spoke to her. Already, at just the sight of her, his mood had done a complete reversal. Maybe it was a little irresponsible to have fallen asleep for almost two hours. But then she probably hadn’t expected Orlando to be this long. She most likely thought Orlando would be there in a few to wake her. Walking softly over to the rocking chair in his bedroom, Orlando took a seat, letting his head fall back as he clutched a hand to his chest. He felt like an idiot now. How in the hell could he possibly think Dani could be a danger to his son in any way? The girl was fucking adorable, and clearly, the baby had picked up on what a sweetheart she was, since he took to her so quickly.
From where he sat, he had a perfect view of his son and Dani sleeping so soundly he almost wished he could join them. He felt completely drained after all the dumb shit that had run through his head when all the while his son had been in such a perfectly safe spot. Orlando actually envied him. Unbelievably, he sat there for almost another ten minutes before Dani woke. The moment she realized where she was made Orlando chuckle. Her eyes nearly bugged out as she looked around and saw him sitting there watching them. But she brought her finger to her mouth because the baby was still out. Somehow, she managed to gently maneuver off the bed without waking him. It surprised Orlando what a struggle it was to keep his eyes from roaming all those curves as he watched her carefully place pillows all around the baby before she walked away. Orlando turned the baby monitor on, and they slipped out of the room without waking him. “Never do that,” she whispered as soon as she closed the bedroom door behind her and turned to him out in the hallway. “It’s not safe and I’ll be checking on him every few minutes to make sure he doesn’t roll off the bed. I can’t believe I fell asleep with him.”
“How long ago did he fall asleep?” Orlando asked curiously, still wondering if they’d really slept as long as he’d been trying to get ahold of her.
“Not long after I got here.” She explained what Felicia had already about the baby being out when she got here then the TV waking him. “He was good for about ten, fifteen minutes after Felicia left, but then it was clear that the short nap he’d taken hadn’t been long enough.” She’d warmed his bottle, changed him, and tried putting him down, but he wasn’t having it. The plan had been to lie with him until he knocked out and then move him to his crib, but she knocked out with him.
“So, he has been out for almost two hours then?” Orlando was still surprised by this. He was going to tell her how he never napped that long for him but stopped when her jaw dropped dramatically. “It’s been almost two hours?”
“Yeah,” Orlando smirked, feeling like a dick for all the reasons he’d begun to imagine why she hadn’t gotten back to him. “Felicia called me to tell me about how well he’d taken to you on her way to work, and I texted you to tell you how cool I thought that was.” Feeling even stupider because she’d know how many times he tried getting ahold of her and about all his worried texts, he had no choice but to add, “When I didn’t hear back from you, I might’ve gone a little overboard with the calls and texts because I was freaking out a little.” He held up his fingers. “But that’s only because it’s the first time someone who’s not a close friend or family member has watched him. I just wasn’t sure what to think because—”
“I am so sorry.” She brought her hand to her chest, completely wide-eyed, and again, Orlando had to remind himself to keep his eyes on hers.
“Don’t be—”
“No.” She clutched his arm, shaking her head. “That’s completely unacceptable. Two hours. Oh, my God. You must’ve been going nuts. I’m so, so sorry.”
“Dani, stop,” he said firmly, feeling like an even bigger ass. “This is just all new to me.”
“Exactly.” She agreed with as much conviction as him. “Of course you’d freak out. I shouldn’t have even been in your room. Much less your bed—”
“Listen to me.” He grabbed ahold of her dainty