Fearless In Love(9)
“How do you think I became a master?” she replied with a grin.
Noah pushed through the door with a bowl of ice cream. Cookie followed with two more.
“What do you think, buddy?” Matt asked. “Would you like to meet Ari’s little friend Jorge?”
“Yes!”
Ari’s laugh did things to his insides. It wasn’t just her pretty face or her lovely, lithe figure. It was her liveliness with Noah, her freshness, her love of life, her exuberance, her try-anything attitude.
Then again, those were some of the same qualities that had first drawn him to Noah’s mother.
And that had ended in disaster.
Chapter Four
Matt and Noah gave Ari a tour after dinner, and the house was even more mind-boggling than it had initially seemed. The upper floor overlooked the front hall with a wide balustrade and was ringed by eight bedrooms, each with its own bathroom and sitting area. Matt said he wanted plenty of space for his family when they visited. Ari’s room included a desk and a computer, though she’d brought her own laptop—and, best of all, a whirlpool tub.
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.”