“But can I afford to take that chance when so much is at stake? How selfish would it be of me to turn down the opportunity to do something that would make life better for so many more, simply because I’ve held this dream for an app that may never make it out of development?”

“It will make it out of development,” Daniel said.

“But what if that’s as far as I can take it? What if I pass on being the department head and my app idea falls flat? Then what? I’m relying on someone like Owen Caldwell or—God forbid—Keighleigh Miller to do the right thing when it comes to outreach?”

She dropped her head back on the arm of the sofa and covered her eyes with her forearm again.

He paused for a beat before offering in a quiet voice, “You can always do both.”

She shook her head. “I’d rather choose a path and give one hundred percent. It wouldn’t be fair to either if I half-assed this.”

“What about if you had help?” She lifted her arm and peered at him from where she lay. He shrugged. “I do know my way around computer software and app development. I can help you get the app finished.”

“No,” she said with an emphatic shake of her head, then got up from the sofa and walked over to the wall of windows overlooking downtown Austin.

Daniel debated whether to give her some space, but only for a second. He joined her at the window, wrapping his arms around her middle and settling his chin against her shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean for that to sound as harsh as it did.”

“No need to apologize.”

“Stop being so nice.” She brought a hand up and ran it along his jaw. “Thank you for the offer,” she continued. “But this is something I have to do on my own. As I’ve said before, this app is my baby. If it ever goes to market, I want to know that I did it on my own.”

“When it goes to market,” he corrected. “And I understand where you’re coming from.” He pressed a kiss to the indentation between her neck and collarbone. “But it’s not as if I’m asking for co-developer status or anything, Samiah. I’m just saying that if you need some extra hands, I’m here.”

“I know.” She turned and settled her arms against his shoulders, clasping her slim fingers behind his head. “But I want to do this on my own. I need to do it on my own. I’ve held this dream for so long that this app is now a part of me. And at the end of the day, I want to be able to say that it was through my own blood, sweat, and tears that it came to be.”