so grateful he’d found her was all it was. With her turning out to be even better with the baby than he anticipated, it made sense that, like Oreo, Orlando was also developing an inevitable crush. Kind of like when a grade school kid develops a crush on the teacher, right? She was teaching Orlando a whole lot of what he needed so much help with. The fact that she was hot with popping curves wasn’t helping his trying to keep his inappropriate feelings in check either, damn it. But the more he got to know her, the more he listened to the genuine way she took his son’s well-being so seriously. And now this, he had no idea how he’d snuff all the inappropriate things he was feeling.
Somehow, he managed to get through their time at the park and even the stroll back home without asking any more intrusive questions about her personal life, despite that, more than ever now, he wanted to know more. Aside from what she’d offered up about her brother and even sister, curiously she never once brought up her boyfriend again. Orlando had begun to wonder what they’d do when the baby went down for his next nap since he did take several throughout the day, and it was obvious he was due for another soon. While the baby’s naps weren’t normally too long when he took them for Orlando, he had a feeling, like his earlier one with Dani’s magic touch, Oreo might be out for a while again. To Orlando’s disappointment, once the baby knocked out, Dani announced this was when she’d make her exit. The understanding had been that she’d only be over today and tomorrow to give him a few pointers. Technically, since Orlando was home today, she didn’t really need to be there to watch the baby all day.
“You want me here tomorrow again, right?”
Yes!
The exasperated response was nearly blurted out as she stopped at the door before walking out. “If it’s not too much to ask.” He shrugged. “You’ve already helped me so much today, but I’ll take as much as you’re willing to offer.”
She stared at him blankly for a moment, and he began to panic. Why the hell did everything he say to her keep coming out the wrong way? Before he could start backpedaling, she smiled sweetly with a nod. “It’s my pleasure. He’s such a little sweetheart. Same time?”
Orlando nodded, trying not to smile too big—too relieved—too fucking enchanted, for fuck’s sake! “Sounds good to me, and hopefully this time there won’t be any unexpected errands I have to run. Sorry about that again.”
“No worries. Oh, and hey . . .” She stopped again as she walked out onto the porch. “About Fridays, remember I, uh . . . lost my Friday one-on-one. So, if Felicia would like at least part of her only day off, I’m open to watching him on Fridays after I get off at the shop as well.”
Aside from the news of her unofficial engagement and getting a little more insight into her personal life, this day couldn’t get any better. Again, Orlando agreed immediately, doing his best to remain as composed and professional about this as he’d done so far about everything else. If Little Man was smitten with her already, he could only imagine how much more attached he’d get once he was around her five days straight each week. Inhaling deeply as she waved, indulging him with a sweet smile again before getting in her car, Orlando took a deep breath. He’d have to be cool about this. It felt like his first lesson in parental sacrifice and selflessness. The girl was in a relationship where they were discussing marriage for crying out loud. Not that this type of detail had ever deterred him from going for it in the past, if said girl was making the moves. But the intention had never been for it to be more than just a onetime or maybe a few times of her getting her naughty on. Any girl willing to cheat on her man—serious or not—was not one Orlando would ever take seriously. With Dani, it was completely different. A lot more was on the line here than a possible confrontation with a jealous boyfriend. Dani had been perfectly professional so far and was in no way showing any signs of being the type of girl who was looking to get that kind of action. This wasn’t just about