But as he sits there glaring at me, a completely different emotion takes hold: confusion. He’s so angry. Have I hurt him? In the short period of time we’ve been dating has he come to care so much about me that I have the power to do that? Have I disappointed him?

I’ve spent a lot of time figuring out new and creative ways to screw up this man’s life . . . and yet right now the very thought that I might have inadvertently caused him pain cuts into my lungs and makes each breath a little painful.

“I didn’t know who you were when we first met,” I say carefully, but as Lander rolls his eyes I quickly add, “but of course I knew you had money. You reek of it, Lander. And there aren’t a lot of Bill Gates types who walk into that particular bar, so maybe . . . maybe I saw an opportunity there.”

“Maybe?”

“I looked you up online just a few hours after we first met,” I continue. “I figured out who your family is and . . . Okay, it took some digging, but I eventually discovered that your sister-in-law was looking for a personal assistant. I got my last PA job through a personal connection. It was sort of my first real job and it was a good one. But then the guy I worked for dropped off the face of the earth. You can’t even talk to him to check a reference. You have to talk to someone else who worked for him—and half of those people are currently under indictment. I was screwed, Lander.”

“A heartbreaking story.”

“You’re right to be angry.” I lower my head, as if abashed. As if. “I was going to use you. I wanted to use you . . . and that was wrong. But, Lander, I didn’t do it. I got the PA job all on my own. In the space of twenty-four hours I had started dating a truly amazing man and I landed a killer job without any help from anyone. And for a brief moment I thought maybe I wouldn’t have to play games anymore. Maybe the manipulations could stop.”

Lander shifts his position. He’s staring past me, but his expression isn’t as hard as it was minutes ago.

“I initially didn’t want you to tell your brother about us because I have something to prove . . . to myself. I got this job on my own merits. And I was afraid that if he knew that we were dating—”

“You said initially,” Lander interrupts. “What’s your reason for not wanting me to tell him now?”