he’d easily turned her on, was a hands-down given. He’d been doing that from day one just by the way he looked at her.
Quivering from just the thought, Danica smiled as she came to stop. Her heart hadn’t stopped pounding since his lips first touched hers. Only there was something troubling behind all the bliss she was feeling. Despite her efforts to drown it out, Danica had begun to hear the slow two-note utterances of the Jaws theme song in the back of her head. It’s what always happened when something was happening in her life or she was getting involved in a situation she knew had the potential to go very wrong. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Danica considered her options. She could come clean about the whole thing before things got any heavier between her and Orlando and pray he’d understand and forgive her. But he’d already been adamant about how he felt about whoever robbed him of his time with Oreo—he wouldn’t go easy on them. What if he didn’t understand? He could banish her from both their lives. “God no,” she muttered under her breath as the light turned green and she was on the move again. Her only other option was to continue as is and pray that she could keep the only poker face she’d been able to so far when it came to any talk of the baby’s mother. Thankfully, not since he first told her about it had the subject been brought up again. No matter how much she tried to relax, by the time she arrived home, her head was spinning with all kinds of worrisome thoughts. Despite the turn her life had suddenly taken being one she should be walking on air about, it only made her worries about this whole thing blowing up in her face that much more frantic. If in fact, Orlando was feeling for her what she was already feeling so deeply for him, she stood to lose even more now than when she first concocted this plan.
“Spill it,” Delia said as soon as Danica walked in the front door. Her sister motioned for Danica to follow her as she made her way toward the backyard. “You have perfect timing. It’s play time for the three I have here today, so we can chat while they run around.”
Dani glanced around the backyard, deciding how much she should share with her sister about this. “Dominic?”
“Garden club,” Delia said, taking a seat on the back-porch stairs and patting the area next to her for Dani to sit down. “He’ll be there all day today.”
Smiling, Dani nodded as she eyed Dominic’s makeshift greenhouse. He had a real green thumb, that guy. And just as she told Orlando, he was also an excellent baker. It’s why she didn’t care what the doctors said. No way could a four-year-old have the capacity to bake the cakes and breads he often did, which put her attempts to cook to shame, or be able to grow and care for all the plants the way Dominic did. “So, tell me.” Her sister peered at her as Danica took the seat next to her. “’Cause I ain’t buying you spending the night at this single daddy’s house just because it was late. Since when does Don’t-Dare-Danica have issues being out late?”
Tired of all the lying, Danica decided she’d come clean at least about this. She’d already been honest about this more full-time babysitting gig being for the same baby her sister had once helped her watch. She knew, if she ever had to bring the baby around Delia, she’d recognize him from before. Even being months older now, he still had that same adorable smile and those unforgettable sweet yet piercing eyes like his daddy. But Danica did shrug in an attempt to make less of this than she knew it was. “He’s a very attractive guy, and being around each other so much, I guess it was inevitable that sparks would fly. They finally did last night, and he asked me to stay.”
“And this is that same baby you were watching earlier this year, right?” Danica nodded, but before she could comment further, her sister went on with her next question. “How old is this guy?”
“Twenty-nine.”
“Oh wow,” her sister smiled wide-eyed. “Guess you like them older, but at least he’s not an old goat this time.”
Smiling softly, Danica lifted and dropped a shoulder, staring at her shoes. She’d considered telling her