The Boyfriend Project Read online

  Taylor waved that off. “Let me find someone who’s worth my time. I’m leaving both you bitches in the dust. Just kidding,” Taylor tacked on the end. “So, this kiss? Was it the ‘oh, that was nice, now let me get back to watching Friends reruns’ kind, or the ‘oh, shit, this dude wrecked me. Let me fix my hair and makeup’ kind?”

  “It was the ‘let me run to the drugstore and buy a pregnancy test’ kind.”

  “Hell yes!” Taylor whooped.

  “It’s been too damn long since I had one of those,” London said. “All right, tell us about him. And when did this even start? We all just gave Craig the boot a few weeks ago.”

  “His name is Daniel and he started at my job the Monday after the video went viral.” She nervously tucked her hair behind her ears. “I had absolutely no intentions of dating, I promise. It kinda just happened.” She smiled. “I like him. He’s sweet.”

  “And he can get you pregnant with a simple kiss. I’m jealous,” Taylor said.

  “So, you guys aren’t upset that I’ve already broken the rules?”

  “The whole point of this thing is finding joy,” Taylor said. “And when I look at your face right now all I see is joy.” With a teasing grin, she asked, “My only question is, does he have friends?”

  Her lungs expanded with gratitude.

  “So what does this mean for the boyfriend project?” she asked.

  “It means that you’re way ahead of us.” London looked at Taylor. “I’m not sure we can call ourselves Hashtag Squad Goals if there’s only one person in the squad reaching her goals. We’d better get our asses in gear.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Samiah’s heart started breakdancing like the people in those eighties hip hop videos she’d caught herself watching on VH1 as she approached the nondescript gray door. The excited flutter in her chest had become a common occurrence. She’d texted Daniel a couple of minutes ago to let him know that she’d arrived. Before she could knock, the door opened and he greeted her with the kind of smile one reserved for opening presents on Christmas morning, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

  She held up a pink-and-brown paper sack. “I brought cupcakes. I figured if we use them as incentive, we’ll get more work done.”

  His brow arched as he leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. “I can think of a better incentive, but I guess cupcakes will work.”

  She couldn’t decide if it was his voice or his words that had her panties on the verge of evaporating. Probably both.

  He relieved her of her laptop case and the bag of cupcakes and moved to the side so she could enter. “Come in. I was just fixing us lunch.”

  She entered the apartment, more curious than she dared to admit. It was the first time he’d invited her to his place since they began seeing each other in earnest, a fact that had started to bug her. Samiah understood his explanation of not wanting to expose her to his mercurial roommate, but after either hanging out at her place or going out to restaurants, it was nice to finally get this tiny peek into his world.

  It wasn’t much.

  The apartment, with its gray walls and drab carpet, was as sterile as a dentist’s office. Actually, there were framed cross-stitched Bible verses hanging on the walls at her dentist’s office, courtesy of his wife. This place didn’t have a single thing, not even a picture of his family, displayed. Was it the roommate? Did the guy have something against clutter or sentiment or basic human emotion?

  “No TV?” Samiah asked.

  “I stream on my laptop,” Daniel said from the kitchen. It was separated from the sparse living room by a counter that held a single fruit bowl and nothing else.

  She caught a whiff of the aroma flowing from the kitchen and her mouth started to water.

  “What are you doing in there?” She made her way to the kitchen.

  “I wanted to treat you to a taste of home,” he said, glancing up from the cheese he’d been grating into a bowl.

  Next to the stove sat a plate with julienned onions and green bell peppers. Red meat, sliced so thin it was nearly see-through, rested on a cutting board, with a long loaf of bread wrapped in cellophane just to the right of it.

  “I couldn’t find proper hoagie rolls, but this will do in a pinch,” Daniel said, gesturing to the bread.

  “You’re making me cheesesteak?” Samiah clasped a hand to her chest. “I feel honored.”

  “As you should. I’ll cook Korean food for anyone who asks, but when it comes to my beloved cheesesteak? You have to be extra special to earn one of those.” He leaned over and treated her to another of those sweet, delicate kisses. “And, yes, you are extra special.”

  She was floored by how quickly she’d come to expect those kisses. Whether quick pecks like the one he’d just given her or those that left her breathless and searching for her words, his kisses had become one of the most enjoyable parts of her day.

  This was never supposed to happen.

  She’d removed everything about finding a man from her checklist. It wasn’t a priority, at least not for the next five or so months. Over these past couple of weeks, she’d debated back and forth with herself, coming up with all the reasons she should tell Daniel that it was better if they go back to being just friends. But she could never bring herself to follow through with it.

  It was just so damn easy to be with him. Prior to him, she’d always felt a compulsion to perform. The men she’d dated all seemed to have certain expectations of her. Or maybe she was the one who’d set those expectations for herself. Either way, it felt like work. She was constantly on.

  Not with Daniel. For the first time in forever, Samiah felt as if she could relax and just…be. There was no pressure, no pretense. She could just exist in this undemanding, enjoyable place they’d discovered with each other.

  They ate their cheesesteaks, which she had to admit were family reunion cookout–worthy, then settled in to work. She kicked her shoes off and brought her feet up next to her on the sofa. Daniel immediately captured both feet, set them in his lap, and began to massage her soles as he continued reading through the white papers he’d been reviewing on his laptop.

  She nearly orgasmed then and there, despite there being nothing sexual about his leisured kneading. It was the fact that he so unselfishly thought to attend to her needs that did it for her. It was more than any other man she’d been with had ever done. It made her wonder, had she been too lax in the standards to which she’d held her previous boyfriends, or was Daniel just that far above them?

  She nestled her head against the throw pillow and allowed his magical fingers to lull her into a relaxed state as she worked on the proposal for the Leyland Group. Fifteen minutes later, she cursed her bladder for interrupting her peace.

  “I hate to end this,” she said, leveling herself up on her elbows. “But I need to go to the bathroom.”

  He gave her foot a squeeze then removed it from his lap.

  “It’s down the hallway, on the left.” He rose from the sofa when she did, and for a moment she thought he was going to offer to show her, but then he said, “I’ll get the cupcakes ready.”

  “Okay now,” she said, holding up a hand. “I don’t know how you do it in your family, but in mine we divide them up so that everyone gets to sample each flavor.”

  “Such a fair, diplomatic approach,” he said, that adorable dimple making an appearance. “I’m used to the Marines, where it’s every man for himself. And if you happen to get the cupcake another person wanted really bad, you mercilessly tease them about it.”

  “If I don’t get a taste of that salted caramel, I may just have to hurt you.”

  One brow arched. “You promise?”

  She was downright appalled at her body’s reaction to the deep, resonant timbre of his voice.

  His fingers brushed her wrist before gently capturing it and tugging. Instinctively, she wrapped her arm around his neck and pulled him closer, crushing her lips to his. He made her feel bold and playful and so many o
ther delicious things. When was the last time she’d felt so carefree, so content? Samiah was falling in love with the person she was when she was with him.

  Swallowing a mournful groan, she ended the kiss before things got out of hand. Much more of that and her favorite Rice University T-shirt would be on the floor, along with the rest of her clothes.

  “Bathroom,” Samiah said against his lips. She gave his firm ass a squeeze and pat. “Get the cupcakes.”

  She went down the hallway and opened the first door on the left.

  And stopped short.

  It looked like the cockpit of a spaceship. Four huge monitors and equally huge computer towers occupied two L-shaped desks that stood flush against each other. There were enough peripherals to stock a discount computer store.

  “Not that one,” Daniel called as he rushed to her. The excitable edge to his voice was…new. He reached around her and pulled the door closed. “Sorry,” he said. “That’s my roommate’s. He works from home.”

  “As what, Captain Kirk’s right-hand man? And where does he sleep? It’s only a two-bedroom apartment, right?” She hooked a thumb at the closed door. “I didn’t see a bed in there.”

  “He sleeps on the sofa. The freelance work he does requires a lot of equipment, so much that it doesn’t leave room for a bed.”

  “That’s…umm…weird. But okay.”

  He shrugged. “He is weird, but he’s a nice guy.”

  Her Spidey senses went on red alert. “You didn’t find him on Craigslist or something like that, did you? I know you’re still fairly new to Austin. Finding a roommate on short notice couldn’t have been easy.”

  “I didn’t find him on Craigslist.” His laugh was more relaxed. “He’s the brother of a buddy of mine from the Marines.”

  Well, that explained it. It was his nature to do for others, even if it meant living with his friend’s weird brother who’d rather sleep on a couch than reduce his computer usage by a monitor or two.

  He directed her to the bathroom. Once done, Samiah returned to the living room to find a plate with several quartered cupcakes and two glasses of milk.

  “You really do think of everything, don’t you?” she said, pointing to the dessert spread. “And they all look evenly divvied up.”

  He raised his hands. “Hey, I’m not risking getting cut over cupcakes. We each have equal portions.”

  She burst out laughing as she reclaimed her spot on the sofa. She unfolded two paper napkins and gently placed one in each of their laps.

  “Okay, so how are we going to do this? Do we try the same flavors at the same time, or alternate and give our opinions?”

  “Alternate,” he said. “You can be the guinea pig for the peppered bacon and chocolate one.”

  “What? You don’t think that sounds good?”

  “Not even a little bit.”

  She rolled her eyes, picked up the aforementioned sweet and spicy cupcake, and took a huge bite. Samiah did her best to school her features, but when a bit of pepper caught at the back of her throat, she couldn’t help but cough.

  “Okay, okay. You win,” she said, gulping down milk. “This is awful. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

  “Admit it, you were going for the shock factor.”

  “Maybe,” she said with a laugh.

  He held up one with light green frosting. “Now, this white chocolate and honeyed pistachio is more my speed.”

  Samiah looked on as his teeth sank into the moist cake. She suddenly found herself breathless, awareness blossoming within her chest, vibrant and wild and uncontainable.

  “You have frosting right here,” she said, pointing to the side of his mouth. He started to reach for it, but she caught his wrist. “Let me.”

  She leaned over and closed her mouth over his, scooping up the speck of sugary icing with her tongue before slipping it between his lips. A groan climbed from somewhere deep in his throat as his palm immediately wrapped around the back of her head and brought him to her. Samiah straddled his lap, clutching his face between her hands and holding him steady as their tongues teased and tarried, playfully vying for dominance in their sensual game.

  His hands slid up her stomach and then over her breasts. He cradled them, gently squeezing and releasing before capturing her nipples between his thumb and forefingers and tweaking them through the fabric of her T-shirt. She felt him growing hard between her legs and it took every single drop of willpower within her not to grind against him. If she did that her clothes would melt and she’d have her naked thighs around his waist in a matter of seconds.

  Wait? Was that a bad thing?

  Yes, yes it’s a bad thing.

  At least it was for now. Sex would take this to a level she wasn’t quite sure she was ready to reach.

  With one last swipe of her tongue inside his insanely delicious mouth, she braced her hands against his chest and pushed away.

  “Slow,” Samiah said. “We’re supposed to take this slow, remember?”

  He let his head fall back against the sofa cushion and released a pained groan. “I remember.” He lifted his head, his eyes narrowed. “We never actually defined slow. You drive a Mustang GTE. Your definition of slow has to be pretty close to mine.”

  “What’s your definition?” she said.

  “One more kiss like that and the clothes come off.”

  And now she needed an ice pack for her underwear.

  “I can work with that definition,” Samiah said.

  She climbed off his lap while she still had the strength to do so and resumed her spot on the sofa. She picked up the document she’d been reviewing, resentment building with each word she read. She’d been working on this project for Trendsetters all day. It was the weekend. Her time. She should have been working on her app.

  She’d decided to forgo any work on Just Friends when she’d agreed to work at Daniel’s, still reticent when it came to divulging her concept to someone with the knowledge to take the idea and make it their own. But she no longer had that fear. She trusted him.

  “Can I talk to you for a minute?” Samiah asked.

  He set the glass of milk on the coffee table, slight alarm in his eyes. “About?” he said, wiping the back of his hand across his lips.

  “It’s nothing bad,” she said. “It’s actually pretty cool. At least I think it is.”

  Sensing his confusion, Samiah reached into her bag and took out her personal iPad. She clicked onto the app design and handed it to him.

  “What’s this?”

  “A project I’ve been toying with off and on for a few years. About a month ago I decided to finally do something about it.”

  He studied the screen for a moment, his forehead creasing in confusion. “Is this a dating app?”

  “Not exactly. It’s an app for finding platonic relationships instead of romantic ones. I call it Just Friends.”

  Fighting off the niggle of trepidation skirting along her spine, she gave him a more detailed explanation of the app’s features than she’d given to Taylor and London, knowing he would understand the technology behind the design.

  “It also has its own social network,” Samiah added.

  “And the vendors? This isn’t like the normal advertising you see on most platforms. Users will know about this upfront, right?”

  She nodded. “It’s one of the reasons I’m hoping users will sign up for it, because they want those curated experiences.”

  “This is genius, Samiah.” He continued staring at the iPad with unabashed awe. “Honestly, I’m blown away.”

  She tried not to preen too much, but damn, it was hard. Humility had never been her strong suit. “Surprised no one has come up with something like this before, aren’t you?”

  He studied her face for a moment then slowly shook his head. “Actually, I’m not. I’m not surprised at all that you were able to conceive something no one else has thought to do.” His eyes roamed her face, the brown orbs round with wonder. “I’ve witnessed how that bril
liant brain of yours works. It’s an amazing tool, one that continues to enthrall me more and more every second I’m around you.”

  Samiah would argue to the death that she didn’t need his validation. Owning her abilities, believing in herself when others didn’t—it was her thing. It was at the very heart of her identity.

  But she couldn’t ignore the effect his words had on her. She just didn’t know what to do with it. Or how to respond without admitting that, deep down, his acknowledgment of her skills fed a part of her that was hungry for that kind of affirmation.

  Instead, Samiah called upon a reliable standby. Humor.

  With a sly grin, she said, “You’re trying to sweet-talk your way into my pants, aren’t you?”

  His dimples became even more pronounced. “I’m forever trying to sweet-talk my way into your pants.” He kissed her on the nose. “But I meant every word. And if you need any help with the designs or figuring out the specs, I’m here.”

  The trepidation she’d been fighting off meandered along her nerve endings, but before she could voice any objection, he added, “Although I understand if you want to do this on your own. You’ve taken it this far, you deserve to have all the glory when this app hits big.”

  Gratitude engulfed her, amassing like a thick cloud within her chest and causing her throat to ache.

  “Thank you,” Samiah said. “I appreciate the offer, but you’re right, I want to do this myself. It’s my baby. I want to be the one to bring it into the world.”

  “And when you do, it will be amazing.”

  He leaned forward again, this time kissing her on the lips.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Samiah angled her head back against the sofa’s sloped arm and inhaled a satisfying breath, filling her lungs with HEPA-filtered air, redolent with the pine-scented solution the cleaning service had used to polish her hardwood floors this morning. The moment she and Daniel returned from indulging in croissants and coffee at the café a couple of blocks over, she’d kicked her shoes off and immediately placed her feet in his lap, the move automatic.