Page 12

“So let Jax help,” Bennett chimed in.

Jill visibly cringed. Anything but that.

“Don’t you need him on site here?”

Bennett shrugged. “I do, but we can get by with the staff we have for a while anyway. And I can do his office work from here so I can take care of Maggie. It’s actually kinda brilliant, babe,” he said, kissing Maggie, who still blushed with the attention. These two were too cute. It was hard to watch them and not want what they had.

“Will Jax go for it?” Maggie wondered.

The last thing Jill wanted was to work with Jax. And yet—the idea had merit. He could do the day-to-day local stuff Maggie usually did. Maybe this was a perfect solution.

“I dunno, to be honest, but we can ask. I mean, I want to stay with you as much as I can anyway so I can get you what you need and focus on our family. Maybe—maybe there’s a way we can keep our companies separate and let Jax and Jill take over for a bit,” Bennett said to Maggie, cupping her cheek in his palm.

The gesture was so tender, so inexplicably intimate, Jill forgot about how if this plan worked, she’d get the role in the company she wanted, yes, but she’d also have to work with Jax every day.

Well, she sort of forgot. “If we did this, could I keep my place in San Antonio?”

The couple shared another look that made Jill’s arms break out in goosepimples.

“Maybe eventually, but Jax doesn’t know what I do here,” Maggie said. Her voice was quiet and even with the robe she looked too thin and fragile. “I’d need you to stay on and either train him or let him handle the paperwork so you can chat up buyers and all that. Especially with the Cattleman’s Association fair coming up. I’d only trust you with it if I’m being honest. It’s something that can make or break us, and maybe that’s our litmus test.”

“How’s that?” Jill asked. Admittedly, she didn’t know much about the fair since she was running the numbers behind the scenes. She’d offered to jump in and help but would need to do her homework if this half-baked plan had any hope of succeeding.

“I mean, if this works—you and Jax taking over for now until this high-risk pregnancy is over—we won’t announce anything at the fair. But if you don’t like how it’s going or the work load is too much, we can always jump in at the CAF opening night and pretend the merger has been on the table all along.”

Jill glanced down at her shoes, the caked red dirt on the edge of her six-hundred-dollar pair of heels as out of place as she was in Deer Creek. “That makes sense. But what about living here? I don’t have a place—”

“You can have my house, and it comes furnished. Oh my goodness. We’d be neighbors, and you could see me get fat the next seven months. Then you can see what I love about this place—it changes everything, you know. Living on a ranch makes you appreciate what we do more, I think.”

And there it was—the ultimatum in all its lavish details. Jill could have everything she’d worked for—proximity to the most important person to her, the job she wanted, and help her friend in the process. But she’d have to give up her life in the city to get it. That meant no more brunches with her parents, at least not regularly. No more espressos at her favorite little shop on the corner under her apartment. No more pointing a finger at the takeout menus in her drawer and deciding then and there what she was having for dinner.

Worse, she’d have to work every day with an obnoxious man who had already decided he didn’t like her.

Well, which do you want more? The city or the company? The friendship or avoiding a guy who annoys you?

On paper, it was a no-brainer. Maggie was her closest friend and needed her more than ever. Besides that, the company was too important to both of them to just give up. Even more so now that Jill had put all her eggs in the Steel Born basket.

Maggie’s bottom lip was drawn between her teeth in anticipation of Jill’s reply. She had a choice, of course she did. But there was only one right answer.

“Okay,” Jill said, grabbing her tea so she had something to do with her hands that had started to shake again. “I’ll stay.”

Maggie cheered and Bennett hugged Jill tightly.

“Thank you, sis. Now, who’s telling Jax?”

*

Jackson paced in front of the restaurant until he wore out a path. At least that was how it felt. He hit redial and listened as the phone rang until it went to voicemail. Again.

C’mon, c’mon… He glanced at his watch. It was seven-freaking-thirty. Where the heck was she? Leave it to Ms. Perfect to be late. The thing was, he didn’t care if Jill showed up at all, not really. Not when he had a thousand other things on his mind.

Chiefly, the news Bennett had shared with him just a couple hours ago.

Bennett had found him at the stables just before dinner and broke the news about his and Maggie’s complicated pregnancy. Right away, Jax had been worried for his sister-in-law’s health, but hearing she’d be okay if she rested for the duration of her pregnancy let in a little excitement. He was going to be an uncle. Holy crap.

It had also explained the exhaustion lining each of Bennett’s features and gestures the past week. Jax agreed his brother should take some time off to care for his wife and their child. It’s what he would do, no question.

Of course, he’d honor his brother’s request to pitch in more. But that was where things got convoluted.