sheep farm would be calling her. “Yes, Callum?”

      “I was wondering if I could meet with you sometime today to discuss a business proposition.”

      She lifted a brow. “A business proposition?”

      “Yes.”

      The first thought that crossed her mind was that engaging in a business meeting was the last thing she was in the mood for today. But then she quickly realized that she couldn’t let what Niecee did keep her from handling things with her company. She still had a business to run.

      “When would you like to meet, Callum?”

      “How about today for lunch.”

      “Lunch?”

      “Yes, at McKay’s.”

      She wondered if he knew that McKay’s was her favorite lunch spot. “Okay, that’ll work. I’ll see you there at noon,” she said.

      “Great. See you then.”

      Gemma held the phone in her hand, thinking how much she enjoyed listening to Callum’s deep Australian accent. He always sounded so ultrasexy. But then he was definitely a sexy man. That was something she tried not to notice too much, mainly because he was a close friend of Ramsey’s. Also, according to Jackie Barnes, a nurse who worked at the hospital with Megan and who’d had a bad case of the hots for Callum when he first arrived in Denver, Callum had a girl waiting for him back in Australia and it was a very serious relationship.

      But what if he no longer had that girl waiting for him back in Australia? What if he was as available as he was hot? What if she could forget that he was her oldest brother’s close friend? What if...

      Dismissing all such thoughts with a wave of her hand, she sat back down at her computer to figure out a way to rob Peter to pay Paul.

      * * *

      Callum Austell leaned back in his chair as he glanced around the restaurant. The first time he’d eaten here had been with Ramsey when he first came to Denver. He liked it then and now this would be the place where he would put into motion a plan some would think was way past due being executed. He would have to admit they were probably right.

      He wasn’t sure exactly when he decided that Gemma Westmoreland was destined to be his woman. Probably the day he had helped Ramsey build that barn and Gemma had arrived from college right after graduation. The moment she got out of her car and raced over to her older brother’s arms for a huge hug. Callum had felt like he’d gotten hit over the head with a two-by-four, not once but twice. And when Ramsey had introduced them and she’d turned that wondergirl smile on him, he hadn’t been the same since. His father and his two older brothers had warned him that it would be that way when he found the woman destined to be his, but