Wizard by Unknown Read Free Book Online Page B

get to the party you forced me
    to miss this evening!"
    Max froze. Damn it to hell. "Is your cowboy expecting you?"
    "I'm going to surprise him. He said he was going to go anyway."
    "I see. Sophy—"
    "Shut up, Max, or you can damn well type this up yourself!"
    "I don't know how to type," he retorted.
    "Figures. I always thought they overlooked a few useful items in the
    education of wizards. I didn't get anything as useful as typing until I went
    off to college! Probably never let you waste much time playing with
    crayons, either, did they?"
    "Well, no," Max replied bemusedly, "they didn't. I wasn't much
    interested in crayons, to tell you the truth. Why do you ask?"
    "Never mind. Let me work."
    Max hesitated a few minutes longer and then made his decision. It was
    time he met Nick Savage. "When you're done I'll drive you to the party,"
    he stated gruffly. In that moment he couldn't have said exactly what made
    him want to see Sophy's lover. Max only knew that he had to find out what
    the other man was like. What did it take to attract Sophia Athena Bennet?
    "That's not necessary, thank you," she said briskly.
    "I don't want you taking the bus so late at night."
    She glanced up in momentary surprise. "How did you know I took the
    bus this morning?"
    "I, uh, just happened to see you come into work," he muttered, not
    meeting her eyes. Not for the world would he admit that when she came to
    work he was always standing at his office window, like a kid with his nose
    pressed to the candy store window.
    "Well, don't worry. I've ridden the bus before at night," she assured him
    coolly.
    "Sophy, I said I'll drive you to the party and that's final!" Was that him
    losing his temper? Good God!
    She narrowed her eyes as if assessing his temper. "Oh, all right, if it will
    make you happy. Anything to keep the expensive consultant in a good
    mood."
    Max found himself torn between wanting to beat her and wanting to
    drag her down onto the floor and cover her body with his own. It was a
    bewildering and unfair tangle of emotions, and it clouded his normally
    very logical mind in an unfamiliar fashion.
    By ten o'clock he could think of no further excuse to delay the inevitable.
    The report had been completed and proofed. It was perfect, and he knew
    Sophy was well aware of that fact. Time to meet the cowboy.
    "I'll just freshen up in the ladies' room and then I'll be ready to go,"
    Sophy said as she started for the door.
    Max nodded bleakly behind her, watching as she disappeared down the
    hall. He did not want to turn her over to Nick Savage tonight, he realized.
    He wanted to take Sophy Bennet back to his hotel room and keep her
    there with him.

    Max's mood became increasingly grim as he followed Sophy's chatty
    directions to one of the exclusive homes in the northern area of Dallas.
    Her mood was lightening in an inverse ratio to his own heavy frame of
    mind, he realized in disgust. She was looking forward to being with her
    cowboy.
    "I'd like to come in with you and meet this guy," Max announced as he
    parked the Ford at the end of a long line of Lincolns, Cadillacs and
    Mercedeses.
    "I don't see why you should want to meet Nick," Sophy began as she
    stepped out of the car.
    "Curiosity," he told her flatly. "Put it down to sheer curiosity. Besides, if
    I like him I can always mention that to your parents. It might help them
    adjust to the shock of having a cowboy for a son-in-law." There was no
    way on earth he was going to like Nick Savage, of course, but Max saw no
    reason to mention that fact to Sophy, who was already watching him a bit
    warily.
    "Well, I suppose there's no harm, but Max, there must be nearly two
    hundred people at this party tonight It's going to take a while to find him
    in the crowd."
    "I'll help you look," Max said smoothly, resisting the urge to say that the
    search might be difficult for him due to the fact that all cowboys looked
    alike.
    "Oh, all right, if you insist," she muttered, too eager to find Nick