You’re not ready?”
Samiah looked up from her computer and experienced a sudden flush of warmth throughout her body. Daniel leaned against the wall just inside her door, looking like a midday snack. The least he could do was try not to be so damn gorgeous all the time.
It was the cheekbones. She was supremely jealous of those high, angular, pronounced-without-being-too-pronounced cheekbones. And don’t get her started on his deep brown eyes or that flawless warm, golden skin. His African American and Asian makeup forged a medley of the most scrumptious features.
So. Un. Freaking. Fair.
“Am I ready for what?” she asked.
He made a point of looking at his watch as he pushed away from the wall and strode into her office. “I do believe we’re supposed to have lunch.”
“Oh, really?” She propped her elbows on her desk, folded her fingers, and rested her chin on them. “I don’t remember agreeing to lunch today.”
“Didn’t we establish this already? Me and you. Lunch. Until you’re comfortable enough with me to explore some of the hiking trails around town?”
“But we had lunch yesterday.”
“Hey.” He held his hands up. “I don’t know how they do it in Houston, but up in Philly we tend to eat lunch every day.” He shrugged. “Maybe it’s a regional thing.”
Samiah clamped her lips together, taking a moment to collect herself. If she laughed she would only encourage him.
“You think you’re cute, don’t you?” she said. The moment she did, she wished she could snatch the words back.
That delectable dip in his cheek appeared with the emergence of his smile. He advanced several steps and perched his hands on the edge of her desk. His eyes glittering with amusement, he said, “The question is, do you think I’m cute?”
His unrepentant grin was evidence that he was enjoying this way too much. So was she.
And that was the problem.
She couldn’t do this. She’d decided last night that resisting—no matter how irresistible the dimple and the man who possessed it was—was her only option. She’d made a pact with London and Taylor to focus on her personal goals. Getting involved with anyone, even on a casual basis, would blur that focus.
“I really can’t,” Samiah said. The light in his eyes dimmed and his smile faded by several degrees. “I’m so bogged down right now, and then I have a meeting out in Wells Branch in less than—” She glanced at the time on her computer. “Shit, in less than an hour.”
“Wells Branch? That’s even further up than where I live. What’s going on all the way out there?”
“I’m meeting with the directors of a foster care center. Trendsetters offers technical support to nonprofits that can’t afford IT staffs. It’s one of the projects I spearhead.”
He nodded. “Owen mentioned something about that during my orientation. I guess it’s not just lip service like most of the companies I’ve worked for. They really take giving back to the community seriously around here.”
“I make sure they do, even if I have to do it myself,” Samiah said. “And that’s, unfortunately, why I can’t have lunch with you today,” she lied. “Sorry.”
“You will have something to eat, right? Even if you have to eat it at your desk?”
“I was planning to grab a granola bar. Just an FYI. You know, in case you want to make sure there’s a peanut butter one in there.”
That slow, easy smile reappeared. She wasn’t 100 percent sure, but there was a pretty good chance the sensation she felt below was her panties melting.
“Will you pencil me in for lunch tomorrow?” Daniel asked. “I’m not sure how you’re ever supposed to get comfortable with me if we don’t do this lunch thing.”
He wasn’t even trying to be adorable right now and it still took everything she had not to give in to his irresistibleness.
“I’ll try to make myself available.” She would have to come up with a list of excuses she could use if she planned to stick to this pact she’d made. Her phone rang. “It’s the foster care center’s director,” Samiah said. “I need to take this. Hello?”
Sorry, Samiah mouthed.
He lifted his shoulders in an it is what it is shrug before shoving his hands in his pockets and backing out of her office, resignation evident in the rueful slant of his lips.
She stared at his retreating back as he walked down the hallway, not tearing her eyes away until he turned the corner.
It took a second to remember there was someone on the other end of the phone call. She returned her attention to the center’s director, who asked if their meeting could be postponed by an hour. The moment Samiah ended the call, she clicked into her messaging app to tell Daniel that she was free for lunch. But then she stopped herself. She could have made lunch work even if the director hadn’t pushed the meeting back. That wasn’t the reason she’d turned down his invitation.
She was doing the right thing. It didn’t matter how perfect Daniel seemed. Craig had seemed perfect in the beginning too.
No. That wasn’t true. Craig had never seemed perfect. It was unfair to even compare the two men. With her relationship with Craig—if it could even be called that—she’d shouldered the lion’s share of the work, not only starting the conversations but keeping them going. With Daniel, it was effortless. When they met for their morning coffee they never had a problem finding topics to discuss. She knew his favorite music artists—a bunch of rappers from the eighties and nineties who were probably grandparents by now—and that he could recite verbatim entire scenes from The Hunt for Red October.
If her life depended on her knowing Craig’s favorite movie, her family would be picking out funeral clothes.
But just because you know a person’s favorite movie or that they prefer mochas to regular coffee doesn’t mean you know them. Who’s to say Daniel wasn’t a serial dater, just like Craig. He could have hookup partners all over this country.
You know that’s not true.
No, she didn’t know. And whether it was true or not didn’t matter. Her priorities had shifted. Finding a man was no longer on the list. It was time she focused on her.
Her stomach retaliated against her with an angry growl, but just as she was about to head to the kitchen, John came into her office with his laptop open and one of their newest clients, the owner of a string of pet boutiques that was on the verge of franchising her successful business, on a video conference call. Samiah spent the next hour talking the client down from the proverbial ledge. She didn’t even get the chance to grab that granola bar for lunch before it was time to leave for her meeting in Wells Branch.
She packed her laptop into her bag and locked up her desk. She wouldn’t worry about coming back to the office once she was done with her meeting.
She’d made it just past the Water Wall in Trendsetters’ lobby when she heard someone call her name. “Hey, Samiah.”
She turned to find Justin Vail striding toward her, with Daniel trailing a few steps behind. He stood alongside Justin, his hands shoved into his pockets.
“I’m glad I caught you before you left,” Justin said. “I realized that Daniel hasn’t seen any of our nonprofit work in action. I thought he could join you at the Right Path today, get a firsthand look at what you do.”
“Gotta love this immersive training,” Daniel said.
The effort to suppress her laugh nearly did her in. Samiah cleared her throat and nodded. “I’ll be happy to show Daniel the ropes.” She turned to him. “Are you ready?”
“Absolutely.”
After they boarded the elevator, Samiah turned, prepared to tell him that he wasn’t fooling anyone with his little end-around move. But before she could speak, the elevator doors opened on the twenty-first floor and several people joined them. It wasn’t until they entered the parking garage that she finally got the chance to call him out on his sly maneuvering.
“You think you’re slick, don’t you?” Samiah asked as they walked to her car.
“What? You think I orchestrated this?”
“Yes.”
“Wrong. This was all Justin.”
“Sure,” she said with an eye roll.
“It’s the truth.” He held his hands up. “Justin asked if I knew anything about Trendsetters’ charitable work. When I said that I didn’t, he asked if I was interested in seeing it play out firsthand.”
“Oh, so an hour after I turn you down for lunch, I’m supposed to believe you’re now here because you want to learn about the company’s ‘charitable work’?” She made air quotes.
“I happen to be very interested in my new employer’s philanthropic deeds. To insinuate that I have an ulterior motive for joining you is just wrong, Ms. Brooks.”
She choked on a laugh. “You are so full of shit.”
“Not the first time I’ve had those words directed at me,” he said as they arrived at her car. He held the driver’s side door open for her and draped an arm over the top of it. “But I should warn you, I’ve also heard that I tend to grow on people.” He winked. “Be prepared.”
Was she really expected to resist him? In what universe was it possible to meet someone as genuinely sweet, charming, and incorrigible—but in the very best way—and not reciprocate their obvious interest?
Once in her car, they headed up I-35. Staring out the passenger-side window, Daniel remarked, “I’ve been here nearly a month and haven’t been north of Highway 183. I need to take some time to explore this city.”
“Have you been to Lake Travis yet?”
“No, but I heard it’s beautiful out there.”
“It is. It should definitely be on the list of places for us to hike. Once I’m more comfortable being alone with you.” She held up a finger. “This doesn’t count.”
“It totally counts.”
“It does not. We’re alone, but it’s work-related.”
“Are you making up these rules as we go along?”
“Maybe.” She tipped her chin in the air. “It doesn’t matter when the rules were made, you still have to abide by them if you want me to be your hiking trails tour guide.”
“Well, I guess I’ll need to follow your rules, because I definitely want that.” The rich, deep timbre of his voice set off a faint tremor low in her belly.
Samiah sped up by an extra five miles per hour. The quicker she arrived at the center, the quicker she could escape the confines of this car, which seemed to have contracted since she left the office. Or maybe it was the sudden, potent dose of pheromones whirling around that had taken up all the space.
The directors of the Right Path foster care center were waiting for them when they pulled up to the nondescript building located in a strip mall just off the highway exit. Samiah made introductions and then followed the couple into a cramped, windowless office.
During their nearly two-hour-long meeting, where they were shown the center’s woefully inadequate and antiquated computers, along with the hundreds of files that needed to be digitized, Samiah paid attention to Daniel’s attentiveness. He provided thoughtful suggestions and offered to support the center’s efforts in any way he could.
He is not perfect.
She had to occasionally remind herself that, despite all evidence to the contrary, there had to be something wrong with Daniel Collins. There were no perfect people. There had to be a flaw lurking somewhere. She wished he’d go ahead and reveal it already. Maybe then her mind would stop with this insane tendency it had to paint him as the most genuine, giving, exemplary human being she’d encountered in ages.
He turned to her as they exited the center.
“Do you know how much the work Trendsetters is doing is going to help them?” he asked.
“That’s the point,” Samiah said, charmed by his enthusiasm. “The funds they save can be better put to use by helping place more kids.”
“I can get behind a company like this,” he said with a nod. Once settled in her car again, he continued. “But here’s what I don’t get. Why are you the one doing this? Isn’t this the kind of thing HR handles? It doesn’t seem like it would be in Implementation’s wheelhouse.”
“I know,” she said. “But it’s my baby.”
“This particular project?”
“No, Trendsetters’ work with nonprofits. Barrington established a program for charitable giving from the beginning, but there’s a big difference between throwing money at an organization and doing actual hands-on work. I thought Trendsetters could do more, so I started doing more.”
“Most people don’t think this way. You do know that, don’t you?”
She flipped on her blinker. “I know, but it’s important to me.” Several beats passed before Samiah continued. “I’ve worked hard to get where I am, but I didn’t do this by myself. When I was a freshman in high school, a bunch of people at my church back in Houston collected money to send me to a computer summer camp. Many of them didn’t even know things like that existed. They’d raised money to send some of the boys to football and basketball camp, and they’d help to fund cheerleading camp, but computer camp?
“I have no doubts that I would still accomplish everything I’ve set out to accomplish without any help—as my mom is so quick to point out, I’m too damn stubborn not to.” Samiah laughed. “But having people who believed in me enough to offer their support gave me a leg up. I want to do that for others. I think this world would be a better place if more people reached out to help others.”
He was quiet for so long that Samiah glanced over at him to make sure he was still paying attention. He was. He stared at her with a hint of wonder in his eyes.
“What?” she asked.
He shook his head. “You’re just…you’re really different from this other person I know.”
It didn’t take a degree in computer science to figure this one out. “I assume you’re talking about an ex.”
He nodded and shrugged. “Joelle wasn’t big into doing for others,” he said. “As in, she never did anything for anyone else. Hearing how important it is to you to give back, it just reminds me that not everyone is out for themselves all the time.” The corner of his mouth tipped up in a sad yet adorable grin. “Like you said, the world would be a better place if more people thought that way.”
“What are you doing tomorrow?” she asked before she could stop herself or consider the question’s implications.
His forehead furrowed. “Just hanging out at my crib.”
She should end the conversation right here. Just play the question off as mild curiosity or making small talk.
“Why don’t you get yourself some hiking boots after work today. There’s a nice trail in Bastrop I think you’d enjoy.”
Or just ask him out.
“You sure about that?” His eyebrows nearly touched his hairline. “You don’t want to do a few more lunches together? Maybe get to know me better before sneaking off to the woods with me?”
She glanced over and fought to curb her body’s reaction to the devilish smile tracing across his lips. “I think I can trust you.”
Whether or not she could trust herself around him was an entirely different matter.