I wet my lips and nodded. “Well, yeah. That’s how it started. But—”

“But nothing. He was up front with you from the start, and unless he’s told you otherwise, my fear is that you’re setting yourself up for a major crash and burn.” She released my wrist and settled back into her seat, gnawing on her bottom lip. “I know you can’t unspill the milk here. You’re in love, and that’s not going to change anytime soon. But at least sit down and have a discussion with him. Be honest. Tell him you know this was supposed to be casual, but that you’re falling for him, and if he’s sure he won’t commit, then you need to save yourself.”

Save myself? Like . . . leave?

The thought made the sushi I’d eaten crawl back up my throat, threatening to make a reappearance.

“I can’t do that. Leave Dylan?” Leave Max?

As terror shot through me, I realized I was even further gone than I’d thought. A life without either of them was almost unfathomable to me at this point.

Shit.

I hadn’t wanted to scare Max away by telling him how I was feeling, but Lara was right. We’d promised not to do anything that would threaten my position in the house, and that Dylan came first.

Now, though, it seemed almost impossible to separate it all. If things ended, could I really go back to just being Dylan’s nanny? And what, watch Max get ready for dates with someone other than me? No way. Those feelings would only grow stronger the longer we kept this up. If I had any chance of saving even a tiny piece of my heart from getting obliterated if he wasn’t in the same place as I was emotionally, I needed to do it now.

I picked up my cup and knocked back the last of my sake, holding up two fingers for the waitress and wiggling them.

Later, when I got home, I was going to climb in bed with Max and live it up one more time, because tomorrow I had no choice but to ask him where we stood.

Which meant that tonight might be our last.

Chapter Twenty-One

Max

So good, Max, just like that. Ah!

Addison’s low, breathy gasps replayed in my ears like the world’s sweetest music, and I shifted beneath my desk as my cock thickened.

As much as we fucked, you’d think I’d get used to it, or at least be able to get through the day without thinking about it.

Not a chance. It was like the more we did it, the better it got. I knew her body now. Every delectable inch of it. What made her moan, what made her scream. Last night had been especially hot. When her Uber pulled up, I’d wondered if she’d be too tired, but when she’d stepped into the room minutes later wearing only her black heels and nothing else, I’d almost swallowed my tongue. She’d been buzzed, sure, but that didn’t explain the urgency. The wildness of it. At one point, when I was pounding my cock into her from behind, I’d come so hard, I almost blacked out.

I reached a hand beneath my desk and gave the old boy a squeeze, wincing. Five o’clock couldn’t come fast enough. I’d ordered a massive bouquet of flowers to celebrate Addison’s one-month anniversary as Dylan’s nanny, and couldn’t wait to give them to her. I’d even been super sneaky and stalked her Pinterest to get a bead on what her favorite blossoms were. Maybe I’d see if my mom could take Dylan for dinner, and Addison and I could—

“Hey, boss, got a minute?” Tiffany stood in the doorway, her expression dour.

Shit. If this was a work thing that was going to keep me here late . . .

“Sure, come on in.”

She stepped in and crossed the room to sit across from me.

“What can I do for you?” I asked, sensing from Tiffany’s body language that something was definitely wrong. I mentally kissed my perverted after-work sex fantasies good-bye and sighed.

“Actually, it’s something I was doing for you,” she said, handing me a sheaf of paper she’d been clutching in her hands.

I took it and stared down at it, frowning. “A college transcript? I don’t get it.”

“That’s Addison’s,” she said softly. “You remember when you first were hiring her, you told me you put in an ad looking for someone with a college degree?”

Blinking, I stared at Tiffany, wondering what the hell we were talking about.

“Remember, you were excited about her education because she was a teacher?”

I nodded, my stomach tightening as I scanned the document.

“Well, when I met her that day at your house, something didn’t feel right. I started poking around some and had a friend check into her for me. Max, she doesn’t have her degree. She lied. Not only that, her last job was at a freaking café. How does that qualify her to take care of Dylan? And if she’s lying about that, what else is she not being truthful about?” Tiffany leaned in and took my hand gently. “I just can’t stand the thought of your leaving that sweet little baby girl of yours with someone who shouldn’t be trusted.”

My ears buzzed as the words sank in. Addison had lied to me?

“Max,” a low, trembling voice called from the open doorway. Addison stood there with Dylan in her arms, her cheeks pale. “It’s not what you think.”

Tiffany let out a sharp laugh. “It’s not? So you’re saying you did graduate?”

“N-no.” Addison propped Dylan on her hip and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I didn’t. But it was just a technicality. I had taken the wrong class and it didn’t fulfill the requirement I needed, so I was three credits short. I had a 4.0. I just didn’t have the time to go back and take the last class once I started working with my ex at his café. And then since I was short of credits, I couldn’t get my teaching certification.”

I stared at her in shock, my pulse hammering as I stood.

“Why didn’t you just tell me? Lying on a résumé is one thing, Addison. But we shared a lot about our lives with each other.” And our deepest secrets, or so I’d thought. “And you chose to keep this from me this whole time.”

“I thought you’d—”

“What? Fire you?” Tiffany said, glaring at her. “He should.” She stood and walked toward Addison, reaching for the baby.

Addison jerked back reflexively. “Max . . .”

I was still reeling as I blinked at her, not sure what to say. “What did you come here for? Is everything okay with the baby?” I asked, my tone sharper than I’d intended.

“She’s fine,” Addison said, her cheeks still chalky white. “I just wanted to talk to you about something . . . it’s nothing.”

I tipped my head in a clipped nod. “All right, well, I think it’s best if you go back to the house. We’ll talk when I get home from work. Dylan can stay here for the rest of the afternoon.”

Addison looked like I’d slapped her, but dammit, I was the one who’d been lied to. I needed a minute to get my thoughts together before I said something I’d regret.

Slowly, she handed the baby over to a smug-looking Tiffany. Through the fog of my confusion, I made a mental note to revisit that with her. My assistant seemed way too pleased over this new revelation, and I wasn’t liking it one fucking bit.

I watched, my gut churning as Addison wheeled around and scurried down the hall.

Tiffany cooed to an irritated-looking Dylan, and I made my way toward them and took her gently from Tiffany’s arms.

“I’ve got her.” I kissed Dylan’s forehead and hugged her close. “You know, while I appreciate you looking out for me, I think the way you handled that with Addison was inappropriate. You overstepped, Tiffany.”

She had the grace to look chagrined as she nodded, her cheeks flushed. “Sorry, boss. I was only trying to help.”

She said the right words, but as I looked harder, I couldn’t help but wonder if she wasn’t sorry at all. In fact, her eyes still gleamed with triumph.

Once I figured out how to untangle this mess with Addison, I was going to have to decide how to handle Tiffany. Between what she had done today and how she’d neglected to mention her visit with Addison earlier in the month, I was starting to feel like her feelings for me were getting in the way of her being able to work for me any longer.