shoulders with both hands. “It’s okay, really. I’m fine now. And you’re free to be in any room of my house, especially if it’s for his sake.” Without thinking, he took her into a much-needed embrace, breathing in that sweet, yet intoxicating scent of hers deeply. It contradicted everything he’d just said about being fine. The weight of all the anxiety he’d worked up on his way there, all the heart-stopping scenarios that had played out in his head, and then the enormous relief of seeing them perfectly fine in his bed finally hit him. “I’m just so glad you’re okay,” he whispered, squeezing her warm, still-snuggly-from-sleeping body, a little tighter. “When I walked in the silenced house already all worked up, I wasn’t sure what to think. But I’m fine now. I promise.” He stopped short of telling her the sight of her on his bed snuggled up with his baby boy was one he’d likely never get enough of. Taking another deep breath, he still couldn’t bring himself to let go of her. “He’s really never napped that long for me in the day. Obviously, having you next to him felt so good he could probably sleep all day.” Feeling her pull away gently, he had no choice but to let her go.
“It’s not a good habit to get him into.” She pulled a strand of her dark locks behind her ear as their eyes met, and Orlando could hardly believe such a young girl was so much better at this baby thing than he was. Those amazing eyes looked so big and innocent, even if his gaze inevitably lowered to her mouth. “I only allowed it because it’s my first day with him and I know it’s gonna take some time for him to get used to me.”
Orlando couldn’t help smiling as the relief continued to seep into his tensed muscles. “I think he’s already taken to you. Felicia said it too. I knew you’d be good with him, but Felicia called the instant connection you two had incredible.”
Smiling softly, Dani shrugged, glancing away. “The TV just startled him.” She turned as their eyes met again. “It startled both Felicia and me too, so it’s no surprise he’d cry about it. The poor thing was sound asleep when she turned it on, and it was loud.” She tilted her head, peering at him. “Any reason why it was on so loud?”
Thinking about it for a moment, Orlando remembered and nodded. “Yeah, my bad. Yesterday afternoon Little Man and I were jamming to Cri Cri.” As expected, her brows pinched in question. “We were in the kitchen as I cleaned up, and he sat in his highchair, munching on a teething biscuit, so I upped the volume.”
Those animated eyes widened as they had earlier when she realized she’d slept for nearly two hours, only this time it was followed by an excited smile. “I remember Cri Cri.”
“You do?” This surprised Orlando. Cri Cri was before his time even “He was way before our time. Only reason I ever got into him was because of my grandma. She played records she had of his.” He chuckled, thinking about it. “If you even know what those are. My grandma had bought them for my mom and her siblings when they were kids.”
“Of course I know what records are.” She smiled even bigger, adding a twinkle to her already distracting eyes. “My mom and next-door neighbor sitter played them for us too.” She stopped and chewed at the corner of her lip as if trying to remember something. Orlando had been indulging in every detail of her delicate features. He couldn’t look away now if he tried. Each day he’d been around her this week, he’d discovered something new about her he hadn’t noticed before. While he’d obviously noticed her fragrance, he realized how keen he was on it, but he had to work on his subtlety. Last thing he wanted was to make her uncomfortable if she began noticing how often he inhaled deeply when he was this close to her because he just couldn’t get enough of it. It was bad enough he’d never smiled so much and so big as when he spoke to her. “La patita.” Dani’s singing the two words pulled him right out of his thoughts, and she went on smiling silly, his eyes once again zooming onto her plump singing lips. “La patita de canasta y con reboso de bolita.” She smiled even bigger