LOGINNATHANAria followed me quietly down the hallway, her soft footsteps barely making a sound against the wood floor.I didn’t know why my pulse was picking up. Maybe because I’d already decided she was different, and that terrified me more than I wanted to admit.We stopped outside my daughter’s room. I knocked gently before pushing the door open.“Hey, sweetheart,” I whispered. “There’s someone I want you to meet.”Lila sat on her bed, cradling her stuffed rabbit. Her hair was a wild mess of curls… she’d refused to let me brush it this morning, and her face was set in that stubborn little pout I knew too well.“I don’t want another nanny,” she mumbled without looking up.Aria hesitated by the doorway, then smiled softly. “That’s okay,” she said gently. “I don’t want to be just another nanny either.”Lila’s head snapped up, surprised.I watched the two of them- my guarded daughter, and this calm stranger, facing each other. “What’s your name?” Lila asked quietly.“Aria,” she said, step
THE NANNY AND HER BOSSNATHANThe phone buzzed just as I finished signing the last file on my desk.“Mr. Hayes,” my chef’s voice came through the speaker, a little hesitant. “Another applicant just arrived. Should I have her wait in the sitting room?”I leaned back in my chair, rubbing a hand over my face. Another one.“Yeah,” I said with a sigh. “Let her wait. I’ll be home soon.”When the call ended, I let my head fall back against the chair, staring at the ceiling for a moment. God, I hoped this one turned out right. I was tired… tired of the endless interviews, tired of women who looked at the house and saw a paycheck, not a child who needed care.Since my wife passed, it had just been me and my little girl. For a while, I thought I could handle it- balance work, fatherhood, and grief. But lately, the cracks had started to show. My workload was piling up, my daughter was growing restless, and every night I came home too late to tuck her in.I needed help.No… she needed help.But
OLIVIAThe smell of butter, herbs, and toasted bread filled the tiny apartment. I turned slightly on the couch, watching him from where I sat, the blanket still draped around my shoulders.Adrian stood by the stove, sleeves rolled up, moving with this quiet focus that made it hard to look away. The morning light shone in his hair, turning the edges gold.He looked over his shoulder at me and smiled. “Almost done.”I smiled back before I could stop myself. “You look like you’ve done this before.”“Cooking?” He chuckled, giving the pan one last stir. “You pick up a few things when you live alone for years. Besides…” He lifted the pan from the stove, “you deserve something warm after… everything.”My heart tugged a little at that.He plated the food- ggs, sautéed vegetables, and toast. simple but beautiful, like he’d actually cared about how it looked. He grabbed a fork, then walked over, balancing the plate carefully in one hand.“Here,” he said, stopping in front of me. “Taste it firs
MILAWhen I woke up, the morning light was already spilling through the curtains. For a second, I expected emptiness beside me, but when I turned, he was still there.He lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling like the world above him was something he was trying to make sense of. The sunlight brushed across his face, softening the lines of exhaustion around his eyes.He must have felt me move because he turned his head, his gaze meeting mine.“Good morning,” he said quietly.I smiled a little. “Good morning.”For a heartbeat, neither of us said anything. Finally, I let out a small laugh. “I thought you’d be gone by now.”He smiled faintly, “I thought I would be too.”“Then why are you still here?” I asked softly.He looked away for a moment,. “Because I wasn’t supposed to be here in the first place.”I waited, my heart thudding as he sat up slowly, resting his elbows on his knees.“But,” he continued, his voice steadier now, “I made a decision.”Something in the way he said it made
MILAI saw it.The way his shoulders stiffened when our fingers brushed. The way his breath hitched when I leaned closer.He tried to hide it, but he couldn’t.And God, it thrilled me.I leaned back slightly, letting the silence stretch, pretending to focus on the steam curling from his bowl while my mind screamed with satisfaction. He’d messaged me first. He’d come here, to my house. I didn’t have to do anything… this time he’d crossed the line all on his own.That was enough proof. Enough to show Sandra I’d done it. The bet was mine.The car was mine.So why did I feel… empty?I should’ve stopped here. I should’ve texted Sandra right now with a smug “Told you so” and ended it all. But something in me didn’t want to.I tried to convince myself this was still about the game. About winning, about proving something, but deep down, I knew better.Somewhere between the teasing, the stares, something had changed.I wasn’t just making a priest fall for me.I was falling too.I looked at h
FATHER ADRIANThe moment I hit send, regret slammed into me like a punch to the chest.What the hell was I doing?I stared at the glowing screen, her name sitting there above the message I should never have written. My pulse pounded so hard I could hear it in my ears. For a second, I thought about deleting it… unsending it, pretending it never happened. But it was too late.She’d seen it. I knew she had.I ran a hand over my face, exhaling shakily. God, forgive me. I shouldn’t have done this. I shouldn’t even be thinking about it.But I couldn’t help it.Every word she’d said earlier kept replaying in my head… her voice trembling, the way she’d said you told me to stay away, but you didn’t mean it.She was right.And that terrified me.I paced the length of my room, still in my clerical shirt from earlier, the collar suddenly feeling too tight.I wasn’t going to her because I wanted to.That’s what I told myself.I was going because I needed to end this. To tell her face-to-face that







