The next morning, Sophie marched into Dennis’s office, dropped a bound folder on his desk and pounded it with her forefinger, while her boss watched on with mild amusement.
“Is something wrong?” he asked.
Folding her arms against her breasts, Sophie stared at him. “Wrong? Have you read this thing?”
“Not yet. All I know is that Ben decided the company needed to save money by changing insurance carriers.” He pointed to the folder. “And this is what we have now.”
“This is a crock of you-know-what. It’s outrageous. As soon as the employees see all the medical procedures being dropped from their coverage, they’re going to riot. Ben must have been out of his mind when he decided to go with this provider.”
“Health insurance is in turmoil these days and I think there was a lot of lobbying going on by this company to get Robinson Tech’s business,” Dennis told her. “And your brother was in a cut-and-save mood.”
Sophie snorted. “You know, when a flood of employees show up here to protest, I’m going to send them straight upstairs to Ben’s office. He’ll be in a different mood then.”
Dennis shook his head. “Give your brother a break. He’s just become a new father. He has a lot on his mind.”
Sophie’s expression suddenly softened. “Yes, little Lacey is adorable. I’ve never seen my big brother so enamored with anyone or anything. He behaves as though he’s the first man to ever have a daughter.”
“It is a special event when a child comes into your life. You’ll learn when it happens to you, Sophie.”
Becoming a mother was never going to happen to her unless she connected with the right man. And right now she was trying to decide how she could extricate herself from this mess she’d made with Thom. Perhaps she should just write FOOL across her forehead in big letters, take her lumps, and get it over with. But Valentine’s Day was less than a week away and she’d gotten a text from Thom this morning hinting that he was already making big plans for the evening.
More wrestling or monster action movies? The mere thought of it made her sick.
“Okay, Dennis, I’ll send notices out to all our employees about the change in insurance. Just get ready to hear plenty of howling.”
She picked up the folder and left her boss’s office. As she walked back to her desk, she spotted Mason. This morning he was wearing black slacks and a plum colored dress shirt that emphasized the faint bronze mix in his brown hair. As she watched him move toward her, she was amazed that it had taken her so long to really see what an attractive man he was. If she’d not been so busy developing such a thoughtless crush on Thom, she might have taken more notice of Mason. And never gotten herself into the embarrassing situation she was in now.
She walked over to meet him. “Good morning, Mason,” she greeted with a wide smile. “I hope you’re not here in my department to complain.”
He grinned. “Me, complain? Never. It’s my break time. If you can leave your desk, I thought we might have a cup of coffee together.”
Fifteen minutes with Mason would do her a world of good. “That sounds wonderful. Let me just put this away.” She held up the folder.
As he followed her into her cubicle Sophie was acutely aware of him standing a few steps behind her. The faint scent of his masculine cologne teased her nostrils while waves of heat seemed to be radiating from his body. That kiss of his had done something to her, she thought. Since then, whenever he got close, her nerves seemed to send up radar that picked up every little nuance about the man.
“What’s this?” he asked. “I didn’t know you were a hockey fan.”
“I’m not.” Sophie turned to see him staring at a ticket lying on the corner of her desk. Apparently someone had left it there while she’d been in Dennis’s office.
“Someone apparently thinks you are.”
“Let me see.” She picked up the ticket and found a small note stuck to the back. It read: We can catch a commuter flight and be in Dallas in time for the game. I’m looking forward to a fabulous evening with you. Thom.
Sophie wanted to look up at the ceiling and let out a loud groan. Instead, she glanced at Mason and tried to hide her frustration. “Thom wants to take me to Dallas to see the Stars play tonight.”
“Hmm. Rather a long drive to be making on a weeknight. You’d have to leave work early this afternoon to make it in time.”
The faint note of disapproval she heard in Mason’s voice made her wonder if he might actually be jealous of Thom. But that sort of thinking was farfetched. Even if he had planted that hot kiss on her lips, Mason thought of himself as Sophie’s friend. Nothing more.
“He expects to catch a commuter flight,” Sophie said, as her mind whirled in search of more than one reasonable excuse to put the man off.
Mason grunted. “His salary must be measurably larger than mine to spend that sort of money on a sporting event.”
“Thom loves sports,” she said dully. “Of all kinds.”
“No doubt,” he said dryly.
Sophie looked at him. “What does that mean?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. Just that most men do—love all kinds of sports.”
Looping her arm through his, Sophie urged him out of the cubicle. “Well, I seriously doubt Thom’s salary is a dime more than yours. His position with the company is not more important than yours. As for this hockey game, I can’t go.”
“You can’t?”
He sounded surprised and Sophie figured he was probably wondering why she would turn down any date with Thom. If she told Mason he was part of the reason, he’d probably think she was joking. And after the big deal she’d made about Thom being the fantasy man of Robinson Tech, she couldn’t blame him. Or even worse, he might get the impression that she was, as her mother had implied, a butterfly fluttering from one man to the next, incapable of making a choice.
“Uh—no. It’s—well, this evening is not a good time. I have—other things to do.” Like dream about you, she wanted to say, but didn’t.
He slanted her a sly grin. “You can always use the weather as an excuse. There are snow or ice warnings for tonight.”
“Oh! Thank you, Mason!”
“For what? Giving you a bad weather forecast?”
She felt a blush slowly creeping over her cheeks. “Well, I don’t necessarily like icy weather. But Thom—Sometimes it’s hard to make him understand I’m not at his beck and call any given time of the week.”
They entered the break room and she was relieved to see that Thom wasn’t anywhere in sight. In fact, the room was empty.
“Maybe you should just be honest with him, Sophie. Tell him that you don’t like hockey and you’d rather not go.”
His suggestion caused her eyes to roll. “What a novel idea. Brutal honesty. You wouldn’t like it if a woman told you she didn’t like the plans you made for the two of you.”
He shrugged. “Maybe. But I wouldn’t mind changing my plans to something we’d both enjoy.”
“Really? You’d do that?”
“Sure. If the woman was that important to me.” He guided her over to a chair and helped her into it. “You sit. I’ll get our coffee. Cream and sugar, right?”
“Yes, thank you.”
While Mason gathered the drinks, Sophie realized he remembered things about her that Thom had never taken the time to notice. He gave her encouraging words at just the right time and made her laugh when her spirits desperately needed a lift. He inherently seemed to know what she was thinking and feeling. And Sophie was quickly beginning to see just what a rare thing that was to find in a man.
“Here you go.” He placed the cup in front of her, then sat to her left. “A boost for the midmorning blues.”
Her expression wry, she glanced over at him. “What makes you think I have the midmorning blues?”
“Just a guess. Your shoulders aren’t quite as squared as they usually are.”
For the most part, she could see that he was teasing, but the remark had her straightening her back anyway.
“I’ve been so busy I’ve hardly had time to look up. What about you?”
“This health app is turning out to be much harder than I anticipated. There are so many products out there already. I want this to be fresh and new. Something that will grab the public’s attention. I just haven’t come up with the right ideas yet. Basically I want to tie sports with health and make the couch potatoes realize that being fit can also be fun. That’s been done, too. But hopefully I can put a different slant on it.”
She looked at him and the appreciation he saw in her brown eyes made him want to do handsprings. He’d had people praise his work before. Even Gerald Robinson himself. But having Sophie’s admiration lifted his ego to another level.
“You will. I have every faith in you. So do Wes and my dad. Or the two of them would’ve never assigned you the task.”
He watched her sip the coffee, while wishing he had the right to lean over and whisper loving words in her ear, to kiss her and call her his own. Perhaps that was crazy thinking on his part, but he couldn’t stop himself. Doug had pointed out that money didn’t make a person and Mason believed he was right. Even if Sophie was barely scraping by on a pitiful income, he would still be infatuated with her effervescent personality, the caring and warmth that radiated from her eyes.
Mason forced his thoughts back to the conversation. “Pleasing those two men puts me in a pressure cooker,” he joked.
Her lips tilted into a soft smile and Mason inwardly groaned. She had to figure out how wrong Thom was for her, he thought desperately. Otherwise, Mason’s heart was going to be broken. Along with Sophie’s. Because there was no doubt in his mind that Thom was a user and Sophie was just soft enough and vulnerable enough to let him.
“Wes doesn’t always put what’s on his mind into words, and that makes some people view him as a cold stuffed shirt. But he’s really fair minded. Dad is tough and expects everyone around him to be the same. But like I said before, there’s a softer side to him if you take the time to look.”
To have a father like Gerald Robinson was something Mason wouldn’t wish on his worst enemy. He’d noticed that Sophie didn’t talk that much about her family, but whenever she did, he got the impression they weren’t exactly like the warm, fun-loving groups depicted on a 1950s sitcom. And given the scandals that had recently surrounded the Robinsons, he could certainly see why their family ties might be strained.
“When I left the building last night you were already gone,” he told her. “I was going to see how your interview with Ariana Lamonte went. I could tell you were dreading it.”
She was carefully clutching her cup and as Mason studied her dainty fingers, he tried to block out the image of Thom sliding an engagement ring onto her left hand.
“It wasn’t anything like I expected. She was much younger than I thought she would be. And clever. She certainly knows how to make a person talk. We chatted mostly about Robinson Tech and what made me decide to work for my father. And of course, she wanted to know my feelings about becoming a Fortune.” She sighed and shook back her long brown hair. “The woman should know that discovering your father—that you’re not really who you thought you were all these years—well, it’s something that can’t be described in words. It’s like the ground has tilted beneath my feet and still hasn’t righted itself.”
This was the most she’d ever mentioned to Mason about the scandal that had rocked Austin and the business world beyond. The fact that she would share this much with him made him feel special. It also made him want to comfort and reassure her.
Reaching over, he curled his fingers around her slender forearm. “Sophie, no one is accountable for the choices a relative makes. No matter how right or wrong those choices might be.”
She turned a rueful expression on him. “You’re right, Mason. It’s just that when you learn someone you love hasn’t been entirely truthful with you—it hurts. A lot.”
He gently squeezed her arm. “You can’t let it drag you down, Sophie.”
“I don’t intend to let it,” she said with conviction, then glanced at the clock. “I’d better get back to my desk.”
“Yeah, I’ve got to get back to work, too,” he said.
Moments later, while they were walking side by side down the busy corridor, Mason dared to ask, “So what do you plan to do about the hockey game?”
She slanted him a look from beneath her dark lashes. “I’m going to give him a weather forecast. He surely can’t think I’ve stirred up a weather storm just to avoid a date.”
Mason felt like letting out a loud whoop and making several triumphant fist pumps. Instead he tried to appear as cool as Agent 007 ordering a shaken martini. “He’d never think it in a million years.”
At the door of the human resources department, Mason was trying to think up some sort of excuse to see her later tonight, when she suddenly turned and swept him with a demure look.
“Valentine’s Day is less than a week away,” she said. “Do you have your special date lined up yet?”
He cleared his throat and for one reckless second considered the idea of asking her flat out to be his Valentine’s date. But she’d already made it clear she wanted to be with Thom on that special night. And Mason wasn’t good with rejection.
“Uh—no. Not yet. I’m still considering.”
She frowned at him. “Mason! If you don’t quit dragging your feet you’re going to end up spending Valentine’s alone. And no one should have to be alone on such a special night of love.”
“You’re right. I’m going to get my act together and show my lady love just how much I adore her.”
“Now you’re talking,” she said, then with a little wave, disappeared through the door.
His mind still on Sophie, he didn’t notice Thom until he’d crossed the corridor to his own department. By then, the other man was walking straight toward him and from the tight look on his face, he didn’t appear all that happy. Had he seen Mason and Sophie together?
“Hello, Nichols. You need to see someone in R&D?”
“Not exactly. I’m on my way out of the building. For a business luncheon across town.”
That was the way with the marketing personnel, Mason thought. They seemed to always get added perks. Especially Thom.
“Better take a coat. Bad weather is moving in,” he warned.
“Thanks for the advice, but I don’t like coats. Never wear one.”
Tough guy. Sure, Mason thought drily. If the truth was known, the man probably wore flannel pajamas and slept under an electric blanket.
“Suit yourself,” Mason said, then started to leave.
Thom moved just enough to one side to block Mason’s path.
With a smug grin, he said, “I thought you might like to know that Sophie and I are getting on great. In fact, I have a huge evening planned for Valentine’s night. The woman loves sports, but this time I’ve decided to surprise her and blitz her with an evening of pure romance.”
Mason suddenly felt ill. The hockey game hadn’t impressed her, but the romance would. What in hell was he going to do to stop this from happening? He had to come up with something. He couldn’t just sit around and hope that Sophie would get over this crush she had on Thom. He had to come up with a plan to ambush Sophie’s heart before Thom could ever get his hands on her.
His mind already preoccupied with options, he muttered, “Sophie will be thrilled, I’m sure.”
The grin on Thom’s face deepened. “Dinner at the Riverside restaurant, dancing, flowers—the works.”
At least he’d not mentioned a ring, Mason thought. But that would be coming soon, no doubt. If he was right, Thom would never let Sophie slip away. Not if he believed she’d be a boost to his bank account and career.
Mason glanced thoughtfully toward the entrance to Sophie’s department. She clearly didn’t want to go on a date with Thom tonight. Whether that was because she disliked hockey or something else, Mason wasn’t sure. But either way, the idea gave him a glimmer of hope.
Mason said, “Sounds look you’ve put a lot of thought into this Valentine evening for Sophie.”
“I’ve put more than a thought into it. I’ve already invested a small fortune in it. If this doesn’t make her swoon at my feet, then she’d have to be colder than a block of ice.”
Ice. Before the day was over, Mason prayed the stuff would fall from the sky in bucket loads. He didn’t want Sophie going anywhere for any reason with this man.
“Uh, speaking of ice,” he said casually, “did you know Austin is under a winter storm warning for sleet this evening?”
Thom looked stunned before muttering several curse words. “Are you kidding me?”
“I checked the weather site on my computer less than an hour ago. Isn’t it weird? We rarely ever have brutal weather like that. The weather gods must have it out for us.”
A tight grimace pulled his features. “Or me,” he muttered. “Excuse me, Montgomery. I need to go.”
“Have a nice lunch,” Mason called to the man’s retreating back, then whistling under his breath, he headed back to work.
* * *
Later that afternoon, Sophie had just finished speaking with Thom and was on her way out of marketing, when she heard a low hissing noise to her right.
Glancing over, she was surprised to see Olivia trying to draw her attention. Knowing she very well couldn’t avoid her sister, Sophie walked over to her.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“I’m on my way back to programming,” Olivia replied. “Let’s step out in the corridor.”
Sophie followed her sister into the hall where they found a quiet alcove.
Olivia said, “I just saw you talking with Thom. He looked none too happy. Have you already called it quits with him?”
Sophie frowned. “What are you doing? Did you follow me here just to keep a watchful eye on me?”
Olivia shot her a droll look. “No. I had to confer with someone about advertising. But I should be following you, since you seem to have lost all common sense.”
Hoping the mix of emotions churning inside her didn’t show on her face, Sophie said, “I hate to disappoint you, but I can still think for myself. As for Thom, he’s not exactly your business but I’ll tell you anyway. He had this big evening planned to fly to Dallas tonight. I told him I couldn’t make it. I explained that Dad would have a fit if I boarded a small plane with the threat of an ice storm looming.”
“And Thom didn’t take it well, I see. Hmm. Sorry, sis, I take everything back. He’s the one lacking common sense. Not you.”
Sophie smiled at her. “Thanks. I can use my brain once in a while.”
As Olivia folded her arms against her chest Sophie thought how beautiful her sister looked in the lapis blue dress she was wearing and the way her dark hair waved so perfectly around her face. Olivia was always so poised and sure of herself. She would never get herself into an awkward situation with a man like Sophie had. Olivia was too smart for that. A fact which only made Sophie feel even more foolish.
Olivia asked, “What’s the deal anyway? Is flying to Dallas a bit much for the middle of the week?”
Sophie shrugged while wondering how much she could say to her sister without revealing the fact that she was quickly and decisively coming to the conclusion that Thom was a jerk. “Actually, I was thinking the same thing.” Leaning closer to Olivia, she lowered her voice. “When I first told you my plans to get Thom to be my Valentine’s date—”
“It was more than getting him as your date, Sophie,” Olivia interrupted. “The way you were talking, he was the man who was going to slip a wedding ring on your finger.”
Perhaps all that gushing she’d done about Thom to her sister had been a bit overboard. Funny, but most of what she’d said, she couldn’t even remember now. But at the time Sophie had truly believed she’d been mapping out her very future. Which only proved how quickly life could alter course.
“Okay, so maybe I was letting my dreams get a little out of hand. I’m walking on earth now. And I’ve been doing plenty of thinking these past few days.”
“About Thom?” Olivia prodded with a tad of sarcasm. “Or something more important?”
“About Thom and...other things.” Her expression turned sober as she looked at her sister. “Olivia, do you ever wonder about people? The ones who are supposed to be our friends? The ones who are supposed to love us? Sometimes I ask myself if they’re close to me simply because I’m me or because my name is Fortune Robinson.”
Olivia swatted a dismissive hand through the air. “That’s just a part of who we are. Sure, there will always be people who want to use us. But you don’t have to be rich to be used, you know. Even a poor woman can be taken advantage of by a man. That is what you’re thinking about, isn’t it? That Thom or some man might pretend he loves you just so he can get at your wealth?”
Now was hardly the time or place to be getting into such a conversation with her sister. But she couldn’t stop herself.
She nodded glumly. “There are times I wonder if I can trust anyone. I mean, we don’t even know if our parents are being honest with us.”
Olivia frowned. “Our parents,” she repeated blankly. “Everyone knows Dad has carried secrets, but you said ‘parents.’ Mom doesn’t have Dad’s deceptive ways.”
“Do you know that for certain?”
Olivia was shooting her a disgusted look when Olivia’s cell phone rang.
Sophie used the interruption to give her sister a departing wave, then scurried toward the elevator. She’d already said more to her sister than she should have.