The Boyfriend Project Page 22

  She dropped her head back on the arm of the sofa and covered her eyes with her forearm again.

  He paused for a beat before offering in a quiet voice, “You can always do both.”

  She shook her head. “I’d rather choose a path and give one hundred percent. It wouldn’t be fair to either if I half-assed this.”

  “What about if you had help?” She lifted her arm and peered at him from where she lay. He shrugged. “I do know my way around computer software and app development. I can help you get the app finished.”

  “No,” she said with an emphatic shake of her head, then got up from the sofa and walked over to the wall of windows overlooking downtown Austin.

  Daniel debated whether to give her some space, but only for a second. He joined her at the window, wrapping his arms around her middle and settling his chin against her shoulder.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean for that to sound as harsh as it did.”

  “No need to apologize.”

  “Stop being so nice.” She brought a hand up and ran it along his jaw. “Thank you for the offer,” she continued. “But this is something I have to do on my own. As I’ve said before, this app is my baby. If it ever goes to market, I want to know that I did it on my own.”

  “When it goes to market,” he corrected. “And I understand where you’re coming from.” He pressed a kiss to the indentation between her neck and collarbone. “But it’s not as if I’m asking for co-developer status or anything, Samiah. I’m just saying that if you need some extra hands, I’m here.”

  “I know.” She turned and settled her arms against his shoulders, clasping her slim fingers behind his head. “But I want to do this on my own. I need to do it on my own. I’ve held this dream for so long that this app is now a part of me. And at the end of the day, I want to be able to say that it was through my own blood, sweat, and tears that it came to be.”

  She rested her head against his chest. Daniel enveloped her in his arms, pressing a kiss to her temple as he stared out at the watery scene beyond the double-paned windows.

  He’d offered his help out of desperation to erase the sadness from her eyes. But as he thought about it, he couldn’t help but face a soul-crushing reality. He would be long gone by the time that tech conference came to Austin.

  He didn’t have a hard-and-fast end date for this job, but he’d worked under Lowell Dwyer long enough to know that his boss had one. Daniel figured he had another month to uncover the individuals behind the money-laundering scheme before Dwyer either replaced him with someone else or scrapped the entire operation until they could gather more intel and try again.

  He didn’t like it, but he understood those tough calls were sometimes necessary. Every operation had a cost-benefit analyst attached to it. There were a shitload of financial crimes being committed out there, and there was only so much manpower FinCEN could devote to each case. Trendsetters was a big one, but there were even bigger fish out there.

  Like Vegas.

  Shit. What was he going to do about Vegas? Was he willing to give that job up? A job that could make his career before he turned thirty?

  It didn’t matter. By the time Samiah finished developing the prototype for her app, he would be gone. He’d banished those thoughts to far-off corners of his mind and tried not to think of them. But the reality remained.

  She tipped her head back, looking up at him. “You know what’s funny about you offering to help me with the app? You shouldn’t have even known about it. I wasn’t going to tell you.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because you have the skills to steal my idea and develop it for yourself.”

  “Hey—”

  “Not that you would,” she quickly acknowledged. “But I’m overly cautious when it comes to stuff like that. I’ve been burned before.”

  He frowned. “Is this about Keighleigh?”

  “Believe it or not, there was someone worse than Keighleigh.” She tipped her head to the side. “Actually, that stunt she pulled this past week has them neck and neck, but this previous incident had a much bigger impact.”

  Daniel took her by the hand and backed up until he could perch on the arm of the sofa. He tugged her between his open legs and ran his hands along her sides, settling them at her waist.

  “Tell me what happened.”

  The tension he felt radiating from her told him that this still affected her.

  “It was at my very first job. I worked for one of the other huge tech companies that will remain nameless, but for a while they basically owned much of Austin. I was fresh out of grad school and soaking wet behind the ears—that’s how my old supervisor described me. I developed a fix for an issue they’d been having with their recovery software, and was so excited that I stupidly shared it with a coworker. He immediately passed the idea off as his own. I tried to bring proof that it had been my idea, but I was accused of not being a team player. Since he had so many years at the company, he was given the benefit of the doubt, and I earned the reputation of being a selfish grandstander.”

  “That’s bullshit. It was your idea.”

  “That’s the cutthroat world of the tech industry. That guy is now the senior VP of Product Design at another firm.” She shrugged. “I’m not saying he doesn’t deserve that position, but I’ve followed his career. His rise to the top stemmed from my idea.” Another shrug. “I’ve had to deal with similar situations throughout my career. I learned to keep my cards close to my chest, especially around those who have the knowledge to take my ideas and run with them.”

  “Just to be clear, I would never do that to you. Ever.”

  No, he just lied to her face about who he really was.

  “I know,” she said. She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his lips. “Knowing you wouldn’t turn around and stab me in the back is the only reason I was finally able to share it with you. It’s nice to have someone in this industry that I can trust.” She kissed him again. “Hey, do you like Jamaican food? I’m in the mood for curried goat and plantains.”

  “Sounds like the perfect rainy day meal,” he answered around the lump of self-loathing lodged in his throat.

  Once she’d left the room, Daniel threw his head back and shut his eyes tight. She was going to hate him for a long, long time once the truth finally came out. Possibly forever.

  And he would deserve it.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  How about the Leyland Group Lovelies?”

  Groans wafted up to the high ceilings as Sam Hilton shielded himself from the balled-up notebook paper, candy wrappers, and Post-it Notes being hurled his way.

  “Don’t let them get to you,” Daniel said. “They may not appreciate your humor, but I do.”

  A yellow highlighter sailed toward him.

  “Duck and weave, dude,” Sam said. “It’s the only way to survive this crowd.”

  Daniel tilted his chair back until he met with resistance, then gently bounced back and forth as he absorbed the scene before him. All the conference rooms were occupied, so the Leyland Group team had commandeered a corner of Trendsetters’ huge kitchen and break area. Some had dragged in nearby desk chairs and rearranged existing furniture to make a circle, other sat right on the floor.

  As he studied his coworkers, he was taken aback by the realization that he would miss this—he’d miss them. He averted his gaze from the faces around him, confused by the sudden tightness in his chest. In the nearly two dozen undercover operations he’d worked since joining FinCEN two years ago, he’d become accustomed to his routine. As the quiet but friendly new guy at the office, he came in, did his job, and then left with no regrets.

  Not this time. He’d connected with these people on a level he’d never encountered with past jobs. No doubt it was due in large part to the collaborative office environment Trendsetters fostered, but it was more than that. The creative energy and hunger for innovation he saw in his coworkers reminded him of his college days, when his imagination
and drive wasn’t stifled by federal regulations and congressional budget cuts. There was a kinship with his Trendsetters R&D teammates, one that harkened back to the comradeship he’d found in the Marines.

  He glanced over at Samiah and the tightness in his chest intensified.

  Now that he was no longer ignoring the reality of his eventual departure, he couldn’t even think about her without regret clawing at his throat. He knew an end date was imminent. His breath caught every time he received a call from the 703 area code. Every passing hour brought him closer to the moment when Lowell Dwyer would pull the plug on this operation. Daniel still didn’t know how he would handle that.

  Their team broke into groups of three, each working on a different aspect of the last-minute details before their presentation on the Leyland Group project tomorrow. Daniel had just finished his explanation of the backend safeguard that had been added to the software when his phone vibrated in his pocket. It stopped, then started again. He took it out and looked at the screen.

  Sorry, right number. HQ

  “Hey, I’ll be back in a minute,” Daniel said.

  “Is everything okay?” Samiah asked, her brow furrowing with concern.

  “Yeah, just a friend from my days in the Marines,” Daniel said. “I’ve been trying to get hold of him but it’s been hard because he’s stationed abroad. Who knows when I’ll get the chance to speak with him again?”

  God, the lies came so easily.

  She shooed him with both hands. “Go on. Hurry.”

  He bent over to kiss her, but remembered where they were and picked up the empty water bottle next to her instead.

  What the hell?

  They’d both agreed that they didn’t want this thing between them to become fodder for the office rumor mill. Samiah had experienced enough of that after the Craig incident. For Daniel, it was more about mitigating the hurt and embarrassment she would undoubtedly face if he had to disappear from Trendsetters without a trace.

  He grimaced at the sour taste that thought left in his mouth.

  Daniel went downstairs, but encountering yet another downpour, opted for a corner of the lobby to make his call. He switched to his secured cell phone and called into FinCEN headquarters and asked to be patched to Preston August’s desk.

  “Hey Preston, what’s up?” Daniel said when he heard the click on the other end of the line.

  “It’s not Preston.” His spine went rigid at the sound of Lowell Dwyer’s gruff voice.

  “Sir?” Daniel replied.

  “Do you have five minutes to talk, Collins?”

  “Yes, sir,” was his immediate answer.

  “I have a proposal for you,” his supervisor began, and Daniel’s heart started to thump like a bass drum within his chest. “All intel shows that the outfit in Vegas is preparing to go dark and move their base of operation to Seattle. I want us to move in before they have the chance to do that, and I want you to run lead.”

  A tidal wave of euphoria surged within his chest and spread to his extremities. This was it. The gold prize.

  “You know what I think about you as an agent, Collins,” Dwyer continued in what passed for gentle when it came to his brusque tone. “This is the kind of opportunity that can catapult your career. Much more so than what you’re doing down there in Austin.”

  The exhilaration still shuttling through his bloodstream began to wane as the full implication of his boss’s offer began to crystalize. If he answered in the affirmative, Dwyer would have him sitting at a gate at Austin-Bergstrom Airport tonight. There was probably a team of people working on the formal explanation email that would be sent to Trendsetters’ HR director.

  The dread tingling at the base of his neck spidered out to the rest of his body.

  He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t leave. Not this soon. He needed more time.

  Seriously, man, what the fuck?

  He had a career to think about. The stakes were so high he could barely wrap his head around the enormity of this moment. He’d spent the past two years striving to prove to himself that he’d made the right choice when he turned down all those high-paying tech job offers in exchange for joining FinCEN. To prove he not only belonged, but that he was an asset. As the lead agent on the most monumental case to hit the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network in years, everything he’d been working toward would be within his reach.

  But how was he supposed to just pack up and leave? Even if Dwyer gave him time to tie up loose ends, the idea that in a couple of days he would be forced to say goodbye to Samiah forever sent a shock of panic rioting through him.

  He couldn’t do it. Not yet.

  “I…uh…I appreciate this vote of confidence, sir, but—” He stopped. Swallowed. “But, it wouldn’t feel right to leave things unfinished here.” Wrenching anguish twisted in his gut. “It may not have the panache of Vegas, but I’ve put too much time and effort into solving this case to just let it go.”

  A daunting silence stretched out for several moments before Dwyer said, “You never cease to surprise me, Collins. Or to impress me.”

  Daniel huffed out a humorless laugh. “You’re impressed that I turned down a career-changing opportunity?”

  “I am. Don’t think I haven’t paid attention to the friendly competition between you and Stewart.”

  He wouldn’t describe the pissing contest between himself and Bryce as “friendly,” but cool, cool.

  “There’s a healthy rivalry,” Daniel said.

  “And you know I’ll likely offer this job to Stewart now that you’ve turned it down, right?”

  He bit the inside of his cheek to squelch the litany of profanities on the verge of spilling from his mouth.

  “I understand that, sir. Stewart’s a sharp agent. No doubt he’ll thrive in Vegas.”

  “The case Stewart’s working right now is as critical as what you’re doing in Austin. The difference between the two of you is that he won’t think twice about jumping ship. A half-dozen commendations look impressive on a résumé, Collins, but you know what also matters? Being able to sleep soundly at night, knowing you did the right thing for the right reasons.”

  Daniel slumped against the cool glass window, his eyes falling shut.

  He wasn’t doing this for the right reasons. He was doing this because he’d gotten in so deep with Samiah that he had no idea how to get out.

  He turned to look out the window; the earlier downpour had dwindled to a light drizzle. A CapMetro bus shrink-wrapped with an advertisement for the Waterloo Music Festival pulled up to the stoplight, a light gray exhaust plume billowing from its tailpipe.

  “Thank you for that,” he said.

  “Get back to work,” Dwyer said. “Just because you’re passing on Vegas, it doesn’t mean I’m letting you hang out in Texas indefinitely. You need to wrap up this case.”

  “I hear you, sir,” he said.

  He disconnected the call but remained at the window, his pulse matching the methodic beep of the delivery truck backing into a loading dock across the street.

  He’d been cognizant of the fact that the plug would eventually get pulled on this job. Which begged the question, why choose to stay here, knowing his time in Austin was coming to an end, instead of taking Dwyer up on his offer to lead the Vegas job?

  Daniel shook his head. It wasn’t as if he had to ask that question. He already knew the answer.

  He didn’t know what to do with the emotions suddenly swirling around in his head. He was with Joelle for six years, and when she gave him an ultimatum between their relationship and his career, he’d chosen the latter. He’d hardly taken time to contemplate it. He’d set out a path for himself once he left the Marine Corps, and his focus had remained on that trajectory ever since.

  Where in the hell was that focus now?

  He’d lost it his very first day on the job. From the minute he encountered Samiah at that coffee machine and began to see everything through a different lens. From that day he’d started to veer off h
is well-laid path, deviating to one that he and Samiah could possibly travel together.

  But they weren’t together. All of this was based on a lie. And when that lie finally came to the surface, the likelihood that she wouldn’t want anything to do with him was so great it hurt him just to think about it.

  He had to remember what mattered most, his duty to his family and to his career. He’d sacrificed too much. He couldn’t jeopardize this thing he’d worked so hard for. Not for anyone, including Samiah.

  * * *

  With the press of two buttons, Samiah simultaneously dimmed the lights in the conference room and brought the eighty-four-inch Microsoft Surface Hub on the far wall to life, the Trendsetters logo in the center of its touchscreen display. Moving to stand beside the digital whiteboard, she tapped the screen, bringing up the presentation she’d spent much of last night revising after deciding that what they’d collaborated on yesterday just wasn’t good enough.

  “Our team was tasked with coming up with a workable solution for the Leyland Group’s failing customer management software and networking system, including an overhaul of their WLAN design,” Samiah opened. “It was a complicated endeavor based on the size and scope, but also due to the sensitive nature of the medical files the company handles. The popularity of DNA tests has turned this into a booming business, and those companies are starting to understand just how important and difficult it is to keep their customers’ personal data safe. The number of nefarious things that could be done if their systems are breached is endless.”

  She tapped the screen again, then used the electronic pen to draw a circle around the design scheme displayed on the smart board.

  “We took a multipronged approach, developing a solution that is scalable as the company grows, but also not so involved that it will confine them to only one way of securing data.” She handed the stylus to her coworker. “Sam will take us through some detection techniques and expand on how the new vulnerability scanner will work.”

  After handing the presentation off to Sam, Samiah traversed the length of the conference room, opting to prop her elbow up on one of two standing-height tables that butted against the opposite wall. From this vantage point she could observe the entire room and gauge how the guys in charge were assessing what was being laid out for them.