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“Hey. We should talk.”

I nod, my voice lodged somewhere I can’t find.

He steps into the room and glances at the bed, clearing his throat. “Maybe we should chat downstairs.”

“Okay… sure.” I set the book on the table beside the chair and stand.

He motions for me to exit first, so I do, walking ahead of him and feeling his gaze on my back. My mouth is dry by the time we reach the family room and I sit on the couch.

Brady sits in the chair to my left. And then silence. He rests his forearms on his thighs, his hands clasped together. “Obviously, I had no idea who you were before you came. Hannah took care of hiring you, so I was just as surprised to see you as you were to see me when I walked in.”

I’d figured as much from his startled look of confusion. “I know. And for the record, I had no idea who hired me. They keep the names secret until I sign an NDA for their high-profile jobs.”

He chuckles and leans back, relaxing in the chair. “Yeah, that much was obvious.”

My cheeks heat. “Do you think Hannah noticed?”

He shakes his head. “No, she doesn’t know we’ve slept together and…” I’m not sure what he’s going to say. “I’d like to keep it that way.” Brady studies me as though he thinks I’ll disagree.

I hold up my hands. “Fine by me.” It’s not like I can afford to go back to my employer and say I slept with the father so can I have another family? Just imagine the horror. We’re silent for a beat and I decide to use the opportunity to do what I should have done the moment he left the house earlier. “I want to apologize for the question about whether you were married or not. I shouldn’t have assumed, it’s just…” I don’t want to get into my relationship history with him.

“Just what?” His head tilts, and I shake mine.

“Nothing. I just want to apologize.”

“I overreacted. If I were you, I probably would have thought the same. You don’t really know me, so I can’t blame you. Especially when Hannah was the one to meet you at my house. Our situation is… not typical of other co-parents.”

Definitely not. They have a shared affection, but it’s not romantic love. I want to be nosy and dig into that statement, but I don’t want to feed this feeling of what I’m positive is jealousy in the pit of my stomach. I have no claim over Brady. I wouldn’t even give him my name or number after we slept together.

“Anyway, seems like we’re going to be roomies for the foreseeable future, so I thought we should clear the air. Get all the awkwardness out of the way. Hannah being gone is going to be hard on Theo, and I don’t want any uncomfortableness with me and you to add to that.”

I blow out a relieved breath. Guess that means I’m not fired, which I tell myself is a good thing. I need the money this job will provide.

“Well… we’re adults. I’m sure we can manage to put… what we did aside.” My cheeks heat under Brady’s gaze. Suddenly, I wonder if he’s also having visions of himself pounding into me while he holds me against the wall.

He clears his throat and shifts in his seat. Maybe he is. “Exactly, we’re adults. And we did an adult thing together, but that doesn’t have to make it weird.”

God, this situation is awkward. Especially when he’s clearly avoiding saying the wordsex.

“Right, not weird at all.” I give him as natural a smile as I can muster.

“We’re in agreement then? We won’t mention this to Hannah—or Theo obviously—and we’ll carry on as if what happened six months ago never occurred.”

I understand why he doesn’t want Hannah to know, but something about his request irks me just the same. Knowing it’s probably just my past trauma popping out of its bunker and waving hello, I push away the feeling. I didn’t have an affair with Brady. He wasn’t married when I slept with him. We never fell into a relationship afterward either.

“You have nothing to worry about, Brady. Wait… do you want me to call you Mr. Banks or Brady?”

He looks a little uncomfortable for a beat, then answers, “Brady.”

I nod and stand from the couch, wanting to end this awkward conversation. “I guess I’ll go get my things from my car and unpack then.”

Brady stands too, forehead creased. “You didn’t do that already?”

With a shrug, I say, “I thought you might fire me as soon as you came back.”

He chuckles and rocks back on his heels.

“With the way you ran out of here…”

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