The closest she’d ever come to experiencing something akin to a panic attack swept through her as her finger hovered over the keyboard. The countless hours she’d pumped into creating this app, the dreams she’d attached to it; it all came down to this single component.
She crossed her fingers, then pressedENTERand watched as the colorful pinwheel turned and turned and turned on the screen.
The screen blinked and when it came back, her schema had been validated.
“Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod!” Samiah jumped up from the sofa and slid across her living room floor in her socks, underwear, and shirt, à la Tom Cruise inRisky Business. It felt as if a balloon filled with glitter had just exploded inside her chest.
Her immediate thought was to share her news with Daniel. Her fingers fumbled as she typed out the text message and sent him a snapshot of her laptop screen.
He replied with a GIF of a man break-dancing, his tracksuit, thick gold chain, and Kangol cap straight out of 1985. Samiah burst out laughing. The reply was so on brand.
A few minutes later, her phone vibrated with another text from Daniel:BUZZ ME UP.
She called him. “Are you downstairs?”
“Yeah. I was on my way to surprise you with dinner when you texted. I know you’ve been swamped trying to build this API and figured you hadn’t taken the time to eat.”
It felt as if her heart had swelled to three times its normal size. After the years she’d spent settling for so far less than what she deserved, it was acts like this one that showed her how truly special Daniel was. It meant more than any expensive, grand gesture ever would.
She called down to the building’s concierge and gave the doorman permission to let him up. She considered remaining in her T-shirt and underwear, but decided to throw on a pair of shorts. As much as she wanted to hang anOPEN FOR BUSINESSsign on the rim of her panties, social conventions drilled into her by her very proper mother demanded she be a bit more refined.
She answered the door and refinement went out the window.
There was nothing particularly exceptional about a simple black T-shirt and jeans, but on Daniel Collins the harmless combination looked lethal. The soft jersey fabric contoured over his sculpted chest and subtly muscular biceps. His well-worn jeans clung deliciously to his hips, accentuating his slender yet powerful build. All she could think about was peeling them off.
“Congratulations,” Daniel said. “It seems to me we have a reason to celebrate.”
“I would say so,” Samiah replied. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth, then grabbed the hem of his T-shirt and pulled him into the condo.
She relieved him of the bag from her favorite Mexican restaurant, set it on the table in her small foyer, closed the door behind him, and pressed him against it.
“Okay, Collins, this can go one of two ways: If you’re not ready to take this next step, you can sit here and eat dinner while I go to my room and get myself off. Or,youcan get me off—no, we can get each other off. Then we can eat tacos naked—there’s really no better way to eat them. But that’s only after we’ve both come at least twice. So, which works for you?”
“Coming twice,” he said. “Definitely coming twice. And then naked tacos.”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” Samiah said.
She captured his face in her hands and crushed her mouth to his. His tongue quickly delved past her lips, probing with hurried, insistent strokes. She had been anticipating this for weeks. Daydreaming about it. Craving it. If ever there was a reason to finally give in to this insane pull between them, celebrating this breakthrough with her app was as good as any.
Daniel’s hands went to her waist, then down to her ass, his caress wild and fervent. He clutched her tight, pulling her flush against him. Samiah’s nipples instantly hardened while everything else went soft and hot. She felt herself melting under the heat of his passionate response.
Her lips still connected with his, she started moving, dragging him toward her bedroom, stepping out of her shorts and flinging them toward the sofa as they made their way past the living room.
“This feels like rom-com movie sex,” she said against his lips.
He chuckled. “Is that a good thing?”
“As long as we don’t break any bones and end up in the emergency room.”
“What about the headboard?” he asked.
She pulled back slightly and stared at him. “Did I hear that correctly? Did you just promise me headboard-breaking sex?”
His brow lifted in the sexiest way imaginable. “You got a problem with that?”
Samiah flattened her palm against his chest and pushed him into her room.
“Get in the bed.”
