she wanted to. He might be an asshole, but she kept reminding herself his son was the one helping her get her life back in order—at Ted’s expense. Still, she didn’t want him using the excuse of wanting to know how her case was going, so she’d give him something. “I’ll talk to Blaine and tell him it’s okay for him to share with you what’s going on with my case.”
Ted stared at her, looking hurt. He was a jerk, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew what that meant. There’d be no excuse for him to be staking out the courthouse next time she was there. His eyes flooded again, and it was all Danica could take. “I gotta go, Ted.”
“Can I just hug you good-bye? One last time?” Leaning into him because at that point she’d do anything to get the hell out of there already, Danica meant to just make it a quick one. Of course, Ted wouldn’t make it that easy for her. He pulled her to him, bringing his arms completely around and embracing her firmly, the smell of his expensive cologne inundating her senses. Not wanting to make a scene and jerk herself away from him, she gave in instead but refused to hug him as he hugged her. Instead, she tapped his back gently, rolling her eyes in the process. “I love you,” he whispered into her ear. “So much.” Just like that, she went completely tense again then pulled away. He wiped at the corner of his eye but turned away, avoiding looking at her. “Take care,” he said before walking away in a hurry.
Danica stood there stunned for a moment before getting in her car. She never would’ve believed it had she not seen it with her own eyes. Her heartless, controlling, hard-ass ex had actually fallen to his knees and begged through tears. Delia would be floored when she told her, or she might think the very thing Danica had when he first fell to his knees. That it was all a contrived act to convince her he was truly a broken but changed man. Just like all the other times he’d pissed her off and he had to backpedal. Though she had to admit the tears did seem genuine and spontaneous, as did his embarrassed demeanor after the fact. Danica decided she’d wait until she got home tonight to tell Delia about this. She needed time to let the whole thing simmer.
For once, since things had taken a turn between her and Orlando, Danica was actually lost in thought about something else. She thought about it all the way to the shop where she was meeting Orlando to pick up Oreo. Since she’d broken things off with Ted, the first few times he’d called her and begged for a second chance, she hadn’t bought that he was genuinely remorseful about the way he’d treated her. She hadn’t believed for a second that he would actually try and change. Only that he’d say and do anything to change her mind about him. But after today, his apology and sincerity about at least wanting to try and change for the sake of getting her back, and holding on to her, felt truly genuine. Unfortunately for Ted, it was too little too late. Pulling into the shop’s parking lot, Danica smiled at the reminder of just how little and how late Ted’s sincere apology was. By the time she walked into the shop, her heart was all aflutter as it had been since the morning Orlando told her about breaking things off with Felicia. She hadn’t even finished parking, and any thoughts of Ted and his emotional plea were already a very distant second.
Orlando
As usual, the moment Orlando had spotted Dani in the parking lot, he’d been smiling from ear to ear. He’d rushed to wash his hands because he could hardly wait to get them on her. He was done being discreet at work. It wasn’t something she’d asked him to do. They hadn’t even addressed it, but he’d just assumed she might feel a little uncomfortable. Except idiots like Alonso just weren’t getting the fucking hint about her being off limits, so he was taking matters into his own hands and putting it out there. Once it was out there, he wouldn’t have to be so touchy-feely, but they’d know, and his warnings about getting all cute with her would be for an even bigger reason now. He took a quick