Page 11 of The Billionaire's Instant Triplets

“Lugging around toddlers is all the weightlifting I do,” Ria admitted. “And I run, but always outside.”

“Fair enough.” Tristan was starting to get a picture of Ria. She was sweet and a little clumsy, judging by the knocked-over vase, but she was also no-nonsense and self-aware. Tristan admired that.

“Is your office around here, too?” Ria asked.

“Yes, just down here.” Tristan led her to the end of the hall and showed her his office. “The kids aren’t allowed in here, at least not until they’re older. If you need me while I’m working from home, though, this is where I’ll be.”

“How much do you usually work?” The question was innocent enough, but Tristan detected a slight edge behind Ria’s tone.

“It depends, but I always have a lot of work to do. Being a CEO comes with a lot of unavoidable duties.”

“Hmm.” Ria shrugged, the edge still in her tone. “I wouldn’t know. Is there anything else downstairs I should see?”

“No, I think we can head up. You’ve already seen the playroom.” They returned to the entryway, and Tristan effortlessly carried Ria’s suitcase up the stairs. “You’ve already seen the kids’ bedroom. This one is mine, that one’s a spare, and this one is yours.”

The door was already open, so Tristan stepped inside and set Ria’s suitcase on the floor. She followed him, her gaze trailing around the room. Tristan tried to see it as she would. There was a king-sized bed in the middle of the room, neatly made with a duvet printed in a twirling vine pattern. An ornate wooden desk stood beneath the picture window, which looked out over the large backyard.

“Oh, and there’s an attached bathroom,” Tristan added. “I stocked it with towels and everything, but if there’s something else you need, just ask.”

“Thank you.” Ria turned back to Tristan. “This is really nice.”

“I’m glad.” He hesitated. Part of him wanted to stay and chat with Ria a little longer. He wanted to ask where she came from and what she did, when she wasn’t caring for children. He wanted to apologize again for making such a fuss over the vase. He wanted to tell her that his work was important — otherwise he wouldn’t have put Jamie in her arms and run off so quickly.

But Tristan also knew that, no matter how successful Ria’s first day had been, that didn’t mean she would stay in the long term. No nanny ever had. And even if she stayed, there was no reason Tristan should get close to her. He should let her do her job — and he should do his.

“Well, I’ll leave you to get settled in,” he said.

“Right.” Ria smiled again. “Thanks. Are you going to work more?”

“Yep.” Tristan shrugged. “There’s always more to do. Anyway, have a good evening.”

“See you tomorrow.”

As Tristan left, Ria sat on the edge of the bed and smoothed her hand across the duvet. He glanced back at her once more before gently closing her door and stepping into the dark hallway. Tristan took a deep breath. This Ria was unlike any of the nannies he’d tried before. There was something about her, something unique that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Maybe whatever it was would be enough for her to stay.

Still half in thought, Tristan went downstairs, grabbed a green drink from the fridge, and returned to his office. He could easily work two or three more hours tonight before exhaustion took him. And in the morning, he could finally return to the office alone, without the triplets in tow. At last, he’d get some work done.

Tristan’s home office felt strangely quiet and lonely after his conversation with Ria, but there was no time to dwell on that. He opened his laptop and got back to work.

CHAPTER7

RIA

Ria sat on her new bed, hardly able to believe that this was her room — even her temporary room. The bed was enormous and downy-soft, with a duvet so fine it must have had a thread count in the millions (or whatever was good for a thread count — Ria had no idea). The view over the backyard was gorgeous, especially now that the sun was setting, casting rays of light between the apple trees that grew at the edge of the property. Both the bed and the desk were modern and sleek, which wasn’t exactly Ria’s style, but she appreciated it all the same. And she had her own bathroom! The whole of her studio would have fit in this one room with plenty of space left over.

She had stayed in numerous spare bedrooms while working as a live-in nanny, but this was by far the most luxurious place she’d ever set foot in. On top of that, the kids were great. The only problem was her new employer, the workaholic, too-cool Tristan.

Ria rolled her eyes slightly as she remembered his comments about coffee and yoga. He was clearly one of those tech CEOs who did his best to be Zen, although by the way he’d flipped out over the vase, he didn’t seem to be succeeding. Plus, Ria didn’t like that he’d disappeared all day, leaving his kids with someone who was little more than a stranger. His work might be important, but parenthood was, too. He hadn’t even checked her credentials or shown her around before disappearing.

Despite her annoyance, though, Ria had to admit that there was something about Tristan that she found intriguing. Perhaps it was just that she’d never met anyone quite like him before. Perhaps it was that he was very handsome (even Ria could admit that). Or perhaps it was the way he’d joked with her after he’d gotten over his upset about the vase. Ria appreciated people with a sense of humor.

Whatever it was, Tristan was going to make the next few weeks or months very interesting.Ifshe was able to keep her job. Ria winced again at the price Tristan had put on the vase. Ofcourseshe’d broken something very valuable on her first day. She’d have to be extra careful tomorrow.

Yawning, Ria went into the attached bathroom and washed her face. Then she found her toiletry kit in her suitcase and brushed her teeth, changed into pajamas, and climbed under the sheets of the bed. It was barely nine o’clock, but she’d had an exhausting day and needed a break. She considered working on a potty-training plan for the kids, but instead she found herself pulling out her laptop and putting on her guilty-pleasure reality show. While she watched, she munched on a bar of chocolate she’d packed. Probably, Tristan didn’t keep chocolate in the house, so she’d have to find a way to build her own stash. She’d need to find some coffee, too.

A while later, sleep overcame her, and Ria lay down and let herself drift off.

The next morning, Ria woke to her alarm. She quickly shut it off and slipped into the bathroom, where she took a shower and changed into a pair of yoga pants and a dark purple T-shirt. She planned to spend the day running after kids, so she chose functionality over fashion, as usual. She pulled her hair back into a quick braid before going downstairs.

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