Ditto what Redatlanta said. When I was still drinking and in my last relationship, I drank just enough around my partner to explain my alcohol breath and behavior. I had half-pint bottles stashed around the apartment and would "top off" my drinks all evening. I would smuggle larger bottles in and secretly add more to the bottle out in the open to hide how much I was drinking. So if anyone were "counting" my drinks, they would be sadly mistaken.
Also, yes, during the time I was trying to "moderate" my drinking it grew progressively worse. I wound up with a serious physical addiction and went through nightmarish withdrawals every weekday until I could get home and get my "dose" of alcohol (I still had a good job, never got a DUI, never went to the hospital or to jail). On weekends, I drank from the minute I got up through the entire day. It does, indeed, progress.