Catching Sam: Book 2 of 5: The MacDonald Brothers by Emily Matthews (best mystery novels of all time TXT) 📗

Over coffee, Annie found out that Beckie’s mom had an unusual type of blood cancer. There was no known cure, but the doctor gave fifty-fifty odds on her survival with chemo and other medications. She also found out Beckie was only a semester away from a degree in graphic design. She was interested in finishing her degree one day and coming back to Samatrix as a graphic designer.

When they returned to the office, Cooper was tapping his foot impatiently. “If you need an assistant, why don’t you call HR and request one?” he asked politely but clearly annoyed.

“Great idea, Cooper. Thanks,” Annie said as she entered her office. She immediately called HR, put her bitch face on, and demanded that Beckie be reassigned to her.

Not ten minutes later, she looked up from her computer to see Sam’s hunky frame filling her doorway. Damn, he looked good.

“Hey, Sam.” She looked back to save what she was working on and then turned to give him her full attention. “What brings you by?”

She looked out her office window to see a smug Cooper grinning at her. Not feeling very cordial, she waved back with a wicked smile.

“Well, don’t taunt him, Annie. Geez.”

“What? Taunt who?” she asked, widening her eyes and blinking innocently.

“Cooper. That’s why I came by. I hear you’re trying to steal his admin assistant. I asked if you needed one, and you said no. Has something changed?”

“Yes. I need one, but not just anyone. I specifically want Beckie. Did you know she’s only a semester away from graduating with a graphic design degree? I could use her to help me. Her talents are wasted just typing Cooper’s letters.”

“She’s going to school and working? That must be tough.”

“She’s not in school now. She dropped out to take this job, but wants to return and finish and then come back to be a graphic designer for Samatrix.”

“There must be more to it than that. Why don’t you just come clean?” Sam wasn’t one to beat around the bush. He leaned forward and waited.

Annie sighed. Maybe Sam would help her with this if she explained. Simply demanding Beckie be assigned to her obviously wasn’t going to work. She told him about Beckie’s situation and how Cooper wasn’t flexible at all with her mother’s doctor appointments and wouldn’t let her work any overtime to make some extra money.

Sam sat silent, and Annie wondered if it had been a mistake to blab Beckie’s business to the boss. She opened her mouth to tell him to forget it, but he spoke before she could.

“Why don’t we make her a graphic design intern then? A paid intern position that has a higher salary than an admin assistant,” Sam said thoughtfully. “Sounds like more money would help for now. Then, once her mother’s on the mend, we can work out a way for her to still work but also finish up that last semester. If she’s any good at graphic design, we can hire her back at full graphic design pay.”

Annie was speechless, and it was possible she fell in love with Sam at that very moment.

“If I didn’t have glass windows, I’d jump across this desk and hug you right now,” she said through blurry eyes. “That all sounds perfect. Can you really make that happen?”

He cocked an eyebrow.

“Duh. Of course you can make that happen.” She rolled her eyes at her own stupidity. “Sam, this is really, really amazing of you. Like, seriously amazing. How can I thank you?”

“I’ll think about that and make a list.” He winked. “Another thing, it sounds like she could use a night out. There’s a fundraiser for cancer coming up soon. Why don’t the two of you come with me? If her mom’s feeling up to it, bring her too. I can tell Phil I need a few more tickets. It’s a fancy thing. You’d have to get dressed up and all that. Don’t women go for that sort of stuff?”

“A night out for both of them sounds perfect. What a great idea, Sam. We can’t go with you, though. And we’ll buy our own tickets.”

“Tickets are five grand a pop.”

“We still can’t go with you, but you can leave our tickets at will-call,” she said without missing a beat, and he laughed.

“Good enough.” He walked over to Annie’s phone. “May I?” he nodded to the phone.

“Of course.” She scooted back so he had room.

He picked up the phone and then stood helpless. He gave a little chuckle. “Uh, what’s the number for HR?” She pushed the redial button and smiled.

“Hey, this is Sam.” He paused for a second and then said, “Sam MacDonald.”

Annie could hear whoever was on the other end of the phone apologizing profusely. She doubted Sam called HR much and could see why they’d be confused.

He told them what he wanted and that he wanted it done by the end of the day. When he hung up, Annie was smiling from ear to ear. “You are awesome. Thank you so much.”

He glanced out her window. When he saw the hall was empty, he leaned in and kissed her briefly on the mouth.

“I’ve wanted to do that since I walked in here,” he whispered next to her ear.

“God, Sam, you’re crazy,” she said, flustered. “But damn, you look hot in that suit.” He smiled at the compliment.

“So, I was wondering, do you have any plans for this weekend?”

“Assuming I find a car this week, I was thinking of driving out to the beach. I miss the ocean.”

“Did you live near the beach in California?”

“Not really. I lived in Hayward, which is east of San Fran, but Santa Cruz was only about an hour away. Google says it’s about a two-and-a-half-hour drive to get to a beach from here.”

“Hm, you do realize that Washington beaches are very different from California’s, right?”

“Is there sand? Are there waves? How different could it be?”

“For starters, probably about twenty to thirty degrees. And that’s outside the water. Only crazy people actually