Orlando (Boyle Heights #4) - Elizabeth Reyes Page 0,48

Dani again, and once again she didn’t answer. “Maybe her phone’s off,” he said, trying to talk himself down as he zoomed around car after car on the freeway. “Maybe her battery died, and she didn’t bring a charger, or maybe she’s so busy with the baby she’s just lost track of time.” He shook his head, banging the steering wheel. “If that’s the case, this isn’t gonna work. I can’t have some irresponsible kid watching my baby.”

Ever since he’d begun to get annoyed at her lack of response to his texts or calls, he decided maybe she wasn’t ready for this kind of responsibility. She might sound like she knew her stuff, but she wasn’t actually licensed yet. He now knew after going over her application for employment at the shop that she was young. Too young. Just turned twenty-three! “What the fuck was I thinking?” He growled as he pulled off on his exit. Speeding through his neighborhood with his stomach completely balled up, he continued to reason with himself. There had to be a good explanation for this. “That’s it,” he said as his head went back to holding her yesterday. “Maybe she had to leave because of whatever it is she’s been dealing with. Maybe like yesterday at the shop something came up and Dani had run off again.”

It’d make sense that, in her haste and with the added out-of-the-norm responsibility of having to put the baby in and out of a car seat, she might forget her phone in the car, right? The slight relief of that possibility was fleeting when he skidded around the corner onto his street and spotted her car in his driveway.

“The fuck?” Maybe her phone battery had died, and she didn’t bring a charger. Still, he was so worked up, it pissed him off. Who forgets something so important in a situation like this? And if she didn’t forget it, why the hell wouldn’t she respond to his calls? The second he killed the engine in his truck, he jumped out, reminding himself to go easy on her. He was the one that hadn’t been there that morning when he was supposed to be. Skipping the stairs, he jumped onto his porch then punched the code to his door lock. He pushed the door open and rushed in, his heart spiking when he saw no one and there was complete silence. “Dani,” he called out as his mind went crazy, fearing the worst, and his strides got longer with every step he took. “Danica.”

Maybe something happened and it’s why she couldn’t call or answer her phone. He pulled his shirt up to cover his nose as he remembered the local couple on the news recently who died in their sleep of carbon monoxide poisoning. Rushing through his silenced house, he looked in every room until he reached his. He froze when he saw them. They were sound asleep on his bed, the baby cuddled up next to her as she cupped him lovingly against her body. From where he stood, he could see they were both breathing, and he dropped the shirt from covering his mouth and nose. It was nothing heinous, like his dumb ass had begun to think. She fell asleep with him. For almost two hours? Orlando had never gotten him to nap for that long in the day. But that would explain why she hadn’t responded to his calls. Still kind of irresponsible, right, given what she’d put him through? He walked closer to them to get a better look. Baby O had never looked so content as he lay there curled up against her ample bosom. Orlando swallowed hard as his eyes took in Dani’s impressive curves, but feeling guilty, his eyes were quickly back on his son. Baby O even wore what looked like a very satisfied smile as if he couldn’t be happier. It made Orlando smile, despite all the turmoil he’d been through in the past two hours with his heart still pounding in his chest. He turned his attention back to her. Her arm and hand cupped his son’s body, protectively. Even now with her eyes closed, Orlando was drawn to those exotic features. Because her eyes were closed and he had this chance to assess them a little longer, he could see now just how wide her cat-shaped eyes were. He couldn’t decide which he was most drawn to when he got so lost in all of it anytime he