The Boyfriend Project Page 20

  But that didn’t mean she was ready to stop.

  She reached for him and captured his mouth, wicked pleasure assaulting her as she tasted the difference between this kiss and the last. Was there anything hotter than experiencing the taste of herself in his mouth?

  He changed out the condom, quickly rolling on another, then he charged back up her body, seizing her by the waist and twisting so that she was on top. Samiah straddled his hips, her eyes once again falling closed as she sank onto the length of his erection. She rolled her hips, undulating in a slow back and forth motion, relishing every slide of his body. But when he clasped his hands on her hips and started to guide her, she began to pump like the fate of all humanity rested on how vigorously she rode his dick.

  It was fast and furious, this second journey to orgasm. The wave crashed into her with a force so strong her limbs went weak.

  Samiah fell face forward, collapsing onto Daniel’s chest, her entire being replete with satisfaction. She felt his heart beating against her cheek and decided this was how she wanted to spend the next three hours. Forget naked tacos. The only thing she was hungry for was this feeling of total and complete contentment.

  He shifted slightly so he could remove the condom, discarding it in a wad of tissues from the box on her bedside table. Then he settled back down, clasping a hand over her hip and tugging her toward him.

  She propped her elbow up and cradled her cheek in her palm. “If this is what I have to look forward to every time I have a breakthrough with the app, expect quite a few breakthroughs, Mr. Collins.”

  His deep, sexy chuckle traveled across her skin, a sinfully delicious sensation that teased her sensitive nerve endings.

  “I’m not sure I like the thought of us sleeping together being tied to your app. What happens when you’re done with it?”

  She laughed. “I’m not even in the neighborhood of done. Trust me, there are many more breakthroughs to be had before I get there.”

  He peered at her, a skeptical arch to his brow. “I’m not sure I believe that.”

  “Believe it,” Samiah said. “I hate admitting this, but I’m still so nervous about this entire thing.”

  Nervous and scared. But confessing that would kill the mood for her.

  “But why?” Daniel asked, clearly oblivious to the threat his questions had to her postsex buzz. His fingers drifted along her arm, moving in a languid caress. “You’re so damn good at your job. Why don’t you think you wouldn’t be just as good at the app?”

  “Simple. I can’t control what happens with the app,” Samiah answered. “With the job—not just the job at Trendsetters, but any job I ever take—I know that I can succeed as long as I do what’s expected of me. And, because I am me, I’m not going to stop at just what’s expected. I’m going to go above and beyond.”

  “Of course,” Daniel said.

  “That’s just how I roll,” she said with a laugh. “But it’s different with the app. I can create the most amazing thing ever, but what if I can’t find an investor? What if I put in all this work, am lucky enough to find an investor, and then the app tanks?”

  “You wouldn’t be the first person to experience that,” Daniel said.

  “I know, but it…it scares me,” she said.

  She swallowed hard, a thick lump of emotion catching in her throat as one of the most profound memories from her childhood came crashing to the surface.

  “Back when I was in the third grade, just before my eighth birthday, I woke up one night and went into the kitchen for a Capri Sun.” She smiled. “They were supposed to be school snacks only, but I would sneak one from the refrigerator and blame it on my sister.” She blew out a deep breath. “I remember walking in the kitchen and hearing this strange sound I’d never heard before coming from the breakfast table. I walked just beyond the kitchen island and noticed my dad bent over, his arms folded atop the table, his head resting on them.

  “He was crying.”

  Silence stole across the room, the only sounds those of the light traffic on the city streets below.

  “I asked him what was wrong, even though I knew I’d get scolded for being up past my bedtime. But instead of telling me to go back to bed, he brought me onto his lap and apologized to me. He said we wouldn’t be able to go to the zoo for my birthday because they needed to save money. He’d lost his job earlier that week.” She nestled against Daniel’s chest, resting her cheek on his smooth skin. “This all happened before he became a teacher,” she continued. “My dad went back to school in his thirties, got his degree, and started teaching just as I entered high school. Thankfully, it wasn’t at my high school,” she said with another laugh.

  “But that night, when I saw my daddy crying like his heart had broken in two, it did something to me. He was Superman in my eyes. He was the person who put a Band-Aid on my cuts and kissed them when I cried. Seeing him in that state is something I will never, ever forget.

  “That night, he told me to make sure I controlled every part of my life, because when you’re not in control awful things can happen and you can’t do anything about it. That’s why I need to control as much as possible.”

  She’d worked enough of this out in her head some time ago, and knew that her rigid adherence to her checklist had something to do with this intense need she always had to be in control, but she’d never put voice to the words.

  It was only recently that Samiah began to wonder if this was why she’d never pursued a real relationship before either. Because she couldn’t control the way someone felt about her. Just the prospect of finding herself in such a vulnerable state caused her breath to hitch.

  “You may think you can’t control what happens with this app, Samiah, but you do. You control how it looks, how it operates, everything. And when you’re done with it, it’s going to be so brilliant that you won’t be able to field all the offers you’re going to get. You have nothing to be afraid of.”

  He dipped his head and captured her mouth in a kiss that stole the breath from her lungs, and the fear that suddenly came over her had nothing to do with her app or her job or anything else.

  The thing she feared for the most right now was her heart.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  A crisp wind, scented with an amalgam of freshly cut grass, earthy wet soil, and burning hickory from a nearby smokehouse restaurant, hit his face the moment he opened his car door. Per Samiah’s instructions, he’d parked near the baseball diamond on the south bank of Barton Creek in Zilker Park. Despite the early hour, nearly half the parking spots were already filled with Austinites eager to enjoy what promised to be a beautiful Sunday.

  Daniel still couldn’t describe the sheer euphoria that swept through him when Samiah asked if he wanted to join them. Her friend Taylor wanted to test out a boot camp–style fitness class and needed feedback before adding it to her repertoire. He didn’t care that he was here to play guinea pig. She was opening up another part of her world to him; that’s what counted.

  Leaving her, naked and twisted up in those silken silver sheets this morning, was, without a doubt, the hardest thing he’d done since returning from his final deployment. He would carry the memories from last night with him long after he returned to Virginia. The sounds she’d made, the sensation of her damp skin sliding against his, the way it felt to sink into her warm, welcoming body. Memories of the way she’d responded would stay with him forever, a mental storage bin of erotic keepsakes he could open whenever he wanted to replay one of the most amazing nights he’d ever experienced.

  It scared the hell out of him. Because those same memories would no doubt torture him once she was no longer in his life.

  Instead of turning left and driving toward the freeway when he pulled out of her building’s parking garage in the early hours before dawn, he’d headed in the opposite direction, grabbed a cup of weak coffee from an all-night diner, and meandered around downtown Austin for a full hour. Concerns over what these past few weeks meant to his future domi
nated his thoughts. This wasn’t a random hookup that he could walk away from. Last night had left an indelible mark on him. There was no walking away.

  Extricating himself from the web he’d allowed himself to become enmeshed in would require skills Daniel wasn’t sure he possessed. Most frightening, he wasn’t sure he wanted to get out of it. He didn’t want to even think about how he would get out of this because he knew it would fucking kill him to leave.

  Except he had to leave. If there was one given in all of this, it was that his time in Austin was temporary.

  The question was, when he did leave, would he have the chance to tell Samiah goodbye or would he just disappear? It could go either way. He’d had jobs in the past where he was there one day and gone the next. No forwarding address. No Facebook profile for his coworkers to find him. Nothing. He became a ghost.

  That’s not how it always went down. Sometimes, he was required to play the clueless coworker. If local authorities were able to execute the capture without his intervention, he would pretend to be as shocked by the arrests as any of the other employees at Trendsetters. And then, out of the blue, one of his grandparents would fall ill, necessitating his immediate return to his family.

  It always worked like a charm. Everyone would understand when, a few weeks later, he unfortunately had to turn in his letter of resignation. He began laying the foundation for this excuse his very first week on the job, casually mentioning to a sufficient number of coworkers just how important his family was to him. Not a single person would be surprised when he made the hard choice to pack up and leave. They never were.

  When it came to this particular job, it would be Dwyer’s call. If his boss decided leaving Trendsetters without a trace was the safest exit strategy, that’s how it would play out. A part of him wanted it to happen that way. At least then he wouldn’t have to see the hurt in Samiah’s eyes. Or, even worse, the hate.

  Fucking coward.

  Daniel shut his eyes, damn near gasping at the pain that pierced his chest just at the thought of having to explain to Samiah that he’d spent the past two months lying to her. She would despise him. How could she not? She’d become YouTube famous for cursing out a guy who’d lied to her about his true identity. It would be ridiculous to think she would easily forgive him for doing the same.

  “You don’t deserve her forgiveness,” Daniel whispered.

  He didn’t deserve her. Period. If he was a halfway decent human being, he would turn around right now, drive to that dull, sparsely furnished apartment, pack up his few belongings, and be on a plane to Virginia by tonight.

  Any thoughts of doing that vacated his brain the moment he spotted her. She congregated with a group of at least a dozen women underneath the shade of a massive pecan tree. She’d told him to meet her at what was affectionately known as the Monkey Tree, one of the park’s landmarks, and a favorite for outdoor exercise enthusiasts because of the natural cover it provided from the blazing Central Texas sun.

  The magnitude of this moment wasn’t lost on him. Introducing him to people outside of their work life was a significant step. It signified a level of trust he hadn’t earned. He was lying to her, dammit. All of this was a fucking lie!

  His steps halted. He sucked in a deep breath and closed his eyes again.

  Walk away.

  He could still do it. He could turn around this very instant, before she spotted him. All he would have to do is tell Dwyer that he’d been compromised. He could be back in his little cubbyhole at FinCEN’s headquarters by Tuesday morning. Samiah would be hurt and confused by his sudden, unexplained departure, but how much worse would it be if he allowed this to go on?

  He opened his eyes and realized he couldn’t do it.

  It made him the worst kind of bastard. Dishonest. Selfish. Unrepentant. Because as inexcusable as it was to continue this subterfuge, that’s exactly what he would do. The alternative—saying goodbye—was unbearable.

  He continued on. He would deal with the silos of regret he’d been collecting later, when Samiah was no longer a part of his life. He had her for now. And he would savor every delicious minute.

  She noticed him when he was about twenty feet away. He watched as she said something to the statuesque woman he recognized from the viral video—London—before breaking away from the group and advancing toward him. Her eyes were as bright as her radiant smile. The thought of eventually leaving her, of having to live without that smile, caused an ache to settle deep in Daniel’s chest. How could he contemplate giving her up until he absolutely had to? She was like a drug, his own sweet addiction.

  “Hey there,” she said as she approached. She grabbed him by both hands, leaned forward, and placed a quick kiss on his lips. “Thanks for coming all the way back out here on a Sunday morning,” she said.

  “Did you really think I would turn down an invitation to be next to you when I knew you’d be wearing skintight clothes?”

  She tipped her head to the side, her lips tilting in a flirty grin. “I wouldn’t think the thought of seeing me in clothes would be all that exciting after last night.”

  “Now that I know exactly what’s hidden underneath those clothes, it’s a thousand times more exciting.”

  Her warm brown cheeks darkened even more. Making her blush gave him as much pleasure as cracking a case that had been cold for thirty years. Making her call his name out as he plunged deep inside her gave him enough pleasure to kill him.

  Leaving her would destroy him. There was no way around it.

  “Come on.” She tugged him forward. “I’ll introduce you to London and Taylor.”

  He recognized both women from the YouTube video. Taylor had dressed the part of drill sergeant, her camo-colored workout pants and cropped sports top an exact match to the cap she wore. TAYLOR’D CONDITIONING was embroidered in red on the front panel. With those defined arm muscles, she looked as if she could kick ass as thoroughly as any sergeant he’d served under.

  London, on the other hand, seemed as if she’d been dragged from bed kicking and screaming. That she was here to support her friend’s endeavor was a testament to the bond the three women had formed in the short amount of time they’d known each other.

  “London, Taylor, this is Daniel Collins. Daniel, this is London Kelley and Taylor Powell.”

  “Nice to meet you, ladies.” He shook both their hands.

  “Same,” London said, her gaze assessing and a touch amused. She looked over at Samiah. “A certain project looks to be complete.”

  “Maybe,” Samiah said after clearing her throat. Daniel had no idea what that was about.

  She motioned to Taylor. “The two of you have something in common. Daniel here is a military brat. Both his parents served. In fact, he was in the Marines for…” Her forehead furrowed. “How long?”

  “Four years,” he provided.

  “Marines?” Taylor’s brow arched. “You guys are scary. Don’t think this will be your normal PT.” Her mouth curled up in a grin. “I’m a lot harder than your average drill sergeant.” She clapped her hands together. “Okay, people. Are we ready to get this started?”

  “No,” London said.

  Samiah burst out laughing as she took London by the arm. “Remember, this is just a test run. She’s going to take it easy on us.”

  Less than five minutes into their workout, it became apparent that Samiah was mistaken and he had been correct. When it came to a kick-ass PT session, Taylor Powell held her own against any of his past drill sergeants.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  No. No. No. That’s not going to work.”

  Samiah massaged her right temple with the blunt end of her electronic pencil and cursed herself for laughing off Taylor’s suggestion that she start diffusing essential oils to help relieve work-related stress. She’d trade her favorite pair of Malone Souliers pumps for a few drops of lavender and eucalyptus right now.

  She glanced at the time on her computer and realized this impromptu brainstorming session had bee
n going on for an hour already, which meant she would have to tack another hour onto her workday to get the rest of her work done. If someone could guarantee that she could get French roast coffee in prison, she would happily murder each and every one of the people sitting in her office. How could such brilliant minds be so bad at coming up with original ideas?

  “Guys, look. I’ll admit that Huston-Tillotson University came to us with a unique problem, but it shouldn’t be this hard to formulate a workable solution that won’t require them to triple their tuition cost.” Samiah held up both hands. “You all know how much I hate clichés, but seriously, it’s time to start thinking outside the box.”

  “Well, they did say they were willing to throttle their bandwidth during peak hours,” Amy said.

  “Yes, which gives us a starting point when it comes to devising a system that will meet all of their needs without breaking the bank.” She swiveled to her monitor and logged into the online collaboration software used for strategy discussions.

  “I’m setting up an Insight Room,” Samiah continued. “I talked it over with Justin and Bianca in the Cybersecurity Department. They’ve agreed to restore a higher level of security access to those of us who worked on the Anderson project last year. That work is proprietary, but because the university’s issues are similar, I think we can use those things that aren’t proprietary from Anderson to figure out a solution for Huston-Tillotson. We can do this, gang.”

  She ended the meeting, and the team filed out of her office. Everyone except for Keighleigh Miller. Samiah had barely tolerated having her in here after the bullshit she’d pulled yesterday, and she had the nerve to stick around?

  “Do you need something?” Samiah asked, her tone deliberately unwelcoming.

  Keighleigh hunched her shoulders and smiled. “I just wanted to make sure there were no hard feelings after what happened with Grant yesterday.”

  “You mean the part where you presented my ideas on the Swiss Burger account as if they were your own?”