Page 45 of Flirting with Forever

It had only fortified the wall between them. The idea that Maddox had romanticized John’s life with Estrella had infuriated John. Maddox saw their rented brownstone, Estrella’s artwork, John’s determination and drive in his career, and thought that all that simply came from good old-fashioned elbow grease. Thunderbird gang members snapping their way down the cobblestone streets of a plucky upbringing.

Maddox didn’t see the fact that both Estrella and Cormac had worked two jobs for years. That John himself had worked since he was twelve. He didn’t see the emotional toll that took on a family. He didn’t see the nights of worry over bills, the tears in Estrella’s eyes.

John’s work as a public defender perfectly positioned him to see what advantages those with money actually had. The kinds of advantages the rich come to view as rights. And maybe they were rights. But they were rights that the lower class had no access to. Maddox didn’t see that.

John supposed that he couldn’t see over the wall any better than Maddox could, but he wasn’t going around wishing to switch lives either. That was just naive.

Normally, this would be the part of the afternoon when Maddox got up angrily and said something about having plans and John would go home. John was surprised, then, when Maddox simply continued to sit there, his face drawn in lines of mutiny, but his dark eyes pinned on John.

“I’m just saying that the money thing probably isn’t the line in the sand that you think it is, John. Not for her anyway. There’s a chance that it hasn’t even occurred to her that there’s a disparity.”

John masked his surprise at his brother’s stolid attempt at reigniting the conversation. “At some point she’s going to notice that I only ever take her to restaurants with a single dollar sign on their Yelp pages.”

“And if she cares, then she’s not the right person for you.”

John’s eyebrows rose and then his eyes narrowed as he looked at his brother. His lawyerly mind started putting the pieces together. “Misogyny, wealth disparity, you didn’t storm off in anger just now... Maddox, did youmeetsomebody?”

Maddox pursed his lips, but there was a small smile to hide there. “You think a woman is the reason for my sudden self-improvement?”

John just waited.

Maddox crossed his arms and grumbled. “Fine. Yes. I met someone. She’s great. She cares a lot about social issues. She pushes me. I’m a better man now. Blah blah blah.”

John had mixed feelings about this. He would love for his brother to meet a good, steady woman, but Maddox had such a crappy track record with relationships that John couldn’t quite muster the mustard to get excited about it. Maddox had at least two epically dramatic and public breakups a year, the kind that catapulted him toward a bender of some kind.

“And, just like with your girl,” Maddox continued, a genuine frown on his face now, “she won’t date me.”

Now,thatJohn could get behind. Women tripped over their Manolo Blahniks to date Maddox. Any woman who was lecturing him about misogyny and refusing to date him was bound to be a good influence.

“Really?”

“Oh, put that smug look away.” Maddox scowled.

“Who is she?”

Maddox winced, looking out the window instead of at John. “Sari’s new nanny.”

“Oh, Maddox.” John’s heart fell again. Sari was Maddox’s daughter, and though they weren’t estranged, they were definitely not regular fixtures in one another’s lives. Dating her nanny was not a good idea. In fact, it was an epically bad one.

“I know, I know. It’s terrible. And if Lauren ever found out, she’d castrate me on the spot. Apparently it took her a year to find somebody good enough with Sari that she could actually justify going back to work. If I screw this up for them...”

Maddox’s ex wasn’t exactly the kill-’em-with-kindness type. She was more the kill-’em-by-any-means-necessary-but-preferably-with-a-rusty-shank type.

Maddox finally turned back to John. “You think Iwantto be the deadbeat dad who resurfaces just long enough to date her nanny?”

“No,” John answered honestly. “But you have to admit, this kind of thing just sort of happens to you. Enough that it’s probably not a coincidence.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean that your dating life reads like bad porn scripts, Maddox. Two years ago, you were screwing a widow who you met when she came to your door literally asking to borrow sugar. Before that it was the flight attendant in various exotic locales. Somewhere in there was your secretary—which you should have gotten sued for, by the way. And then there was—”

“I get it. My life is awesome, and you’re totally jealous.”

John couldn’t help but laugh. “Don’t date the nanny. Spend time with your daughter. Keep it in your pants until she’s not Sari’s nanny anymore. The kid’s already in fourth grade. How long does she need a nanny for?”

“That’s already the plan. I told her I’m going to ask her out in two years. Because that’s the length of her contract and that’s how long Lauren thinks that Sari needs someone to be around after school. And until then we can be friends.”

Now, that was a genuine surprise. “Really?”

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