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, doyouthink I’m cute?”
His unrepentant grin was evidence that he was enjoying this way too much. So was she.
Andthatwas 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 anit is what it isshrug 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 fromThe 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 movieor that they prefer mochas to regular coffee doesn’t mean youknowthem. 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 onher.
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.”
