was completely out of the question still.
As expected, her face was a mess when she looked in the mirror, and she washed all her makeup off. What a waste of the extra time she’d taken on her makeup that morning. Thinking fast because there was no way she was getting the swelling around her red eyes down now, she did her best to get her story straight in her head before walking out.
She wasn’t even at the counter yet when Orlando walked back into the lobby from the shop. The smile he wore flattened as soon as he laid eyes on her. “What’s wrong?”
Feeling overwhelmed with the stupid emotions again, she brought her hand over her mouth. She shook her head, as her brows pinched involuntarily but couldn’t come up with even one of the lies she’d armed herself with in case she needed to. “Same ongoing issue I’ve been dealing with for months.” To her surprise, a few seconds later, she was in Orlando’s big strong arms as she sniffled against his gloriously hard chest. The roller coaster of emotions she’d felt in a matter of less than a half hour had her nearly dazed. Before doing her research on the baby’s father, she’d assumed he was in his early twenties. So, she’d been pleasantly surprised when she found out he was almost thirty and likely much more mature than she was expecting. The day she’d gone into the shop with Ted was the first time she’d been that up close to him, and she’d gotten to see firsthand just how much a full-grown man he was rather than the kid she’d been worried about handing the baby over to. Now she stood here in his arms, getting an even bigger dose of just what a grown-ass, strapping man Orlando really was. Danica felt completely overwhelmed by the wild train of emotions. She’d gone from completely panicked to so overjoyed with relief it’d made her emotional, and now . . . She wasn’t even sure what she was feeling, but she was sure tingly insides were not what she should be feeling when she was dealing with such an emotional personal issue.
“You don’t have to share if it’s personal,” he whispered against the top of her head. “Just know you can come to me if there’s anything I can do.” How was it possible that she’d gone from a crying mess to her legs nearly giving out on her and her insides going wild in less than a few seconds? This was insanity. She had to gather herself before she was struck by lightning. “You don’t have to stay here either, Dani,” he said sweetly as he rubbed her back. “Go home and deal with whatever it is that’s going on.”
Just getting a taste of what an embrace from this man was like had her eyes rolling to the back of her head in ecstasy. But hearing him call her Dani had her inadvertently smiling against his chest. You’re so upset you’re crying remember, you idiot!
Snapping out of it, she wiped what she was sure was a ridiculously enamored and completely inappropriate smile off her face. But she couldn’t immediately bring herself to pull away from him just yet. Allowing herself to indulge a little longer, she took another deep breath of his heavenly scent.
“What happened? What’s wrong?”
She was forced to pull away after hearing Nine’s concerned voice, and she wiped at the still lingering tears.
“She’s just upset,” Orlando said before she could respond. “But it’s personal,” he added with finality as if Nine might ask what about.
Nine’s eyes went from Orlando’s to Danica’s and he frowned. “Do you need to leave?”
“I told her she could if she wanted to.”
“Yeah, go home, if you have to,” Nine immediately agreed, glancing around at the counter. “Looks like you already got us back on track here.”
“No.” She shook her head. “It’s nothing too bad really. I’m just way too emotional about it, but I’ll spare you the details.” She smiled softly, trying to remember one of the cliché phrases people always used at times like these. “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right? I’ll be fine.”
Orlando nodded, still looking genuinely concerned for her. He touched her shoulder gently. “Well, if you think staying here is better, then that’s up to you. But just know, if at any minute you feel like you gotta get out of here, you’re free to go.”
“Thank you.” Danica glanced up at him and smiled, sniveling