“It really sucks how things have worked out for them,” Daniel said. “I’m not a fan of divorce, but sometimes I’m not sure there’s another way.”

Matt agreed, but he was afraid Evan couldn’t see the light. “He’ll never do it. He’s too loyal.” Then he turned to Sebastian. “How’s Noah’s dinosaur coming?”

Sebastian’s fiancée, Charlie, was a brilliant artist who worked primarily in metal. And she’d promised Noah a dinosaur for his garden.

Just hearing her name had his friend smiling with a look in his eye that could have been the twin of Will’s for his fiancée. “New commissions are being thrown at Charlie every day, but she loves working on Noah’s present. All I can say without spoiling any surprises is that you should think about getting the garden ready soon for some absolutely brilliant sculptures.”

“You and Will are just too disgustingly happy,” Daniel groused good-naturedly.

Sebastian trained his eagle eye on Daniel. “What about you? You’ve been spending all your free time working on your cabin in Tahoe lately. Is there someone you’ve got hidden up there that you’re not telling us about?” He cocked one devilish brow.

Daniel laughed and shook his head like they were nuts. But he tugged at the open collar of his shirt, as if somehow, impossibly, it had become a little tight. “I just want the roof on the cabin before winter this year.”

“Right,” Will said, obviously having noticed the collar-tugging as well.

To save himself, Daniel turned the spotlight back on Matt. “What about you? Anyone caught your eye recently?”

Jesus, he’d thought their interrogation was over.

“Nope.” But if Daniel’s collar had been tight, Matt’s was strangling him.

Because Ari had caught him from the first time he’d ever set eyes on her.

Chapter Six

October in the San Francisco Bay Area could be warm, especially in the early part of the month, but Matt’s pool was heated all year round, and Ari intended to make the most of it. Three times during their first week, she’d given Noah swimming lessons, and he was doing extremely well. He wasn’t afraid of the water in his face, but he hated his water wings.

“Sorry, sweetie,” she called out as he clung to the far edge of the pool. “You can’t take them off. Let’s try it again—swim to me.” She held out her arms in encouragement as Noah did another lap of the shallow end.

He splashed through the water toward her, the water wings making his strokes awkward. Matt had insisted he wear them for safety reasons, but from everything she’d learned in her courses—and she’d even looked up the question online—there was a good basis for kids his age to swim without flotation devices when they were under adult supervision. She hoped Matt could see that tomorrow if he joined them, since he devoted his weekends to Noah.

The week had been fabulous. Noah was adorable, and his laughter twisted her heart around his little finger. Their driver, Doreen, took them anywhere Ari wanted to go. They’d visited the Oakland Zoo one afternoon, gone to the mummy museum another day. Once, they’d played with Jorge and Rosie, and just as Ari had predicted, the two children had become fast friends. When she told Matt about it, he’d seemed pleased.

But she especially loved story time each night, when she sat in the wicker chair and watched Matt read to his son. She got her fill of his gorgeous face, his tender smile, the love in his eyes. Then, after they’d tucked Noah in, Matt made time to talk with her about the day.

Her fantasies about him were only a dream. One that would never come true. But in her experience, dreams were often better—because no one left you in the end or threw you out when they were tired of you.

And really, the nanny and the rich guy? It wasn’t just a fairy tale—it was a full-blown cliché.

In the water, Noah threw one last burst of power into his arms to reach her. She scooped him up and held him high, her muscles straining. He was a growing boy and getting heavy. “You’re an amazing swimmer!” Setting him on the pool deck, she hoisted herself up beside him. “Okay, since we’re getting out, we can take the water wings off now.”

“Yay!” He immediately pushed them down his little arms, then ran for the towels on the chaise lounge where Ari had left them.

“No running by the pool,” she cautioned him, and was glad he slowed down to a fast walk.

After drying herself off and putting on her terrycloth cover-up, she sat on the edge of the chair and helped Noah dry off his thick, curly hair. The late afternoon sun sparkled on the rippling water in the pool. She was in the most beautiful place on earth, with a thicket of live oaks just beyond the lawn and a row of flowering bushes. Nothing could be better.

Then Matt unexpectedly stepped out of the house, and her heart actually stopped. Just bam! Her breath caught and her skin tingled, and it felt like all the stars fell out of the sky.

In jeans, he was a masterpiece worthy of a museum. But in a black suit, his tie off, and the top two buttons of his white dress shirt undone… Sweet Lord, he was someone you could see only on a movie screen. Someone to gaze at and drool over but never touch, because he couldn’t possibly be real.

Seeing his father, Noah squealed and squirmed away from her. “Daddy,” he shouted in his high, sweet voice as he ran along the pool’s edge. “Guess what I just did!”

“Don’t run,” she called out, Matt echoing her words.

But Noah was too focused on his daddy to listen as he cut the corner of the pool. Her heart in her throat, Ari started running too. But she wasn’t fast enough to stop Noah from tripping.

Someone was shouting, maybe screaming—it could have been her. Then Noah’s little voice cried, “Daddy!” as he fell, his skull heading toward the concrete lip of the pool.

The water exploded with a great splash as Matt dove into the shallow end just as Ari reached the edge. But Noah fell before she could catch him.

She’d never believed in miracles until that moment, when Matt seemed to grab Noah right out of the air before he actually plunged into the water. He held the little boy’s body in his arms as though he were a rare jewel, while Noah squalled.

Then she saw the splash of blood on Noah’s forehead, and her ears rang with terror, her voice dried up.

“Call Doreen now!” Matt ordered. “Tell her we need to go to the hospital.”