Eight months wasn’t very long considering they were together for six years, but it was long enough for him to have gone through a few rebound women.
And just why are you worried about his rebound ratio?
Because being a rebound girl sucked. That’s why.
Samiah still wasn’t sure she wanted to be his anything, but if being his rebound chick was a part of the scenario, she knew she didn’t want any part of it.
“Am I still just warm,” Daniel asked. “Or am I hot yet?”
Soooo fucking hot.But that’s not what he meant.
“You’re a quick wash off in the tub kind of hot. I’m looking for a nice, long soak with a really good book kind of hot.”
“The hot that scalds a normal human being. I don’t know how you women can sit in a tub of boiling water.”
“Because we’re not babies,” she said. “And since you apparently can’t figure out the obvious question, I’ll just come out and ask it. Why did you and your ex-girlfriend break up?”
He set his elbows on the table and rubbed his hands together. After a lengthy pause, he finally said, “She didn’t agree with my career choice.”
Samiah frowned. “But you left the military for her. Or did I interpret that wrong?”
“Nope, you got it exactly right. She asked me not to reenlist. Said she wanted me to do something safer.”
“So what was her problem? What could she possibly find unsafe about you being a software engineer?”
“She didn’t have a problem with that part. She had a problem with me choosing to return to Philly instead of staying out west to make the big bucks in Silicon Valley. My well-being wasn’t nearly as important to her as the well-being of my future stock portfolio.”
“Ouch.” It couldn’t be easy to discover that someone you’d given six years of your life to was only in it for the money. “Did you consider doing what she asked? I know Silicon Valley isn’t for everyone, but it’s a pretty common dream in our industry.”
“It wasn’t for me.” His shoulders lifted in a dismissive shrug. “As I think back on our relationship, I’ve come to the realization that Joelle and I weren’t as compatible as I thought we were. I’m now convinced that the only reason we lasted as long as we did is because I was gone most of the time.”
Samiah tried to read between the lines, but this was a hard one. On the surface he seemed at peace with how things had turned out. Would that still be the case if she looked deeper? She wasn’t sure she wanted to.
“I guess it’s better that you figured out it wasn’t meant to be before you did something that would be harder to walk away from,” she said. “Like marriage.”
“In six years we never came remotely close to discussing marriage. We never really moved in together. I spent most of my time with her when I was home, but I still had my place and she refused to give hers up.” He snorted. “That was probably the biggest indication that things would eventually end. And once our relationship was over, I felt freer than I had in years. She’s a huge part of the reason I’m here in Austin now. This is all a part of my clean break.”
“It seems as if your ex-girlfriend’s loss is Trendsetters’ gain,” Samiah said. “I think we owe her a debt of gratitude.”
His brow lifted in a casual arch. “Is that the only good thing about me being here? That it’s a benefit for Trendsetters?”
His voice held a silken challenge that coasted along her nerve endings, sending ripples of pleasurable awareness scampering across her skin.
Samiah shook her head. “No. That’s not all.”
Her eyes dropped to his lips. He pulled the bottom one between his teeth and her nipples grew tighter than fine-tuned piano strings. With his eyes still locked on hers, he released the catch on his chair and rolled it to her side of the table.
Was this really about to happen?
The better question was, should sheletthis happen? She’d already cataloged the myriad reasons she should pull away. Forget crossing the invisible line on inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace; the moment her lips touched Daniel’s, all of therah-rah, I am woman, hear me roar, I don’t need a man to make me happybullshit she’d fed Taylor and London wouldn’t be worth a damn thing.
She didn’t care. Her tingling nipples told her this kiss would be worth it.
Leaning forward, Samiah wrapped her fingers around the back of his neck and brought him in close. The moment their lips touched, her expectations were confirmed.
So. Totally. Worth. It.
The first few moments were as chaste as a couple of seventh graders stealing a kiss at their first junior high dance, but within seconds they’d reached horny-high-schoolers-going-at-it-underneath-the-bleachers status. His tongue pushed past her lips, advancing on her like she imagined he advanced on enemy lines back when he was a soldier. She was no match for him.
