“Umm…wow,” Samiah said with a nervous laugh. “Well, okay. Umm…we should probably head back. I’ve got a ton of work on my desk.”

“Samiah—”

She snapped her fingers. “I totally forgot that Keighleigh wanted to talk about some…something.” She started to push back from the table, but Daniel stopped her, capturing her wrist.

“Samiah, wait.” She looked down at his hand, then back to his face. He let go. “Look, do you want to maybe do something one day?” What in the hell was he doing? “Something other than lunch?” he clarified.

Shit, he was asking her out. On a real date.

“I’ve read about how great the scenery is around here and how there are all these great trails to explore, but I haven’t had a chance to venture out. I just thought maybe…I don’t know. Maybe you could join me.”

“Trails? Do you hike?”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “I haven’t been able to do much lately. Do you hike?” he asked. That hadn’t been in her dossier.

“I do.” A soft smile replaced the panic that had been in her eyes a moment ago. “I know it doesn’t sound like something a girl from inside the Loop in Houston would be into, but I love it.”

“Do you want to go hiking one of these days?” Don’t say it. “Maybe this weekend?”

Shit.

He’d pushed too hard. He could tell by the caution that entered her eyes, as if just realizing that, apart from their coffee bar encounters, they didn’t know each other all that well.

“Not this weekend,” Daniel corrected before she totally shut him down, which she would have every right to do. “Why don’t we grab lunch a few more times. I can tell you about my Philly upbringing, and you can tell me what it was like growing up in Beyoncé’s backyard. Then, maybe, by next weekend you’d feel more comfortable hiking through the woods with someone who you’ve known all of three weeks.”

“Was it that obvious?”

“You’re smart to be cautious, Samiah. And I’m not here to make you feel uncomfortable. I just thought…maybe,” he said with another shrug.

“I’ll think about it,” she said.

Daniel couldn’t curb the smile that spread across his face if his life depended on it. “That’s a start.”

He pushed away from the table and gathered the remnants of their lunch, depositing the food in the compost bin and the recyclable containers in their proper place. Then he held the door for her to exit the restaurant.

As he walked alongside Samiah on the way back to their building, alarm bells continued to ring out through his brain. He chose to ignore them.