Her Alpha Cowboy by Mary Wehr

When she is caught stealing from the mercantile in a small Texas town, eighteen-year-old orphan Josephine Bolton faces the prospect of a jail sentence, but she is saved by the intervention of a local rancher who mistakes her for a boy and convinces the sheriff that some hard, honest work would be better for “Joe” than being brought before a judge and jury.

Logan West has even less patience for lying than he does for thieving, and when he discovers that he has unwittingly brought a beautiful young woman back to his ranch he puts Josephine over his knee, bares her bottom, and spanks her soundly for her deception.

Despite her best efforts to ignore her attraction to Logan, the stern punishment leaves Josephine longing for the gruff, handsome cowboy to take her in his arms and claim her properly, and when he asks her to marry him she agrees. But after their wedding, Josephine cannot help wondering whether Logan proposed to her merely to keep up appearances. When she decides to run away again, will her firm-handed husband come looking for his naughty wife and bring her home?