a moment until she glanced away to put the baby down into the highchair.
“Well, that stinks for her because I’m sure she was really into you. But at least you were honest with her about it.”
“I’ve always been all about honesty.”
She was quiet for a few moments as her moving slowed a bit while she strapped the baby into the highchair and put the tray back on. “Yeah, I remember you saying that.” Taking the seat next to the baby, Dani reached for the bowl of cereal, glancing up at Orlando when he took the seat across from her, but he was done with this subject.
“TGIF,” he said with a smile. “But I guess for you that doesn’t mean much since you’ll be back here working tomorrow.”
She shook her head adamantly before stopping quickly. Their eyes met, and for a moment, she appeared startled until she smiled and shook her head again. “This just doesn’t feel like work, is all.”
“Yeah, but most people who work Monday through Friday do stuff over the weekend.” He cleared his throat, bringing his attention to the baby and grabbing his little hand. “When do you and your boyfriend go out for some fun?”
He watched as she playfully and very successfully fed Oreo his first spoonful of his breakfast. Smiling couldn’t be helped when he saw how genuinely she smiled at the baby’s acceptance of the spoonful. Still, he braced himself once again for her response to yet another question about her personal life. “I’m not with him anymore.”
She glanced up at him as their eyes met for a few seconds before turning back to the baby. Orlando’s mind raced for a perfect way to respond to that, but at the moment, he could barely catch his breath. When did this happen? Why? And did it have anything to do with what his delusional ass thought he’d picked up on from her in the past weeks? Was she telling him this now because of what he’d just told her about Felicia? “Really?” He cleared his throat and took the seat across from her at the table. No way was he going anywhere anytime soon. “Sorry to hear it?” She turned to him with a smile, obviously picking up on his matching her questioning tone when discussing his breakup. In the short time Orlando had known Dani, there’d been something about her that was such a draw for him. He didn’t know it until that very moment when she lifted and dropped a shoulder softly and turned back to the baby. For someone who seemed so put together and full of confidence, she had her moments where this quiet vulnerability escaped her. Orlando appreciated it. It made the playing field a little more even since he’d felt so lost when it came to the baby skills compared to her. Not to mention every time he’d thought he’d picked up on her possibly beginning to feel something for him, he’d wondered if she’d compared him to her older, possibly wiser when it came to fatherhood, boyfriend.
“I kept putting off shopping around for a ring for good reason. I didn’t want him spending money on a ring when I wasn’t sure I’d actually be going through with it.” She turned to him after feeding Oreo a few more spoonsful of breakfast. “He asked again about my schedule the other day and when I’d be available to go shop around. I told him we should wait.” The baby cooing had her turning back to him, but she went on. “That turned into this long drawn-out discussion about our relationship, and in the end, he gave me an ultimatum. Either we moved forward with the engagement or we break everything off. I chose the latter.”
She glanced at Orlando, who had to refrain from smiling as big as he felt like doing, but then turned back to the baby quickly.
“You don’t seem too broken up about it.”
She smiled. “I’m relieved actually.”
Without turning to look at him, Dani continued to alternate between feeding the baby and cleaning his face, but she didn’t say more. Orlando knew he’d already pried enough, but at this point it’d be an impossibility to not ask more. “You think he’ll come around and you two will end up getting back together?” He swallowed hard before adding what he really wanted to know. “Would you want to?”
“No.” Her answer was immediate, but again she didn’t turn to Orlando. He got the feeling she was beginning to get uncomfortable