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.”
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