London arched a brow. “You better not make me regret this, Dimples.” She pointed two fingers at her eyes and then at Daniel’s, as if to say I’m watching you. “Remember what I told you.” Then she and Taylor left, taking the trail Samiah had just descended.

Once they were alone, Samiah turned to face him and gave him three slow claps.

“I’m not sure what you said to get those two to agree to help you, but you deserve applause.”

“Desperate measures,” he said.

She nodded, and then walked over to the rear of the teahouse and sat on its stone ledge. She crossed her legs and folded her hands on her knee.

“You asked for twenty minutes,” she said. “So start explaining.”

*  *  *

Daniel wiped his sweating palms on the sides of his jeans, the lump in his throat increasing by several degrees. He walked over to where Samiah sat and gestured to the empty space next to her.

“Can I?”

She scooted over a few inches. More inches than necessary.

He settled in next to her and leaned forward, propping his elbows on his thighs and clamping his hands together. “By now you know that I wasn’t your regular Trendsetters hire,” he started.

“Understatement, but go on,” she said. She held a hand up. “No, actually, instead of going through this long, drawn-out explanation, why don’t I just ask you some questions about what I don’t understand? I don’t want this to take up too much of your time. I’m sure you have other things you need to take care of before you leave.”

“We can take as much time as necessary, Samiah. I was supposed to fly back this morning, but I canceled my flight.”

“Why?”

“Why?” he repeated. “Because I couldn’t go back without at least trying to explain things to you. This is the reason I’m here.”

Her forehead furrowed. “Wait a minute. You mean you flew all the way from DC just for this? Just to talk to me?”

“I couldn’t do it over the phone,” Daniel said. He took another deep breath. “We don’t have to go through it all step-by-step if you’re not up for it. You’ve probably learned the basics over this past week, that I’m a government agent who came to Austin as part of a joint mission to break up a money-laundering ring.”

“That’s pretty much all I need to know,” she said.

“No.” He shook his head. “What you need to know—what I need you to know—is that it wasn’t all a lie. It wasn’t some calculated plan that I formulated from the very beginning.” He gestured between them. “This—me and you, our relationship—it was never supposed to happen.”

She crossed her arms over her chest again.