through hard work and confidence. The same could be applied in this situation. Her goal was to have Thom Nichols as her Valentine dream date.
Now, if she could just figure out how to make that happen.
“Sophie? What are you doing here at this hour?”
Since everyone in her department had left hours ago, the unexpected voice caught her by surprise, especially when she’d been sitting there with her head in the clouds.
Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Mason Montgomery shoving back the cuff of a pale blue dress shirt to study his watch. The tall, dark-haired computer programmer had probably seen her staring off into space like some lovesick teenager. The notion sent a flood of pink embarrassment to her cheeks.
Mason was far too intellectual and mature to understand a woman’s crush on an attractive man. Or was he? With him working just across the hall from her, they’d often exchanged greetings and talked about work or current events, but they’d never been more than casual friends. He was a crackerjack programmer who’d created several highly successful apps for the company. He was also mannerly and nice-looking in a boy-next-door kind of way. He just wasn’t Thom Nichols.
“Oh, hi, Mason. I guess I’ve been so engrossed in my work I didn’t notice the time.” Which wasn’t a complete lie, she thought. It had been hours since she’d glanced at the clock on her desk, but only because she’d been too busy fantasizing about her Valentine date. At least, the man she was hoping would become her Valentine.
A frown furrowed his forehead. “Surely your father doesn’t expect you to wear yourself out. I realize he’s a stickler about deadlines, but I don’t think he’d want his daughter to collapse with fatigue.”
Laughing, Sophie swiveled her chair so that she was facing her late night visitor. “Most everyone in the building thinks Gerald Robinson is a taskmaster, but he’s really just a big teddy bear with a loud growl.”
His smile exposed a row of straight white teeth and Sophie could see the expression was sincere. She liked that about Mason Montgomery. He always seemed genuine. But Thom’s dazzling smile could charm the fleas right off a cat. How could any other man compare to that?
“Drop the teddy and I’ll believe you.”
She tossed strands of long brown hair over her shoulder before gesturing to a thick folder lying open on her desk. “I’ve been going over a presentation for a new job-training program the company will soon put in place. Actually, there’s a new program for your department and marketing.”
His brows lifting with interest, he moved inside the cubicle and rested a hip against the side of her desk. “Oh? Robinson Tech is going to put its programmers through more training?”
She laughed at his wary expression. “Only the newly hired employees. Not the old veterans like you.”
“Ouch!” he said with a chuckle. “I’m not so sure I like that old part.”
Shaking her head, she gave him another smile. “I just meant you’ve worked here for a long time. As for your age, you couldn’t be much older than me. I’m twenty-four.”
“Try five years,” he admitted. “I’m twenty-nine.”
“Ooooh, that’s terribly old,” she joked, then added in a more serious tone, “Speaking of working late, I’ve noticed you’ve been burning the midnight oil here lately. You know, my father wouldn’t want you collapsing from fatigue, either.”
His brown eyes twinkling, he picked up a hunk of raw amethyst Sophie used for a paper weight. “We’re getting a new app ready to roll in a few days. I want to make sure there are no glitches before Wes sends it on to your father for final approval. Sometimes that means losing sleep and a meal or two. But there’s no need for you to worry you might have to scrape me off the floor. I’ve been eating my spinach.”
Mason was hardly a muscle man, Sophie decided, as she studied him from beneath her lashes. But he had a trim, athletic build that implied he hit the gym on a regular basis. Although from the long hours he put in at Robinson Tech, she couldn’t imagine where he found the extra time for himself.
“Mmm. I like my spinach in enchiladas,” she said. “But I’d eat it raw or standing on my head if it would make me as tech savvy as you.”
He shook his head. “And I wish I had your gift for communicating with people. I’ve seen you in action—how easy it is for you to soothe irate employees. I wouldn’t have the patience to listen to their complaints, much less calm their tempers. And you can do something around here that no one else can do.”
Intrigued, she leaned back in her chair and arched a brow at him. “Oh? I can’t imagine what that might be.”
“You can put a smile on our boss’s face. I’ve never seen anyone but you make Gerald Robinson happy.”
Her short laugh dismissed the compliment. “That’s only because I’m the baby of his eight children. My siblings all complain that our father lets me get away with murder. But that’s not really true. I just happen to be a positive thinker.”
A doubtful grin lifted one corner of his mouth. “Positive thinker, huh? So that puts you in your father’s good graces?”
She shot him a clever smile. “In a roundabout way. I happen to think if you can dream it, you can do it. And Dad likes it when people get things done.”
* * *
Mason tossed the piece of lilac-colored quartz from one hand to the other and forced his gaze to remain on the rock rather than Sophie’s lovely face. Not for anything did he want her to think he was staring. Even though he wanted to.
Of all the women who worked at Robinson Tech, Sophie had to be the most beautiful, he decided. Her long brown hair hung straight against her back, while her creamy skin glowed as though she was lit from within. And those brown eyes fringed with long, black lashes were like looking into a cup of hot, sweet chocolate.
She was the youngest child of the famous Fortune Robinson family. Their wealth was the sort that a simple man like Mason could only dream about. And yet none of those obstacles had stopped him from watching her from afar and wondering how it might be to actually take her on a date. If that made him a fool, then he was a big one, even by Texas standards.
“So you’re a dreamer.” His gaze settled on her face and suddenly he felt a hard tug deep inside him. Unfortunately, the sensation had nothing to do with him missing dinner and everything about the effervescent glow in her eyes. “Tell me, Sophie, what does a woman like you dream about?”
Her cheeks turned a darker pink. A telltale sign that when he’d walked up on her a few moments ago, she’d been thinking about a man. What else could put that sort of spaced out look on a woman’s face?
She shrugged one slender shoulder and the slight movement caused Mason’s gaze to dip from her face to the curve of her breasts pushing against the magenta colored top, then farther downward to where a close fitting black skirt stopped just above her knees and a pair of strappy high heels covered her small feet.
“Oh, I dream about lots of things,” she said. “Like work and travel and family. But mostly I dream about—”
His eyes lifted to see a smile tilting the corners of her soft, pink lips. As Mason studied the moist curves, he felt the sudden urge to clear his throat.
“About what?” he prodded.
Her gaze dropped shyly from his. “Finding true love like some of my brother and sisters. They’re married and happy and planning families of their own.” She sighed. “But I need the right man for that. And I think I’ve found him.”
The right man. Austin, Texas was full of eligible bachelors, but he couldn’t imagine any of them being good enough for Sophie. So who could possibly be the right man for this pampered princess, he wondered, while attempting to swat away a stab of foolish jealousy.
Folding