“I’ll catch a cab,” he said over his shoulder. “My meeting starts promptly at ten, so it was either leave tonight or take the first flight out in the morning.” He turned in her arms, settling his clasped hands at the base of her spine. “I don’t mind waking up before the crack of dawn if it means I get to spend the night with you.”

The naughtiest tingles swept through her, causing her body to rival the heat level of the killer chicken they were about to eat.

She hated that he would be gone for an entire two weeks, but when he came back to Austin at the end of the month, it would be permanent. Well, as permanent as things were in his line of work.

Over these past two weeks, she’d learned that his job took him to all parts of the country, and even sometimes out of the country. He’d been back to the DC area twice already, and would be flying to some country in the Baltics next month. He couldn’t even disclose which country. It would take her a minute to get used to the lack of transparency, but she would do what she had to do. If Daniel was willing to pack up his life and move to the San Antonio/Austin field office in order to be with her, she could learn how to deal with his demanding job schedule.

He kissed the tip of her nose. “Will you miss me?”

“No,” she said. He pinched her ass. “Fine.” She laughed. “Yes, yes, I will miss you terribly. Especially your cooking.”

“Maybe by the time I return I’ll be able to invite you to my place to cook,” he said. He’d spent the past couple of weeks in a hotel just south of downtown, which meant any cooking was done at her place.

Samiah had been upfront when it came to her feelings about their living arrangements. They didn’t know each other well enough to move in together just yet. It was as simple as that. She still wasn’t sure if everything she thought she knew about him was fact or just part of the persona that had been created for his undercover job at Trendsetters. They were still feeling their way around the fallout of everything that happened last month.

Even so, when he texted her yesterday to let her know he’d found an apartment not too far from the hotel where he was now staying, she’d told him to sign a six-month lease instead of a full year. She suspected he wouldn’t make it through half of that. She wanted him here with her.

His arms still wrapped around her waist, Daniel nudged his chin toward where she’d placed her tablet on the kitchen counter. “Is it done?” he asked.

Samiah could barely contain the smile that broke out over her face.