Fearless In Love (The Maverick Billionaires, Book 3) (15 page)

She’d dreamed about those looks every one of the three nights he’d been gone on his latest business trip and was impatiently waiting for his return tonight. She and Noah were spending the afternoon at Rosie’s so the kids could play. Chi had dropped by too, and they all sat on Rosie’s tiny patio, drinking lemonade and watching the boys.

“Is Jorge still using training wheels on his bike?” Ari asked.

With her Latino heritage, Rosie was a beauty, with thick, curly dark hair and cocoa eyes. “He’s been off them since he started kindergarten in September. But I still watch out.”

“You’re just a nervous mama,” Chi said.

Chi was short for the Asian name her first foster parents refused to pronounce correctly. But Chi had liked the new name. She said it was like Tai Chi, calming yet powerful. Her silky black hair hung straight down her back, and she had smooth, flawless skin. She’d been in foster care since she was eight. Rosie lost her parents when she was eleven. They’d all found each other at Ari’s second foster home. When they’d eventually been split up, they’d sworn to stay best friends. And they had, through thick and thin.

“I’m not nervous,” Rosie huffed, smiling as she did so. “Why do you want to know about the training wheels, Ari?”

“I’m weaning Noah off his.” He was more interested in his sandbox buildings so far, though, and they hadn’t spent much time on it yet.

“He’s a smart, agile kid. He’ll be on two wheels in no time.” They all reached in with their lemonade and clinked glasses to Noah’s eventual success. Education was fabulous, but firsthand experience like Rosie’s was the best kind of backup to go along with Ari’s gut feelings.

Ari still had dreams of teaching someday, but right now there was only Noah and Matt. Maybe when Noah was in school full time…

If she was still working for Matt, that was. She couldn’t bear to think of a time when she wouldn’t be.

She pushed those thoughts away when Chi said, “Thanks for recommending me to your ladies.” She nannied part time while she was working on her degree.

“Only for my bestie.” Ari tapped her fist to Chi’s upper arm. “You’ll be great for the kids.”

“So how’s the billionaire working out?”

“It’s amazing. I get to eat anything I want. I live in a suite that’s three times the size of my studio. Noah is a doll. And I’m getting paid a ridiculous amount of money. What more could a girl ask for?” Okay, so Ari
could
ask for more—another night in Matt’s bed followed by a morning where he didn’t kick her out of it.

“Doesn’t hurt that the billionaire is awesomely hot,” Rosie said to Chi in an aside behind her hand.

“Ooh.” Chi’s eyes grew big. “Has he hit on you yet?”

Ari’s blush was enough to give her away.

“Oh my God.” Chi gasped. “He
did
hit on you.”

“He did not.” Smack between the two of them, Ari was in the hot seat.

“Look at that.” Rosie pointed. “Her cheeks are totally red.”

“Come on. We know there’s something. Dish,” Chi demanded.

Ari glanced at the boys, who were happily engaged. “It was only once.” Twice, if she counted the kiss in the pantry. “And he didn’t hit on me.” She squeezed her eyes shut before admitting, “I hit on him.” She licked her lips and admitted in a low voice, “I didn’t just hit on him. I went to bed with him.”

Both of her friends were silent a long time. A
very
long time that spoke volumes about how crazy they thought she was.

Finally, Rosie said, “You actually
slept
with him? With your billionaire boss?”

“It was an accident,” she tried to protest.

“An accident?” Chi scrunched her forehead. “Like you were both naked and just happened to trip into each other’s arms?”

“No.” Ari would have laughed, but her stomach was twisted up. “Noah had an accident by the pool.”

When both women looked over at Noah, who was playing cheerfully, she said, “He’s okay, thank God. But after we took him to the emergency room, Matt was really upset. I just wanted to comfort him.”

“So you’re saying it was a simple hug for
comfort
that went off course?” Rosie looked at her over the rims of her sunglasses.

“Yes. No.” She buried her face in her hands. “Stop giving me a bad time,” she begged.

Chi put her hand on Ari’s arm. “We don’t want to give you a bad time. But we’re worried about you. You know what happens to girls who sleep with the boss.”

Ari dropped her hands. “I know.” She breathed deeply and let it out in a long sigh. “But I honestly don’t think he’s going to fire me. Even though…”

“Even though?” Rosie prompted.

“I kissed him again the other night,” Ari whispered. “In the pantry.”

Chi shook her head. “Girl, I’m not being mean. But that’s two strikes already. Not only is he your boss, he’s a totally over-the-top rich guy who probably goes through women like tissue paper.”

Chi was just trying to help, but Ari had to argue, “He’s not like that. He doesn’t take his money for granted. And I haven’t seen any other women coming around. In fact, I don’t think he’s gone on a date since I’ve been there.”

Before Chi could do more than roll her eyes at Ari’s protests, Rosie asked, “How do you feel about everything that’s happened?”

“I don’t know.”
Liar.
She didn’t wait for one of the girls to say that. “All right, I admit I’ve got hopes.”

“Oh. My. God.” Chi was always the more dramatic of her two BFFs.

“Not just because of how amazing it was to be with him,” Ari protested. “But because he’s offered to find my brother. Why would he do that if he didn’t have feelings for me?”

“Maybe because he feels guilty for taking advantage of his nanny and wants to make it up to her?” Chi suggested.

Rosie sent Chi a dirty look before folding her hand over Ari’s. “I’m sure his motives for finding your brother are nothing but kind. Who wouldn’t want to help you? But be careful. We don’t want you to get hurt.”

Rosie had met Jorge’s daddy when she was nineteen. She’d fallen hopelessly. When the bastard found out she was pregnant, he ran. Rosie had just finished her AA degree in bookkeeping when Jorge was born, and with Chi’s and Ari’s help, she’d eked out enough time to find a really great accounting job she’d held for the last five years. It made sense that she’d worry about Ari getting hurt after she’d been hurt so badly herself.

Chi had never dated—had never even seen a good relationship up close, only the bad ones. No wonder she was so quick to assume that Matt’s motives weren’t pure.

Ari understood her friends’ caution. She’d seen her fair share of bad relationships too, but she still couldn’t help hoping the fairy tale would actually come true. Hope was the one thing she’d always vowed to hold on to.

“I don’t want to be careful,” she admitted, looking out at Noah playing blissfully. She didn’t only want to build tunnels and roads and castles in the sand with him—she also wanted to build dreams that came true.

Before she’d met Matt and Noah, she’d always told herself dreams were better than reality because you couldn’t be disappointed. But if you were never disappointed, maybe that meant you never risked anything.

And Matt—and Noah—were worth risking it all.

“Even if I think you’re acting crazy, we’ll be here no matter how it works out,” Chi said, and Rosie nodded her agreement.

“I love you guys.” Ari blinked through the emotion flooding her eyes.

She could dream all she wanted, but the one thing she could count on was that her friends would be there for her if she bounced herself right off love’s trampoline and landed hard enough to break her heart.

* * *

After an inspection of his Florida plant on Friday, Matt’s pilot had orders to get him home by six that night. He missed his kid like crazy.

And missed Noah’s nanny like crazy too.

Working around the clock should have driven thoughts of her out of his mind. Instead, he pretty much lived for her nine p.m. check-in calls, when she ran him through the day’s activities and he let her know about any new lead his investigator was following regarding her brother. And every time they hung up the phone, he’d needed to stand beneath a freezing shower spray for ten minutes to give himself some semblance of control.

His foster mother had always helped him get his head on straight. Taking advantage of the long flight, he called her from the quiet of the luxurious lounge on his private plane.

“I know she drives you crazy, honey,” Susan said after he finished telling her what had happened with Noah during, and after, Irene’s latest visit.

“You could have a kegger on that trampoline. And of course, she just dumped it and ran.”

It shouldn’t still make him angry, but during last night’s phone call, Noah had once again asked if Mommy was coming back soon to teach him how to jump on the trampoline. It could be months before Irene showed up. Matt hated being helpless in the face of his son’s pain.

“Why don’t you get a safety net?” Susan asked, echoing Ari’s suggestion.

“Because then Irene would win.”

“Matt,” Susan said, her tone clearly indicating she wasn’t impressed with his behavior. “The trampoline shouldn’t be a battlefield.”

He knew it shouldn’t be a contest for Noah’s love. All that mattered was Noah’s happiness and keeping him safe. Yes, he could protect Noah by forbidding Irene access to him. But that would only intensify the little boy’s feelings of abandonment.

Which left Matt feeling like he was all out of options.

“I know I’m being an asshole about the whole thing.” Frustration rode his every word. “I just have no idea how to deal with her flitting in, then leaving him behind like a forgotten toy.”

Susan tutted with sympathy. “I know how hard it is on him, but you have to stop blaming yourself, honey.” When he’d told Susan about Noah’s fall by the pool, she’d said the same thing. “You never believe you’re stepping up enough, but honey, I wish you’d see that you constantly take responsibility. You’re there for your brothers whenever they need you. You’re there for us without question. You’re there for your company, your people, even your business partners. And you are there in every way possible for Noah.”

“Then why can’t I find a way to fix Irene so that Noah isn’t brutalized after every one of her visits?” The same way Matt had been with every cruel word his father said, every time his mother refused to stick up for him or help him in any way. It ripped his heart to shreds watching his son. And it was his job to fix it. His inability to do so made him feel like he was just as bad of a parent as his own had been. In a different way, maybe, but the result was the same every time Noah cried himself to sleep, wasn’t it?

“You can’t fix Irene, honey. You can only be there for Noah. And you are, every single day.” Then she clucked at him. “I know what you’re thinking, but you’re nothing like your father.” When he didn’t answer, she added, “You listen to me—I’m not the only one who thinks you’re one of the best dads in the whole world. We all do.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said as if she were his commanding officer. Which, to be honest, she was more often than not.

“Now tell me how that lovely Ariana is working out.” Susan had liked her the moment she’d met her, when they were all working to build the youth home in San Jose.

“Noah loves her. She turns everything they do into a learning experience. She’s even got him interested in mummies after she took him to the local museum.”

“I’m so glad. If you’d come back to me with another nanny horror story, I would have given up and moved out there to take care of Noah myself.”

All the Mavericks would love it if Bob and Susan moved out West, but they were born-and-bred Chicagoans. They loved the change of seasons, fall colors, white Christmas, and they were dying with impatience for Harper and Will’s holiday wedding.

If not for Susan and Bob, Matt would have avoided Chicago like a plague of rats. At least the Mavericks had moved the couple out of the old neighborhood, and with retirement, the two of them were finally enjoying life.

“You’ll see how great Ari is for yourself when you fly out for Will’s Halloween party,” he said.

At least, they’d see her if Matt didn’t screw everything up and lose her before then. He never took a nanny to a Maverick event. Yet he’d planned without question that Ari would go with them. Not only did she know Daniel and the rest of the Mavericks, it seemed natural to include her. Everything about her seemed so damned natural…

For the first time, he found himself wondering—was there a chance that Susan wouldn’t actually blame him for finding Ari irresistible?

Although, even that wouldn’t change the fact that he wasn’t right for Ari, that she needed a man who stepped up
every
time, who had moved past his shadows and would never crush her joy, her hopefulness.

“Oh, I hear Bob calling, sweetheart. We’re binge-watching
Sons of Anarchy
, and he’s dying for the next episode.”

Binge-watching
Sons of Anarchy
? Susan and Bob? Now
that
was scary. “That’s really violent, Mom. I’m shocked.”
Midsomer Murders
was more their speed. “Maybe I need to speak to Daniel about putting parental controls on your streaming service,” he teased.

“Do not even think about separating a woman from her streaming, especially when there are good-looking men on motorcycles involved,” she said with a mock growl, then blew him a kiss over the phone. “Dad sends his love.”

“Love you both too.”

As soon as he disconnected, his cell phone beeped with several texts that had come in while he was talking to Susan. After quickly checking to see if any of them were from Rafe regarding Ari’s brother, Matt had to work to bank his disappointment that his friend hadn’t turned up any real leads yet. Fortunately, there
was
one thing Matt could do to make things better. Something he hoped would not only make Noah smile, but Ari too.

Ari was surprised to find two burly men from the sporting goods store installing a safety net on the trampoline when she and Noah returned home. Though Noah was overjoyed, she made sure Matt’s name was on the work order.