Prior to Monday, Daniel hadn’t paid much attention to the dossier on Samiah Brooks. He’d noted that she’d amassed an impressive reputation for getting the job done, but she was considered an ancillary subject to his current project. The only significant detail regarding her was that, at one time, two years ago, she’d worked in Trendsetters’ Cybersecurity Department. But her tenure had ended well before the suspicious activity surrounding Hughes Hospitality had surfaced.

Yet for the past three nights he’d spent more time researching her than anyone else on the company’s roster. He’d watched the video that had been the talk of the office more times than he would ever admit. But not for the spectacle of it. He didn’t give two shits about that Craig guy. Every time he watched, he focused entirely on Samiah.

He’d never witnessed anything so outstanding in all his life. Seeing the way she handed that guy his ass? It was breathtaking. And badass. The combination enthralled him.

She opted to stand at one of the pub tables, opposite and just to the right of where Daniel stood. He could watch her out of the corner of his eye without cluing her in to the fact that he couldn’t go longer than a few seconds without staring at her when she was near. He would need to work on that.

His new best friend, Owen, entered with his signature so-bright-it-bordered-on-creepy grin. He flipped a switch and the conference room’s transparent walls immediately changed to frosted glass.

Daniel soon learned that this particular strategy meeting had nothing to do with the WEP encryption project he’d been assigned to work on. Owen introduced him to the room at large.

“Daniel is here as an observer today. Let him see what happens when all these great minds merge.”

This was yet another part of the immersion-style employment strategy Trendsetters utilized. Instead of a typical employee handbook, they plopped new hires directly into situations that allowed them to experience different aspects of how the company operated in real time. He was told to expect several such instances over the next month or so, until they felt he was settled into the job. But if all went as planned, he would be in and out of Trendsetters in a couple of weeks.

Owen started talking about a potential new client, and Daniel let his eyes travel around the room. Not surprisingly, they landed on Samiah. Extremely surprisingly, she was staring right back at him. She quickly looked away, but then returned her gaze to his and smiled the subtle, embarrassed smile of someone who had been caught.

An answering grin drew across his lips.

Dude, what the hell?