When they were done eating, Orlando escorted Felicia downstairs to get her car. “I love you too,” Dani said as Orlando and Felicia reached the bottom of the stairs. “Oh, you’re such a sweetheart, babe. So, what hotel did you book us at?”
Orlando turned to look at Dani, feeling an instant and overwhelming heat inundate him. One he’d never felt before. She winced when she glanced up and saw them. “I gotta go. I’ll see you in a bit. No, I can’t right now, baby.” She lowered her voice but not low enough because Orlando still heard every fucking word, and it made him nauseous. “Okay, okay, love you. Bye.” She glanced back up at them but turned away from Orlando and addressed Felicia instead. “Are you leaving already?”
“Yeah.” Felicia smiled. “I took an extended lunch so I could bring my car in for the oil change. But I gotta get back now. Your fiancé?” Felicia motioned to the phone, smiling, a bit too satisfied.
Dani nodded with a sheepish smile. She turned to Orlando, the smile waning a bit, but held up the bag of chips in her hand. “I just took a quick break when he called. But I’m back to work now.” She dropped the phone in her purse on the counter. “No more phone until I finish my shift.”
The shop phone rang, and Dani got back to business, answering and waving good-bye to Felicia. After walking Felicia out, Orlando thought about walking back into the shop, but there was no way. He needed to get a few more things straight with Dani. She was off the phone now, and he went straight to the counter instead.
“Did something change?” Her brows furrowed in question. “With you and your boyfriend. You said you weren’t engaged.” This was not what he meant by getting things straight with her, but the words had just flown out without thought.
“Oh.” She glanced out in the direction of the parking lot before turning back to Orlando again. “I figured it’s all the same to her. Doesn’t matter how she refers to him. Felt rude to correct her, so . . .” She shrugged then smiled. “Did you two have a nice lunch?”
Orlando started to nod but then shook his head, frustrated. It was bad enough he’d already questioned something that wasn’t any of his damn business. As much as he’d wanted to know more about her relationship before, after hearing her cutesy conversation, the last thing he wanted was to encourage any more talk of her damn boyfriend. Sharing with her about him and Felicia might just elicit that. His reaction to just the snippet of the conversation he’d heard still had him reeling. “Listen. I just wanted to make sure we got something straight about what we discussed up there.” He motioned to the apartment upstairs as he went on quickly because her smile had immediately flattened at the mention. “Unless something in your past or your personal life directly or adversely affects your job here or your ability to care for the baby, you don’t have to feel guilty about keeping it to yourself, Dani. We all have pasts. I mean if you ever need or want to vent about anything, I’m here for you. Just don’t feel obligated to do so.”
She smiled softly and nodded. “Thank you. I’m almost not.” Feeling his brows pinch, he shook his head confused. “A felon,” she said, lowering her voice. “I’m working on getting it reduced to a misdemeanor and then getting the whole thing expunged altogether. I guess I was hoping it would happen sooner than later, so I’d never have to disclose it to anyone I work for. But I guess after getting to know you better, it started to feel wrong not to.”
Orlando smiled. “Well, I appreciate you wanting to be honest, but in this case it wasn’t necessary.” Her phone dinged, reminding Orlando of the infuriating conversation he’d inadvertently overheard.
Dani glanced at her purse but shook her head. “I’m sure it’s nothing that can’t wait until I’m off the clock.”
“You can answer your phone or read your texts, Dani. That’s not a problem. Maybe it’s your sister,” he offered. “Could be about your brother.”
Pressing her lips together, she nodded and reached into her purse. Orlando watched as she pulled out her phone and read the screen then smiled. “No.” She shook her head. “It’s nothing important,” was all she offered, and Orlando could only imagine the kind of message her boyfriend must’ve sent her. A customer walked in, and Dani got busy tending to him. It wasn’t until Orlando walked out to the shop as he attempted to crack the kink he suddenly had in his neck that he realized just how tense his entire body had gotten.
Chapter 17
Orlando
By the third week of being around Dani, the struggle to hide what Orlando was feeling for her now was nearly impossible. Thankfully, she seemed clueless about it. One thing he’d stopped doing was trying to hide the annoyance with anyone trying to get cute with her at the shop. At least from whomever was doing the flirting or trying-to-be-cute shit. So, he’d managed to blame his annoyance or the foul mood it’d put him in on something else to her. But he didn’t give a shit what anyone else thought. If the guys picked up on why it annoyed him, so be it. He owed no one but Dani any explanations, and she’d easily accepted any explanation he gave her—if she even questioned it—which most times she hadn’t. This week they introduced a new food to the baby’s solids. To Orlando’s surprise, it wasn’t banana or applesauce as he would’ve thought. “A lot of parents go for the easiest first, which is the sweet stuff,” she’d explained as she mashed the avocado, she brought with her. “Which is fine. But it makes introducing the not-so-sweet stuff harder. If we get him used to stuff like this and green beans and less fun stuff first, then getting back to them after introducing him to the bananas and such won’t be that big a challenge.”
He’d learned at least one new very important thing about his baby and how to care for him each day she’d been with him so far. Including how to deal with him each time he woke after she’d left, and he was clearly missing her. At least Orlando was sure that was the case. Dani insisted it was just the baby being fussy for other reasons and that Orlando was still a little insecure about his daddy skills. “Babies sense that kind of stuff, Orlando. If you’re nervous, it makes him nervous. I’m not always sure something I try is gonna work, but I speak and behave in a way that looks like I’m very confident about what I’m doing. Gives him a sense of ease and comfort, and he’s not even aware why.” As usual, she’d talked him down every time. She’d explained it’s the difference between crying out, “Oh my God!” when you witness toddlers take a tumble and calmly helping them up, inspecting them quickly and then saying in a very soothing tone, “You’re fine. Even if they do end up needing a Band-Aid or, worse, stitches, your instant assurance that they’ll be fine is all they need to stay calm.”
Orlando could kiss Nine for being okay with Dani only putting two days in at the shop and half the morning on Fridays. “You need her more than we do here,” Nine had insisted. “As long as she comes in on Friday morning and fixes anything we managed to make a mess of in the two days she was gone, she can be out of here as soon as she’s done.”
At first, Felicia had insisted she could still do Friday mornings so he wouldn’t have to go into the shop late after he and Dani tag-teamed. But just three weeks into this, Orlando couldn’t get enough of being around Dani. He wanted to be there whenever she arrived, so he’d insisted Felicia take her entire day off, assuring her the shop would be fine if he arrived a little late on Fridays.