Fearless In Love

“Ari’s great with Noah,” Matt said. “She takes him interesting places, teaches him. I’ve never had a nanny so involved.”

“Sounds like she’s got a lot of energy,” Evan said, leaning against the reception desk, arms folded over his chest. “Isn’t she a lot younger than your previous nannies?”

“She’s definitely full of energy and enthusiasm,” Matt replied.

They were spotlighting him, and he cursed the heat coursing through his body at the mention of her. She was a heck of a lot younger than he was, she’d come out of a difficult past as a foster child—and, most important of all, she was off-limits! He knew he had his head in all the wrong places.

“You’ve got a winner in Ariana.” Daniel sprawled in a leather chair, legs spread, hands on his knees. “Your home has got to be like a breath of fresh air for her.”

Matt was once again reminded of her scent. Which then reminded him of her nightly soak in the tub…and all the images that assailed him when he was just down the hall, unable to get her out of his head.

“She’s special,” Daniel went on. “She always took the new employees under her wing and showed them the ropes.”

“Then why did you let her go?” Will looked up from scrolling through his phone. “Jeremy keeps talking about how pretty she is, by the way. Sounds like he hasn’t forgotten meeting her in San Jose when we were all rebuilding the youth home.”

“Don’t talk about how pretty she is,” Daniel said. “You’ll give this guy”—he hooked a thumb at Matt—“ideas.”

“Ideas are the farthest thing from my mind,” Matt lied, every eye on him. It was a lie he was afraid his closest friends would see through if they looked hard enough. The Mavericks were protectors, and they were all keeping an eye out for Ari. There’d be hell to pay if he screwed up.

“Anyway,” Daniel continued, “having been a foster kid, she appreciates the importance of surrounding children with love and kindness.”

The Mavericks had been raised with Susan and Bob’s love and kindness. But the years before that had shaped them too. When high school came to an end for all of them, they’d made a vow to get out of that filthy Chicago neighborhood, and they’d each done it in their own way.

Will had turned his uncanny sense of what people desired into an importing empire. Sebastian’s sensitivity and charisma brought him worldwide renown as a self-help authority. Evan had his numbers, Matt had his inventions, and Daniel had his home improvement conglomerate.

Each and every one had their demons to battle too. Matt could self-analyze enough to admit that his dad’s cruel words still played a huge role in who he was today.

No son of mine is going to be an effing weenie.

Your friends can’t do all the sticking up for you your whole life, ya puny little weakling.

Buck up, you idiot.

He’d eventually bucked up. But he’d also sworn never to tear his son down the way his own father had tried to demolish him. He’d always controlled himself ruthlessly, never yelled at Noah—never yelled at anyone in front of him either. And he’d vowed to protect his son from anyone who did, whether on a playground or at school. He worried that he wouldn’t be able to step up for his son every single time, like the day that kid had slapped the book out of Noah’s hands…but he pushed those fears out of his head. He would be there for his kid, just the way Susan and Bob had been there for each of the Mavericks.

The elevator dinged and the middle set of doors opened on Cal Danniger. “Did I miss a meeting notification?”

“Nope. We’re grilling Matt about his nanny,” Sebastian drawled.

Cal stepped out of the elevator, letting the doors close behind him. As business manager, he handled all their mutual holdings under The Maverick Group umbrella. While they were hands-on, it was impractical for the five of them to manage the ventures the entire group was involved in. Cal was their trusted guy.

“Don’t tell me you lost another one. How long did she last? A week?” Cal shook his head in feigned disgust. While he wasn’t a Maverick, they all looked on him as a sort of cousin, given that he’d worked for them from the inception of The Maverick Group.

“I haven’t lost this one,” Matt growled. And he wouldn’t.

Not as long as he kept his hands to himself.

“I don’t get what’s so wrong with them all,” Will said.

“I caught the last one speaking harshly to Noah.” Matt could still feel his blood boiling over that. He’d fired her, had her pack up her things and get the hell out of his house inside of ten minutes.

“Are you really that bad a judge of character every time you hire someone to take care of your kid?” Sebastian asked.

He was a damn good judge of character, but dealing with children was different than managing a QC department or running an assembly line. “Noah is special. I want the perfect nanny for him, and I’ve got high standards. What’s wrong with that?”

“Luckily, Ariana’s perfect,” Daniel said. “So don’t mess it up.”

Evan pushed away from the reception desk. “Glad you’re here, Cal. Do you have a status report on the Link Labs endeavor yet?” They’d signed the agreement almost six months ago, and so far things had been progressing better than expected. Matt had brought the venture to the group, but Evan was their financial guru, and he was all about the numbers and quarterly reports.

“I’ve got it all in my office,” Cal said, heading down the hall with Evan.

Matt was damned glad he was off the hot seat. Sooner or later, if they kept talking about Ari, he was bound to give himself away.

The bigger problem was that more than his base nature was getting to him. His fantasies were no longer merely about begging her to let him join her in that tub. Sometimes they were about joining her with Noah, going to the zoo, simply being with her.

Ari was becoming an obsession.

“Evan’s looking a little haggard.” Sebastian slouched in his chair, his gaze on the hallway.

Will frowned. “Living with Whitney will do that to a guy. He needs a good woman like Harper.” His eyes turned bright with that look of love he got whenever he said her name.

Will had never looked happier or seemed more content, not even when he’d made his first billion. Only Harper had done that for him. Along with her brother, Jeremy. They’d be married in Chicago at Bob and Susan’s house over the Christmas holiday, and Matt had a feeling Jeremy might have a little niece or nephew within a year.