Feeling like a greedy bastard, he nearly blurted out, hell yeah! He’d take her all the days she’d give him. After the way she handled the baby without even being there, he was more than sold on having her around as much as possible. And it had nothing to do with how damn good she looked the day she walked into the shop to get her brakes checked either. Obviously, she had a boyfriend—one who’d made it more than apparent he didn’t take too kindly to Orlando’s flirting with her. Last thing Orlando wanted was for her to pick up any inappropriate vibes from him and maybe change her mind about this. It’s what he’d begun to think. That maybe her boyfriend had balked at her working at the shop and especially watching his kid at his place. So, before he blew it, he reminded himself this was strictly business. He’d be very mindful to make sure it came across that way. “I don’t want to take up too much of your time, but just in the beginning, as I get more used to this baby thing, you wouldn’t have to do all day Wednesday and Thursday. But maybe you can come by and walk me through some other stuff like the teething thing and luluing just for a few hours.
“He’s also starting to transition into solid food, and holy shit, my head was spinning when I walked down that baby food aisle at the market. I didn’t even know where to start.” She laughed softly, sweetly, and even that had Orlando smiling a little too big.
“Easiest way to go about it is start off simple. Baby cereal mixed with his formula and nothing else. You introduce one new food at a time and wait a few days before introducing another, in case he has an allergic reaction or gets an upset stomach. You can narrow down the culprit easier that way.”
Orlando listened almost in awe as she went on explaining a few other solid food do’s and don’ts like a pro. He was almost pissed he’d mentioned his mom had him tomorrow and Tuesday. He’d have to wait until Wednesday now to have her do this in person.
They finished up with her scheduled to be at his place both Wednesday and Thursday and then she added, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
That confused him. “Tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I’ll call Nine back and let him know I can be at the shop starting tomorrow and that this week I’ll be doing Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. So, I can help you out Wednesday, Thursday, and over the weekend.”
He’d been so caught up chastising himself for not making it sound more urgent so that she’d start sooner, he forgotten how soon Nine wanted her to start at the shop. Orlando would be seeing her again as soon as tomorrow. Smiling a little too big, Orlando wrapped up the call, reminding himself that he was just relieved that he’d finally found someone so competent to help him with Baby O—someone who clearly knew what she was talking about when it came to this baby stuff, despite how young she looked. So what if he was still smiling about the fact that he’d get to see her all day tomorrow and Tuesday? He was just eager to get started on what he’d be regarding as training. Given the confidence she’d shown as she passed on the tips, for all he knew, she might even have children of her own. Not sure how he felt about that. But if she had kids with her boyfriend, it’d be all the more a deterrent from getting any ideas about her and possibly lose a perfect sitter. Because if she’d handled the baby like The Baby Whisperer over the phone, he could only imagine how amazing she’d be in person. That’s all this was. He chuckled inwardly as he peeked into the nursery where the baby was now sleeping soundly. As a matter of fact, he was going to go write down some of the other stuff that’d baffled him so far when it came to this unexpected change in his life. Tomorrow he’d get a head start on all the millions of questions he had for her.
Chapter 8
Orlando
“What makes her so qualified?” Orlando opened his mouth to answer but then thought better of it. Gushing about how amazing Danica was, as he had when he told his mom about her that morning, might not go over so well with Felicia.
Even his mom had called him on it. “Is she pretty, Orlando?” She’d smiled, peering at him playfully. “Because she sounds great, but you sound just a little too excited about this.”
Orlando had quickly backpedaled, toning it down, reiterating how incredibly frustrated and lost he’d been feeling until she called and fixed everything up just like that. “Over the phone, Ma!”
He’d almost gone back to raving about how he could hardly wait to see her in action in person. But he managed to calm his ass down and get out of his mom’s house before she could make any more assumptions.
“She’s going to school for this stuff,” Orlando said, answering Felicia’s question. “Child development,” he added when he remembered exactly what Danica had said. “She’s not fully licensed yet, but she’s already working with kids. Special needs kids even.”
“And you checked her credentials?”
“I told you she’s still a student. She doesn’t have any yet.”
“So, how’d you find this girl?”
The other line beeped, and Orlando could see it was his mom calling. He was instantly concerned because she never called when she had the baby unless there was some kind of issue. “That’s my mom on the other line,” he said quickly. “I gotta take this, Felicia. And I’m at the shop now, so I’ll just talk to you later. Okay, bye.”
Before she could even respond, he was already clicking over. “Mom, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” she said quickly. “I was just gonna feed my chachito, but I noticed you didn’t pack any baby food. Did you decide not to start him on solids after all?”
Frowning because he couldn’t believe he’d forgotten to tell her about this because he’d been too damn busy going on and on about other stuff, he said, “Yeah, sorry I forgot to tell you. I’m doing the baby cereal thing for now. I packed it for him with his formula. Mix it until it slightly thickens and feed him that. Danica says it’s best to keep it simple. Introduce stuff gradually. This way if he gets the runs or something, it’s easier to pinpoint what might’ve triggered it.”
His mom was quiet for a moment before he heard her reaction. “Hmm okay. Makes sense. Maybe this girl does know what she’s talking about.”
“I’m telling you. She really does.” He stopped before he got too worked up again because he was already smiling like an idiot. In hindsight, before his mom had called him on it that morning, he’d probably been doing it the whole time then too. Biting his tongue about Danica, he let her know he’d just arrived at the shop and had to get to work now but to feel free to call if anything came up or if she had any questions. As if he wasn’t already in a too excitable mood, seeing Danica behind the counter when he walked into the shop had his already smiling lips stretching even further.
“Check it out,” Nine said, coming up from behind her. “She’s been here just over an hour, and already this place looks a hundred times better than it has in weeks.” Orlando didn’t think he could smile any bigger, but just like that it happened when his eyes met Danica’s sweet and somewhat embarrassed looking eyes. “If Dani’s anywhere near as good at watching kids as she is organizing shit, you just scored.” Nine walked off with a very satisfied smile as one of the guys in the shop pulled him away to show him something. It felt almost as if he and Danica had a secret because her knowing gaze said it all. He already knew how amazing she was going to be with the baby. Judging by her gaze he was certain she knew he did too. Just like with his mom, his being so impressed by her had likely been beyond obvious even over the phone.