Sharing Their Nanny (The Nannies)

They stepped into the main foyer, and the room was split in two. The maître de waited to invite customers to the restaurant portion, and there was a guard holding the door for the nightclub.

He nodded at the maître de and proceeded toward his reserved table. He and Dylan always had one table on reserve. The perks of owning the place.

Max held out a chair for Raine, and she thanked him while taking a seat.

“I can’t believe we can’t hear the nightclub,” Raine said.

“We paid careful attention to soundproofing, but there is a good distance between the nightclub and the restaurant. This place used to be a warehouse dealing in cardboard boxes. Dylan and I snapped it up at a steal price and were able to use the abundant space to create what we wanted.”

“Don’t you have … legal limits or anything?”

“We consulted all the necessary legalities before we signed on the dotted line. I think Ménage helps to create that aurora of having whatever the hell you want. Some people do not want to go out clubbing but love the value of a good meal. Others want the best of both worlds, and we accommodate that. Also, we came up with the concept when Dylan kept slowing down the decision-making by how hungry he was. When we were younger, he ate everything and anything. This decision came out of my irritation in waiting around for him. We now have restaurants in nearly all nightclubs, or at least close by.”

“Sounds amazing, possibly a little too easy,” Raine said.

The waiter came over and presented him with the menu as well as Raine. As per their protocol, the women were never given the price of the meal. There had been some complaints from bad dates who didn’t want to feel like they owed their date anything.

To Max, allowing your date to see the price was bad taste. He was the kind of guy who always picked up the tab. That wouldn’t change. Dylan had tried to make some changes, but Max wouldn’t budge. There was nothing wrong with men paying for the date.

“Pick whatever you want,” he said.

He watched as she glanced down the menu. “I don’t know how much anything costs.”

Max explained his thoughts to her.

“Okay, I see your point in trying to be the gentleman, or whatever. What if the guy expects payment in other ways but the woman doesn’t want that? It’s a bad date and she just wants to go home? What about if it’s a date between two women or two men?”

“Why do we have to assume it’s going to be a bad date?” he asked.

“Not all dates are great. A conflict of personalities. Some men are assholes. Some women are bitches. It goes both ways.”

Max sat back. “For the first time in my life, I guess I was hoping for the positive. If you’re on a date, then it has to go well.”

Raine smiled. She covered her mouth and shook her head. “I’m sorry. I actually find that … amazing. You don’t always see the world like others do.”

He shrugged. “It’s my curse.”

“I do find it a little hard to believe that you of all people can hope to see the good in all things.”

“I don’t see the good in all things. Dating is different.”

“Have you dated many people?” she asked.

“No, and I’ve had my fair share of bad dates.”

“You have?”

He nodded. “Don’t we all?”

“Yeah, and you don’t even need to be with someone a lifetime for it to go sour.”

“Your ex?” he asked.

“Yeah, my ex. I never thought I’d live with someone and not realize it was over until you find them screwing your best friend. Or that when you see it happening, you wouldn’t care.”

“You didn’t care about your ex?”

“In the end, no. I felt nothing. This was a guy who at one point I thought I was going to share the rest of my life with. I don’t know what happened. I guess we grew apart. We stopped … connecting. I don’t know. It’s all a little confusing.”

“But you don’t miss him?” Max asked.

He wasn’t going to let Raine see that he was a little panicked.

“No, I don’t. Do you think that makes me a bad person?”

“You loved him at some point, right?”

She opened her mouth, closed it. “I don’t think I did. How horrible is that? It was just easier to carry on with life. We shared a moment in time, and then it vanished.”

“Love is complicated.”

“No, I don’t think it is. I just think so often we confuse lust or infatuation with love, and because of that, we fall foul to making mistakes.” She shrugged. “Love is … powerful. It is a strong emotion. I know a lot of people throw it out like it’s going out of fashion. I love this sauce. I love these shoes. I love you and such, but true love, the kind that consumes, I think it goes deeper.”