Page 23 of Triplet Babies for my Ex's Best Friend

Still, the question has never entirely disappeared.

“What are you thinking about?” Oliver asks, pulling me back.

I shift my focus to him, letting the moment close as cleanly as I can. “Work.”

He studies me briefly, as though deciding whether to press further, then lets it go. “Are we getting a new nanny or not?”

“Yes,” I say, this time with more finality. “We are.”

Before I can reach for the next file, there's a knock at the door.

“Come in.”

My assistant at the door, composed as always. “There's one more candidate who’s just arrived. She wasn't on the original schedule, but the agency strongly recommended we still see her.”

I pause, considering that.

Agencies don't make last-minute adjustments without reason, and this one in particular isn't prone to unnecessary risks.

I glance briefly at Oliver, who offers a small, indifferent shrug.

“Very well,” I say. “Send her in.”

My assistant nods and steps aside to let her in.

And then…

She walks in.

The context doesn't align. The setting is wrong. The entire scenario requires a level of adjustment my mind doesn't immediately accommodate.

But recognition is immediate.

Unavoidable.

The same woman who'd sat beside me on the flight. The same woman who met my gaze without hesitation, who matched challenge with challenge, who hadn't once attempted to soften herself to make the interaction easier.

The same woman I expected never to see again.

She stops just inside the doorway.

And for the first time since this process began, I find myself momentarily without a response.

There’s hesitation in her recognition too.

It’s there in the way she stills, the way her gaze locks onto mine with unmistakable clarity.

The room shifts, subtly but definitively, the dynamic altering in a way that has nothing to do with the interview process and everything to do with the fact that neither of us is where we're supposed to be.

Oliver moves slightly beside me, unaware of the shift, but I don't look away from her.

Because she’s still standing there.

Still looking at me.

And in that moment, with absolute certainty, I know…

This interview isn't going to proceed in any way that resembles the plan I had in place.