Friends With...Benefits?
Sophie Fortune Robinson is on a mission. The word around the office watercooler is that the bossâs youngest daughter is intent on landing Mr. Right by Valentineâs Dayâand that she has her eyes, and heart, set on a certain hunk in Marketing. But when she enlists her longtime pal and coworker Mason Montgomery to teach her how to get a man to notice her, little does she know sheâs already captured his attention!
Now Masonâs in a real bind! He has just a few short weeks to fight his way out of the âfriend zone.â On his agenda: convincing sweet Sophie that he is the real man of her dreams! Will Fortune smile on true loveâs venture?
MEET THE FORTUNES
Fortune of the Month: Sophie Fortune Robinson
Age: 24
Vital statistics: Long brown hair, big brown eyes and a big fat trust fund.
Claim to fame: At Robinson Tech, sheâs in charge of hiring and firingâand is most likely to steal hearts.
Romantic prospects: She is Jerome Fortuneâs youngest daughter, so why shouldnât she get whatâor whomâshe wants?
Time is running out. Valentineâs Day is coming soon, which means Iâve got only fourteen days to get Thom Nichols, that superhot guy in Marketing, to notice me. My sister Olivia thinks I shouldnât try so hard, but what does she know?
Luckily, Iâve got a secret weapon:
Mason Montgomery. He works across the hall from me in IT. Itâs really helpful to have a manâs point of view on all this. Mason is a great guy, and I trust him completely. Heâs handsome and smart and loyal as a Saint Bernard, and he gives good advice to boot. With Masonâs help Iâm sure to land my Mr. Right. Who is Thom Nichols. Not Mason. Or at least, thatâs what I keep telling myself...
* * *
The Fortunes of Texas: The Secret Fortunesâ A new generation of heroes and heartbreakers!
After writing more than eighty books for Mills & Boon, STELLA BAGWELL still finds it exciting to create new stories and bring her characters to life. She loves all things Western and has been married to her own real cowboy for forty-four years. Living on the South Texas coast, she also enjoys being outdoors and helping her husband care for the horses, cats and dog that call their small ranch home. The couple has one son, who teaches high school mathematics and is also an athletic director. Stella loves hearing from readers. They can contact her at [email protected].
Chapter One
She had to do something and fast!
For the past several hours, the words of warning had made a monotonous loop through Sophie Fortune Robinsonâs mind, making it virtually impossible to concentrate on the work scattered across her desk.
As assistant director of human resources at Robinson Tech, it was Sophieâs responsibility to make sure two new training programs were ready to be implemented in a few short days. At the rate she was going, the task would never get finished.
Darn it! If Sophie hadnât turned a corner at just the right moment, she wouldâve been spared the sickening sight of her dream man with another woman. Now the image of Thom Nichols stepping off the elevator with his arm wrapped around Tanya Whitmoreâs slender waist was stuck in Sophieâs head.
The sexy grin heâd been giving the willowy blonde had made it quite apparent he was enjoying every minute of her company. The realization had left Sophie nauseous and even more desperate. She couldnât sit back and wait for Thom Nichols to take notice of her. She had to come up with some sort of strategy to snare the manâs attention.
But how did a woman go about making herself appealing to the sexiest man alive? There was hardly a female working at Robinson Tech who didnât sigh at the mere mention of Thomâs name. Sophie didnât want to think of her opposition in terms of numbers: it would be too staggering. Besides, she already knew the task of snaring her man wasnât going to be easy.
But Sophieâs father, the giant tech mogul Gerald Robinson, had lectured her plenty of times about setting goals and achieving them 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.
âSophie? What are you doing here at this hour?â
Since everyone in her department had left hours ago, the unexpected voice caught her by surprise, especially when sheâd 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.