Pregnant by the Cowboy CEO

Gran would be happy about the baby, no question. But Amie worried about the future because there was no way the critically ill woman would live long enough to see her great-grandchild’s face. Amie couldn’t bear to add more concerns. Beyond making her final days peaceful, stress was also a danger to her already fragile health. Amie needed to get her life together and develop a plan regarding Preston’s role in their child’s life. In this much, at least, she could be like her grandmother. Strong. Driven.

Calculating.

As the wheelchair rolled to a stop, Mariah folded her hands in her lap again. The bedroom was at once familiar and alien with its soaring high ceilings in rustic woodwork, supported by exposed beams in a darker wood. A two-tiered cast-iron chandelier hung over the living area, casting a warm glow, with lights that looked like gently flickering candles. Two wingback chairs bracketed the stone fireplace where she’d shared secrets and hot chocolate with her grandmother. But now there were additions to the place—a wheeled hospital cart of medical supplies and a leather recliner where the night nurse usually kept watch.

No doubt, Gran’s caregiver would report in as soon as Amie sent her a text.

“Can I help you get settled? Bring you anything before I call for the nurse?” She took out her phone but wanted to stay. Wanted to visit the way they used to, never caring how late the hour.

Her eyes burned as she blinked away unexpected tears.

Her grandmother gestured for her to sit. “Amie, I’ve lived a full life. Of course I would have liked to have more, or at the very least live these last days in full health. But I’m making the most of the time I have left. I’ve seen one grandson married and have hopes the other grandson will be settled soon.”

Ouch. No mention of her granddaughter. Just that Stone was married, and Alex had found the perfect woman. She swallowed hard.

“Alex and Nina are happy, and her son, Cody, is precious.” She was happy for Alex. Her twin’s joy was her joy.

“It’s good to see a child here in the house again. I’ve missed the laughter of a little one.”

Did her grandmother know? Was she hinting for an admission or just referencing Cody? Shooting to her feet, she turned away to hide any telltale expressions on her face. Amie picked up the pewter pitcher on the bedside table and refilled her grandmother’s water glass, unable to pull her eyes away from the photo of her grandparents on their wedding day. “You should turn in early and conserve your strength for the family breakfast tomorrow.”

“I’m resting now and my strength isn’t going to return,” she said with a dry laugh. She sipped her water, cleared her throat and continued, “I don’t have to sleep to relax. Let’s talk.”

“About what?” Her skin prickled. She sat on the chaise at the end of the four-poster bed that had been converted into a queen-size hospital bed. Unwilling to think about that—and how hard life had become for her beloved grandmother, Amie bent to breathe in the delicate scent of lilies of the valley in a big bunch on the nightstand.

Gran set aside her glass of water. “Stone and Alex have both passed their test to assure me they can handle their share of the inheritance, that they can carry on the McNair tradition in the spirit I would wish.”

Her cousin Stone had surprised them all by stepping down as CEO of Diamonds in the Rough and developing his nearby land. He’d started an equine therapy camp for children with special needs. Her twin brother, Alex, had gained their grandmother’s trust to keep running the Hidden Gem Ranch and opened up parts of the facility for Stone’s camp.

“Ah, so now you get to the reason for this conversation.” She sagged back, clutching a decorative pillow protectively. “What do you have cooked up for me?”

“You don’t need to look so worried.” A smile lighting her sapphire-blue eyes, Gran smoothed her grandmother-of-the-groom turquoise satin dress, the hem heavy with silver embroidery that mimicked a Diamonds in the Rough necklace she favored.

“Of course I’m worried. And more than a little curious. You saved my test for last for a reason, I’m sure. I assume that’s because my challenge is the most difficult. Or I’m the most difficult to deal with.” A bitter memory from her past seeped in. “Mom always coveted that slot to perform last in a pageant to keep me foremost in the judges’ minds. After the bar had been raised as high as possible, she figured I would know how well I had to perform to win.”

Like the year her mother had changed Amie’s baton-twirling act into a fire-throwing stunt—just half an hour before Amie took the stage—since another girl had done a great baton act. Amie would have never guessed her mother could find a way to light the ends of her batons on fire in thirty minutes. But with McNair wealth and a helpful hotel concierge, anything was possible for a demanding pageant mother. Amie hadn’t burned down the building or set herself on fire, but she hadn’t won and she’d been scared as hell.

Gran’s smile faded and sympathy filled her eyes. “The test I have in mind isn’t like your mother making you compete in all those beauty pageants.”

“Isn’t it?” Amie said bitterly, then felt guilty right away. It wasn’t her grandmother’s fault. “Never mind. Forget I said that. I know you’re not like Bayleigh... You love me, so whatever you’re doing must be for a reason.”

“Your mother loves you, dear, she’s just...”

“Self-absorbed.” There was no denying the truth. “I’ve acknowledged that and moved on. I’m an adult and I accept responsibility for my own feelings.”

Gran tipped her head to the side. “You say that, but until this moment, I never realized this test would make you feel as if my love is conditional...like your mother’s.”

“Does that mean I’m off the hook with my challenge? You’ll fire Preston and put me in charge?” she asked, only half joking.

“Oh dear, you always did have a great sense of humor,” Gran said affectionately. “This isn’t about my love for you. Love isn’t about money. You have millions with your trust fund and personal earnings. This is about figuring out where you best fit professionally in the business.”

“What if I do like Stone and decide to build my own future?” She just wished there was something else she wanted to do, but she lived and breathed to work at Diamonds in the Rough.

Or at least she had until Preston showed up and took away the job she’d hoped for as her own.

“That’s your choice. But keep in mind Stone still took his test because he knew that would put my mind at ease. These requests of mine are because I love you and I want the best for you.”

Amie sighed, exhaustion stealing through her. “I do know that, Gran.”

Her grandmother’s shoulders braced. “This week Preston Armstrong is traveling in support of the unveiling of our new line. I want you to go with him.”

She waited for the rest and...nothing. “That’s it?” Amie asked, incredulous. “That’s my test?”

“Yes, be civil. Don’t cause a scene. Truly show the world that we’re a unified force, even away from the office, and stockholders will be reassured.”

“A week on the road with no scenes.” She’d kept her distance from him for two months, she could do so for longer.

“That’s all.”

“You’re letting me off rather easy,” she conceded, hoping she could finish up some design work on the trip since she’d been working night and day on a secret collection—a labor of love that she worried wasn’t right for Diamonds in the Rough.

“I don’t think so.” Her grandmother shook her head. “Not considering the cold shoulder you’ve given him these past couple of months.”

She could have sworn she’d kept that from her grandmother. Mariah wasn’t at the office often at all. Amie had imagined—hoped—her chilly reception would be perceived as businesslike.

She’d guessed wrong. “I apologize if you think I haven’t been receptive to your new CEO. I thought I was simply being professional.”

“Don’t try that innocent act with me,” Gran snorted. “You won’t even stay in the same room with him unless forced by a meeting. I’m not sure what your differences are and I don’t need to know. We are very lucky to have lured him away from his job in Oklahoma. It was a big sell convincing him this job would increase his corporate appeal as a man of serious net worth and business importance. I do not want to lose him at Diamonds in the Rough, as our stocks continue to rise since we announced he was taking the helm.”

“Rising at the expense of firing some of our most loyal, long-serving middle management,” she reminded her grandmother.

“And I can see you’re still bitter about that decision to consolidate here and expand other offices.”

Amie pressed her lips together to keep from arguing with her grandmother, something that would only stress her out since clearly this battle was already lost.

Gran nodded wearily. “Reconcile with him. Because, like it or not, he is the CEO, and if having you there upsets the flow of business, well, I can’t have that.”

The full weight of her grandmother’s words sunk in. “Are you threatening to fire me?”

And just as troubling, what did Preston have to do with this? Had he been pressuring Gran to nudge her out of the company? Or to find another angle to wrangle his way into her bed?

His approach tonight might not have been coincidental. He could have set this whole thing up, damn him. Anger fired hotter inside her, almost a welcome relief after the frustrated passion, fear for her child—and grief for Gran.

“Let’s not borrow trouble. Focus on the week and learn to forge a friendship with Preston.”

Friendship? With the father of her child from a one-night stand? And how was he going to react to the news of the baby? Gran’s request might not even be possible. “What if Preston doesn’t agree? Or if he’s antagonistic?”

Her grandmother smiled with a narrow-eyed determination Amie recognized well. “Then you’ll just have to win him over. Because, like it or not, your days of avoiding him are done.”