“Oh my God, this is the best piece of pizza I have ever eaten in my life.”
“So you’re a sucker for a pizza pie,” he said, lifting up a piece for himself. “I did not expect that.”
“And I didn’t expect this for a date, but it’s perfect. Just what I needed after all the stuffiness of the airplane travel and galas.”
“I thought you would enjoy the fresh-air venue after so much time indoors.”
She nodded, swiping her lips with a napkin. “The downside to office work is missing being outside. My brother managed to blend both, running the ranch.”
“I agree one hundred percent. That’s part of what drew me to Texas and this job.” In fact, he’d had it written into the contract that he would have access to the ranch. “Someday I want to build a big spread of my own to live the kind of life I dreamed of as a kid. My folks could come visit. At any rate, tonight I figured the outdoor ride would work better, too, in the event of another traffic jam.”
“Better than being stuck in the limo.” She tipped back a swig of water.
“Spoken like a person who’s grown up wealthy.” He couldn’t resist commenting, even though that had been his life for a long time, too.
He’d never forgotten his roots. Or how lucky he was today.
She crinkled her nose and set aside her water. “I guess that came out snobby.”
“Not snobby. Just...a sign that you grew up privileged.”
She tipped her head. “Is that a problem for you?”
“It’s just a challenge figuring out ways to romance you.” He threaded his fingers through her ponytail.
“And we’ve established you like a challenge.” Her eyes held his.
“Don’t start with the negative.” He tapped her lips. “Just be in the moment.”
“You really are charming under all that gruff business exterior.” Her mouth moved against his fingertips. “How did you stay single so long?”
His hand fell away and he looked forward at the blank movie screen, due to glow to life at any minute. “I was married, but we got divorced ten years ago.”
She went still beside him, her long legs straight beside his, almost touching. “I’m sorry.”
“Me, too.” And he was. He hated how much they’d hurt and disappointed each other. Most of all, he hated what had happened to their child. His throat threatened to close. “But we married too young. We gave it a good shot, and it just didn’t work out.”
“Do you have children?”
His blood turned to ice in his veins. “I have no children.”
He could practically hear her thinking through that. His heart slammed harder.
“Do you not like kids?” she asked, her voice tentative.
“I like kids fine.” He paused, stared up at the sky then back at her, needing to be honest if this stood a chance of...what? Anything. So he told her as much as he could force past his lips. “I had a daughter. She died.”
“Oh, Preston, that’s so sad.” She rested her hand on top of his on the blanket. “Do you mind if I ask what happened?”
His publicity people had done a damn good job keeping those details hidden from the public, even better than he’d known if the McNairs hadn’t discovered those details in the background search they’d undoubtedly conducted before hiring him.
“It was an accident.” He cleared his throat. He couldn’t talk about this, not the rest. He scrambled for something, anything— “Look, the first movie is starting.”
A black-and-white film crackled to life on the screen, the projected version maintaining the authenticity of the original as the Western-style font blazed across the screen with a lasso frame decorating the title. It wouldn’t be the first time Preston had lost himself in a place where Gary Cooper and Roy Rogers could still make sense of the world.
She looked as if she might press for more, so he slid his arm along her back and pulled her to his side, wanting just to be with her. Enjoy this.
“Amie. Movie. Okay?”
She relented, leaning against his chest with a sigh. “Right. Sure. I didn’t mean to push you to talk about something painful.”
“It’s all right. Another time, maybe.”
For now, he had her in his arms and that helped ease the pain inside him in a way he hadn’t felt in a long time. A way he looked forward to exploring more fully when they returned to their hotel.
Six
Nerves pattered in Amie’s stomach as the elevator doors slid closed on their way up to their penthouse suite in Midtown Manhattan. The evening in the park had been amazing, romantic, fun. Everything a first real date should be. And surprisingly, he hadn’t made a move on her other than sliding his arm around her, being a gentleman but undeniably interested in her. She hadn’t felt so mellow and happy in...she couldn’t remember when.
Was this the real Preston? Was this what they could have had if she’d dated him rather than impulsively leaping into a coat closet with him? God, that night was so surreal now. But they’d actually been together, no denying their impulsive coupling.
She leaned back against the mirrored wall, just looking at him, soaking in the sight of him. Casual. Approachable. His hazel eyes softened as he held her gaze. Heat flushed through her. Everything felt right. Natural. Could she just indulge for a little while longer and see where it went?
The high-speed elevator brought them to their floor in record time, the doors opening on the west half of the tower, thanks to the private code they’d keyed in for their room. The east-side doors went to a different suite.
She took a deep breath and reached to take Preston’s arm as she stepped off the elevator on their private quarters. Only to have Roscoe bolt into the elevator—something that shouldn’t have happened because she’d secured the kitty in her bathroom before she’d left.
Alarms sounded in her head as she squeezed Preston’s hand. She went rigid, cold. “Someone’s been in our suite. I locked up Roscoe...maybe a maid let him out?”
Preston’s arm shot out to block her path. “After what happened in LA, I’m not taking any chances. Get back in the elevator. Call Security while I go in. What the hell is it with all the security around these places?”
He charged forward and her stomach knotted with fear for him. The events of last night replayed in her head. She had the baby to consider, but she couldn’t just leave him here. She held the elevator door open while reaching for her cell phone.
Across the room, someone sat up on the sofa. A familiar someone in jeans, cowboy boots and a plain black T-shirt.
Her twin.
“Hey there, sister.” Alex stood, sweeping a hand through his dark brown hair. “I happened to be in the neighborhood and figured I would say hello.”
* * *
Suspicion seared through Preston as he strode toward Amie’s twin brother. Here. In Manhattan. In their suite. Did the guy have some kind of brotherly radar that Preston was making progress with Amie? Their night at the park had been everything he’d hoped it could be.
He’d had plans to take things further tonight, but clearly that had been blocked by a towering, suspicious cowboy sibling.
Preston sauntered toward Alex McNair, aware of Amie rushing up behind him. “What are you doing here in New York?”
Alex extended an arm and hooked his sister in for a quick hug before backing up and keeping his arm draped protectively over her shoulders. “I brought Nina and Cody to see a matinee on Broadway, like Gran and Gramps used to do with us. Cody okayed the plan once he heard the show has animals in it. And my fiancée could use some pampering with a shopping trip in New York, some spa time along with that show. Amie, you’re welcome to join in.”
Amie narrowed her eyes, sticking her brother with an accusatory stare. “And you just happened to choose the day I would be here
as well? The hotel staff must have fond memories of you from past trips that they gave you access to my suite.”
Her brother shrugged. “I think our family has made a favorable—and lucrative—impression on the management in the past. I spent almost a whole summer here once when I was determined to leave the rodeo life behind.” He huffed out a long breath. “Anyhow, there’s the Diamonds in the Rough show tomorrow. I figured why not bring Nina and show our support for the family business.”
“Where is Nina?”
“Settling into the other penthouse suite next door, getting Cody unpacked and oriented before he goes to sleep.” Nina’s son had autism and changes in routine could be difficult.
“I’ll see if she needs help.” She slipped from under his arm, but pinned him with a laser gaze of matching blue eyes. “But we’re still going to talk later.”
As Alex gave her the code to access the other suite, Preston couldn’t help but watch the sway of her hips when she left, wishing like hell this evening could have ended differently.
Alex cleared his throat. “That’s my sister you’re ogling. Eyes up.”
Preston pivoted on his heels and walked to the bar, pulling out two beers. The last thing he needed was this oversize cowboy brother breathing down his neck personally—or professionally. “Did your grandmother send you to check on the event tomorrow?”
And did this have something to do with the McNair matriarch calling her granddaughter yesterday? Preston passed his uninvited guest a longneck.
Alex took the Belgian brew. “My grandmother has nothing to do with this. It’s all me. I’m checking in on my sister. You and her together?” He shook his head. “That worries me.”
“Amie is an adult. Perhaps you should listen to what she has to say on the subject.” He tipped back the yeasty brew.
“I realize that. Doesn’t make me any less of a protective brother.” He took a long drag from the bottle. “You’re known for being a distant dude. I don’t want my sister to get hurt. She puts on a tough act, but she’s been pushed around by the family for too long.”
“I think you underestimate your sister if you think anyone can push her around.” Preston tilted his head to the side.
Alex’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You have a point there. But that’s the Amie you know now and you haven’t known her that long.” The child’s voice echoed from the other suite and Alex looked away quickly. “Let’s go next door to check on them. I want to make sure Cody’s still okay with all the change.” Preston wanted to push for more now, but Alex had already started for the door leading to the second penthouse through the shared elevator. He punched in the code. The doors swept open to reveal the two women sitting on the living room floor with a young, blond-haired boy—Cody. An intricate puzzle lay on the coffee table.
The suite was much the same as its mate, other than the use of silver and blues rather than reds and golds for the lavish accommodations. Preston hadn’t grown up in this sort of world, but he’d earned his way into the life of the rich and famous. He hoped he’d kept his feet and priorities planted, much like the young mom over there with her child. There hadn’t been much time for him to get to know Alex’s recent fiancée and her son, but he’d been impressed by her down-to-earth ways and her devotion to her child.
Amie glanced up, her eyes lighting as she looked at Preston before she shifted her attention back to the puzzle self-consciously. Nina reached up to clasp hands with Alex briefly, connecting without taking her attention off her four-year-old son. Alex kissed the top of her head full of red curls before dropping to sit on the window seat overlooking the buildings lighting up the night skyline.
Preston joined him, curious what this gathering held in store—and what he could learn about Amie.
She helped Cody match pieces in the puzzle, a Monet image far more advanced than a four-year-old could normally put together. But Mariah had told him Cody was a savant at art, and Amie had a gift for helping tap into that connection with the child. She was good with kids and that touched something in him he hadn’t thought about in a long while.
Alex set down his bottle on the window ledge. “You asked about my sister,” he said softly. “Do you want to know as a boss or for more personal reasons?”
Might as well be honest. He wasn’t having any luck hiding his attraction to her. And maybe Alex would respect the straight talk. “This has nothing to do with business. I would like to get to know her better.”
“Okay then.” Alex nodded slowly, his eyes settling on his sister, fiancée and future stepson. “Did Amie ever tell you about the time Stone and I put Kool-Aid in Amie’s showerhead right before the Miss Stampede Queen pageant? I didn’t think she would ever forgive either of us for turning her hair pink. Not to mention her skin.”
Where was he going with this story? “Seriously?”
“Mom never could figure out which one of us to blame. I did it, but she was convinced Stone egged me on.” A smile twitched.
“And the truth?”
His grin faded. “I wanted to help her, and Stone was more of a rebel, the idea man behind the prank. He left a gag book open to a particular page right on my desk.”
Preston envisioned Amie stepping out of that shower covered in pink dye—um, better not to think overmuch on that image. “I bet Amie was furious.”
“Not really. She wasn’t as into the pageant gig as Mom likes to think. It was pretty much the only way she could get attention from our mother.”
“That sucks.”
“It was worse when she was little. As she got older, she started to rebel.” He rolled the beer bottle between his palms. “When we were seventeen, she didn’t want to win the Miss Honey Bee Pageant—and given how many pageants she’d won in the past, it wasn’t arrogant of her to assume she would run away with that crown. But back to that time. She didn’t want to go because the Honey Bee Queen had to attend the county fair and she wouldn’t be able to attend homecoming.”
“What did you do that time?” He was getting an image of these three growing up together, protecting each other from dysfunctional parents but bonded by the love of their grandparents.
“Nothing too terrible. We went boating the day before the competition, and we stayed out so long we got sunburned. I told Mom the engine stalled. Amie looked like a lobster.” His reminiscent grin went tight. “Mom made her compete anyway. Just slathered her in more makeup. Amie got second runner-up.”
“Seriously?”
“Scout’s honor.” He held up his fingers. “I offered to cut her hair but she nixed that, so we opted for the sunburn instead. I was never sure if she opted out of the haircut idea out of vanity or because Mom would have just bought a wig.”
Preston studied the beautiful, eclectic woman sitting on the floor patiently piecing together a puzzle with Cody. She was focused on the child’s wishes, on the child himself. She was an amazing woman in so many ways.
But he also could see how her upbringing would have left her with some hefty trust issues. Was her brother right to be worried? Because Preston was beginning to wonder if he had enough left inside him to give this woman who deserved—and would demand—one hundred percent.
* * *
Amie had felt jittery all evening watching Preston and her brother huddled together talking. What was Alex telling him? What did Preston want to know? She would find out soon enough now that Cody had calmed down enough to go to sleep. The puzzle had helped soothe him in the new locale. Nina was tucking him in now.
Preston had stepped onto the balcony to take an overseas business call. A breeze swept in through the open balcony door, carrying in his low and rumbly voice.
Amie rushed over to her brother as he straightened the puzzle on the coffee table, Monet’s Water Lily Pond, a puzzle she’d gifted Cody with to connect through their love of art.
Sh
e knelt beside her brother. “Alex, be honest. Did Gran send you here to spy on me?”
He rocked back on his boot heels. “No, but that answers a big question. So Gran sent you on this trip for your inheritance test.”
“I didn’t say that,” she hedged, crossing her arms.
“You don’t have to.”
She sank back onto her bottom, hugging her knees. “You tricked me.”
“You fell for it...” He sat beside her and tugged her ponytail. “I just want to make sure you’re okay. Preston is a shark. It’s clear you two have something going on and I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Her heart hammered as she hugged her knees tighter. So it was that obvious. Their attraction was visible. But...that also meant Preston looked equally interested, enough to be noticed. And though Alex was playing the protective brother, the confirmation of Preston’s interest gave her hope.
“If you think Preston’s such a bad guy, why haven’t you said something to Gran? You have influence with her.”
“He’s one helluva businessman and he will make the company successful, which is good for all of us. That doesn’t mean I want him having anything to do with my sister.”
She appreciated that he cared, but at the same time it bothered her that no one in this family seemed to think she could look after herself. Her pageant days might be long behind her, but people in her family were still so intent on making decisions for her. She didn’t even want to consider her brother’s reaction if he found out she was pregnant.
Deep breath. That wasn’t important now. Not yet. One crisis, one task at a time.
Preston stepped back into the suite, closing the balcony door. He might be a shark, but damn, he took her breath away and set her senses on fire.
Pregnant by the Cowboy CEO Page 8
