She chatted with Noah about his favorite cartoon, while Matt drained the bacon and scrambled the eggs. Then he finally sat at the counter beside them.
“Do you have big plans for the day?” he asked in a voice that was far too polite, especially considering how intimate they’d been.
She told herself she’d eventually get used to it. After her heart mended.
But not only were they acting as if Friday’s lovemaking had never happened, Noah didn’t say a word about his mother either, as though there’d been no visit from Irene yesterday. Ari had even removed the bandage from his forehead. New day, new attitude. If it didn’t feel right that they were all shoving too much under the rug…well, Ari shoved that feeling under the rug too.
“I’m going to visit Rosie and Jorge.”
“Jorge’s fun,” Noah said as he pushed his scrambled eggs around his plate as though he were excavating.
“Sounds like a great day.”
She hated how forced Matt’s smile seemed. God, any minute now they’d start talking about the weather.
“What about you two?” she asked.
Matt looked at Noah. “We’ll figure something out. Whatever we do, at least we’ve got great weather, don’t we?”
She barely held in her wince at his mention of the weather as Noah nodded, then shoveled his eggs onto his fork and chewed with big bites.
She wanted to make suggestions for them. And she wanted to go with them. But she wasn’t family—she was just the nanny.
After finishing her eggs, she laid her napkin on the table. “Thanks for breakfast. Can I help with the dishes?”
Matt waved her offer away. “Don’t worry. I’ll handle it. Enjoy your day.”
When he didn’t ask her to change her plans to hang out with them instead, a sharp pang in her chest said she wasn’t totally in control of her dreams. All those times she’d let go of foster families or old boyfriends hadn’t actually been all that hard. But with Matt…
She sighed. After they’d made love, after he’d made her feel like she mattered, it turned out that letting Matt go wasn’t easy at all.
Get a grip, Ari. After all, she’d walked into his arms with her eyes wide open, hadn’t she?
She kissed the top of Noah’s head and forced herself to smile at Matt as she waved good-bye. In the huge garage, as she unlocked the door of her ancient car, the shiny frame of Noah’s bicycle caught her eye, the training wheels on the back. Behind it was the mountain bike.
She needed a distraction to take her mind off her one and only night with Matt. And Noah needed a distraction to take his mind off his mom. What better way than learning to ride his bike without the training wheels? They could surprise Matt after Noah had mastered it. It might help him reevaluate his position on the water wings or letting Noah help cook breakfast or…heck, any number of things.
And it might end her fixation on how seductively her sexy boss kissed. Because she needed to concentrate on being the best nanny Noah had ever had. Even better than Mary Poppins.
Ari had been here only one week. How was it possible that the house could feel empty without her? Matt had itched to ask her to spend the day with them, but he’d have driven himself to the edge of insanity keeping his hands—and mouth—off her all day long. Hell, he’d barely been able to sleep last night. It had taken all his willpower not to walk down the hall and beg her to come back to his bed, back into his arms. Back to the place where everything finally felt right, if only for a few precious hours in the dark.
No question about it, she was worth a beating from his brothers. But it was Susan’s gaze he couldn’t face if she knew he’d taken his nanny to bed, abusing the trust of his employee.
“So, buddy, what shall we do today?”
“The zoo.” A pout hinted on Noah’s mouth.
Ari had mentioned Irene’s broken promise. There were obviously residual effects of her casual thoughtlessness.
“I haven’t been to the zoo in ages.” He always tried to do something fun with Noah on their weekends together. “I heard about a great place close by from a guy at work. With a puppet theater and a petting zoo. You can even talk to the parrots. How does that sound?”
“Fun!” Noah’s eyes bugged with excitement.
“I just need to drop off some work papers on the way, okay?”
Half an hour later, they were in the car. Doreen had the day off, and he enjoyed driving Noah himself. He had the guilty thought that it would have been so damn sweet with Ari beside him, leaning between the seats to inspire Noah with endless questions or comments, teaching him with everything she said and did.