ristan wrapped up the last meeting for the day. He dismissed everyone from the meeting and trudged his way to his office. He still had some work to get done, and he knew he wouldn't be done when it was time for him to go.

Tristan realized he would have to bring his work home with him. He didn't mind, and he was used to doing it by now. Tristan sat down behind his desk and sighed. He didn't even lift his head up when he heard his door open and close shut.

"What's up with you?"

Tristan finally glanced up to find Max frowning. He watched Max sit down in the chair in front of him and continue to wait for him to answer his question.

"Nothing's wrong."

"Bullshit. You were distracted throughout the whole meeting," he said, quirking an eyebrow.

Tristan sighed for the second time.

"I messed up," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"What do you mean?"

"I kissed Nina."

Max's eyes widened. "You mean to tell me you kissed the nanny?"

"Keep your voice down. Do you want the whole company to hear you?" he asked.

He looked out of his office windows to see if anyone was staring at both of them. He sighed in relief when no one was looking in their direction.

"Sorry, but I knew it was bound to happen," Max said, chuckling.

Tristan furrowed his brows.

"What do you mean you knew it was going to happen?" he asked, answering an instant message that popped up on his computer screen.

"The way you were looking at her during her interview, I knew you were attracted to her," he said, with a slight shrug.

"I shouldn't have kissed her."

"Why not?" he asked.

Tristan stared at him in disbelief.

"I shouldn't be kissing my employee. It's just wrong."

Max nodded. "Then fire her."

"I can't fire her. That wouldn't be right either."

"Why not?"

Tristan explained how he made a promise to Nina to pretend to be her man. He further explained how Nina's Grandmother was in the hospital and how he had also promised her that he would marry Nina in a few months.

"Are you really planning on marrying her?"

"Yes, no, I don't know," he said, burying his face in his hands.

"Well, I know you and you keep your promises no matter what," he said. "When should we go tuxedo shopping?"

Tristan crumpled up a piece of paper and threw it at Max. Max laughed but caught it in his hand and threw it back at him.

"I need your advice on what to do."

"I think you need to do whatever you think is right."

"That's the thing, when it comes to Nina I don't know if what I'm doing is right or wrong. At times, I feel like as her employer I shouldn't be helping her the way that I am but on the other hand, I feel compelled to help her any way I can."

"I've never seen you act this way about a woman before," he said, smiling.

"It's not like that," he said.

"You must really like her."

"No, I don't."

Max rolled his eyes. "Keep telling yourself that."

Tristan watched Nina help Nadia bake cookies. He noticed this was becoming their thing. He couldn't help the smile that adorned his face when he saw Nadia's eyes light up whenever Nina would teach her something new or tell her a funny story.

Tristan stopped smiling when he saw Nina glance his way. She stopped smiling as well and turned her attention to Nadia.

"Your father's here," she said, to Nadia.

Tristan smiled when Nadia jumped off the chair and ran towards him. Tristan bent down and wrapped his arms around her.

"How was school?" he asked, releasing her.

"It was fun. I'm learned how to mix two colors to make another one," she said, grinning.

"You did? Well, that sounds like a lot of fun."

Tristan glanced up to see Nina looking at him with a small smile. This time she didn't look away.

Tristan picked Nadia up and placed her back on the stool.

"How was your day?" he asked, staring at Nina place the cookie dough on the pan.

"It was fine."

"We need to talk after Nadia goes to bed," he said, lowering his tone.

Nina glanced back up at him.

"About what?" she asked, looking back down at the cookie dough.

"Meet me in my room after dinner."

Tristan didn't let her respond before he walked away.

Dinner had come and went. He was putting on his t-shirt after taking a shower and brushing his teeth when he heard a gentle knock on his door.

He padded over to the door and opened it. The first thing he noticed was her vanilla scent. Her scent made his senses go wild and he tried to keep his matter on the task at hand and not become too aroused.

Tristan's eyes skimmed over her body. Tonight she was wearing a silk green nightgown that hugged her curves. He was beginning to think that she wore it on purpose because when he glanced back up at her she was smiling but it wasn't innocent.

Tristan stepped aside. "Come in."

Nina sashayed into his room. Tristan closed the door and stood in front of her in the middle of his room. He noticed her hair was in a bun again and he resisted the urge to tug at it to have her braids tumble down.

Tristan cleared his throat.

"Thanks for coming."

Damn. Why do I sound like this is a business meeting?

"Sure. What did you want to talk about?" she asked, staring up at him.

"I wanted to apologize to you."

"For what?"

"I shouldn't have kissed you. It was a mistake."

"A mistake?" she asked, frowning.

He saw an emotion flicker in her eyes. Was it sadness? hurt? He couldn't tell because it was gone just as fast and her eyes hardened.

"Yes, you're just my employee. Nothing else."

Nina scoffed. "Fine. Anything else you need to tell me?"

Now, she wasn't even looking at him. Her eyes were trained on the floor.

He reached his hand out to tilt her chin up but she stepped back.

"Do you have anything else to say?" she asked, her tone clipped.

"No."

Nina turned on her heels. She opened and slammed his door shut.

Tristan walked over to his bed and laid across it.

He wasn't the only one who was mad. He was mad at himself for lying to her.

***

Hey, guys. Do you think Tristan made the right decision? Let me know what you think in the comment section below. If you enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to comment, vote, and share :).