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, that John 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 I want to 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?”