Before we start, I find that a lot of confusion with Special Relativity can be cleared up if we use a standard convention, so I'm going to use all ``primed'' quantities to represent quantities measured in the $S^\prime$ frame, and all unprimed quantities to represent the same quantities in the $S$ frame. (In other words, the quantity $L$ that the OP uses in their question is what I will refer to as $L^\prime$. I apologise for this, but I find that it makes my answer easier to understand.)
Let me also write down the Lorentz Transformations:
\begin{equation}
\begin{aligned}
&\text{(A)}\quad\Delta x^\prime = \gamma \left(\Delta x - v \Delta t\right)\\
&\text{(B)}\quad \Delta t^\prime = \gamma \left( \Delta t - \frac{v}{c^2}\Delta x\right)\\
\\
&\text{(C)}\quad\Delta x = \gamma \left(\Delta x^\prime + v \Delta t^\prime \right)\\
&\text{(D)}\quad \Delta t = \gamma \left( \Delta t^\prime + \frac{v}{c^2}\Delta x^\prime \right)\\
\end{aligned}
\label{LT}
\end{equation}
And lastly, let's actually make the definition of a length clear. For an observer sitting in $S^\prime$, since the object is at rest with respect to him, its length $L^\prime$ is simply the difference in the coordinates, irrespective of when $x_B^\prime$ and $x_A^\prime$ are measured. He could measure $x_B^\prime$, have a coffee, and then measure $x_A^\prime$ and the difference would give him the length. However, for an observer sitting in $S$, since the object is moving with respect to her, both the endpoints $x_B$ and $x_A$ need to be measured simultaneously in her frame of reference ($S$) in order for the difference to be the length $L$. (In other words, if she has a coffee between measuring $x_B$ and $x_A$, the object would have moved between measurements!) So, we have
$$L^\prime = x_B^\prime - x_A^\prime |_\text{ for any $\Delta t^\prime$}$$
$$L = x_B - x_A |_\text{ only when $\Delta t=0$}$$
If you understand this, the rest of the answer is quite simple. Let us consider, as you have, that the object we are measuring is at rest in the frame $S^\prime$, and its length is being measured both from $S$ (in which it is moving to the right with a velocity $v$) and $S^\prime$ in which it is at rest.
The observer in $S$ requires to measure the endpoints of the object simultaneously in her frame of reference, as otherwise the object would move between measurements. In other words, for $(x_B - x_A)$ to be the length, we require that $\Delta t = t_B - t_A = 0$. Note: we are not placing any condition on $\Delta t^\prime$. It may not be (and isn't!) zero. Two observers, moving at some velocity $v$ relative to each other will not agree on simultaneous events.
Thus, we need to find a relation between $\Delta x$ and $ \Delta x^\prime$, when $\Delta t=0$. The mistake you've made in your argument is that you're relating $\Delta x$ and $\Delta x^\prime$ when $\Delta t^\prime=0$. So, the mistake comes when you say that $\Delta x|_{\Delta t^\prime = 0} = L$, the length measured in $S$.
We refer to transformations above, and see that (A) is the transformation we should use, as it relates these quantities.
\begin{equation*}
\begin{aligned}
\Delta x^\prime &= \gamma \left(\Delta x - v \Delta t\right)\\
\Delta x^\prime|_{\Delta t = 0} &= \gamma \left(\Delta x|_{\Delta t =0} - v \Delta t|_{\Delta t = 0}\right)\\
\\
L^\prime &= \gamma L
\end{aligned}
\end{equation*}
Thus, the length that an observer measures when she is at rest with respect to the object (i.e. sitting in $S^\prime$) $L^\prime$ is always greater than $L$, since, as you point out, $\gamma > 1$. Thus, an observer sitting in $S$, with respect to whom the object is moving at a constant velocity will measure a length $L$ which is shorter: lengths contract!