“Mr. Mills, sir?” Westward trailed after me nervously as I strolled down the hall, my hands tucked in the back pockets of my dress pants. He struggled to keep pace. If the red, blotchy color of his face told me anything, it was that something was going on, and he was stressed to no end about it. “Mr. Mills, please! Please, wait!”

I decided to entertain him. “Yes, Westward?”

“There’s…” Westward glanced down the hall at the door leading into Lena’s office, and through it, to the office I now shared with Troy, then trailed off. After a few tense emergency meetings with the board in which I’d swayed them with my cool intellect and sharp wit, I’d been granted an official executive position within The Palisade, and served alongside Troy as we rolled out the changes to The Palisade’s staffing and policy structures that would take it from a good casino on the Strip to the best casino, period. Over the last few months, I’d worked tirelessly alongside Troy to make sure the implemented changes were living up to expectations, and, if they weren’t, that they were promptly revised and corrected.

Troy, bless him, was working harder than ever—and not only that, but he was learning, too. Pregnancy sucked, but it had lit a fire under his ass that not even the most intense play sessions had been able to accomplish. The stubborn man I’d met almost five months ago was finally starting to think outside the box. Maybe it was because I was living with him now. Life on the estate made up for how much pregnancy sucked.

Barely.

But more than that, Troy’s willingness to grow and learn pleased me an impossible amount, and I was pretty sure he knew it.

“There’s?” I asked. I looked down the hall at the same door, which made Westward flail and jump in front of me, seemingly in an attempt to block it from my view. His efforts were wasted—he was too short to hide much of anything.

“There was a situation in the office,” Westward stated. The red on his face darkened and grew splotchier. “It’s Lena, sir. Do you remember the squirt bottle she’s had sitting on her desk for the last few months?”

I snorted with laughter. “Yes.”

I’d dodged sprays from that same squirt bottle on my first day here, when Westward and Lena both had been convinced that I was some kind of hooligan looking to cause trouble. From time to time, I still taunted Lena with rubber bands, even though I didn’t fire them at her anymore.

“Just now, there was a visitor in the office who accidentally knocked the squirt bottle to the floor. The cap came flying off, and the water went everywhere. Until we get it soaked up, can you please wait out here? It shouldn’t be long, but we don’t want anyone to slip and fall—especially in your condition.”

“My condition?” I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, subtly emphasizing the growing baby bump I was sporting. At four and a half months pregnant, I was showing. “I always forget how pregnancy makes the bottom of your shoes suddenly much more slippery. Thank you for looking out for me, Westward. Pregnancy brain makes me forget everything all the time. I don’t know what I’d do without a little help.”

I was teasing him, of course, and I let my playfulness shine through in my words. Westward, bumbling and anxious about everything, wrung his hands and shook his head quickly. “That wasn’t what I meant, sir…”

“I know, I know.” I grinned. “I’m sorry. I think I must be spending too much time with Mr. Sullivan—he’s starting to rub off on me. If I ever push you too far, just let me know.”

“Of course, sir. You don’t, sir.” Westward took in a warbling breath. “But, please, no matter if you’re pregnant or not—”

I definitely was.

“—don’t go in the office just yet. Lena will be out in a second with the mop. I don’t want any workplace accidents.”

“It’s just a little spilled water,” I objected. “I’ll be careful now that I know what to look out for.”

“No!” It was very rare for Westward to raise his voice, and it startled me enough to stop me from circling around him and continuing on my way.

I squinted at him. Something suspicious was going on, but it was impossible to tell what. “Did Mr. Sullivan cause trouble with something while I was gone?” I asked. “Or is this about the visitor? As far as I’m aware, we had no appointments scheduled for today.”

“No, no, no, no.” Westward shook his head harder than before. “It’s water, sir. Spilled water. Very dangerous, wet, slippery water. Please let Lena finish mopping it up before you go inside. It’s all over the floor, sir. Very bad news. You’ll go in and instantly slip—or worse, you’ll hit Lena with the door and push her to the floor and she’ll get soaking wet. You’ll never hear the end of it then.”

I held back a laugh—Westward was right about that. Five months later, Lena still had the squirt bottle on her desk in case I got out of control. I was honestly surprised it had taken as long as it had for it to get knocked down and spilled. I supposed, all things considered, I could wait. Another five minutes wasn’t going to kill me. “Okay, Westward. You win. I’ll wait.”

Westward’s shoulders slumped in relief. Beaming, he wiped his brow and looked over his shoulder at the door. On cue, it opened, and Lena wheeled out a yellow mop bucket. I was shocked—I’d thought for sure that Westward had been telling tall tales on Troy’s behalf.

Go figure.

“Hello, Mr. Mills,” Lena said flatly as she rolled the mop bucket down the hall. “The water’s all cleaned up. The office is safe to walk through again.”

“Oh, thank god,” Westward uttered, much more enthused than he should have been over the state of the floor.

I looked between him and Lena, my eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Did I go out for a lunchtime milkshake and walk back into an alternate dimension? Something weird is going on.”

“Nothing’s weird!” Westward insisted a little too eagerly. He wrung his hands like something was very weird. “Everything’s fine. I was waiting to go see Mr. Sullivan, so let’s go to the office together.”

I looked back and forth between Lena and Westward, but ended up following Westward down the hall. Lena continued on her way, pushing the mop bucket back to the janitorial closet.

“This is the part where you knock me out and steal one of my kidneys, isn’t it?” I asked as Westward opened the door to reception. I didn’t see any sign that water had been spilled on the floor. “Or is it a lung you’re after? Maybe both? A section of my liver? My mother had cancer, you know. Bile duct cancer. She had to go through several rounds of neoadjuvant chemo, and then a partial hepatectomy. Those are big scary words, right? Hopefully enough to convince you that my organs aren’t prime real estate for the black market?”

“Mr. Mills,” Westward said pointedly. “If I’d wanted to harvest your organs, I would have done so a long time ago. I think it’s safe to say you’re in the clear.”

I hadn’t been expecting Westward to joke back, and as a consequence, I burst out laughing. I was still in stitches when I set my hand on the exterior doorknob of the office door. Lena’s desk was no more than a few feet away—the spray bottle was gone. “Westward? Never change. You’re incredible.”

“I try, sir,” Westward assured me. He waved a hand at the door. “Now, go on. I don’t have all day to wait outside. There’s business to tend to.”

“Yes, yes.” I pulled myself together and opened the door. It took me two steps to realize that the office I’d left half an hour ago wasn’t the one I returned to now. Stunned, I stopped and stared. Three dozen roses lay on Troy’s office desk, dark red and in full bloom. Accented by white baby’s breath, they were absolutely gorgeous. Troy, always prim and proper, looked even more phenomenally handsome than the last time I’d seen him—he’d changed into a richer suit and swapped out his tie for one with a color that made his eyes pop. But, of all those things, the one that surprised me the most was the visitor standing to the side of Troy’s desk.

Mom.

“Hi, baby,” Mom said with a wink and a smile. Her hair had grown into a short, shaggy hairdo that framed her cheekbones beautifully. If I hadn’t known she’d been so sick just a year ago, I never would have believed it. “You’re all glowy. Pregnancy suits you.”

“Mom?” I rushed into the room, too overcome with joy to think about Troy or the roses. I tugged Mom into a hug, and she laughed and hugged me back. “Mom, what are you doing here? I thought you wanted to stay in Maine.”

“Troy invited me to come visit,” she said. She pulled away from me and grinned, love shining in her eyes. “He’s a lovely man. I’m glad that you’ve found each other.”

“I just… I can’t get over this!” I laughed. I’d tried to convince Mom to come down and visit since I’d flown out to Las Vegas, but she always had some excuse or another. I had no idea how Troy had managed to get her out of Rockport. “Does Monty know you’re here? Where is he?”

“He was out of town on business today,” Troy told me. He was smiling ear to ear. “I’d asked him to be here, too, but he couldn’t change his plans around. He sends his love.”

I turned my attention from Mom to Troy, confused. “Here for what…?”

Troy stepped around his desk, our eyes locked. Over the last few months, his confidence had blossomed, and I loved to see him be so bold.

I was so distracted by the look in his eyes that I didn’t realize what was happening until he dropped to one knee. My eyes widened, and I pinched my shoulder blades together as my whole body tensed.

“For the day I ask you to be mine forever,” Troy said. From his inner suit pocket, he produced a ring box. He pulled back the top to reveal a simple band inside—platinum with a small, black stone set flush with the surface of the ring. “Will you marry me, Robin, and make our small family official?”

An answer launched itself from my mouth before I could even think about it. I had no doubt or hesitation, and I felt no regret. I knew what I wanted, and what I wanted was Troy. “Yes!”

Flashes went off behind me—someone was taking pictures. Westward and Lena had been scamming. They’d followed me back into the office so they could capture the big moment for me and Troy.

I brushed tears away from my eyes. It was totally the pregnancy making me emotional. Yep. It definitely wasn’t like I was tearing up over my stubborn, big-headed, absolutely wonderful man.

“I love you, Robin,” Troy whispered as he slipped the ring on my finger and stood, drawing me into his arms. “I love you for you.”

“I love you, too.” I rested my head on his shoulder, then laughed. When I spoke again, I whispered what I had to say into his ear. “But you know, this ring wasn’t an approved purchase… and neither were those flowers. Even if they were for me, that doesn’t forgive the fact that you didn’t ask for permission.”

Troy shivered. My grin grew.

“I think, later tonight, I might have to punish you for what you’ve done.”

“You two remind me of what me and my late husband were like when we were younger,” Mom enthused from much closer than I’d previously believed. I jumped back, cheeks red—she’d definitely heard us. “Back then, when he misbehaved, I would—”

“Oh my god, Mom!” I uttered, exasperated. “Really?”

Mom winked. “You’re a Mills, Robin. It’s in our genes.”