Maneuvering him down from his shoulders, Orlando handed Little Man over to a smiling Dani. She smiled so big it had Orlando smiling, despite the envy he felt over the baby wanting off his shoulders and to be in her arms instead. But then the more Orlando was around her, the more he couldn’t even blame his boy. As they continued to stroll, Orlando pushing the empty stroller and Oreo happily in Dani’s arms, she gushed a little about her brother. “He bakes our birthday cakes every year, and during the holidays, he gets down with all kinds of different holiday baked treats. He really is so much smarter than I think the doctors ever gave him credit for. Oh, and look.” Those big eyes brightened as she reached for her phone in the baby bag. She easily tapped it a few times even with the baby on her hip. “Just took it the other night when I went in his room to say good night.” Orlando couldn’t get enough of that smile. It was the same as when she was cuddling the baby. He took the phone from her as she handed it to him to see a photo of a wall full of certificates and ribbons.
“He’s gotten awards for his baking and his gardening.” Orlando glanced down at her, momentarily getting caught up in that sweetly proud big smile. “One year he even grew the biggest tomato in his garden club.”
Orlando chuckled. “Biggest tomato, huh? That must’ve been exciting for him.”
“Oh, my gosh was it ever. For months, he told everyone who’d listen.” She giggled as she leaned in and slid the screen on her phone. Orlando took in that intoxicating scent of hers then smiled when he saw the selfie of her and her brother. There was no denying the love between these two, given how huge both their smiles were in the photo.
“Sounds and looks like you two have quite the bond.”
“Ugh,” she said, bringing the phone to her chest, and shook her head. “Don’t get me started. Honestly, he’s the whole reason my sister and I decided we wanted to go into this line of work. You have no idea how exciting every milestone he reaches in his life can be.” She shrugged with a small smile. “I guess you do.” She kissed the baby’s head before going on. “But with Dominic, it was that much more thrilling because of his Down Syndrome and the doctors always warning us there may be some normal milestones he might never reach. So, when he did, we were always so over the moon about it. It was almost like . . .” She paused to ponder for a moment. “Like a high you didn’t wanna come down from, it was that exhilarating. It’s why going into a profession where we could get our daily fix seemed ideal.”
Orlando listened intently as she went on about when Dominic first walked and then began to speak. “He’s not completely verbal,” she explained. “But he does make himself understood. Delia and I understand everything he tells us. Most importantly, he understands everything we tell him. And he’s such a fast learner.” It was the oddest thing, but Orlando loved seeing and hearing how lit up she got when speaking of her brother. He made a mental note to ask her more about him in the future. This was just another thing he felt himself getting sucked in about her. The longer he was around her, the more he learned about her, the more he could hardly believe his luck. On top of it all, someone this genuinely passionate about nurturing would be taking care of Little Man. They slowed for a moment as the baby lifted his finger and pointed at the ducks waddling by on their way to the park’s lake. “Ducks,” she said, kissing his little finger. “They go quack.”
The wind had picked up, and Dani shook her head to move the hair out of her face since she had her hands full with the baby and her phone now. “Here let me,” Orlando said, reaching out and pulling the strand away from her face. As he reached behind her ear to tuck the strand there, his knuckles grazed her soft cheek. When she glanced up at him, their eyes met for a moment. The words you’re beautiful nearly slipped out of his mouth, but he held them in.
“Thank you,” she said softly, but he still couldn’t pull his eyes away from hers. She finally glanced away, reaching for the blanket in the stroller and wrapping it around the baby. “It’s getting a little chilly.” With her fussing over the baby, their moment was over. Before today, Orlando couldn’t understand what it was about her exactly, but he’d never felt what he did each time he got caught in those eyes. He thought he’d imagined it those first two days at the shop, but there was no denying it now. She did something to him without trying at all. He’d begun to think his being so grateful he’d found her was all it was. With her turning out to be even better with the baby than he anticipated, it made sense that, like Oreo, Orlando was also developing an inevitable crush. Kind of like when a grade school kid develops a crush on the teacher, right? She was teaching Orlando a whole lot of what he needed so much help with. The fact that she was hot with popping curves wasn’t helping his trying to keep his inappropriate feelings in check either, damn it. But the more he got to know her, the more he listened to the genuine way she took his son’s well-being so seriously. And now this, he had no idea how he’d snuff all the inappropriate things he was feeling.
Somehow, he managed to get through their time at the park and even the stroll back home without asking any more intrusive questions about her personal life, despite that, more than ever now, he wanted to know more. Aside from what she’d offered up about her brother and even sister, curiously she never once brought up her boyfriend again. Orlando had begun to wonder what they’d do when the baby went down for his next nap since he did take several throughout the day, and it was obvious he was due for another soon. While the baby’s naps weren’t normally too long when he took them for Orlando, he had a feeling, like his earlier one with Dani’s magic touch, Oreo might be out for a while again. To Orlando’s disappointment, once the baby knocked out, Dani announced this was when she’d make her exit. The understanding had been that she’d only be over today and tomorrow to give him a few pointers. Technically, since Orlando was home today, she didn’t really need to be there to watch the baby all day.
“You want me here tomorrow again, right?”
Yes!
The exasperated response was nearly blurted out as she stopped at the door before walking out. “If it’s not too much to ask.” He shrugged. “You’ve already helped me so much today, but I’ll take as much as you’re willing to offer.”
She stared at him blankly for a moment, and he began to panic. Why the hell did everything he say to her keep coming out the wrong way? Before he could start backpedaling, she smiled sweetly with a nod. “It’s my pleasure. He’s such a little sweetheart. Same time?”
Orlando nodded, trying not to smile too big—too relieved—too fucking enchanted, for fuck’s sake! “Sounds good to me, and hopefully this time there won’t be any unexpected errands I have to run. Sorry about that again.”
“No worries. Oh, and hey . . .” She stopped again as she walked out onto the porch. “About Fridays, remember I, uh . . . lost my Friday one-on-one. So, if Felicia would like at least part of her only day off, I’m open to watching him on Fridays after I get off at the shop as well.”
Aside from the news of her unofficial engagement and getting a little more insight into her personal life, this day couldn’t get any better. Again, Orlando agreed immediately, doing his best to remain as composed and professional about this as he’d done so far about everything else. If Little Man was smitten with her already, he could only imagine how much more attached he’d get once he was around her five days straight each week. Inhaling deeply as she waved, indulging him with a sweet smile again before getting in her car, Orlando took a deep breath. He’d have to be cool about this. It felt like his first lesson in parental sacrifice and selflessness. The girl was in a relationship where they were discussing marriage for crying out loud. Not that this type of detail had ever deterred him from going for it in the past, if said girl was making the moves. But the intention had never been for it to be more than just a onetime or maybe a few times of her getting her naughty on. Any girl willing to cheat on her man—serious or not—was not one Orlando would ever take seriously. With Dani, it was completely different. A lot more was on the line here than a possible confrontation with a jealous boyfriend. Dani had been perfectly professional so far and was in no way showing any signs of being the type of girl who was looking to get that kind of action. This wasn’t just about Orlando getting a possible blow to his ego if she turned him down flat. One bad move or slip could make things awkward and lead to Oreo losing his perfect babysitter.