Page 62 of Tempt Me

“Well, yeah. It was a lot harder than my high school, but I loved the challenge. I developed a network. It was where I met Winslow and through him, Billie, and I made friends with Jackson and Cooper. Your family welcomed me in a way I’d never felt back in Austin.”

“And you never looked back?”

“More or less.” She tilted her head from side to side, her enormous hat flopping.

“Wait, what did you do?”

She bit her lip like she wanted to hold back, but then she leaned forward. “I wished there had been a way for Mama to find housing she could afford so she wouldn’t have had to beg Nana for a place to stay. That was my original idea, you know? To make a place to bring together people who were struggling. Someone who couldn’t pay the mortgage but had a room, and someone who needed a room but couldn’t afford a whole apartment.”

“Why did you change it?”

“I knew how to program, but I didn’t understand business all that well, not when I was twenty. That’s when I partnered up with Winslow. He was a freshman with a head for business. He showed me market research and convinced me to nudge the app toward short-term rentals. We considered accepting advertising from apartment complexes and national hotel chains, but we ended up selling the app. A year later, it became that rent-out-your-house app everyone uses. We used the cash to develop In the Know, which was our first app as Jamilow.”

I dared to interlace my fingers with hers on the blanket, and she didn’t stop me. “I think your original vision was beautiful. Do you think you’d ever do something with it?”

“Oh, it’s there. I created a new version people can use for free. We call it KnowHome. You just have to know where to look. Enough people use it for renting rooms and such that I’m satisfied.”

“Really? I had no idea.”

“We don’t market it. It’s got enough word of mouth in the right communities, so the people who need it can usually find it.”

“That’s amazing.” Jamila put so much effort into looking tough on the outside that I felt honored she’d given me a glimpse of her soft center.

“The other stuff keeps us afloat. Winslow’s projections on this financial advising app are through the roof. Though if Moo-Lah beats us, they’ll take a lot of that income. KnowHome will be in danger. As a nonrevenue-generating service, it’s the first thing the board will want to cut.”

“Moo-Lah won’t beat you. We won’t let them.”

She squeezed my fingers, then let go. “No, I won’t.”

I scrunched my nose at how she’d changed mywetoI,but I forgot it as soon as she said the words that made my heart go pitter-patter.

“I think it’s time to go inside and wash that sunscreen off of you.”

19

As soon aswe were inside, I tossed the sun hat on the floor and pushed up against Jamila. She let me crowd her back against the door and kiss her, a soft slide of lips before I slipped my tongue inside her mouth to taste her fire.

A moment later, she whirled and pressed me against the door. She cradled my face in both hands and battled back, exploring my mouth. I moaned at the sweet invasion.

“Remember who’s in charge here, baby girl,” she muttered into my ear.

I gasped as she trailed a hand down my side to my butt and ran a finger along the waistband of my bikini bottom.

“You’re a little sensitive here.”

I full-body shuddered.

She chuckled. “Maybe a lot sensitive. We’ll get there in a minute. First, let’s shower off that sunscreen.”

Leaving the picnic remains and the sandy blanket at the back door, she led me down the hall to a large bedroom. Under a lazily twirling ceiling fan, a huge metal-framed bed was made up in white linens.

Without pausing, Jamila tugged me into the en suite bathroom. It was a nice size, about the same as mine in my parents’ house, all white tile with gray accents. There was an enormous soaking tub in one corner and a walk-in shower in the other. She turned on the overhead spray and stepped back out.

“Face the mirror.”

I obeyed, turning my back to her and trembling with anticipation.

“You okay with this?” she asked, watching my face in the mirror.

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