“Oh, God,” I groan and begin to undo my tie, knowing the next request is going to be the tough one. Everly always buries the lead.
“Can we do the sleepover in the tiny house? Cozy said she didn’t mind. And I love sleeping in the loft. It feels like camping.”
“Spoken like someone who’s never camped,” I retort, shaking my head adamantly. “That is Cassandra’s home. You cannot use it like it’s a playhouse.”
“But she said she didn’t mind!” Everly whines and looks backward. “Right, Cozy?”
Cassandra shoots me a guilty look as she slides her hands into her pockets. “I really don’t mind. I washed the sheets today and everything but it’s obviously your call.”
“Please, Dad?” Everly whines again, tugging on the tails of my tie.
I sigh heavily and look at Cassandra. “Are you completely sure? This is one request I have no problem saying no to.”
“It’s fine.” Cassandra waves her off. “I’ll go stay at my sister’s or Dakota’s.”
My brow furrows at that reply before Everly says, “Or you can sleep in my bed!”
Or she could sleep in my bed, I growl inwardly like a fucking psychopathic papa bear. I clear my throat and shake that thought away. “We’ll figure out the sleeping arrangements for everybody later. Let’s call Claire’s parents first, okay?”
Everly whoops with joy, and I do my best not to think too much about my decision to break my rule about no sleepovers with women in my house.
“Claire will be here within the hour,” Max calls up the spiral staircase to Everly, who squeals with delight.
“I’m packing my overnight bag for the tiny house,” she yells down. “This sleepover is going to be GOAT!”
Max turns his sexy, confused face to me.
“Greatest of all time,” I translate with a laugh because he doesn’t remember from the last time we explained it to him. He’s such a cute grump sometimes.
“I’m going to cancel Michael tonight and just order pizza,” Max grumbles, pulling his phone out to text his chef. He looks stressed. An eleven-year-old having a friend sleepover has ruffled him. It’s adorable.
“Ask him if he has any cookie dough first,” I offer helpfully. “The girls could make the cookies without the mess of making the dough.”
Max wags his finger at me. “Genius.”
“This is why you pay me the big bucks.” I laugh and then cringe because the fact that Max is still putting deposits into my checking account every week feels kind of weird now that we’re sleeping together.
“That and because you keep my kid alive,” he responds like he’s reading my mind.
After a moment, he sets his phone down and looks around. “Pizza and cookie dough ordered. What else do I need to do for this?”
“Everly’s really never had a sleepover here before?” I ask, thinking about how I unintentionally planted this seed in her head when I told her a story about Dakota and me having a sleepover in a graveyard once. Not one of my finest nanny moments, but Max doesn’t need to hear about that.
He shakes his head and leans down on the counter, giving me an eye-level view of his devastatingly handsome face. It’s inhuman. He should be studied in a museum.
“I’ve always been very possessive of my time with Everly. Getting her a few times a month feels like nothing in the grand scheme of things, so the last thing I would want to do is share her with her friends.”
I nod slowly. “I guess I can understand that.”
Max gets a pensive look in his eye. “Though I’m starting to realize that giving her a bit of freedom is nice too. It’s been good seeing her relax this summer and just do normal kid stuff. Jess even called me today to tell me that she thinks Everly is really happy. She said it’s thanks to you.”
My head jerks back at that shocking remark that just tumbled out of Max’s lips out of nowhere. It’s like he’s talking about the weather and not telling me that I not only made his kid happy but earned the approval of his ex. I don’t know why it feels important for Jess to like me exactly, but it does.
“Jessica said that?” I croak, my eyes stinging around the edges.
“Yes, she did.” Max hits me with a meaningful look. “And she’s right. I see it too.”
And the hits just keep on coming.
“You do?” My traitorous eyes glaze over with tears.
“Yes, Cassandra.” Max’s brow furrows as his eyes do that crazy darkening thing again. “You’re incredible with Everly. You’re incredible with everyone. You have this strange way of just allowing people to be themselves. It’s very…irritating.”
He winks playfully, and I garble out a laugh, grateful for the light jab at the end. This moment was getting too heavy, and I’m not about to start blubbering at Max’s fancy kitchen island.
I swallow down my emotions and embrace that sexy look in his eye with my own flirtatious response. “Sometimes less is more. Maybe you should embrace the slow livin’ lifestyle too?”
“There are some things I like to take my time with,” Max murmurs a sexy noise as his eyes drop to my lips. I inhale a deep breath because I’ve seen that look before. I make that look at him when he does what he’s doing right now and breaks one of the rules by wearing his tie loose around his neck. It’s ungodly sexy.
“She’s here!” Everly peals from somewhere upstairs, causing Max and me to rip apart like someone threw firecrackers between us. She clunks down the spiral staircase, her bag whacking the metal spindles every step she takes. She smiles brightly at her dad and me. “She’s here, you guys!”
“Go out and greet her,” I reply with a laugh.
She drops her bag with a loud thud and turns on her heel to run out the front door. I wave a hand over my face, my cheeks feeling like they’re on fire as I turn on my heel to face Max.
I hook a thumb toward the slider. “I’m going to go out and pack a bag of my own, and then I’ll get out of here,” I say, realizing that I’ve been lingering in Max’s kitchen for far longer than I normally do after he gets home at night.
“What are you talking about?” Max’s brow furrows as he walks around the island to stand in front of me.
“I’m going to leave,” I explain, staring up at him as he bows over me, exuding all his masculine energy that I want to make a blanket out of. “I don’t mind going to my sister’s. My brother-in-law totally misses me.”
“Cassandra,” Max snaps as he reaches up to cup my chin. His face is deathly serious when he adds one of the sexiest four-letter words I never thought of. “Stay.”
Tingles erupt over my entire body at the “I dare you to move” expression on his face. My voice is weak when I rasp, “But…our rules.”
“Fuck the rules,” he murmurs, his voice guttural as he brushes his thumb over my lower lip, causing my entire body to sway. “Stay the night.”
My chest inflates with anxiety, desire, nerves, and a million other emotions that I can’t put a name to because Max is looking at me like he’s seen me naked…because he has.