âYou make it sound like Iâm your cheating wife.â
She sighed. âI didnât leave you. I left my job.â
But she had left him, Mac thought. It hadnât felt like an employee walking out, but a betrayal.
âSame thing.â His gaze fixed on her and for the first time, he noticed that she wore a tiny tank top and a silky pair of drawstring pants. Her feet were bare and her toenails were painted a soft blush pink. Her hair was long and loose over her shoulders, just skimming the tops of her breasts.
Mac took a breath and wondered where that flash of heat swamping him had come from. Heâd been with Andi nearly every day for the past six years and heâd never reacted to her like this before. Sure, she was pretty, but she was his assistant. The one stable, organized, efficient woman in his life, and heâd never taken the time to notice that she was so much more than that.
Now it was all he could notice.
* * *
A Bride for the Boss is part of the series Texas Cattlemanâs Club: Lies and LullabiesâBaby secrets and a scheming sheikh rock Royal, Texas
One
âWhat do you mean, you quit?â David âMacâ McCallum stared at his assistant and shook his head. âIf this is a joke, itâs not funny.â
Andrea Beaumont took a deep breath, then said sharply, âNot a joke, Mac. Iâm dead serious.â
He could see that, and he didnât much care for it. Usually when Andi stepped into his office, it was to remind him of a meeting or a phone call, or to tell him sheâd come up with some new way to organize his life and business.
But at the moment, she had angry glints firing in her normally placid gray eyes, and heâd do well to pay attention. Having a younger sister had taught him early to watch his step around women. Violet had a temper that could peel paint, and Mac knew that a wise man stayed out of range when a woman got a certain look about her. Right now, Andiâhis calm, cool, organized executive assistantâappeared to be ready for battle.
Andi looked the same as always, even though she was in the middle of tossing his well-ordered world upside down. June sunlight slipped through the wide windows at Macâs back and poured over her like molten gold. Her long, straight, dark brown hair hung past the shoulders of the pale blue blazer she wore over a white dress shirt and dark blue jeans. Black boots, shined to a mirror gleam, finished off the outfit. Her storm-gray eyes were fixed on him unblinkingly and her full, generous mouth was pinched into a grim slash of determination.
Looked like they were about to have a âdiscussion.â
Mac braced himself. Whatever she had in mind just wasnât going to fly. He couldnât afford to lose her. Hell, running McCallum Enterprises was a full-time job for ten men and damned if heâd let the woman who knew his business as well as he did simply walk away.
Sheâd been his right-hand manâwomanâpersonâfor the last six years and Mac couldnât imagine being without her. When something needed doing, Andi got it done. Mac didnât have to look over her shoulder, making sure things were handled. He could tell her what he needed and not worry about it. Andi had a knack for seeing a problem and figuring out the best way to take care of it.
She could smooth talk anyone, and if that didnât work, heâd seen her give an opponent a cool-eyed glare that could turn their blood cold. Thereâd been plenty of times when Mac had actually enjoyed watching her stare down an adversary. But he had to say, being on the receiving end of that icy look wasnât nearly as enjoyable.
What had brought this on?
âWhy donât you take a seat and tell me whatâs got you so angry.â
âI donât want a seat,â she said. âAnd I donât want to be soothed like you do those horses you love so much...â
He frowned. âThen what exactly do you want?â
âI already told you. I want to quit.â
âWhy the hell would you want to do that?â
Her gray eyes went wide, as if she couldnât believe he even had to ask that question. But as far as Mac knew, everything was just as it should be. Theyâd closed the Donaldson deal the day before and now McCallum Enterprises could add Double D Energy Services to its ledgers. And Andiâd had a lot to do with getting David Donaldson to sign on the dotted line.