Wizard by Unknown Read Free Book Online Page A

would be hell to pay. Much better to have her
    thinking he was simply pulling rank in order to get his project done.
    For all the good it had done him.
    Look at the price he was paying, Max chided himself. She'd canceled
    their lunch date tomorrow! But the convenient necessity of needing those
    notes typed up into a full-fledged report had seemed too good an
    opportunity to pass up.
    Would she condescend to share the hamburgers with him? Since he was
    out to lunch tomorrow, and since she had flatly refused to consider a
    break for dinner tonight, Max hadn't been able to think of any way to get a
    meal with her other than to bring in the fast food.
    This evening was his once chance with Sophy, and he couldn't afford
    not to take advantage of it. He hoped the damned cowboy was frustrated
    as hell.
    As he opened the door into the office, which was empty except for
    Sophy, Max braced himself for more of the ice treatment. He took a deep
    breath as she swung coldly accusing eyes on him for a fraction of a second
    and then returned to her work. She had been working with single-minded
    determination since she'd surrendered to his threat. Max's mouth
    hardened at the memory of how he had forced her to spend the evening
    with him. Then, for a moment, he simply drank in the sight of her, letting
    the pleasure of seeing her push out the uncertainties and feelings of guilt.
    What was it about Sophy that had attracted him from the first?
    As usual, she made a vibrant splash of color against the subdued,
    neutral shades of the office decor. The curling mass of her hair was pulled
    back above her ears with wide yellow combs. Her outfit was a racy little
    yellow coatdress with lapels and cuffs in royal blue. Her narrow waist was
    cinched with a wide belt of blue leather trimmed with silver. As vivid as
    she was, Max was all too well aware that the attraction she held for him
    went far deeper than her appearance.
    He was trained to see beneath the surface of things, but always before
    he had used that training in the realm of mathematics. With Sophy he
    wanted to use those skills in a new way. He wanted to know her
    completely. He wanted to secure her inner warmth and captivating
    aliveness for himself. Seeing her safely stuck behind the desk instead of
    dashing off to meet her cowboy gave him a feeling of untold satisfaction.
    Let tomorrow take care of itself. Tonight he had hours ahead with Sophy.
    "I brought some hamburgers," he said on a determined note. She had to
    eat something, didn't she? "Since you insist on working through dinner, I
    feel obliged to make sure you get fed."
    "Your consideration leaves me positively breathless, Dr. Travers." But
    she paused long enough to glance inside the sack. Then, to Max's relief,
    she withdrew a packet of french fries and began munching. Cautiously he
    sat down on the other side of her desk and reached for a burger.
    "You can proofread the first section in a minute," she remarked shortly.
    There was a long silence. "Was your cowboy very angry?" It was stupid
    to bring Nick Savage into the discussion, but Max suddenly had to know
    what the other man's reaction had been to the broken date.
    "He wasn't thrilled."
    Good , thought Max. Aloud he said, "I imagine he understands about the
    demands of your work."
    There was another painful silence. When she failed to respond to the
    remark, Max decided to take the offensive. "Sophy, about our lunch date
    tomorrow…"
    Her swivel chair swung around and she fixed him with a frozen glare.
    "Max, if you want this report done on time, you'll have to shut up and let
    me work. That was the whole point of the enforced overtime, wasn't it? To
    get this damn report out?"
    He stifled a sigh and glanced down at what she had accomplished so
    far. "It looks like you're making good progress."
    "I am." She swung the chair back around and returned to work.
    "Well, in that case, we'll be able to knock off early and have a drink."
    "My intention is to finish early and try to