Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

brADEN

Why was I so fucking nervous?

No, seriously, why? This wasn't a date. Not really. I was literally paying Dani to spend time with me.

So why was it that my palms were sweating and my stomach was twisted into a knot as I walked up the stairs to her apartment? Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I knocked on the door.

After a few seconds, a beautiful Latina woman – who was not my date for the evening – answered the door with an adorable baby boy in her arms.

"Hey. You must be Lina," I said, smiling at her.

"And you're Braden." She stepped to the side to let me in. "It's nice to meet you. My brother's a big fan. Um, Dani asked me to let you in. This little guy spit up all over her dress and she had to get changed."

I chuckled as I walked inside and shut the door behind me. "It's no problem. Gives me an excuse to meet Isaac anyway."

Lina cocked her head to the side. "You haven't met him yet?"

Shit. I hadn't even thought about how that would sound. And Dani and I hadn't talked about this, so I had no idea what I was supposed to say when I was asked about her or Isaac. Especially Isaac. I really didn't want to drag a month-old baby into the spotlight if I didn't have to.

This was going to end in disaster. And it'd probably be my fault, because I had no idea what the fuck I was doing.

"Um, yeah. We haven't seen each other much in the past month. I was giving her space to adjust to having him around," I improvised, then held my arms out. "Can I?"

"Yes, of course."

She handed Isaac to me, and as he fussed quietly when I cradled him in my arms, it was like…I didn't even know what. Like somehow the universe was telling me this was where I belonged. Not just with Dani, but with him too. I couldn't think of any other way to describe it.

"Hey there, little man," I murmured.

He gurgled and cooed softly, and I swore I saw his lips turn up in a smile.

…And I was officially a goner. This kid had me wrapped around his little finger, and for the life of me, I couldn't understand why. Babies were cute and all, but I'd never felt this kind of a connection to one before, and especially not the second I met them. Not even with my cousin, Jameson's, kids, who I loved like crazy.

"It's nice to meet you too, buddy," I chuckled.

I heard a quiet gasp and looked up to find Dani staring at me like a deer in headlights.

Fuck me, she was breathtaking. She was wearing a short, form-fitting glittery purple dress with silver heeled sandals that accented her legs in the best possible way. Her eyes had a smoky gray liner on them with silver eyeshadow, and there was just enough shimmering gloss on her lips to catch my attention and make me wonder what they tasted like.

My cock started stiffening in my slacks as I took her in, and since I was holding precious cargo, there wasn't a damn thing I could do to discreetly adjust myself or attempt to hide it.

"Wow," I said, snapping out of my stupor. "You look amazing, Dani. Um, you ready to go?"

Dani nodded, still with eyes as big as saucers. "Y-yeah. I'm ready. Sorry I'm running late."

I smiled. "Don't worry about it. Babies spit up. Especially newborns."

"Let me take him from you," Lina said, carefully lifting Isaac from my arms. "It's about time for bed, isn't it, nene?"

Dani walked over to Lina and bent slightly to kiss the baby's forehead. "Te quiero, mijito. Que sue?es con los angelitos."

Shit, hearing her speak Spanish was sexy as fuck.

And why the hell was I turned on by it right now, while she was saying goodnight to her newborn nephew? That just seemed all sorts of wrong.

"Um, I've got my phone on, so if anything happens, just call me." Her voice shook slightly, like she was nervous leaving him.

She might have thought she was barely getting by and didn't know what she was doing, but I could tell just by witnessing this brief interaction that she was a way better mother than she gave herself credit for. Her love for this sweet little boy was so evident, and really, that was all she needed. The rest was just details, and I already knew I wanted to find a way to help her figure those out even after our arrangement was over.

"We'll be fine, chica," Lina chuckled. "Go. Spend time with your man. You've earned it."

Dani turned toward me and took a deep breath before walking to the door. I followed her out and waited while she locked it behind us.

"You're a great mom, you know," I told her as we started to walk down the stairs. "I can tell that already."

I heard her sharp intake of breath and her loud swallow, like she was trying not to cry.

Had no one else in her life told her that? How was that possible?

"I'm trying my best, but I can't help comparing myself to Mar," she murmured as she got into my car. "Wondering if I'm raising him the way she wanted. When I told her I'd take care of him if anything happened to her, it was just one of those things you say, you know? Because nothing was going to happen, right?"

Mar.

Once again, that little nagging voice in the back of my head told me there was something I should remember…but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what it was.

But one thing I did know? My heart was breaking for Dani. I couldn't even imagine doing what she was doing. Caring for Isaac while at the same time grieving for his mother. Being reminded of her every time she looked at him. Constantly wondering if she was making the right choices and doing what her sister would have wanted.

"And then it did," I said, unable to keep the emotion out of my voice, as I backed out of my parking space and pulled out of the parking lot.

I saw her nod out of the corner of my eye as I started navigating the hellish downtown Orlando traffic. Thankfully, La Terrasse was only about a ten-minute drive from her apartment, so at least we didn't have to get on the highway with all the distracted tourists looking for the exits to Disney World and Universal Studios.

"It was so fast," she sniffed. "Like, she seemed fine and then I fell asleep. And when I woke up, she wasn't breathing."

Letting go of the steering wheel with one hand, I reached to squeeze her shoulder. "I might not know a lot about being a parent, but what I do know is the most important thing that little man needs is love. And I can tell you're giving him that."

"Thanks," she sighed. "I needed to hear that. Especially tonight. I've never left him this late."

"What did you say to him when we left?" I wondered. "Que…something."

"Que sue?es con los angelitos. It's a Spanish way to say ‘sweet dreams,' especially to kids. The literal translation is, ‘Sleep with the little angels.'"

I smiled. "See, why don't we have cool phrases like that in English? That sounds so much better than ‘sweet dreams.'"

"Mar always used to speak Spanish to him when she was pregnant. She said she wanted him to know about his Cuban heritage."

"The only thing I know about Cuba is that it's famous for fried plantains and rice and beans. Oh, and Cuban sandwiches," I chuckled.

Dani snorted. "If that's all you know about Cuban food, you're missing out on the good stuff."

"Maybe I can talk you into making me real Cuban food sometime." The words were out of my mouth before I even thought them through.

When Dani didn't say anything, I quickly glanced over at her. She was wearing the same deer-in-headlights expression she'd had earlier when she saw me holding Isaac, and I didn't understand why. I knew this wasn't a real relationship and that I was paying her to play a part for the press, but why was it such a shock that I actually liked her and wanted to spend time with her and get to know her?

"Or not," I said quickly. "Sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"It's okay," she mumbled. "This is all just kind of overwhelming."

As I pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant, I had to stifle a groan. I'd known Vicki was going to drop a hint to a few photographers and news outlets that I was bringing a girl here tonight, but it seemed like every single paparazzo in the city was at this restaurant tonight, hanging around the front entrance. I honestly didn't know why the restaurant hadn't made them move, because this couldn't have been comfortable for customers who weren't public figures.

"Oh, my God," Dani breathed. "I…I wasn't…"

"I wasn't expecting this many photographers either," I sighed. "I'm sorry, Dani."

"Don't be. This is why we're here, right? To let people take pictures of us and get the press talking?"

"Well, yeah, but I thought there'd be two or three of them, not twenty."

"Still, this is what I signed up for." She glanced at me, uncertainty written all over her face. "What do you want me to say?"

I knew we were supposed to be trying to feed the press a story, but doing it like this just didn't feel right. Especially not when she was clearly uncomfortable with this many paparazzi. Plus, it was better to leave them guessing at first. The less we actually said, the more the press would eat our "relationship" up and speculate about it…which was what we wanted.

"Right now? Nothing. Hold onto my arm as we walk in and let them take pictures, but don't answer any questions. Just keep looking forward until we get inside. Maybe once we're done eating, some of them will be gone and we can answer a few questions on the way out."

Taking a deep breath, she nodded. "Okay. Let's do this."