Fearless In Love (The Maverick Billionaires, Book 3) (2 page)

As if he could see the thought bubble over her head, he said, “My driver Doreen would drive you when you take Noah out.” Matt Tremont and his son lived a life she’d seen only on TV, with private drivers and mansions. “You would also be responsible for his nutrition. I have a cook, but I’d want you to make sure he’s eating healthy.”

Nutrition had been part of her education. “No treats?”

He smiled for the first time. And she stopped breathing.

Literally
stopped.

No one should be allowed that much gorgeousness. She would see that smile in her dreams.

“Treats were my favorite thing as a kid. Probably because I didn’t get many.” He said it with a laugh, but she wasn’t sure she bought the way he tried to play off his difficult childhood with a smile. Ari hadn’t grown up with much either—and she’d also learned how to smile through it. “In any case,” he continued, “treats are fine every now and then, but I don’t want him gorging on candy and soda.” With that, he went on with her duties. “He’s only in school in the morning, so I would want you to devise lesson plans for the afternoon. Trips to the zoo and other activities that teach him would be great. He’s learning to swim, and I’d want you to continue, as long as he’s got his water wings on.”

A commotion in the hall drowned out the rest of Matt’s list—a young voice, the stomp of running feet. For a little boy, Noah Tremont made big noise, which she loved.

He flew around the corner, sliding on the hardwood floor until his toes hit the rug. “Daddy, Daddy, you gotta see!” A moment later, he saw Ari. “I know you.”

“We met a month ago at the house your daddy was building with his friends.”

Noah had a mop of hair as dark as his father’s and cheeks that hadn’t lost their baby roundness yet. He ran around the coffee table and flung himself at her on the sofa, grabbing her hand. “You gotta see too.”

“Noah,” Matt interrupted. “We’re in a meeting.”

A harried older woman appeared in the doorway, wisps of hair flying out of a bun that had probably been neat that morning. This must be the temp Matt said he’d brought in while he was searching for a full-time nanny. “Mr. Tremont, I’m sorry. Noah, come here.” Her voice was more tired than annoyed.

But Noah was too excited to listen. Ari plucked him up and set him on her lap, a wriggling bundle of boundless energy. He was adorable. She wanted to spend her days with someone so happy and sweet, take him to the zoo, chase butterflies, teach him the names of birds.

“You know”—she gave Noah the biggest smile—“it’s nice to let people finish what they’re saying. So as soon as your dad’s done talking, then you can show us whatever you want.”

“It’s my new Lego set Jeremy gave me!” He couldn’t stop bouncing. Ari remembered Jeremy from the day at the youth home, a sweet young man—a brother of one of the other Mavericks, maybe?

“All righty then. We’ll finish up, then you can show us your Lego.” She gave Noah a solemn look. “I’m a Lego master, by the way.”

“Cool, me too!” He nodded vigorously, his curls bouncing. Then he stopped and bit his lip, and she was struck by how much of a mini-Matt he was. “I forgot your name.”

“It’s Ari.”

He beamed at her. Yup, the kid version of his dad’s smile. “I like your name.” With that, he hopped off her lap.

When Ari turned back to Matt, he was staring at her with his head cocked slightly. “A Lego master?” He shook his head. “Even I have a hard time putting some of them together.”

“I doubt that,” she said, which made him smile again.
Oh, that smile.
It got under her skin, made her hum inside.
Everywhere
inside. “You were saying? About my duties?”

“We’ve pretty much covered it.” He began to list the things she’d get out of the deal. “You’d have your own suite next to Noah’s. You could eat meals with us, but you’d be free to raid the kitchen. Sunday would be your day off. If you wanted to make prior arrangements to go out in the evening for a date or whatever, that would be fine. I try to be home in the evenings and on weekends for Noah.”

“Like I said, I don’t have a boyfriend, but I get together with my girlfriends sometimes in the evenings.”

He nodded, then said, “The salary is twelve hundred a week, plus medical insurance.”

She barely managed to keep her chin from hitting her knees. “A week?” She couldn’t believe it. It rivaled what she made in a month.
Plus
benefits.

“Considering that you would be on duty almost twenty-four hours a day, six days a week, it’s reasonable.”

“Reasonable?” She was afraid she sounded like an airhead repeating everything he said, but his offer was beyond anything she’d dreamed of. “I mean, yes, it’s totally reasonable.”

Especially considering all she had to do was look after an adorable little boy and live in a fabulous mansion with her own
suite
. And she could have all the sizzling-hot fantasies she wanted about Matt, whose bedroom would undoubtedly be just down the hall. Completely secret fantasies, locked in a compartment inside her brain that she’d wait to open until she was alone.

If there was one thing she knew how to do, it was compartmentalize. She’d spent six years in the foster care system after her mom died, so Ari was a master at living a rich fantasy life without confusing it with reality. Everyone deserved a dream world. In fact, it was healthy—as long as you knew the difference between fantasy and reality, and Ari always had.

She knew what it was like to have things ripped away from you at a moment’s notice, when you thought a foster family cared about you only to realize it was the money they received that meant the most, or their real daughter hated your guts so you had to go. And she knew about other things that still gave her nightmares sometimes—foster fathers and brothers who didn’t care about the personal boundaries of the new foster girl.

So, yes, she definitely kept her dreams uncontaminated by reality. And this job was far better than anything she could have dreamed up on her own. If she got it, she would owe Daniel for recommending her, more than she could ever repay.

“I’ll check your references tonight.” He tapped the list she’d given him. “But after what Daniel said, it all looks good. I’ll give you a call tomorrow.”

Please
, she silently prayed as she grabbed her bag,
hire me and make this dream real.
“I really like Noah. He’s a great kid.”

“I’m lucky to have him.” Love filled Matt’s voice when he talked about his son. “And he obviously likes you. I hope you have time to see his latest Lego masterpiece before you go.”

“Of course.”

They stood at the same time, suddenly close beside each other at the edge of the coffee table. For the briefest of moments, she let her eyelids drift shut as her senses drank him in—that fresh rain scent, the heat radiating off his body, the gentle wash of his breath across her hair.

Noah was so cute, and the setup was amazing. But Matt? Well,
he
was the cherry on top of
her
sundae.

And if she got this job, she would make sure
nothing
screwed it up.

“You sure you don’t mind me hijacking her from your San Jose store?” Matt asked Daniel over the phone.

“It’s a great opportunity for Ariana.”

Ariana
had a lilting quality in Daniel’s voice. But she’d told Matt to call her Ari.

“She’s always been more interested in child care than moving up the ladder at Top-Notch,” Daniel continued. “She worked her butt off getting through college. The scholarships I sponsor are open to all my employees worldwide, but every year, Ariana aced the essay submission and earned the Bay Area scholarship.”

“She told me she graduated last May.”

“With honors.”

She hadn’t told him that. In fact, she’d almost downplayed her degree, maybe because she understood that a degree was worth a heck of a lot more with practical experience to back it up. In that, they were alike. He’d graduated and jumped in feet first. And Ari’d had eight years of experience working with kids while she was going to school. She’d be a huge asset for Noah, with both her experience and her education. There was so much to admire about her.

For his peace of mind, there might actually be
too
much to admire.

“It’s a win-win, Matt. You’re going to love her.”

His friend didn’t mean it in the sexual sense, but Matt couldn’t stop remembering the vision she’d made sitting on his sofa, the end-of-day autumn sun setting her golden hair on fire. He’d wanted to—

Damn it, he had to stop thinking about what
he
wanted. She would be here for his son.

“Noah already loves her,” Matt told Daniel. “All she had to do was admire his latest Lego creation and he was putty in her hands.”

Ari had handled his son’s interruption brilliantly, teaching Noah a lesson without getting angry or annoyed. Considering that the women Ari babysat for couldn’t say enough good things about her, Matt knew he had to have her.

For Noah, of course.

“The kid takes after his old man, always coming up with new inventions.” Daniel’s tone was laced with affection. As godfathers, each and every Maverick adored Noah. “And Ariana has more patience than a saint,” Daniel added, “which will help when taking care of a five-year-old boy with boundless energy.”

“My only concern is that she’s so young.” That was a lie. He was also concerned about how
boundlessly
tempting she was.

Matt was always in control of his emotions where women were concerned, especially after what had happened with Noah’s mom. Yet Ari kept sneaking under his defenses, entering his thoughts far too often. He had to put a stop to it. He was a decade older, for God’s sake, and about to become her boss.

“We were already out there trying to make our mark at twenty-four,” Daniel pointed out, “but she’s still hands-off to you.”

Humor laced Daniel’s warning, but Matt’s guts jumped like a guilty man facing the witness stand. “Of course. She’s Lyssa’s age.” To all the Mavericks, Lyssa was still the kid sister they needed to look out for.

“And Ariana’s had a pretty rough go of it too.”

As a foster kid, she’d been alone in the world. At least he’d had the Mavericks. And if Daniel suspected Matt was imagining anything unprofessional with Ari…

“I won’t screw this up with her,” Matt said, as much to remind himself as to reassure his friend. “I’ve been through so many nannies that I’m not sure where else I’d look if things didn’t work out this time.”

Matt had caught the last nanny screeching at Noah for spilling a glass of milk. It had been all he could do not to throw her bodily out of his house. He’d experienced enough of that crap when he was a kid and didn’t put up with anyone treating Noah that way. Ever. He’d handled that problem immediately. Which meant that he and Noah had been going through nannies at the rate of two or more a year.

Yes, Matt was picky where his son was concerned, but half the problem was Noah’s mother. Irene had a knack for creating havoc in her wake. She flew in and out of Noah’s life like a firefly, lighting him up, then letting him down. Matt still hadn’t figured out how to best deal with Irene—and the way she always let Noah down made Matt feel like he was letting his kid down too. Maybe a young, enthusiastic nanny would help counter Irene’s bad influence.

“Then take her,” Daniel said. “She wants this.”

Ah hell, why did his friend have to use those words, forcing Matt to battle images of Ari on his bed, her hair fanned out across his pillows, her skin creamy…

He jammed his brain the way a copier chews up a scrap of paper, crumpled the fantasy, and threw it in his mental trash bin.

No more fantasies. He needed Ari for Noah.

Every other need had to go.

“I’m offering her the job.”

“Then you can finally relax. Because she’ll be the best nanny you’ve ever had, guaranteed.”

Matt already knew that. It was his need to put this crazy attraction behind bars that had him on edge.

* * *

Ari’s heart missed a couple of beats when she read the caller ID on her phone. It was only nine p.m., but she had an early shift at the store in the morning, and she was already beneath the sheets. She slept on a Murphy bed that came out of the wall. It was the only way to get a sofa and a bed into her small studio apartment at the same time.

“Hello?” She couldn’t keep the breathlessness out of her voice.

“Ari, it’s Matt Tremont. You’ve got the job, if you want it.”

“Thank you.” She tried to sound cool and calm even though she was about to burst with joy. “I’ll do my best for you and Noah.” He was entrusting his son to her. “I’ll treat him like he’s my own.”

“The ladies you work for had wonderful things to say about you.”

She snuggled deeper under the covers, ignoring the spring poking her back, and in the dark his voice was smooth, deep, and soft, as if he were whispering naughty things. She’d had two lovers, so she wasn’t totally inexperienced, but no one had made her feel the things Matt did, even with a few simple words that weren’t the slightest bit sexy.

“Their kids adore you,” he continued. “You’re never late, and you’re always willing to stay longer if they need you.” He paused, letting her take in the glowing praise. “Not one of them had a single complaint.”

The compliments warmed her. She’d taken care of some of the kids for years, from diapers to kindergarten. And she was going to miss all of them.

“Daniel says I’d be stupid not to jump on you.” Dead air followed his statement. As if the call had dropped, or he was holding his breath.

Yes, please, jump on me
. But she wouldn’t mess this up. Especially when the words didn’t have a double meaning for him—it was just her one-sided sparks going off again.

“I’d be honored to take care of Noah. Would Sunday evening be okay to start so that I’d be there to get Noah ready for school in the morning?”

“Good idea. We can slip you right into the routine. Can you make it by dinnertime?”

“Depends on what you’re serving.”

She made the joke before thinking, but thankfully Matt laughed and said, “Tell me what your favorite is.”