Oh, the HORROR!
Wait a minute. He’s wearing—Oh. My. GOD!
Upon seeing me, he smiled. Wearing jeans and a dark henley that should have been illegal in several states, his hair was slightly less controlled than usual, like he’d actually run his fingers through it instead of using whatever surgical-grade product he normally employed.
He looked... approachable.
Delectable.
Yummy!
Which was somehow more terrifying than his usual intimidating surgeon persona.
“Ready?” he asked, his eyes meeting mine.
No. Absolutely not. I’m never ready for anything.
“Yep!” I said with way too much enthusiasm. “Ready to help corral this one.” I gestured at Megan, who was already bouncing toward the door.
“You guys have fun,” my mom cooed, grinning from ear to ear.
Gabriel’s mouth twitched. Almost a smile. “I appreciate the assistance.”
Right. Assistance. Professional nanny assistance at a carnival.
Totally normal.
Nothing weird about this at all.
The carnival was exactly what you’d expect: a chaotic explosion of colors, sounds, and questionable food safety standards.
Megan lost her mind immediately.
“Can we go on the Tilt-A-Whirl? Can we play ring toss? Can we get cotton candy? Can we—”
“One thing at a time,” Gabriel said, his hand settling on her shoulder. “What do you want to do first?”
“EVERYTHING!”
I laughed despite myself. “That’s a solid strategy. Very focused.”
Gabriel glanced at me, and there was something in his expression—amusement, maybe, or relief that I was laughing at all.
He definitely knows something happened.
“How about we start with games?” he suggested. “Work our way up to the rides.”
“YES!” Megan grabbed both our hands—mine and Gabriel’s—and started dragging us toward the game booths.
And suddenly I was very aware that we looked like a family.
A dad, a mom, and their kid, holding hands and walking through a carnival.
Except I wasn’t the mom. I was the nanny. The employee. The person who was definitely not supposed to be having feelings about holding hands in a weird three-person chain while walking past the funnel cake stand.
I internally groaned.
God, I really want a funnel cake.
