Fearless In Love

The main floor consisted of the living room she’d interviewed in, complete with a grand piano; a formal dining room; and the kitchen, containing a huge pantry and a walk-in fridge. Matt displayed his favorite art in a special room, and Noah had his own playroom with lidded boxes full of toys, a chalkboard, and erase board. The great room came with all the latest entertainment equipment and a sun porch that opened on to the pool, the hot tub, and Noah’s playground.

The most marvelous thing in the whole house, though, was the library, which rivaled the Beast’s in Beauty and the Beast, with enough books to keep reading straight through for a decade. Ari’s fingers itched to touch the volumes, and she saw some of her favorites, from Tolkien’s The Hobbit and the three volumes of The Lord of the Rings to Stephen King’s The Stand, all of them looking like collector’s editions.

She longed to stay in the library, but Noah dragged her downstairs, where they walked her through the soundproofed basement with its fully equipped gym, the game room, and the screening room.

She couldn’t believe she would actually live here. She’d never had so much space in her life, never had her pick of anything she wanted to eat from a restaurant-size walk-in fridge, never been able to just walk outside and jump into a heated pool.

And she’d definitely never known a man like Matt Tremont.

When the tour was finally over, Noah said, “Do I gotta go to bed, Daddy?”

Matt turned to her with a gorgeous smile. “Does he gotta, Ari?”

They were so adorable, and so much alike, that her heart squeezed in her chest. She appreciated that Matt subtly deferred to her, putting her in charge in Noah’s eyes.

“You gotta,” she said to the little boy. “Since it’s Sunday, you need to take a shower to get ready for the week.”

She waited for the inevitable fight little kids put up about washing. Instead, he told her, “I’ve never taken a shower before. Only baths.”

“I’ll show you how to work the taps.”

She felt Matt’s gaze on her as they headed through Noah’s huge bedroom and into his bathroom. With the shower stall open, she adjusted the dual shower heads. “It’s easy. Just turn this dial.” She demonstrated while Matt took in her every move. The water was warm instantly, with a safety valve that kept it from scalding. Matt thought of everything. She gazed down at Noah. “Pretty easy, right?” She turned off the shower. “Bet you can do that.”

He nodded. “Uh-huh.”

Grabbing soap and shampoo from the tub, she put them on the built-in ledges in the shower. “I’ll get your jammies while you wash.” She tapped Noah’s nose with a light finger. “Or I can help, if you like.”

He insisted, “I can do it by myself,” but she left the bathroom door slightly ajar so she could hear if he called.

“He’s never done this alone before.” Matt leaned against the wall next to the doorjamb, his arms crossed over his muscled chest, his face a little tense. A moment later, Noah shrieked, and Matt dove for the bathroom.

“It’s cold, Daddy, it’s cold!”

“Here’s how you make it warmer.” Matt’s voice sounded strained from within the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Ari opened bureau drawers, finding pajamas with a racing motif that matched the comforter. The sound of the shower muted as Matt half closed the door again and crossed to her, the pulse at his throat still beating quickly.

“Don’t worry,” she said softly. “We might need to clean up some water off the floor when he’s done, but he’s a big boy.” One of the moms she’d worked for had been super cautious with her first child, the way Matt was with Noah. “It’s amazing what they’re capable of.”

He didn’t nod, didn’t agree, simply said, “They grow up fast.”

She wanted to smooth the line from his forehead and tell him that Noah would always need him, that the note of I can do it in his son’s voice would never change that fact.

But the part of her that wanted to touch him was all woman, so she kept her hands to herself. “They do grow up fast,” she agreed. “One minute they’re toddlers, then the next thing you know they don’t want you to hold their hand at the bus stop anymore.”

“Susan warned me. I didn’t believe her.”

“I met her at the youth home in San Jose, right?”

“Yes, Susan and Noah’s grandfather Bob were both there.” The tension in his face softened with love. “She’s Daniel’s birth mom, but she and Bob took all of us in and made us family, so Noah calls them Grandma and Grandpa.”

Ari knew the basic Maverick story, since Daniel wasn’t the type to hide his past or the seedy Chicago neighborhood he’d come from. Daniel and his sister, Lyssa, were the biological kids, but his mom had raised all the Mavericks since they were in their early teens. Ari could see the adoration shining in Matt’s eyes when he spoke of the man and woman who had taken him in. He’d been lucky to find them. Though she’d heard there were good people like Susan and Bob in the foster care system, she’d never met any of them personally. She had been lucky to find lifelong friends, however. Rosie and Chi would always be her sisters of the heart, just as the Mavericks were Matt’s brothers even without blood tying them together.

The water shut off and the shower door opened. “You doing okay, Noah?” she called out. “I’ve got your jammies.”

As Matt watched her progress to the bathroom door, her heart beat faster, her breath came quicker, and her skin warmed from more than the shower steam.

She handed the pajamas through the door without opening it, giving Noah some big-boy privacy. A couple of minutes later, she asked, “Ready?” and he made an assenting noise. Sitting on the edge of the bath, she toweled his hair dry. It was thick and needed little more than ruffling to bring up the curls. “Almost dry. Brush your teeth, then you get your story.”

When Noah started to put his toothbrush away after only a few seconds, she urged him to do more. “Your teeth will look like a dinosaur’s if that’s all you do.” He scrubbed a little harder.

“Why don’t you read Noah his story tonight?” she suggested to Matt. She didn’t want to force too much change on the little boy all at once, and she also wanted to hear Matt read, to watch him the way he’d been watching her.