Page 94 of Catching Trouble

Another bump, followed by footsteps and voices. One was lower.

He stiffened behind me. “Valerie?”

I widened my eyes. Sophie’s mother was here?

We both sat up, blinking at each other. Damn, he looked beautiful when dishevelled and bleary from sleep. But my “Maxime appreciation time” would have to wait.

“What is she doing here?” I hissed.

Maxime pushed off the bed as fast as an Olympic gymnast before standing behind the door, his ear pressed against the wood.

“What are they doing?”

Maxime shook his head, pressing a finger to his lips. After what felt like a lifetime, he turned to me.

“She can’t see you,” he murmured, moving towards me, helping me to my feet.

I didn’t want Maxime’s ex seeing me either, but the wild flicker in his eyes made me pause.

“Are you ashamed of me? Of us?” I didn’t like to ask, but my usual lack of filter kicked into autopilot.

He didn’t answer right away. Just held my gaze—and even in an emergency, with my heart in my throat, he looked incredible.But tattoos and abs be damned. Now wasn’t the time to get distracted.

His brow furrowed as he shook his head. “No. Never.” He curled his arms around me. “It’s not about you. It’s Valerie. She wouldn’t understand.” He rubbed slow circles on my back, easing the tension from my muscles.

“We always had a rule. If either of us took a lover, we’d tell the other.”

“Why? You live separate lives, now.”

He nodded and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “We do. But if it’s someone Sophie might meet, we agreed to tell each other. And…”

He hung on the end of his sentence, and I tipped my head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

“And if the person in question is the nanny you hired to look after Sophie, I’m guessing that’s going to go down even worse?”

He sighed into my hair. “Exactly.”

I nibbled my lip, my mind racing. It made sense. If I was a mum, I wouldn’t want just anyone hanging around my daughter, either. Particularly after spending the night with her father.

That she’d trusted Maxime to employ an absolute stranger already baffled me. Luc must have given me a glowing reference.

Still, I’d be lying if I said his perfectly reasonable words didn’t sting.

As if sensing my doubts, he tightened his hold on me. “Chloe, I’d never be ashamed of you. But I don’t doubt Valerie will use our being here, together like this, againstme.And I’m not sure I’m ready to fight that battle today.”

I swallowed. Nor was I.

I let out a shuddering breath against Maxime’s shoulder, before unhooking myself from his arms. “It’s fine, I understand. I’ll sneak out of the back door, but…” I let my gaze fall to his enormous erection. “I think you might need to take care of something before you head outside.”

He looked at me, the slightest smile on his lips. “It’s a shame I have to do it alone.”

I stepped away, scanning the floor for my knickers. “Suck it up, buddy. Like someone said in the bible—you reap what you sow.”

He blinked.

“Just go for a pee, Maxime.”

He headed to the bathroom, and I found my knickers. I had no such luck locating my top, though. It was pretty tiny, so lord only knew where it ended up.