Orlando took her hand, pulling her to him, and hugged her tightly, whispering against the side of her head into her ear. “Stop crying. Stop apologizing. You’re right. You’re all my boy had, and it’s because of you he even had a fighting chance. I hate to say it, babe, but without you, he might’ve ended up like Angie’s baby sister, and I love you for it. But I love you for a lot of other reasons.” He was quiet for a moment. “My only question now is why are you really here?”
Orlando
Holding Dani tightly against him, Orlando held his breath. Her entire explanation had been about how in love she’d been with the baby—all the lengths she’d gone through to stay in touch with him. She’d cared for and fallen in love with him from the moment he was born. He’d heard it in her voice, saw it in those pained eyes. Dani would’ve stopped at nothing to get her Oreo back in her life, and Orlando totally got it. Did that mean giving into a relationship with the baby’s dad, even if she had to fake feeling for him what she wasn’t?
She pulled away and searched his eyes. “What do you mean?”
“I get how and why you’d fall for my boy the way you did. Why’d you go through such lengths to be a part of his life.” He choked back the emotion before going on as he stared into her beautiful eyes. “Ted said it and you just confirmed it. You were miserable without the baby, so you’d stop at nothing to get back in his life.” Feeling the warmth of the tears in his own eyes like the saps Ted mentioned the two of them were, he shook his head in anger. “I’ve completely fallen for you, Dani. Like I never would’ve imagined falling for anyone. I’ve never even been in love before. But why are you here? Just for the baby?”
“No.” She shook her head, her brows furrowing.
Orlando pulled away, unable to touch her anymore. “You were practically engaged two months ago, Dani.”
“I told Felicia we’d talked about marriage, but I explained to you that we were never formally engaged.”
“I heard you tell the fucker you loved him just over a month ago. Now suddenly you’re in love with me?” How naïve was he? Of course, she’d profess her love to him when he had for her. Anything that would secure her stay in Oreo’s life.
“I was never in love with Ted.”
“I heard you tell him you were!”
Dani reached out for him even as he tried to pull away. She tugged at his hand then brought her other hand to his face. “I left Ted before I even came to work for you.”
Orlando shook his head. “Bullshit. You told Felicia about your marriage plans that first day and—”
“I wanted her to think I was in a serious relationship because I sensed she felt threatened the moment I met her.” She ran her hand through Orlando’s hair as he struggled to calm his anxious heart. “You don’t get it, but we women know. I felt her unease about her boyfriend’s new young nanny. After all I’d been through to get Oreo back in my life, I couldn’t risk a jealous girlfriend ruining it for me. So, I laid it on the thick about my fiancé.”
“I heard you tell him you loved him.”
“She showed up when we were in that apartment upstairs.” Dani squeezed his hand. “I saw the look in her eyes. I was already in love with you, and I was terrified she sensed it. At any moment, I could be cut off, so I waited until you two were coming downstairs and pretended to be on the phone with Ted.”
Feeling like the easily duped sap he’d begun to think himself, he brought his arm around her waist and pulled her to him again. “So, you weren’t on the phone with him that day?”
“No.” She brought her arms around his neck. “I made a show of being all lovey-dovey that day for her sake.”
Orlando searched her eyes, trying to find a trace of insincerity, but there was none. “So, you really love me? You’re not just here for Oreo?”
“Oh my God!” Her eyes welled again the way they had so much during this one conversation alone. “For weeks I’ve been questioning how I could be this lucky. How I could get back in his life and meet and fall for such a perfect man—his hot dad—that would fall for me, my shitty cooking and all.”
Orlando chuckled as he pulled her closer and held her tighter, burying his face in her neck. “Tomorrow we get that restraining order, and then I move your ass in with me for good. We’ll go visit your brother a few times a week, maybe make one of my spare bedrooms his if you wanna have him over and give your sister a break sometimes. But Oreo and I won’t be without you even one more night. We can’t live without you.”
“I can’t live without you two either,” she said, squeezing him tightly.
“You’re my life now, Dani. You and the baby. I live for you two.”
Feeling her squeeze him the way she did and the way she inhaled so deeply and satisfied, made him smile. “I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I am that this all worked out. I was so scared, Orlando. So scared that you’d hate me, especially after I fell in love with you. I had so much more to lose than just the baby at that point.”
“Oreo and I will never let you go. We own you now as long as you’ll let us.”
Danica smiled, kissing him softy before pulling away. “You both own me forever, Orlando. I’ve never known so much love until that baby came into my life and then I met you. You’re one and the same. My life will never be complete without both of you in it.”
Feeling the emotion wash over him, he cleared his throat. “So, you’re with us forever?”
“As long as you’ll have me.”
Orlando wrapped his arms around her, trying not to suffocate her. “God, I love you.”
“I love you too, baby. So much.”
Epilogue
Danica
On top of her stomach feeling like crap, Danica now had a runny nose she kept wiping with a tissue. She stood on the backyard deck, supervising Oreo, who was sprinting around in his walker. The guy couldn’t move his little feet fast enough, and it’s why at first, she’d balked at getting him a walker to begin with. She’d read they were more dangerous than they did babies good. But he was in a walker one day when they’d picked him up from Orlando’s mom’s house, and she couldn’t believe how much he loved it. So, she’d given in to the idea. Only she made everyone who might be watching him when he was in it, promise that he’d be supervised at all times. The little guy just had way too much energy to burn off and ran amuck in it the whole time. Today was different. She didn’t even have to be out there because there were enough people there to keep an eye on him. They were having a Dodger-themed birthday party for Dominic. Aside from gardening and baking, the Dodgers were another one of his passions in life. There was a playoff game today, so Orlando had said it’d be a perfect day for this. He’d invited all the guys from the shop to come down as well. Orlando had also taken Dominic down to 5th Street to meet Sabian, the superstar Dodger shortstop, on a day he was signing there. He was a good friend of the owners, and since Beast knew them well, he let Orlando know when Sabian was going to be there signing and got Dominic VIP treatment.