Yet for the past three nights he’d spent more time researching her than anyone else on the company’s roster. He’d watched the video that had been the talk of the office more times than he would ever admit. But not for the spectacle of it. He didn’t give two shits about that Craig guy. Every time he watched, he focused entirely on Samiah.
He’d never witnessed anything so outstanding in all his life. Seeing the way she handed that guy his ass? It was breathtaking. And badass. The combination enthralled him.
She opted to stand at one of the pub tables, opposite and just to the right of where Daniel stood. He could watch her out of the corner of his eye without cluing her in to the fact that he couldn’t go longer than a few seconds without staring at her when she was near. He would need to work on that.
His new best friend, Owen, entered with his signature so-bright-it-bordered-on-creepy grin. He flipped a switch and the conference room’s transparent walls immediately changed to frosted glass.
Daniel soon learned that this particular strategy meeting had nothing to do with the WEP encryption project he’d been assigned to work on. Owen introduced him to the room at large.
“Daniel is here as an observer today. Let him see what happens when all these great minds merge.”
This was yet another part of the immersion-style employment strategy Trendsetters utilized. Instead of a typical employee handbook, they plopped new hires directly into situations that allowed them to experience different aspects of how the company operated in real time. He was told to expect several such instances over the next month or so, until they felt he was settled into the job. But if all went as planned, he would be in and out of Trendsetters in a couple of weeks.
Owen started talking about a potential new client, and Daniel let his eyes travel around the room. Not surprisingly, they landed on Samiah. Extremely surprisingly, she was staring right back at him. She quickly looked away, but then returned her gaze to his and smiled the subtle, embarrassed smile of someone who had been caught.
An answering grin drew across his lips.
Dude, what the hell?
He knew better than to engage. His normal modus operandi was to come into a job, lie low, complete his assignment, and get out. Landing on anyone’s radar wasn’t just foolish; it was potentially hazardous to his career. People talked. If he stood out at any particular company, word could spread and he wouldn’t be able to operate as he had for the past year.
But as he searched for a reason to tear his gaze away from the magnificent dark brown eyes staring back at him, Daniel couldn’t seem to come up with one. As long as he didn’t get distracted from therealreason he’d come to work for Trendsetters IT Solutions, what harm was there in being friendly to one of his fellow coworkers? And just because she wasn’t on the list of people he’d been tasked with keeping an eye on, did that mean he should ignore her?
Hell, he couldn’t ignore her if he tried. He was aware of her every breath whenever he was near her.
He’d spent the past couple of days pretending that he just so happened to want coffee whenever she did, but Daniel had no doubt that by this morning she’d caught on. He was a good actor—he had to be in his line of work—but he wasn’tthatgood.
The fact that she hadn’t called him on it gave him way more to think about than was healthy. Had she written it off as mere coincidence? He couldn’t buy that. She seemed too smart not to have noticed what was blatantly in front of her. The other possibility—the thought that she might enjoy their “chance” encounters—accelerated his heart rate.
The meeting ended and everyone started to file out of the room. Daniel lingered. What point was there in pretending that he wasn’t waiting for her?
“I’ll bet you’re happy this meeting’s over,” she started. “This must have been torture for you.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Why would you say that?”
“I know your type. Programmers want to program. Having to sit through meetings like this one is like being forced to listen to fingers down a chalkboard on repeat.”
He dramatically shivered. “Too graphic.”
Her smile brightened and the meager resolve he’d built up to keep his distance from her all but dissipated.
“It wasn’t all bad,” Daniel answered. “There were a few bright spots to being here.”
The crests of her deep brown cheeks darkened as she blushed.
That was it. Game over. As far as his power to resist was concerned, he would just stop trying. Figuring out how to best navigate this attraction would be a far more effective use of his mental energy when it came to Samiah Brooks.
Mercifully, an all-day meeting that kept her behind the closed doors of Trendsetters’ largest conference room saved him from further encounters. He could use some time away from her while he determined how he would pilot his way through these feelings.
Instead of hitting the gym after work, Daniel changed into a pair of basketball shorts before leaving the office, then parked along the banks of the Colorado River that meandered through downtown Austin. His feet pounded the pavement in time to the rhythmic beats of the eighties Run DMC track that had just come up on his “Short Runs” playlist. He accelerated his pace after recognizing that he’d adjusted to match the song’s slower tempo. Concentrating on his breathing pattern, he inhaled for every three steps, exhaled for every two. The sweet burn flowing through his quads and hamstrings signaled that he’d finally hit his stride.
He took to the grass to bypass a woman pushing a double stroller on the concrete path that wound along the riverbank. Families who’d come out to enjoy the relief the early cool front had brought packed the greenbelt lining both sides. They reclined on blankets strewn across the ground, their barking dogs leaping about. College students from UT or one of the other half-dozen colleges and universities nearby tossed Frisbees, Rollerbladed, or studied on the freshly trimmed grass.
Daniel mentally smacked down the complaints his brain conjured regarding the crowds. He could have easily gone to the gym to exercise, or picked one of the running paths near the apartment he’d been issued. He was the one who had chosen to come here.
He slowed to a stop and bent over, pulling the earbuds from his ears. He flattened his palms against his thighs, drawing shallow breaths.
This shit was getting out of hand.
