glass and paperwork, but refraining from smirking. She shook off the tiny corner of the paperwork where it got wet but didn’t bother offering to clean off Lisa’s soaked purse. “I’ll make copies so you could have a fresh set.”
“No, that’s fine, Dani,” Orlando said, taking the paperwork and handing Lisa a towel. “They’re barely wet. We can still work with this. Thank you.”
Danica nodded, turning to Lisa. “I’m so sorry about that.” She turned back to Orlando. “Let me know if you need anything else. Remember you have another appointment in a little bit so . . .” She turned to Lisa, looking her in the eyes, but didn’t finish and walked off. So, stop your bullshit lash-batting and get on with it. To Danica’s relief, they weren’t up there for long before they headed back down. Orlando had to show Lisa all the areas that would be worked on. While Danica didn’t have to sit there and stew about him being up there alone with her, she was still forced to listen to the annoying overdone laughter.
When they were finally wrapping it up and Orlando began walking Lisa to the door, she stopped just before walking out and turned to him. “I know you said you haven’t lived in the area long, but there are a lot of really good restaurants around there. If you’d like, I can—”
“Orlando,” Danica said a bit too loud, so she cleared her throat and toned it down. “A Mr. Almeida is on the phone for you. He says it’s urgent.”
Orlando peered at her. “Really? I didn’t even hear it ring.” He turned back to Lisa. “Let me know if there’s anything else you need. I gotta take this call and get back to work. Told you it gets busy around here.”
The pushy bitch was finally gone, and Danica typed away, smiling, satisfied as Orlando walked back to behind the counter. She continued to look busy as Orlando picked up the phone. “Orlando speaking.” She saw him press another line and then another. “What line is he on? There’s no one there.”
Turning to the phone, feigning surprise, Danica furrowed her brows. “He was on line one. “He sounded all impatient. Probably hung up.” Orlando tilted his head as Danica’s eyes met his all innocent. “I’m sure he’ll call back. So, is everything set?” He set the phone down for a moment, not saying anything, but then explained how it went and the next step and rest of the of the process. Danica took in everything he said, looking straight at him but turned away before asking, “Will she be back?”
“No, she’s done here. She just needs to turn in her report and give the go-ahead and we can get started with the construction.”
“Good,” Danica said as their eyes met again. “I mean I know you’ve been anxious to get this going, right?”
“Right,” he said with a smirk.
“O.” Nine stuck his head into the lobby from the shop. “You done with OSHA?”
“Yeah, just finished. It went good.”
“Fuck yeah,” Nine gave him a thumbs-up. “You can tell me about it while I get your take on something out here.”
Orlando tapped the desk, smiling at Danica. “Back to the grind.”
As Danica sat there continuing to work, she was even more convinced of it now. There was no way she could give into so much as a fling with Orlando. Today had been just a taste of what it’d be like to have to see or know of him with someone else, and she had no right whatsoever to be feeling entitled. She could only imagine if she gave into even a casual romp with him. Her reaction to it would for sure ruin all the effort she’d put into getting Oreo back in her life. Those moments she’d been caught in his eyes and been so close to his lips were absolutely heart-stopping. She could only imagine what a kiss from him would be like. Heaven. Breathing in deeply, she closed her eyes. This was a sacrifice she’d just have to make, because there was no way she’d be risking losing her time with the baby. No way.
Orlando
They were in the middle of discussing the newest car brought in for restoration when Orlando did a double take. Danica was standing up behind the counter, looking out curiously at the old convertible they’d just pulled into the restoration shop. It was a nice one even before being restored. He smiled at the thought of Danica being a