Read Wizard for Free Online Page B

evening."
    "We'll discuss it Thursday at lunch," Max compromised smoothly. Then
    he turned around and walked out of the office without another word.
    Sophy watched him go with a sense of foreboding. Then she slowly
    made her way back to her desk.
    "You're going to type up Dr. Travers's notes, Sophy?" Marcie Fremont
    glanced at her co-worker. The dress was back in its box, safely stowed
    under Marcie's desk.
    "Yes," Sophy mumbled, sitting down and arranging the work.
    "Maybe you can learn something from them," Marcie observed. Marcie,
    in her efforts to climb the corporate ladder, was the kind of secretary who
    didn't just type up data, she studied what she typed. As a result she had an
    excellent working knowledge of the technical side of the company's
    business. So far, though, that knowledge hadn't done her much good in
    securing advancement.
    "I doubt it," Sophy said. "It's very complicated. A lot of higher math. I'll
    be lucky to translate it. By the way, have you heard anything from
    Personnel yet?"
    Marcie's mouth curved wryly. "Not a word. They're sure taking their
    time selecting someone for that position in Quality Control. I get the
    feeling they think it's a man's job."
    "When the truth is, you could do it better than anyone else who's
    applied!"
    "Thanks." Marcie smiled. "I needed that. What's with you and Dr.
    Travers, though? Did I hear you agreeing to have lunch with him?"
    "He's a friend of my parents'. They all live back in North Carolina."
    Sophy busied herself with Max's notes.
    "But he seems personally interested in you," Marcie persisted.
    "He's just lonely. He's spending a few weeks here in Dallas, and I guess
    the hotel walls are closing in on him." And that was all it amounted to, she
    assured herself silently. That was all it could amount to. So why was she so
    damned aware of the man? Why was she anticipating, and yet nervous
    about, having lunch with him?

    During the next two days Max seemed to be nearby every time Sophy
    turned around. He dropped by to check on the progress of his notes. He
    made a point of being in the building lobby when Sophy was leaving work.
    He somehow managed to go through the cafeteria line behind her when
    she was on morning break.
    And when he wasn't around, Sophy realized she was unconsciously
    watching for him. A hundred times she lectured herself about the dangers
    of letting Dr. Max Travers get too close, and a hundred times she assured
    herself that she was only treating him like a family friend.
    Late Wednesday afternoon, however, Sophy had cause to wish she had
    heeded her own lecture. She glanced up at a quarter to five as Max came
    toward her desk with a stack of papers and an intense, preoccupied air.
    "Sophy, I hate to ask this, but I've got to have these done by eight
    tomorrow morning." He wasn't looking at her, rather at the notes in his
    hand, so he missed Sophy's horrified expression.
    "Max! It's almost five o'clock! I can't possibly get those typed up today!"
    "It's okay," he assured her absently as he arranged the papers on her
    desk. "I'm allowed to authorize overtime for you."
    Sophy felt a wave of panic. "Max, I don't want any overtime. Not
    tonight. I've got a date with Nick. You know that. Maybe someone else…"
    Max met her eyes very steadily across the width of the desk, and Sophy
    was startled by the cool, calculating expression in the depths of his smoky
    gaze. "Sophy, you know none of the other secretaries can handle this
    tonight. You're the only one with the vocabulary and the scientific
    background to get through this in an evening. Besides, you're the one
    who's been working on this project all along. It will take any of the others a
    couple of days to get up to speed, and I haven't got that much time." He
    tapped the folder on her desk with a pen he had removed from the pack in
    his shirt pocket
    "Max, I'm going out tonight. I just don't have the time. Maybe I could
    come in early tomorrow," she tried desperately. She was feeling