“I kissed the fucking nanny.”
The silence hangs long enough for me to wonder if the connection’s shit. “Is that… bad?”
I stare through the windshield, gripping the wheel tighter. “Yes.”
Maddox snorts. Actually snorts. “I mean, depends how you look at it.”
“There is no angle where this looks good.”
“I can think of a few.”
Of course he can. It’s funny to him because it isn’t happening to him. He’s not the one who laid down the rule. He’s not the one who looked a woman in the eye, told her this arrangement would be serious, then folded into unprofessionalism the first time he was alone with her and she looked up at him like that.
“How bad?” he asks, amusement still thick in his voice.
I exhale hard through my nose. “Pool cover startled her. She jumped, grabbed onto me, and before I could make a single smart decision, I kissed her.”
Maddox lets out a low whistle. “Fuck.”
“Yeah.”
“And?”
“And she froze.”
That wipes some of the humor out of him.“Froze as in, surprised?”
“Froze as in, I kissed my employee and she looked like I’d confused the ever-living shit out of her.” My jaw tightens. “Then I made it worse.”
“How?”
I drag a hand over my mouth at a red light. “I told her it wouldn’t happen again. Told her I’d prefer to keep it professional.”
Maddox goes quiet for half a second, then barks out a laugh anyway. “Jesus Christ, Grayson.”
“Don’t.”
“You kissed her and then gave her an HR speech? Likeshewas the one who kissed you?”
“I was trying to contain the damage.”
“Bet you sounded like an asshole.”
I don’t answer.
“That means you did.”
I hit the indicator and turn onto Halsey’s street. “I didn’t have a better option.”
“You definitely did. Several, actually.”
“Helpful.”
Maddox sighs. “Just be one of those guys who fucks the nanny. There’s, like, entire porn categories for it, I think. It’s common.”
“She’s my employee, Mad.”
“Yeah, but it’s not like you have actual HR at home.”
