to get back to his roots: being on a horse, overseeing the day-to-day decisions of ranch life and working out of a home office to keep his wildly divergent business interests growing.
Life was damn busy and Andi was just going to have to stay right where she was to help him run things—the way she always had.
“Where’s this coming from, Andi?” he asked, leaning one hip against the corner of his desk.
“The fact that you can even ask me that is astonishing,” she replied.
He gave her a slow grin, the very same smile that worked to sway women across Texas into agreeing with anything he said. Of course, Andrea Beaumont had always been a tougher sell, but he’d use whatever weapons he had to hand. “Now, Andi,” he said, “we’ve worked together too long for you to get snippy so easily.”
“Snippy?” Her eyes fired up again and Mac thought for a second or two that she might reach up and yank at her hair. “That is the most insulting thing...”
She took another deep breath and Mac idly noticed how those heavy breaths she kept taking made her small, perfect breasts rise and fall rhythmically. For such a tiny woman, she had curves in all the right places. Funny he’d really not taken the time to notice that before.
Andi was simply there. She kept on top of everything. Nothing ever slipped past her. But apparently this had slipped past him.
“This is coming out of the blue and I think you owe me some sort of explanation.”
“It’s not out of the blue, Mac,” she said, throwing both hands high. “That’s the point. I’ve worked for you for six years.”
“I know that.”
“Uh-huh. And did you notice I didn’t even take a vacation the last two years?”
His frown deepened. No, he hadn’t noticed. Probably should have, though, since every damn time she did take some time off, he ended up hunting her down, getting her to solve some damn problem or other. The fact that she’d stayed here, working, had only made his life continue on its smooth, well-planned path, so he hadn’t had to think about it.
“Is that what this is about?” He pushed off the desk, braced his feet wide apart and folded his arms across his chest. “You want a vacation?”
Her mouth flattened into a straight, grim line. “No. I want a life. To get that life, I have to quit. So, I’m giving you my two weeks’ notice.”
“I don’t accept that.”
“You don’t get a vote, Mac.”
“See,” he said tightly, “that doesn’t fly with me, either.”
It was like talking to two brick walls, Andrea thought, staring up at the man who had been her focus for the past six years. About six foot one, he had short, dark blond hair that in another month or so would be shot through with sun streaks. His summer-green eyes were cool, clear and always held a sort of calculating gleam his competitors usually took for affability. He was lean but strong, his build almost deceptively lanky.
Mac McCallum was the stuff women’s dreams were made of. Sadly, that was true of Andi’s dreams, too.
Six years she’d worked for him. She wasn’t sure exactly when she’d made the supreme mistake of falling in love with her boss, but it seemed as if those feelings had always been with her. A part of her had always hoped that one day he might open his eyes and really see her—but the more rational, reasonable part of Andi knew that was never going to happen.
To Mac, she would always be good ol’ Andi. She knew he saw her as he did the new laser printer in the office. Efficient, able to get the job done and nearly invisible. The raise he’d given her notwithstanding, he didn’t really appreciate just how hard she worked to keep McCallum Enterprises running smoothly—he just expected it. Well, it had taken her a long time to reach this point, but she really wanted a life. And as long as she was here, mooning after a man she couldn’t have, that wouldn’t happen. Andi had been working up to quitting for a long while now, and today had finally given her the last little nudge she’d needed.
It was liberation day.
“Go on, Andi. Go to your nephew’s game. Enjoy the rest of the day and we’ll talk about this again when you calm down.”
He still didn’t get it, and she knew that she had to make herself clear. “I’m completely calm, Mac. I’m just done.”
A slow, disbelieving smile curved his mouth, and Andi told herself to stay strong. Stay resolved. There was no future for her here. But watching him, she realized that he would spend her two weeks’-notice time doing everything he could to change her mind. Knowing just how charming he could be was enough to convince her to say, “I haven’t had a vacation in two years. So I’m going to take my vacation time for the next two weeks.”
“You’re just going to leave the office flat?” Stunned now, he stared at her as if she had two heads. “What about the contracts for the Stevenson deal? Or the negotiations on the Franklin Heating project?”
“Laura’s up-to-date on all of it and if she needs me,” Andi said firmly, “she can call and I’ll be happy to walk her through whatever problem she’s having.”
“Laura’s the office manager.”
True, Andi thought, and though the woman had been with the company for only a couple of years, she was bright, ambitious and a hard worker. And as a newlywed, she wouldn’t be spinning romantic fantasies about her boss.
“You’re serious?” he asked, dumbfounded. “Now?”
“Right now,” Andi told him and felt a faint flutter of excitement tangled with just a touch of fear.
She was really going to do it. Going to quit the job she’d dedicated herself to for years. Going to walk away from the man who had a hold on her heart whether he knew it or not. She was going out into the world to find herself a life.
With that thought firmly in mind, she turned and headed for the door before Mac could talk her out of leaving.
“I don’t believe this,” he muttered.
Can’t really blame him, she thought. This was the first time since she’d met Mac that she was doing something for herself.
Andi paused in the doorway and glanced back over her shoulder for one last look at him. He was everything she’d ever wanted and she’d finally accepted that she would never have him. “Goodbye, Mac.”
* * *
Outside, the June sunlight streamed down from a brassy blue sky. Summer was coming and it seemed in a hurry to get here. Andi’s footsteps crunched on the gravel of the employee parking area behind the office. With every step, she felt a little more certain that what she was doing was right. Sure, it was hard, and likely to get harder because Andi would miss seeing Mac every day. But hadn’t she spent enough time mooning over him? How would she ever find a man to spend her life with if she spent all her time around the one man she couldn’t have?
“Just keep walking, Andi. You’ll be glad of it later.” Much later, of course. Because at the moment, she felt as if she couldn’t breathe.
