The Naughty List Bundle - Kylie Adams [96]
“Actually…yes.”
“Why?”
“He…well, he accused me of doing something I didn’t do.”
“Damn it, Malone,” he suddenly burst out, his irritation evident, his patience at an end. “It’s like pulling snake teeth to get you to tell the whole—”
“All right!” She shot to her feet, every bit as annoyed as he was. Hands on her hips, she faced him. “All right, damn it. I was convicted of stealing from him. Three hundred dollars. But I didn’t do it, only they believed that I did!”
Morgan stood, too, and now he looked livid. “They?”
She waved a hand. “The owner, the lawyer I had to hire, the despicable judge. Everyone.”
Very slowly, Morgan reached out and took hold of her shoulders. “Tell me what happened.”
Misty had no idea if he was angry with her or the situation. She tried to shrug his hands away, but he held on. Her temper was still simmering, though, and she was in no mood for his attitude, so she jerked away and then sat on the swing, giving a hard kick to make it move. Morgan grabbed the swing to stop it and sat beside her. “I’m waiting.”
She crossed her arms over her breasts. He made her feel vulnerable and defensive when she had no reason to feel either one. “Not long after I found out I was pregnant and Kent, my ex, bailed out, I was at work and the cash came up short. The woman who’d worked before me had signed out and made her deposit, so the money had to have been taken during my shift. Only I didn’t take it and I don’t know where it went. I was in the bathroom—” She glanced at him. “Pregnant women spend a lot of time in the bathroom.”
He made a face. “Go on.”
“Anyway, there was no one in the store, so I made a quick run to the bathroom, and when I came back out, my boss and his girlfriend were just coming in. He was royally ticked that I’d left the counter, even after I explained that the store was empty and that I’d hurried. We argued, because he said I’d missed too much work lately, as well. See, I’d come in late twice, because of the morning sickness. Anyway, he was in a foul mood and being unreasonable, to my mind. I’d never been late or missed work before. Not ever. That’s why he was going to make me a manager of the new store, because I was a good worker and dependable and all that.”
“Get to the point, Malone.”
She wanted to smack him. Instead, she said, “He checked the drawer and found out the money was missing. I still can’t believe he accused me of stealing it. I’d been working for him for two years. I did everything, from inventory to decorations to promotion to sales to orders. I’m the one that helped that business do so well! I thought he trusted me.”
“He called the cops?”
“Yes.” The police had arrived, and she now knew firsthand the procedure used for thiefs. She shuddered with the memory, which wasn’t one she intended to share with Morgan. “To make a long story short, the lawyer I hired said they had a good case against me. I was the only one in the store at the time the money was taken, and they found out I was pregnant, that the father of the baby had taken off. They painted me a desperate woman, with plenty of motive to take the money. He suggested I plead guilty to save myself a bundle in lawyer fees and court costs. I…I refused. So my lawyer suggested that I go with a trial to the bench, since that would get it over with quickly.”
“I gather that wasn’t the best decision possible?”
She shook her head. “A jury might not have been so autocratic or sexist.”
“Sexist?”
“Yes. The judge was a stern-faced old relic who saw me as a femme fatale just because I’m young and I don’t exactly look like a college professor.”
One brow shot up, and his mouth quirked. “You mean because you’re sexy as hell and he noticed?”
“That’s not funny, Morgan.”
“No, it’s not. Sorry.”
He still looked amused, though, which annoyed her no end. The judge’s reaction to her had been salt in the wound. She could still remember how exposed she’d felt, standing before him.
She looked away and said quietly, “He gave me six months probation, made me pay back the three hundred dollars I hadn’t even taken, as well as court costs