“That night, he told me to make sure I controlled every part of my life, because when you’re not in control awful things can happen and you can’t do anything about it. That’s why I need to control as much as possible.”

She’d worked enough of this out in her head some time ago, and knew that her rigid adherence to her checklist had something to do with this intense need she always had to be in control, but she’d never put voice to the words.

It was only recently that Samiah began to wonder if this was why she’d never pursued a real relationship before either. Because she couldn’t control the way someone felt about her. Just the prospect of finding herself in such a vulnerable state caused her breath to hitch.

“You may think you can’t control what happens with this app, Samiah, but you do. You control how it looks, how it operates, everything. And when you’re done with it, it’s going to be so brilliant that you won’t be able to field all the offers you’re going to get. You have nothing to be afraid of.”

He dipped his head and captured her mouth in a kiss that stole the breath from her lungs, and the fear that suddenly came over her had nothing to do with her app or her job or anything else.

The thing she feared for the most right now was her heart.

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

A crisp wind, scented with an amalgam of freshly cut grass, earthy wet soil, and burning hickory from a nearby smokehouse restaurant, hit his face the moment he opened his car door. Per Samiah’s instructions, he’d parked near the baseball diamond on the south bank of Barton Creek in Zilker Park. Despite the early hour, nearly half the parking spots were already filled with Austinites eager to enjoy what promised to be a beautiful Sunday.

Daniel still couldn’t describe the sheer euphoria that swept through him when Samiah asked if he wanted to join them. Her friend Taylor wanted to test out a boot camp–style fitness class and needed feedback before adding it to her repertoire. He didn’t care that he was here to play guinea pig. She was opening up another part of her world to him; that’s what counted.